Brad Pitt was originally signed on to play the role of Billy Hannan, but after his engagement to Gwyneth Paltrow was called off, he dropped out of the movie. This also cause filming to be delayed from its original start date of September 1997.
All the karaoke singers in this film actually sang the songs themselves except Andre Braugher, whose vocals were sung by Arnold McCuller. McCuller is a touring backup vocalist and is featured on James Taylor's live version of "Shower the People" and Phil Collins' live version of "Easy Lover".
Bruce Paltrow's final feature film that he directed. Paltrow was fighting an ongoing battle cancer during filming. He ultimately succumbed to cancer in 2002 at the age of 58, and just over two years after this film was released.
In addition to appearing in this film as the karaoke contest emcee in Omaha, Nebraska, Maya Rudolph worked alongside her father Richard Rudolph as music supervisors for this film. Rudolph had previously attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, where she befriended co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, who also worked on this movie with her father.
Michael Bublé: The contestant who sings "Strangers in the Night" in the final karaoke contest in Omaha, Nebraska. Bublé performed in this movie the year before releasing his debut studio album "BaBalu".