The smell of roast duck emanates from the kitchen. The living room is bordered with cozy red and green lights, with the hulk of a pine tree twinkling in the corner. Your family members begin showing up, handing you their heavy coats and carrying shiny gifts with brilliant bows and curled ribbons. Yet sometimes when you haven’t seen your relatives in a while, it can be a little awkward. You need something to get the party more animated, something that will make precious memories for years to come. How about some Christmas karaoke? This is something that the whole family can enjoy.
To host a karaoke party at Christmas, you will need a karaoke system to play the songs, videos and scrolling words. Aim for an all-in-one that comes with all necessary cables and microphones. You may want to wrap it up and give it as a gift or you might want to have this item set up as guests arrive and keep it at your house to entertain guests year after year. Set it up after dinner to stave off the food comas and keep the party going. For $100, you could buy the SDAT Professional Karaoke Machine with MP4 Playback and it plays karaoke songs on CD, mp3, DVD and CD G. Or for $117, you can get the Emerson GM955, which includes a 7-inch monitor and speakers, but also connects to separate units as well.
This all-in-one karaoke system also includes a special tone-control microphone and comes with features like echo and auto voice control. The Singing Machine STVG-718 CD+G Karaoke System is a very similar system for $150 that includes a camera too. Lastly, The Song Station, recommended by People and Rolling Stone magazines, is one of the more impressive units to look at, boasting a tall stand which scrolls lyrics and equally tall detached speakers for superior sound quality. Ranging between $200 and $250, this machine comes with a number of special features, as well as 53,000 built-in songs, and is a must for anyone looking to host a karaoke party a few times a year.
Next, you will need music for your Christmas karaoke bash. There are several things to look at when buying karaoke music. First, look at your karaoke system and see which formats it plays. You can buy karaoke songs on a Compact Disc, on a Digital Video Disc, in MP3 format downloaded on the computer or in CD G format (which plays the music and also the scrolling lyrics, unlike the CD which only plays music). You should also consider how the songs are encoded. Can you access the original versions, as well as the accompaniments? Are there full vocals for a sing-a-long, subdued vocals or no vocals at all? Generally, the best karaoke songs have extremely quiet vocals or no vocals. If your player accepts mp3 karaoke format, then you can download karaoke songs of your choosing from sites like www.rhapsody.com or www.eztracks.com. Or you may also want to purchase software like Karaoke Suites or Video Hoster (www.mtu.com) to convert all your existing holiday albums into karaoke tunes for everyone to enjoy.
Since the show “American Idol” came out, the general public has been fascinated with exploring their vocal tones, ranges and inclinations. There are stars embedded within us, but how will we know if we never try? The microphone has a tremendous ability to skyrocket our sound from amateur shower-singer to big-stage superstar. A Christmas karaoke event can discover those stars within your family, help everyone de-stress from the hectic holiday season and keep everyone entertained for hours to make your gathering the best one yet!