A slow, ragged crawl through "All Apologies" threatened to damage Mina Trinidad's vocal chords for the evening, but she still wanted to rock some Nirvana.

Some "Lithium"? Maybe. Perhaps even a turn at "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Thumbing through GS Studio's Manhattan-phone-book-sized catalog of karaoke tracks while chatting, however, she found something more challenging ... Eminem.

"Think I could handle 'Lose Yourself'?" she asked friend Marla Ching, sitting next to her on a long beige couch in their tiny four-person private karaoke room. Ching shot her a look conveying much more than a simple "no," and took a swig from a Corona, sans lime.

"You can't beat karaoke combined with room service," said Ching, explaining her fondness for GS Studio. From the outside, "It looks like a place where you'd see only Japanese tourists. But a lot of locals come by, too."

Ching sat up and pressed an intercom button, requesting two more beers. Two minutes later, there they were.

"It doesn't cost all that much for a room, and you don't have to bring anything else," said Ching.

I didn't stick around to see how Trinidad fared with "Stan." But it was difficult not to notice GS Studio's appeal to anyone who even occasionally enjoys picking up a microphone and singing with friends — myself included.

Tucked away on the second floor of the Lewers Street boutique hotel Waikiki Joy, GS Studio is essentially a 15-room karaoke joint with a bar and food service. Its bilingual signage, huge Japanese-language song selection and funkily varied food menu — fried chicken appetizers, burgers, steaks and two-choice teishoku, anyone? — almost promises a potential "Lost in Translation" experience.

But peek into GS Studio's two- to 30-person-capacity rooms 'round midnight and you'll find enough local twenty- through fiftysomethings grooving over tunes, drinks and pupu to make it a cool little after-hours scene.

A trio of female UH students chilling before hitting the clubs ordered up Paula Abdul and Alanis Morrisette. Two older couples shared the mike on Michael Bolton and Petula Clark favorites.

A visiting foursome from Ohio chatted best beaches with a couple of Bud-Light-swigging local males just off work, while waiting for their room.

The $15-per-hour, four-person room I shared with a frequent karaoke buddy featured a decent digital sound and video system, couch, drink table, mirror ball and all-important intercom.

Service was attentive and quick — our first round of drinks arrived before our first selection, The Prodigy's "Firestarter," was even finished. Our small pupu order (see above) was tasty enough and inexpensive.

None of the pupu, salads, sandwiches or entrees on the food menu (except a couple of large pupu platters) was more than $12.

Song selection wasn't as complete as a couple of our usual karaoke haunts, but GS Studio's English-language menu was surprisingly substantial.

Ending the working part of my evening with Radiohead's "Karma Police" was particularly satisfying.

NIGHTSPOTTING

WARREN G WANTS YOU ...

HIP-HOP HISTORY AND MUSIC