MANILA, Philippines?Very few will remember or even know of ?Doble Kara-oke,? a segment of a noontime variety show that featured various men in a singing contest.

However, viewers who have caught the show at least once will definitely remember the costumes the contestants wore. Like Two-Face from Batman, they all had strange outfits that split right down the middle.

Half of the man would be clothed in something tough and manly, like leather jackets and acid-washed denim, while the other half was draped in feathers, lace and rhinestones.

But the strangest part of the contest wasn?t even the costumes. Whenever the contestant sang with his ?manly? side to the audience, he growled songs like the Village People?s ?Macho Man? in a deep baritone voice. But when his feathers and ruffles dominated the stage, the contestant would replace the baritone with a screechy soprano, singing pieces like ?I?m Every Woman? onstage.

Of course, the singing was never top quality, since the show was more of an excuse to poke fun at the contestants rather than serve as a talent search.

However, for people who do want to see a man sing both falsetto and baritone parts (without the politically incorrect cross-dressing), check out Nick Pitera on YouTube.

Pitera (who resembles Waldo of ?Where?s Waldo?? fame) posted a collection of videos of himself singing various songs, some of them duets. Most of the videos start out with Pitera singing in a normal male voice, only to have him switch to a female voice a few stanzas later.

And no, he didn?t exactly butcher the songs. His rendition of Disney?s ?A Whole New World? from Aladdin may not match the original recording by Brad Kane and Lea Salonga, but it?s a very competent one?better, perhaps, than the versions screeched out by talent show contestants.

Some of his other duets (such as ?One Sweet Day,? popularized by Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey) aren?t as smooth, but they make for entertaining viewing, anyway. His repertoire includes other Disney songs, ?Somewhere Over the Rainbow,? ?Oh Holy Night,? and some Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys pieces.

He sounds much better as a man, but one thing?s for sure: he can sing female parts a lot better than most women.

While he has detractors (comments like ?Are you gay?? and ?That?s creepy? are quite common on his site), Pitera has quite a following as well.
Will you be amazed or taken aback by Pitera?s ability to switch voices in a heartbeat? Check out his videos on YouTube and see for yourself.

To check out Pitera?s videos, look for user ?goonieman86? on Youtube, or simply Google his name.

E-mail the author at biancaconsunji@yahoo.com