Home karaoke systems have been around for at least a decade, but with “American Idol” consistently garnering record-breaking televisions ratings and shows like “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” and “The Singing Bee” trying to grab a piece of the action, it’s no wonder that they’re enjoying a resurgence. With everyone wanting to become the next Taylor Hicks or Carrie Underwood, and even so-so singers getting their 15 minutes of fame, it’s completely acceptable to sing your heart out in front of your friends or within the privacy of your own home.

Enter the home karaoke machine. Everyone from young children to those in middle age and beyond are picking up the microphone and crooning to their favorite tunes. When you’re in the market for a home karaoke music player, though, how do you know which to choose?

There are four main types of home karaoke music players. The first is the traditional singing machine that comes with a microphone and hooks up to your television. You insert a karaoke CD or cassette into the player and it displays the lyrics to the songs (and perhaps video) on your television. You sing along to the music using the microphone and hear the results through either the television speakers or through built-in speakers in the karaoke machine. This type of home karaoke music player is rather cumbersome and not very portable.

The second type of karaoke machine is a stand-alone model. It typically has a small black and white screen (about five-and-a-half inches), speakers, and a microphone. It may also have a small video camera built in. With these home karaoke music players, you can read the lyrics on the small screen. If you hook it up to your television and VCR, you can use the video camera to superimpose an image of the person singing onto the screen and record their performance to tape. While this type of machine can be fun for parties, the small black and white screen is a major drawback. Another disadvantage of the traditional singing machines and the stand along models is that you’re limited in the songs you can play. In other words, you have to wait for popular tunes to come out on karaoke CDs or cassettes before you can start singing them. By this time, songs are generally out of date and not as much fun.

The third type of karaoke is packaged as only a microphone. It comes with about three dozen songs preloaded, through you can also load MP3 downloads. While this type of home karaoke music player is more portable and is meant to be plugged into your television, there’s no mechanism for reading the lyrics. This means that your musical performance has to be just that – a performance where you already know the words to the songs.

The fourth type of karaoke player is among the hot new gadgets hitting the market. It can best be described as a cross between an iPod and a MP3 player. These specialized MP3 players allow you to buy MP3 downloads, load them into the player, and input the song lyrics. Then proprietary software allows you to remove the original voice track from the song and record your own voice over the music while reading a display of the lyrics.

This type of karaoke player is definitely poised to sweep the market. It’s portability is unprecedented – in essence, it’s a handheld karaoke MP3 – in that you don’t need to be anywhere near a TV in order to use it. It also has the advantage of being able to play any song – even top 20 Billboard hits.

Of all the karaoke music players on the market, the cutting edge MP3 karaoke player is the one to beat.

By: Chris Robertson

About the Author:
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Home Karaoke Music Players or Majon’s Music directory.

While Cat Stevens sung “I Never Wanted To Be A Star,” you personally can’t wait to see your name in lights and are feel you could easily be the next American Idol. You practice every day with the help of Karaoke and you’re sounding real good! But why not increase your song vocabulary by downloading free karaoke songs online?

Karaoke is big business and demand for karaoke music continues to grow and that’s one reason so many sites have appeared offering free songs to download.

If you are wondering what the catch is it’s really not so bad. Most of these sites combine selling karaoke equipment such as players, mics, and speakers with selling karaoke CD’s and tracks. They entice you by offering you free downloads in hopes that you’ll spend some money on other things. So it’s a win win for you. You can get free stuff and get good deals on hardware too.

Some sites offer no equipment just miles and miles of songs that are available for download. They offer a fair selection of free songs to download but then also offer a huge selection that you must pay a small fee to download. Fees are reasonable and it’s a great way to build your collection.

Other sites offer free songs and then provide Karaoke software packages which they sell. These packages might provide a variety of functions such as providing you with editing options or turning your PC into a karaoke machine.

There are also sites that offer free samples that you can download to try or play with. Then if you like the song or the mix you buy the full track for a small fee. You might also be able to purchase a monthly membership which allows you unlimited downloads.

Whatever the reason for providing free downloads it’s a great way to build your karaoke library. Then you can start to put together your karaoke CD’s. You can use special software to compile your cd’s add lyrics that scroll across the screen, and even have background videos.

The software isn’t that difficult to use and what’s even better is the number of packages that are available that are free or almost free. There are all kinds of freeware and shareware choices as well as your traditional commercial products.

If you have a karaoke player good for you, but if you are constantly scrambling to find a club that’s got karaoke night or hit a friends house, now you can have your own player for cheap. There are all kinds of software packages that can turn your computer into a player.

Sites like Free Karaoke, Kara Fun, Karaoke Info, VanBasco, Source Tool, Mr. Free Free, My Music Tools, and My Music all offer free songs that you can listen to, download, and sing to. Of course there are many other sites available too. Just do a quick search online.

So the next time you get the urge to practice some new material start by doing a search online for free karaoke songs. You’re going to see your name in lights real soon.

By: Nan K. Edemann

About the Author:
Nan worked in a karaoke bar for 9 years before starting his own audio electronics store. His store specializes in karaoke machines and accessories and a much larger variety of items than almost all large department stores. At http://www.karaokeadvisor.com, he shares his experience with you by listing out the top karaoke essentials with buying advice on various products.

Karaoke represents a freedom that few other activities in the field of entertainment can. It gives people the courage to come up in front of an unknown audience to sing songs even in the face of possible humiliation.

The choice of music for a karaoke session depends on the kind of audience it is being played out in front of. Most people prefer a pop or rock song, while others go for country, and a few even hold opera karaoke sessions. Karaoke CDs are available in all these varieties and thus defining a list of the top ten karaoke songs is very difficult. What may be the best for some people will be absolute rubbish for others. However, when playing for a large audience it is essential to know popular tastes because nothing bores as much as an ill-planned karaoke party. In general, fast contemporary numbers are a big hit at any party, but ideally, there should be a mix of tempos for the best entertainment. In addition, there should be an equal distribution for male and female solos and duets. For a crowd that likes to sing, there must be songs that allow good singers to show off their voices as well as songs for the not so good singers to save face.

Based on popular opinion and requests made at karaoke bars, the most loved karaoke songs are “Summer of ‘69″ by Bryan Adams, “Hotel California” by the Eagles, and John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Among the oldies, its Louie Armstrong’s “What a wonderful World” and Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock.” Among the female vocals, there are songs such as “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain, Diana King’s “I Will Survive,” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper. For duets, there are options such as “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” “A Whole New World”, and the ever-popular John Travolta-Olivia Newton John number, “Summer Love.” Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but it represents very popular songs that will be recognized and enjoyed by any audience.

By: Elizabeth Morgan

About the Author:
Karaoke provides detailed information on Karaoke, Karaoke Machines, Karaoke Music, Karaoke Downloads and more. Karaoke is affiliated with Hip Hop Music [http://www.z-HipHop.com].

A karaoke machine has an audio input, an audio output and a way of changing the music’s tone and pitch. There are karaoke machines that have the means of vocal suppression. The machine actually suppresses the original singer’s voice and allows the music to be feed through the machine; the results, it must be said, are not great. Generally, karaoke machines have a microphone input replete with Video CD, CD+G, Laser Disc, et al. Of these, CD+G possess sub code, a particular track that is used to encode lyrics and pictures that are displayed on the screen. Some places that offer karaoke have KTV, which is karaoke with the ability to display video lyrics.

Karaoke machines possess equipment to electronically alter the music’s pitch, allowing the user to pick a key appropriate for his or her vocal range without any change in the tempo of the original track. A well-known karaoke game randomizes the songs that people can attempt to sing. In some karaoke machines, this game – known as ‘Kamikaze Karaoke’ in parts of North America, is programmed to a particular genre so that all can participate.

Karaoke systems like ‘boom boxes’ have a mode that alienates the vocal track from the audio CDs. A process called the ‘center removal’ manages this. This unsophisticated approach often manifests itself in the low performance of voice removal.

Computer programs are being developed that serve the same purpose as a karaoke machine. In place of a normal recorded track, these programs use musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) instrumentation that provides the musical accompaniment. MIDI accurately defines each and every musical note in a musical instrument like the eclectic guitar and synthesizer, allowing computers and electronic musical instruments to swap data.

By: Elizabeth Morgan

About the Author:
Karaoke provides detailed information on Karaoke, Karaoke Machines, Karaoke Music, Karaoke Downloads and more. Karaoke is affiliated with Hip Hop Music [http://www.z-HipHop.com].