Mailena and Justin Urso are the owners of one of Fayetteville’s hot spots — Big Box Karaoke on Block Street. It’s a Japanese-style hangout with private karaoke suites, which gives you all the fun of a house party with close friends — minus the cooking and clean-up work!
Here’s a short interview with Mailena.
Tell us about your family:
Justin and I have 2 kiddos – Iya and Damen. Iya is 4, and Damen will be 3 in April. We also have a schnoodle named Sammy. We love living in NWA, and exploring the outdoors.
Justin and I are originally from Van Buren, and both graduated from UA. Professionally, we have worked in the corporate retail world. After living in Japan for a bit after college, we fell in love with private suite karaoke and have had the dream of opening one up in the States since!
What’s your favorite song to belt out in the karaoke room?
Justin and I do a mean Love Shack by the B-52’s. 🙂
What’s the top karaoke song among the teenage set?
Hm….we don’t have those stats yet, but I’m guessing Taylor Swift and/or Ariana Grande.
What about the top songs at adult parties?
Here are the all time top 10 songs:
How many songs total do you have in the system now?
We have 60,000+ songs available, and that list grows every day. We have mix of classic and new songs from all genres, and different languages too.
What do you think people love about having a room just for their friends/family?
Something about being with the people you are most comfortable with, really helps people loosen up and just have fun. People are less intimidated in this setting than they are in a traditional bar setting. It’s like a house party that you don’t have to clean up after. 🙂
CLICK HERE for more info about Big Box Karaoke and click here to follow them on Facebook (which is a very entertaining news feed, for sure!). Visit them here on Instagram to see the best in Big Box news and entertainment.
