Best Karaoke Songs To Sing

Wow.  And you thought you’d seen it all?  Here I thought karaoke crowds were the most tolerant, genial bunch ever.  Better watch your tracks, folks!  The following is a list of real karaoke-related crime. 2000-2011 Philippines:  The “My Way Murders” seem to be triggered when a performer/victim sings Frank Sinatra’s beloved anthem to self-satisfied old age - half a dozen or so dead so far. 2005 Bulgaria:  British tourist assaults 2 locals who sang “We are the Champions” out of tune. 2007 New Jersey: Karaoke singers shoots and kills bartender in a dispute over the machine karaoke. 2008 Washington State: A little hippy chick assaults a man who sings Coldplay’s “Yellow.”  She kicked his *ss and head butted the police man who tried to intervene. 2008 Wisconsin:  Man attacks a man (and his friends and a bartender who got in the way) for singing Dio’s “Holy Driver.” 2008 Thailand:  A man driven out of his mind by too many “Country Roads Take Me Home” renditions guns down his neighbor’s karaoke get together.  8 killed. 2008 California:  Man attacks audience member who heckled him during his song. 2008:  Male karaoke club worker beats a woman with a pipe and then slashes her throat after her karaoke performance at a Little Kim birthday celebration. 2008 Malaysia:  A man is stabbed to death by a group of men for hogging the karaoke microphone. 2009 Tennessee:  Karaoke DJ Ben Goeser is shot and killed by an audience member while working with his karaoke DJ equipment to create a karaoke show everyone else loved. 2009 Conneticut:  Six underage women climb up onstage to attack a female singer after she responded negatively to their heckling. 2009 California: And man is attacked by 3 men and partially scalped with a knife following a verbal altercation at a karaoke bar. I’m afraid to sing karaoke again!  Will I pick a song, lose my pitch, and send someone off the deep end in the process? No wonder so many clubs (especially in the Pacific Rim!) are turning towards the private karaoke cubicle rental, rather than an open audience where everyone can heckle your IDOLpro karaoke singing.  Gees.  I guess it’s kill or be killed at the karaoke mic. - 21 months ago

There is a right way and a wrong way to act on karaoke night. I don’t want to come off as an arbitrator of manners, because I would fail miserably generally speaking.  But don’t you agree?  Everyone has been to a local karaoke show and had the evening ruined by cruddy behavior from random drunks or even regulars having a bad night. Sometimes “bad” behavior is just ignorance, though.  Take karaoke microphones use for instance.  Whether VocoPro or Nady, People just don’t KNOW what to do and not to do with a microphone.  Here’s stuff I see happening at nearly every karaoke club. 95% of the people I know will tap a microphone to see if it is working. Bad, bad, bad.  Even though dynamic mics are sturdy, that’s the wrong way to do a sound check.  If you don’t trust your KJ to make the mic live and adjust the volume appropriately, just say “check check” into the mic. Or maybe work on your stage presence by greeting the audience.  Tapping it can damage the mic, create feedback, or get germs all over your hand! Don’t throw or drop your karaoke mic after the song ends.  Only rock stars can treat microphones like used tissues. You will typically damage the little cartidge inside with behavior like this and then the KJ is going to have to replace it.  Read: expensive, pain in the butt repair. . Don’t twirl a wired microphone by the cord.  Punctuate your big finale vocally, not by showing your baton skills.  Unless you want the KJ to hate you because you damage his/her equipment. When you point microphones at a speaker or at another live microphone, you will typically make a bad feedback loop.  (You know, the shrieking or howling sound?)  You can also damage the speaker that way, so don’t use your mic like a laser pointer! Don’t touch the microphone with our mouth. (Ew!  No one sterilizes those things and everyone spits when they sing.  Everyone.)  You should hold the microphone close to your mouth, but 1-6 inches is about right.  Try to keep the distance about the same so the KJ can adjust the volume just once.  Let the KJ handle the volume in general…screaming into a mic is unpleasant for everyone involved.  So now you know some basics of karaoke microphone etiquette.  Respect the KJs machine karaoke set up and you’ll endear yourself.  A few KJs keep a set of good mics for regulars who have shown they know the ropes with a microphone do’s and don’ts.  So you might earn yourself access to better equipment with just a little courtesy! - 22 months ago

You can’t believe it right?  It’s illegal to buy, sell, or resell your perfectly functional and (perhaps) like-new UHF wireless microphone system?    How is this possible? As of June 12, 2010, the FCC has banned the use of the 700 band for wireless microphones.  And that puts a lot of karaoke DJ equipment owners and a lot of home karaoke enthusiasts out in the cold.  For the last 20 years the major microphone manufacturers have been selling wireless microphones banded to operating the 700 band.  (That’s because the 700 band has great signal characteristics.)  So is the FCC serious about this?  As a heart attack, unfortunately. See, the FCC sold off the 700 band - 698 to 806 MHz.  The television stations used to use it.  But digital TV cleared the 700 band in a big way, and the auction of most of the 700 band frequencies to private corporate America generated a cool 19 billion for the FCC.  Sweet for them.  Sad for us.  Because now the 700 band is essentially private property (except for a few frequencies reserved for government use).  So the FCC has to deliver those frequencies to the 700 band buyers - Verizon, AT&T, and Qualcomm mainly - which means you and I and our karaoke microphones have to clear off. Some karaoke aficionados are lucky owners of microphone systems that have an adjustable UHF broadcast frequency.  (Look on your receiver for the frequency your system uses…it’s printed on the bottom or back, usually.)  The FCC plans (so they say) to designate specific frequencies in the 500 band for wireless systems to use.  Meanwhile, you are allowed to slide down and use the frequencies below 698 MHz for your wireless mic. Your UHF wireless karaoke microphone doesn’t work outside the 700 band?  Um, that’s bad news.  Because if you get caught using it, your equipment will be confiscated and you will face fines up to $10,000.  (That’s right, ten grand! Not a typo.)  Feeling bitter about spending hundreds (even thousands!) of dollars on a wireless microphone system that is now illegal to use?  Well, you aren’t alone.  There are over half a million wireless UHF microphones floating around the USA and many of them operate only in the 700 band.  Private microphone users are getting jacked, basically. Hate to be the bearer of bad news.  No one really thought the FCC would bring this hammer down.  Too many companies, churches, DJ and random people own wireless mic systems for a practical enforcement of such a law.  But a law it is and the FCC claims to plan to enforce it.  I don’t know how…most wireless microphone signals don’t travel that far.  Maybe the FCC will use little mobile detection units, or something.  It’s a puzzler. If you’ve got a machine karaoke system with wireless mics, you should know what you are risking every time you fire up your gear.  VHF microphones are not impacted by this law.  Wired microphones are not a problem.  UHF mics that work outside the 700 band are allowed.  But don’t get caught using your 700 band mic.  The penalty is steep. - 23 months ago

Here’s one for the KJs out there: How do you determine rotation?  I know some KJs who go strictly by the order that request slips come in.  Wow!  The show suffers by that method, I think.  But you can get away with that when you are in a dedicated karaoke club.  Or when your crowd is so small you don’t have a choice. The problem is that song requests tend to come in clumps.  You’ve got a group of friends and they all like 80’s rock, and suddenly you are up to your eyeballs in Bon Jovi and WhiteSnake.  Or an older crowd will sing Sinatra and Crosby until your eyes cross.  And so on with genres. And the danger with that is you can lose part of your audience with a lopsided rotation.  People who don’t like a certain type of music will get worn out with back-to-back tracks and leave.  That’s bad for the establishment and bad for the KJ. Better to manage your rotation more actively, I think.  You can’t fully control or plan a rotation.  It’s a a wild card kind of thing.  But you can apply intelligent guidance, haha.  Stagger out the request slips based on: genre tempo redundancy It’s the KJ’s job to take the song request slips and order them so that there isn’t a glut of any one type of genre (rock, country, pop etc).  Do what you can to stagger genres in a coherent way.  You don’t want to give your crowd whiplash, but you don’t want boredom either.  I think some genres blend into each other more gently, don’t you?  Country and pop are close cousins, in the modern music scene.  And jazzy standards can slide up against slow rock nicely, depending.  It’s going to take a little work and all of your knowledge about different types of music.  Isn’t that what you love about being a machine karaoke DJ?! Then you need to consider the tempo issue - you don’t want to line up all the slow songs and then lay out all the fast ones.  Karaoke tends towards slower songs, anyway.  If you receive a mess of ballad requests , you might have to hunt up a regular who can sing something with some energy in the midst of that mess.  Otherwise everyone will be crying in their beer, and that’s no good.  I know some KJs who increase the tempo of the track with their VocoPro equipment to get a little more life out of the popular but dragging songs.  Real beauty is to find a couple regulars who can sing DANCE songs that get people out of their chairs, even.  That’s a blessing we don’t all get, I suppose. Finally, you’ll have to set policy on repeat songs.  This can be a real downer, since there are some songs that lend themselves to karaoke and you would welcome a repeat performance.  But many KJs find that a “one song one time per night” rule is a good policy.  Makes the agony of 4 groups singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” a thing of the past (can I get an AMEN?!).  It makes for a better show to have variety and to push people to come up with something new to sing, sometimes. So that’s some thinking on arranging your rotation.  Good luck and happy karaoke DJing!  - 23 months ago

Why do we love wireless karaoke microphones? We can walk around the room with our coolness We don’t trip over the cord and fall down We don’t have to mess with set up and tear down No one can twirl our mic by its cord if it’s wireless Why do we hate wireless karaoke? Sometimes you hear someone’s baby monitor through it The FCC is on the war path Finding a clear channel that is legal can be hard Feedback is more common using wireless But once someone goes wireless, they almost never want to go back.  It’s addictive!  Personally, you don’t see me using wireless because I get weird adrenalin rushes and sometimes shake like a leaf when I’m singing.  So a mic stand is a blessing for me.  But for most karaoke equipment owners, the only way to go is wireless. I’ve heard the VocoPro wireless mics, and I say they are excellent choices if you are sharing your gear around town.  They sound good and they are readily repairable.  You won’t cry big tears if a singer with too much liquid courage wants to use one and you’ll still get quality sound output. If you are looking at wired microphones, I like the Acesonic SX-88 SoundMax Legendary Vocal Microphone.  It has a lifetime warranty, and you can’t beat that!  Plus it sounds really good. I know that Shure and Neuman are the big name brands in microphones, and that’s a great way to go for personal use at home.  But if you are traveling and allowing others to use your microphone, do you really want to hand over a $400+ piece of karaoke DJ equipment to anyone who wants to sing.  Not me!  I’ve been told by the manufacturers that a high end unknown brand is often cheaper and just as good as the mid-line big name brand.  Hmmm! - 23 months ago

Feedback is a pain for karaoke DJs.  You’ve got more problems than a DJ because of that set of wireless microphones and the fact that you’ve got to turn the volume on those mics up and down constantly.  One singer is quiet and another really belts it out.  And you’ve got those sleeper karaoke singers…starting a quiet and timid and you turn the volume way up and then suddenly you’ve got Celine on your hands and you mic gain is too high…ack, feedback! Sometimes KJs get more sound feedback because karaoke night is…well, amateur hour.  Your singers often don’t know the first thing about where to hold a microphone.  Or where to NOT point the microphone.  They cup the mic, or - HORROR - swing the mic on the cord.  They tap it.  They point it at another singer.  Let’s face it, karaoke night is more likely to experience feedback because performers aren’t professionals who know the ins and outs of your karaoke DJ equipment system. So, a karaoke DJ needs to ring out the room more than most DJs do.  Ideally, you could just auto pink with the dbx DriveRack. But since KJs are tragically underpaid, odds are you don’t have $600 to buy the best speaker management system going.  What can you do?  Use that graphic equalizer to ring the room, baby! First set up your system how it will be for the show.  Place muted microphones behind the main speakers.  Your main speakers should be angled away from the microphones if at all possible.  If you are using floor monitors, point them toward the microphones where your singers will be standing.  You’re going to need a nice stable track for a sound check - something without too many peak-y volume changes - and some volunteer to sing the ring for you. Power up the speaker amps and crank that volume to full.  Use your VocoPro mixer to bring the master (aux1 or send1) speaker volume to unity gain (U).  Next, bring all the channel monitor gain controls to the minimum setting.  Then unmute the microphone.  Now have your sound check volunteer start singing. Work with the microphone volume control.  Bring the volume fader to unity gain and then gradually begin increasing the volume on the microphone.  Run that sound check song with your singer as you continue to bring the microphone volume up.  You will come to a point where you hear feedback as it develops.  Go slowly as you raise the gain, because you are going to individually tune out each feedback frequency you discover. As soon as you hear the system getting unstable, use the equalizer.  One of the 31 sliders will control the problem frequency range.  Fiddle with the sliders till you figure out which one it is.  Slide it all the way down to cut the feedback.  Then slide it back up to a position shy of the offending feedback. (If you tune the band out completely, your sound will get pretty bad pretty quick.) Then, continue to raise the volume of the microphone until you hear feedback developing again.  Locate the next problem frequency with your equalizer and tune that frequency out. Rinse and repeat. You may find half a dozen or so offending frequency ranges that need adjustment as you bring up the microphone.  These frequencies are likely to jump around on the equalizer depending on the acoustic qualities of the room.  After 6 or 7 adjustments you ought to have plenty of volume to fill the room. Now you can turn up the other microphone channels as long as you keep the monitor levels under the main microphone you just adjusted.  Finally, turn down the channel monitors by 15% to give your system space under that feedback range you just discovered.  And that’s it, you did the ring.  You should experience much less feedback if you keep the volume under that setting you’ve just rung and if your singers behave.  (Ha) - 24 months ago

Q : Can I Use My Home Theater stereo system to Sing Karaoke? A:  Sure you can.  But your home theater receiver and speakers aren’t designed to handle live vocals the way that karaoke DJ equipment is.  You definitely don’t want to wail karaoke on your home stereo system with a cranked up microphone.  Because you will probably blow those home theater speakers. Q:  But what about my CDs and DVDs?  Aren’t they loaded with vocal tracks?  A:  Yes, but the vocals on a CD and a DVD are compressed.  CDs have the volume peaks limited and the dynamic ranges reduced.  Your CD tracks may seem loud, but the overall change in dynamics is controlled in such a way as to keep the load change on home stereo speakers very light.  When you sing into a live microphone, there is no control over the volume you put out.  Go from singing a quiet low note to belting out a high note and the speaker might not survive it. Public address systems are designed to handle live vocals.  The PA speakers are more rugged and vocal speakers are designed to be sturdy in the mids where most voices are.  A PA system can take more abuse than a home stereo system. That being said, you can make a home stereo system suitable for karaoke in a couple ways: First, you could keep your microphones turned down a bit and use the mixer correctly to lighten the load on your home theater speakers Or Second, you could put a limiter between the mixer and the power amp Personally, I prefer to use a machine karaoke with a built in player, mixer, amp and speaker.  These portable jobs are terrific for karaoke and you can take the party anywhere you want.  You can hook them into a home theater system if you want, or you can run them independently.  Some portable machine karaoke pump out more than 100W through their onboard amp and speaker which should be enough sound for almost any home enthusiast.  (Unless you want the neighbors to start complaining.) - 2 years ago

Karaoke Media Disc Formats: Read this post about karaoke disc formats. Clarifying! - 2 years ago

Oh, please don't sing these songs. I know, you want to sing them. They are fun or beautiful or catchy. You enjoy singing them in the car (with the windows up) or in the shower. I understand. But they don't translate into karaoke performances very well. Or at all. Read on to find out why! - 21 months ago

Question from a reader: I am looking for a wireless rechargeable microphones (dual) for home karaoke. What I have in mind right now is either the Acesonic UHF-2932 or VocoPro UHF-3200. My questions: 1. Which one is better in terms of quality & durability? 2. What are the feature differences between the two? Thanks. This is a tough one to answer because picking a wireless microphone for home use is complex. First, of the two microphones you mentioned, I like the Acesonic UHF-2932 quite a bit. It has the ability to switch channels (16 different channels per mic, or 32 choices for 2 mics) which is really nice if you get a lot of wireless interference in your venue. Acesonic is good for quality and they have always been quick to rectify any technical problems I've encountered. The tech support at Acesonic is actually SUPPORTIVE. VocoPro is a very popular brand. It is more widely known and has been around longer. Nothing wrong with it, but the Acesonic mic has better features at a better price, IMO. That being said, I actually would pick a completely different mic than either of these if I were you. If you are using it at home, I would suggest you look into VHF microphones. I only say it because the FCC has recently passed a law restricting the public use of certain UHF frequencies by wireless microphones. So far the FCC has only restricted the 700 band UHF frequencies, but I think the writing is on the wall. (They will do it again and again - they are making money selling off the UHF bands to cellular and cable companies.) FCC promises to designate a frequency in the 500 band for UHF wireless mics, but I don't think it is worth the risk of buying UHF for home use until the whole thing shakes out. UHF mics are less vulnerable to interference than VHF, but in your home that shouldn't be a problem. I like these VHF wireless mics quite a bit: IDOLpro VHF-269 It is one my most affordable rechargeable wireless, and the rechargeable battery is 9v. A lot of people like that. Nice quality, too. API PRO-X An older yet relatively unknown karaoke brand. But they have good stuff with good features and pro DJ durability on their equipment. Both of those mics work in the VHF band, which the FCC shows no interest in auctioning off to the highest bidder. ;-] Good luck with your mic selection! (It's strangely complicated, isn't it?)

Let me just say that I think that some sort of feedback controller is an indispensable part of any mobile DJ rig. When you are playing at five or more different venues every week, you'll run yourself ragged trying to adjust your 31 band equalizer by hand with each set up of your karaoke DJ equipment. Even keeping a record of the rung out equalizer won't really help, because humidity and the number of bodies in the room and gees, the phase of the moon all screw with the way sound travels through a given room. Although ringing out each venue and then taking a photo of the equalizer so you've got a starting point every time you set up is a pretty good idea. (It's what I'd do if I didn't love the DriveRack PA that let's me auto-pink any room.) Especially since you can probably use your cell phone to take the picture and then store it on your DJ laptop, ha. It's not like the old days where you had to get film developed and carry around a pile of prints. And then someone uses the photos as a coaster and you've got to dig up the negative... Technology is the DJ's friend, I say. Hurrah for digital images! But the best efforts to ring out your venue and record those settings aren't going to cut it when you are looking to control feedback 100%. You'll want some sort of unit that automatically filters feedback. For karaoke DJs the challenge is even bigger, since you are likely to be dealing with a whole set of wireless microphones. And while those wireless VocoPro mics are terrific, it is getting harder and harder to find a no-interference frequency to get a clean signal. With the new FCC rules about which UHF frequencies you can legally use, that's going to restrict your ability to jump away from a problem microphone range even more. Plus wireless mics cut your singers free from the cord...we've all seen those gypsy singers that wander around the bar without a care to the location of the speakers and how they are pointing the microphone directly into them. Sigh. Regular old unidirectional wired karaoke microphones are sometimes a blessing. All this to say, you need a feedback destroyer if you want to run karaoke shows in multiple venues. Whether you like the Behringer Ultragraph, Peavey Feedback Ferret, or the granddaddy of all feedback controllers the dbx DriveRack PA, there is one problem with any feedback control unit: Every time a feedback unit inserts a notch filter into another particular frequency it will alter the sound output of your system. True, most of these alterations are so minor that you'd have to be the world's biggest audiophile to hear them. (Doesn't that describe every DJ you've ever met, though?) Taken individually, I wonder if there is one ear in a million that could detect the presence of a single notch filter. But since most rooms have 6 or 8 problem feedback frequencies and those frequencies are generally scattered across the lows mids and highs, there can be an audible change in your sound. And if you've got a room that's a feedback misery, the automatic feedback units are going to jam so many notch filters in that your sound could be distorted enough that ANYONE might notice. So, when you are looking at a feedback unit, make sure the notch filters are as narrow as can be. That's why I like the DriveRack PA - really narrow notch filters. The narrower the angle of the notch filter, the smaller the distortion of your sound is going to be. Plus, I love pointing the calibration microphone around. Makes me feel like Star Trek technology has arrived at last.

Have you ever bought a karaoke disc and then found you didn't have the right equipment to play it? That can be frustrating. There are a whole bunch of different karaoke media formats now. You have CDG, DVD, MP3, NEO+G, WAV and more. Some karaoke DJ equipment promises the ability to remove vocals from your normal CDs, even. Wading through all that can be frustrating when all you really want to do is sing. In this post, I just want to talk about the four common discs formats for karaoke media. When you order any karaoke media, you should know that the songs are recreations of songs done in the style of the original artist. The original artist gets a percentage of every legitimate disc purchase as a royalty. But the original artist doesn't typically record karaoke discs. Karaoke CDG, also called karaoke CD+G, is the most common and popular karaoke disc format. You can play these in any standard CD player, but you'll only see the lyrics onscreen if you are using a CD+G karaoke player hooked up to a TV monitor. That's what the "+G" means - the graphics of the song lyrics are embedded on the disc. That's why CD+Gs cost more than regular CDs, or that's why you get so few songs on a CD+G as compared to a regular CD. CDGs will not have lead vocals to guide your singing. CD+Gs have only background vocals and instrumentals. DVD Karaoke discs are another type of karaoke media you'll find. If you want to play DVD karaoke discs, you need a DVD player with a karaoke function. A DVD karaoke disc won't usually play on a standard CD player. And it won't work correctly in a standard DVD player without a karaoke function, either. On the bright side, these discs have a removeable lead vocal - so you can choose to hear the lead singer or not. Also, most DVD karaoke discs have a video type background behind the graphic lyrics that come up on the monitor screen to guide your singing. Another karaoke media on the market are karaoke VCD. These are video compact discs that work like CD+G, only there will be a video behind the lyrics that will show up on the monitor screen. Like CD+G, VCD don't have a lead singer voice but only backup singers and instruments. Karaoke VCD will not work in a standard CD player. The fourth common karaoke disc format is CDGM (compact disc graphics multiplex). You need a CDG player with a multiplex balance control to play these. The multiplex balance control will enable you to remove the lead singer vocal track. You can turn the lead vocal track up and down depending on how much help the karaoke performer needs getting through the song. A standard CD player doesn't have multiplex balance control, so a CDGM would play like a regular CD. Only it would cost a lot more, haha. So next time you are looking to purchase a karaoke disc, make sure you've got the right player to use it for karaoke. Once you open a karaoke disc, you won't be able to return it so make sure you've got what you need before you crack the plastic. There are newer karaoke disc formats on the market now, too. NEO+G are for RSQ karaoke machines. Super CD+G (SCDG) are playable in CAVS machine karaoke and in PC Windows with a DVD-ROM drive. (The SCDG disc has the program to load and play the songs on your PC built into it.) Most of the new karaoke media formats hold a lot more tracks than the old formats. So far, they are the preserve of the KJ or avid karaoke enthusiast because a casual buyer would find them prohibitively expensive. But like all technology, the prices come down eventually.

When your karaoke DJ equipment is limited by the physical space you have to set up in it is common to experience feedback. Feedback is that howling or shrieking sound that gets everyone clutching their ears. It's caused by your microphones picking up sound coming out of the speakers and then that sound gets amplified and comes back out the speakers and then it gets picked up by the microphone again and again until the loop is broken. Feedback is an sound loop that every DJ wants to avoid. But when your venue is small, or when your equipment set up is fixed, feedback reduction can be a real thorn in your side. It may help to know the common causes of feedback: Someone points a live microphone at an amplified speakerThe microphone and speaker are too near each otherWireless (omni-directional) mic signals are more likely to get picked up as feedbackTwo microphones get pointed togetherLousy acoustics in the room (reflective surfaces like tile make echos)Lots of powered up equipment in a small spaceTurning up the volume on a mic too highObviously, rearranging equipment or changing the way people handle equipment is the solution to 95% of feedback. Do your best to make changes like: Place speakers in front of microphones and singersPoint speakers away from microphones - one eighty is best, but any angle helps.Train your singers to bring mic close to their mouths when they sing so you can turn the volume downTeach your singers not to cup the microphoneDon't let singers point the microphone at one anotherTurn off or mute unused microphones or speakers, especially wireless microphonesGo to unidirectional microphonesImprove the acoustics of the room (add carpet or sound absorbent materials)Use your equalizer to identify and dial out the problem frequency where feedback is occurringIf the above recommendations don't solve your karaoke feedback problems, you can always go with adding a feedback controller to your machine karaoke set up. A feedback controller is an affordable little gadget that automatically senses and filters out frequencies where feedback is developing in a live sound show. If your karaoke feedback can't be mitigated by the rearrangement of your equipment, you can always control it electronically!

Okay, I've taken this list making thing to a whole new level of insanity. I know. I tend to get a little compulsive. But these lists really ARE fun to write. If you are looking for a crowd pleasing karaoke duet to belt out through the 'ole VocoPro for the next karaoke night, here's my list of common karaoke songs that are duets. Duets for Karaoke A Whole New World - From "Aladdin" Brad Kane/Lea Salonga (movie voices)Islands in the Stream - Kenny Rogers/ Dolly PartonI've Had the Time of My Life - Bill Medley/Jennifer WarnerDoctor Jones - AquaProud Mary - Ike & Tina TurnerParadise by the Dashboard Light - MeatloafI Got You Babe - Cher & SonnySummer Nights - from "Grease," John Travolta/Olivia Newton JohnPicture - Kid Rock/ Cheryl CrowCruisin' - from "Duets," Gwenyth Paltrow/Huey LewisI Don't Know Much - Linda Ronstadt/Aaron NevilleFrom This Moment - Shania Twain/Bryan WhiteWhiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss You're the One that I Want - from "Grease" Olivia Newton-John/John TravoltaStop Draggin My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks/Tom PettyDon't Go Breakin My Heart - Elton John/Kiki DeeAin’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye/Tammy TerrellToo Much, Too Little, Too Late - Nat Kipner/John McIntyre VallinsUmbrella - Rihanna/Chris BrownGive It To Me - Nelly Furtado/Justin TimberlakeSo if you are looking to steal the spotlight with a partner, crank up the machine karaoke and get down to these karaoke duets. Enjoy!

These lists are fun to write. In the process of writing this post, it occurred to me: Karaoke songs women want to sing are very different than the songs men want to sing. Just look down this list of popular karaoke songs for women and you'll see emerging themes - litmus tests for true love, broken hearts, survival anthems, vengeance, and how great it is to be a woman. That makes this list sort of a summary for women all over the country, I'd say. Here are the top 15 in no particular order. Everyone who owns karaoke DJ equipment ought to have these songs in their songbook! Best Karaoke Songs for Women I Will Survive by Gloria GaynorI Love Rock’n’Roll! - Joan JettGoodbye Earl - The Dixie Chicks9 to 5 - Dolly PartonMan, I Feel Like a Woman - Shania TwainLike A Prayer - MadonnaIt’s In His Kiss - CherWhat’s Love Got To Do With It - Tina TurnerTorn - Natalie ImbrugliaComplicated - Avril LavigneThink Before he Cheats - Carrie UnderwoodDancing Queen - AbbaUnwritten - Natasha BedingfieldHollaback Girl - Gwen StefaniCan't Fight the Moonlight - Lee Ann Rimes Looking at the list, I know there are a few songs that aren't really going to be karaoke standards ten years from now. But I wanted to include songs for different types of voices and voice ranges. Plus I hope there's some variety of musical genre to appeal to different singers. Let me know if you tried a song from the list and how it went at your karaoke night. These songs sound good over a machine karaoke and are generally crowd pleasers. Just leave a comment!

Top Karaoke Songs for Men Looking for a track to sing at the next karaoke night? Here are some of the great karaoke songs for men. Most of them aren't too hard to sing. And all of them are crowd pleasing karaoke songs. When you are looking for the right song, remember that you should pick something that naturally fits your voice. Some of these songs are for low bass voices and some are for tenors, so choose your tune according to your own range! Remember, many KJs have the karaoke DJ equipment that will let them cheat a song up or down in key to match your voice. Almost all the VocoPro mixers can do that. I tried to pick a diverse set - you'll see country, heavy metal, rock, pop, etc. Hopefully you'll find your new signature karaoke song here on my list. Best Karaoke Songs For Men: 1. "Born in the USA" - Bruce Springsteen 2. "Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi 3. "Sweet Home Alabama" - Lynyrd Skynyrd 4. "Friends in Low Places" - Garth Brooks 5. "Pretty Woman" - Roy Orbison 6. "Bad to the Bone" - George Thorogood 7. "Jailhouse Rock" - Elvis Presley 8. "More Than Words" - Extreme 9. "All I Need Is A Miracle" - Mike and the Mechanics 10. "Keep On Loving You" - REO Speedwagon 11. "I Wear My Sunglasses at Night" - Corey Hart 12. "You Were Always On My Mind" - Willie Nelson 13. "Open Arms" - Journey 14. "Build me up buttercup" - The Foundations 15. "Shook me all Night Long" - AC/DC 16. "I’m Too Sexy" - Right Said Fred 17. "She’s a Lady" - Tom Jones Now you are wondering...why only seventeen? Why not either 15 or 20? Well, I wanted to make a list of ten. And I started with a list of thirty two. Somehow I ended up with seventeen. Don't ask me why. Blogging isn't an exact science.

If you adore karaoke, you’ll be horrified that this post even exists. But recently I’ve seen some unacceptable behavior at karaoke venues. And I’m not throwing a fit about a one time occurrence with drunken sorority girls, either. And I'm not even talking about the crazies choking and beating each other outside the venue. I’m talking about karaoke regulars breaking the unwritten rules. I wondered if I was likely to witness a cat fight between 2 church ladies last month over “You Can’t Take That Away From Me.” Sinatra would have blushed for them. Just to avoid a false step at the next karaoke event, I’m going to lay down some simple rules of etiquette for karaoke. Unfortunately, I anticipate that the exact people who should have this set of rules in their hot little hands will be the absolute last to ever read it. Give me the fantasy that thousands of KJs across the country printing it out and hanging it on their karaoke DJ equipment. These are the “I Can't Believe I've Got to Write This Down” rules for karaoke. I hope you’ll agree with me without reservation. Or I may cry. If you see me as unnecessarily strict, then you’re likely to be making me miserable at the karaoke night, as we speak. (Writing this post is making me sound old: “When I was young, we lugged our machine karaoke through the sleet and hail, up a hill each way AND we were polite, about it too…”) Regardless, here's 8 rules to follow if you want to avoid some of the worst karaoke behavior ever. You shouldn’t boo or hassle the performer ever. Never fail to applaud at the end of a tune. Even if they tripped and knocked themselves unconscious for a few seconds, forgot how to read, and displayed the musical ability of a dead fish. Nothing oils the squeaking wheel of a failed performance like a little ovation. You ought to be kind since you may deliver a sub-par performance someday yourself. Upstaging someone else by joining them onstage or wrestling at the mic uninvited is bad behavior. Respect the rights of others to own their solo moment, unless they issue an invitation. Never throw a diva tantrum on karaoke DJ. If your track hasn’t come up in the rotation, don't yell or whine. Assume the KJ deserves the benefit of the doubt – he or she likely has a plan for ordering the tracks in a given manner. Your performance might better suit the rotation after a contrasting song or it might disrupt a homogeneous set of songs coming soon in the venue. Assume the best and bide your time. Ask politely when you worry that your request was misplaced. Handle the songbook and the karaoke mic carefully. You are usually using the personal property of the karaoke DJ. KJs are usually compensated with peanuts and water, so messing up the VocoPro system is just a cruddy thing to do. Never put in a request slip in someone else’s name. I can’t imagine of a situation where a real friend could do that. Cursing over a karaoke mic is ridiculously rude. Profanity doesn’t need to be cranked up through a 350 watt speaker. Singing while you are drunk is only fun for you. (Though I bet you will wake up the next morning without that happy memory of your time on stage the night before.) Taking a shot before you sing in order to build up a little karaoke bravery is an honored part of the process, but if you can barely stand up to perform then you probably ought to stay seated. As a general rule, If you’re going to drink till you fall down don't sing karaoke! And there is the summary of core karaoke courtesy. I pray that you see the strictures of good karaoke manners carried out at each show you visit. But if you see patrons acting up on every side, copy these eight guidelines for karaoke etiquette and hang them high. Spread knowledge of karaoke good manners around the country!