The 13th annual Aloha Festivals Falsetto Contest is set for 7 p.m. Friday at the Sheraton Waikiki hotel's Kaua'i and Maui ballrooms. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Falsetto is a Hawaiian style of singing, with roots dating to the 1800s, in which male voices soar in the upper registers with a distinctive element called "ha'i," or break in the voice. Its heritage links to pre-European Hawaiian chanting, early missionary hymns and 19th century European music, with later influences from the Spanish-Indian vaqueros who came to the Islands in the 1830s.

Harry B. Soria Jr., the veteran radio and online Hawaiian music host, will co-emcee with Karen Keawehawai'i.

Tickets, $25, are available at www.alohafestivals.com or via the Sheraton, 921-4600.