Party Hard With A Karaoke Machine

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.

For consumers who would rather not buy a bulky karaoke machine to take up more space in the living room, The Leadsinger Microphone LS-3000 (available at www.leadsinger.com) has a built-in processor capable of storing 300 karaoke hits, although additional song cartridges can also be purchased.

Singers simply plug the microphone into their television sets, choose the song and watch the high-resolution graphics and highlighted lyrics on their screens. For $149, this affordable karaoke solution is perfect for kids and teens who love "American Idol."

There are a number of places that sell the karaoke machine and karaoke equipment. Amazon, 24 Electrics, Argos, Empire Direct and Tesco are a few online retailers that have a great selection and reasonable prices. For kids, KB Toys, Toys R Us and Amazon offer karaoke machines as low as $30 that meet the basic needs.

In addition to the karaoke system, consumers will need to buy CDs, DVDs, CD Gs or digital copies of karaoke songs. While most set-ups come with at least one microphone, extra microphones can be purchased. Goodmans GMM28RF Wireless Karaoke Microphone, Philips MD650 Microphone and the Singing Machine SMM108 Wireless Microphone are good bets.

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