NOEL KING, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Noel King. There are certain things that are really fun as long as you're really good at them. Karaoke - if you've got a beautiful voice, you probably love it. If you're tone-deaf like me, singing in public is a nightmare. Here's some great news from China. These little solo karaoke booths are popping up in malls and airports. Some people say, isn't that lonely? Maybe. But with 30,000 booths and counting, something about singing solo seems to have struck a chord. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.