Posts Tagged ‘karaoke hits’
Karaoke Revolution Console Games
Karaoke Revolution is a fun karaoke video game to play on PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo GameCube. In addition to the original game, several other versions have been released, including Volume 2, Volume 3, Karaoke Revolution Party, Country, American Idol and most recently, American Idol Encore. The first microphone was a Logitech headset compatible with the PlayStations, Wii and Xbox 360. Future versions of the game came with a standardized microphone that can be used in Rock Band, Boogie and High School Musical: Sing It as well. The Karaoke Revolution for Xbox has a microphone that plugs right into the memory card port on the controller and the GameCube has a special microphone that plugs into its memory card port, although it can be used with Mario Party 6 too. If you have a SingStar microphone, then you can probably use it for the PS3 version.
If you like Rock Band or Guitar Hero, then you will have a ball with Karaoke Revolution, in which you play an on-screen character who is performing a live concert. As with any video game character, you can customize the outfits, hair color and other features to your liking. The song lyrics will scroll right-to-left at the bottom of the screen in traditional karaoke format, while a pitch arrow shows whether you are in the correct range or not. If you are singing your karaoke hits well, then the audience will cheer for you and the crowd meter will be through-the-roof! But watch out because if you are bombing, you just might get booed right off stage!
The first Karaoke Revolution game promised to have a song for everyone, and it did, from pop rock like Simple Plan’s “Addicted” and Sugar Ray’s “Every Morning” to classics like Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves A Woman” and “You’re The One That I Want” from the movie Grease. Classic eighties songs like Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and nineties favorites like Hoobastank’s “Crawling In the Dark” and The Black Crowe’s “She Talks to Angels” also made an appearance. Volume 2 brought 35 more songs from artists like The Police, Garth Brooks, Christina Aguilera, Three Days Grace, Elvis, No Doubt, KISS, Otis Redding and Lynyrd Skynyrd. With Volume 3, Michael Jackson, George Michael, the B52’s, Hillary Duff, The Beatles, Liz Phair and David Bowie offer up karaoke songs.
Karaoke Revolution Party, one of the top-selling games, has some of the best karaoke songs that will get your whole house rocking. Who doesn’t laugh when someone sings “Brick House” by the Commodores or Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music?” On a more serious note, lovers can croon over “I Had the Time of my Life” from the movie Dirty Dancing or Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” Rockers will be happy to see some Joan Jett “I Love Rock N’ Roll,” The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” and Incubus’s “Drive.” Let us not forget a little dash of cheesiness either, because you know someone will choose Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” (bah, bah, bah) or Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.” Why buy karaoke CDs when you can step it up a notch with the entire game that can be enjoyed by your whole family and your friends?
The Karaoke Player
In his book “Don’t Stop Believin’,” author Brian Raftery outlines a few basic rules to karaoke. First, you will look better if you sing a bad song, such as Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died,” Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone,” Garth Brook’s “I Got Friends In Low Places” or Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” Secondly, avoid songs that are too long. Many performers falter halfway through Lynryd Skynyrd’s nine-minute “Free Bird,” Don McLean’s eight-minute “American Pie” and Led Zeppelin’s eight-minute “Stairway to Heaven.” Fast songs are always better than slow songs, group songs are always better than solos and staying within your key is crucial to success. Now that you know the basics, you’re ready to get your own karaoke player and start practicing for the big day!
It seems everyone is claiming to have “the best karaoke player on the market.” With so many contenders, it can be hard to choose. Today, karaoke songs can be played on portable systems, DVD players, CD players, PCs and Playstation consoles. The smart karaoke system consumer should first be honest with him or herself and ask, “What am I going to use this thing for?” If it is for killer karaoke parties, then an all-in-one machine like The Song Station is the ideal choice. This amazing karaoke system has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, People Magazine and on NBC, and enjoys high Epinions ratings. Ranging between $207 and $259, the system has 53,000 built-in tracks from around the globe, but also accepts DVDs, special karaoke CDGs, CD+Gs, VCDs and MP3s, and plays all in high-quality Dolby Digital.
Consumers receive two free microphones, a pedestal karaoke song search unit, large speakers and additional amplifier connections. Up to ninety-nine songs can be scheduled, just like at a karaoke club, and sixty favorites can be stored for quick retrieval. This product can be purchased at www.thesongstation.com.
Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a karaoke player, there are also karaoke DVD players that can be purchased for $30 to $100 and will play movies too. However, shoppers will need to make sure the player also accepts CDG format or their music selection will be slim; they may also need to purchase extra microphones. One of the cheapest karaoke DVD players is the Coby DVD-637, which goes for $33 to $64. However, most of the CD+G compatible DVD players run between $100 and $200, like the VocoPro DVG399K ($110) or the Cavs 105G DVD ($119).
Some people forego the stand-alone karaoke player altogether and opt to turn their computer into a karaoke system. WinCDG Pro 3 by Tricerasoft ($60) is the most popular karaoke software, which enables users the ability to save and store their karaoke songs, while also recording and mixing their own renditions. There are more primitive editions for less, but the latest model includes direct CD+G creation and VCD playback, as well as MP3 creation and playback. This program works along with the Windows Media Player to show karaoke lyrics. Then aspiring artists can share their original karaoke hits on social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook!
Pointers About Karaoke Music Worth Taking A Look
When discussing karaoke music, we have to look at two different aspects. On one hand, you’ll need to choose the right karaoke hits for your collection to ensure everyone’s satisfied and your karaoke party doesn’t turn into an awkward “So, who is going next” scenario. On the other hand, you will need to consider where and how to buy these songs, either on CD, DVD, CD G or mp3. Perhaps you may not even want to buy them at all, instead opting for getting your fix of karaoke online.
Girls and guys have their favorite karaoke hits that have withstood the test of time, so be sure to add the following favorites to your karaoke song collection. Girls like empowering songs of survival, enduring sexuality and sass. To appease these spunky vixens include such tunes as “These Boots Were Made For Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra), “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor) “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” (Pat Benatar), “Venus” (Bananarama), “I Love Rock N Roll” (Joan Jett), “I’m Just A Girl” (No Doubt/Gwen Stefani), “Like A Virgin” (Madonna), “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper), “Feel Like A Woman” (Shania Twain), “You’re So Vain” (Carly Simon), “She Works Hard For The Money” (Donna Summer), “Respect” (Aretha Franklin), “Sweet Dreams” (Eurythmics), “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (Whitney Houston), “Listen To Your Heart” (Roxette) and “Black Velvet” (Alannah Myles).
Karaoke music for guys should be fun, macho and hilarious. Fun karaoke songs for them might include “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (Guns N’ Roses), “Sharp-Dressed Man” (ZZ Top), “Werewolves of London” (Warren Zevon), “Sultans of Swing,” (Dire Straits), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen) and “Celebrate” (Kool & The Gang). “Man’s man” karaoke songs might be “Girls, Girls, Girls” (Motley Crue), “You Shook Me All Night Long” (AC/DC), “You Give Love A Bad Name” (Bon Jovi), “Macho Man” (The Village People), “Baby Got Back” (Sir Mix-a-lot), “I’m Too Sexy” (Right Said Fred), “Hurt So Good” (John Mellencamp) and “Born To Be Wild” (Steppenwolf). Funny songs include “Because I Got High” (Afroman), “Billie Jean” (Michael Jackson) or “Friends In Low Places” (Garth Brooks), although the funniest karaoke songs usually aren’t intentional.
Some people like to make their own karaoke music. You can do this if you have an mp3/mp4 compatible karaoke system or if your karaoke activities are mainly online. You can transform any CD into a karaoke CD by purchasing karaoke software. Or you may buy karaoke songs at www.eztracks.com, www.buykaraokedownloads.com or www.karaoke-version.com. If you don’t care about keeping the songs but simply want to sing for free, then there are a number of karaoke communities, which can be found at www.kariokebar.com, www.redkaraoke.com, www.singsnap.com and www.ksolo.myspace.com.
Karaoke Machine Guide
Karaoke started in the 1970s in Japan, where business professionals would drop into a karaoke club on their way home from work to de-stress. For club owners, it was a great way to entertain patrons, without paying for strolling musicians. By the nineties, karaoke had become a staple in American culture as well, with tens of thousands of bars, restaurants and clubs offering weekly karaoke nights. Karaoke equipment includes such things as a karaoke machine, which plays CDs, DVDs, mp3s and/or CD Gs, has built-in or plug-in speakers, one or more plug-in microphones and either video cables or a built-in lyrics screen.
So which systems are getting the most buzz? The $60 doPi Karaoke “Party in a Pod” system can turn a video iPod into a karaoke machine. Consumers will also get a microphone, a mixer box with two inputs, echo effect, video in/out ports and all cables needed to connect an iPod to the box, which plugs into the wall. A song card comes with three free downloads and many karaoke songs come with video too. This system, which has been featured by InStyle, People, Seventeen, WIRED, Mac Life, iLounge, FHM and Entertainment Magazine, as well as Good Morning America and The Early Show, can be purchased at www.dopikaraoke.com.
Over a million people have purchased the “Rock Band” game for PlayStation, Wii and Xbox, which turns their video game consoles into a karaoke machine and musical instrument tutorial. Like the karaoke game “Karaoke Revolution,” the lyrics appear at the top of the screen for vocalists to follow, while a bar provides feedback on how well the pitch and note duration match the original. Other friends or family members can try their hand at guitar, the bass guitar and drum pads. This game is really fun for parties, rainy days and cultivating an interest in music.
The $199 Singing Machine Pedestal CDG Karaoke system offers a more professional singing and recording experience than the average karaoke machine. In addition to having two microphones, the system also comes with a built-in camera so singers can watch themselves on the video monitor. Additionally, the RCA output allows singers the ability to tape themselves on a VCR or DVD recorder as well. Unlike other systems that are all-vocals or no-vocals, this unit comes with Auto Voice Control so the vocals are eliminated when the singer starts to sing and returns when the singer stops singing. This function is ideal for practicing a new song. Additional features for this CD/CD G player include key, echo, balance and pitch control. Ipod-compatible systems also exist for $249. Consumers can purchase this product at www.singingmachine.com.
Consumers are not the only demographic for the karaoke machine. Some business owners see karaoke as a great opportunity to add entertainment or set themselves apart from the competition. Obviously, the karaoke club is nothing new, but what about the karaoke cab? In cities like Dallas, New York City, Chicago and San Francisco, there are cabs with built-in karaoke machines to start off a pre-party or occupy riders for long rides. Some videos of karaoke singers are posted at www.mykaraokecab.com. Karaoke Yellow Cab out of Dallas, Texas says that the karaoke hits up his tips and that the most common songs requested are Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
Buying A Karaoke DVD
To perform all your favorite karaoke hits at home, you will need a microphone, a player and a song collection. One of the cheapest ways to accomplish this is to buy a karaoke DVD player for as little as $30. Although some would argue that setting yourself to perform on your computer is the least expensive way because you need only a $20 microphone and 79-cent karaoke downloads. If you are computer savvy and are willing to spend $49 for karaoke software, then you can create your own custom DVDs using your current mp3 collection.
Rather than buy a karaoke system, multi-functional karaoke DVD players range from $30 to $200 and play regular DVD movies too. The best karaoke DVD players will accept CD G (CD Graphic) format, which is the kind that plays songs and scrolls the lyrics on the bottom. Karaoke DVDs scroll lyrics too, but there are many more CD G karaoke songs available to buy. The VocoPro DVG399K ($110) has 5.1 Dolby Digital output to get the most from your speakers, two microphone inputs, digital key control to alter your voice and accepts CDs, CD-Rs/mp3s, DVDs and CD+Gs to give you maximum versatility.
According to online retailer Amazon, the kid karaoke DVD offerings tend to sell best. Disney’s “High School Musical” 1 & 2, “Hannah Montana,” “Disney Radio Hits” 1 & 2, as well as “Jump & Jive with Hi-5″ and Sesame Street’s “Sesame Sings Karaoke” are all karaoke hits. For older teens and adults, Billboard released a “Top 10 Karaoke Box Set” that includes 40 songs including John Lennon, Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton and Sting, to name a few artists. Also, Party Tyme offers a multitude of karaoke songs on DVD for $13.99, with themes including: Broadway, Country, Old Country, Greatest Hits, Oldies, Pop, Rock and Love Songs. Startrax offers fun genre DVDs too, including 80s movies, 80s pop, alternative anthems, another top 20 hits, at the movies, back to school, boogie nights, classic R&B, country classics, dancing in the streets, disco classics, girls night and kids, to name a few.
Of course not every genre is easy to find on DVD, although it can be done. For instance, fans of Hip Hop/R&B can check out R&B Classics by Startrax, which includes cover artists doing “In Da Club” (50-cent), “Hot In Here” (Nelly), “S.O.S” (Rihanna) and “Shut Up” (Black-Eyed Peas). Punk rockers will love the newly released Punk Rock Karaoke DVD that features stars from the bands NOFX, Bad Religion, Social Distortion and The Adolescents, as well as performances/sing-a-longs for “Gimme Gimme Gimme” (Black Flag), “California Über Allies” (Dead Kennedys), “Minor Threat” (Minor Threat) and “What Do I Get” (The Buzzcocks), to name a few.
Karaoke CD Suggestions You Cannot Be Without
Karaoke CD software will help people who are serious about their singing to take any song and subdue the vocals, while ramping up the accompaniment. They can then infuse their own vocals and save the new version. They can take advantage of pitch correctors, echo effects, mix the sound or create a CD+G with lyrics to sing on a karaoke system. Win CDG Pro 3 is a popular program that does just that. However, not everyone is so computer savvy or dedicated. Others may wish to just peruse the online offerings to get their karaoke fix.
When regard to karaoke CDs, few compilations got people as excited about karaoke music as the DKKaraoke collection that came out in the nineties, featuring 25 discs of karaoke hits, spanning several decades of music. For instance, you could get Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York” and Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5″ on the same CD as Bon Jovi’s “Bad Medicine” and U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” From slow ballads and lounge tracks to crooning love songs and shout-it-out rock karaoke, there is something for everyone on these CDs. This is the ultimate collection for anyone who is serious about karaoke music and wants to have all the best karaoke songs at their disposal.
Entertainment Weekly recently published their list of “top karaoke songs” to help you make your own karaoke CD. Not surprisingly, the B52’s rowdy “Love Shack” made the list, as did Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer,” which features the chorus that every drunk loves to shout out, whether they were born in the eighties or not. Other eighties classics like Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” The Eurythmic’s “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These),” Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin,” Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Bananarama’s “Venus,” Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock N Roll,” Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Blondie’s “Call Me” and “Every Breath You Take” by the Police also made the list. Representing the seventies, The Pretender’s “Brass In Pocket” (1979), Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” (1973) and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (1978) are some of the oldest surviving karaoke hits. The only newcomer is Kelly Clarkson, with “Since U Been Gone.”
Over at www.karaokewh.com, there are a number of top-selling karaoke CDs to choose from. The Sound Choice Star Series offers a karaoke CD specializing in Journey tracks, as well as one for Kid Rock, Steve Miller, Dr. Hook and AC/DC. If you don’t feel so passionately about any of the aforementioned artists, then you can try their top-selling Hard Rock Hits Volume 4 instead, which features nineties rock like Korn, Slipknot, Coal Chamber, NIN, Tool, Godsmack, Rage Against the Machine, Spineshank and White Zombie. Backstage Karaoke has a karaoke CD with “today’s classic rock” like Pearl Jam, U2, The Eagles, The Knack, Joe Cocker, Melissa Etheridge, Boyz II Men and Hootie and the Blowfish.
How Did Karaoke Come About?
Karaoke first echoed from regular bars in the bustling port of Kobe City, Japan, where international guests mingled with businessmen and women. After the popularity of accompaniment tapes was realized, more innovations were soon to follow. The karaoke video disk and CD graphics ensured that karaoke systems were front and center in the entertainment industry. Not everyone loved karaoke singers though; due to increased pressure from neighbors to “keep quiet at night,” the Karaoke Box, a roadside facility built from an old freight car and containing heavily insulated singing rooms, appeared in 1984 just west of Kansai.
When karaoke came to America, it wasn’t quite as popular as in Asian countries, like Japan, China, Korea and the Philippines, where karaoke songs blared seven nights a week across multiple venues. However, historians argue that karaoke style programming existed as early as the 1950s on Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club,” where kids would sing along to the TV, as the words bounced across the bottom of the screen. Although it wasn’t until the 1980s, when pop icons flourished, shows like “Star Search” promoted the idea that anyone could be a hit and a wave of Japanese admiration boosted the popularity of anime and Japanese video game technology like Nintendo.
At the turn of the millennium, karaoke took on a more serious note in American culture. With the advent of shows like “American Idol,” aspiring talent saw the opportunity to sing karaoke as pop star or rock star practice. In the past, the best singers would occasionally receive a standing ovation, a free drink at the bar or a small pot of prize money. Today, however, singers can get recruited by agents hidden in the audience and awarded with lucrative multi-million-dollar contracts. Everyone enjoys a good sing-a-long these days and Numark was quick to revolutionize karaoke equipment with the KMX01, KMX02 and CDN25+G, which make performances even more professional-sounding.
The popularity of karaoke bars has greatly increased. “For people who don’t sing but like to watch, the show has given them a reason to have a drink and stick around for a few hours,” says Grant Tucker, a veteran karaoke host in Glendale, California. Although, the crowd is also more discerning with many more “Simons” than “Paulas,” which may send the trend from the public sphere into private living rooms with the advent of Playstation’s Karaoke Revolution.