Karaoke has become one of the most favorite world wide activities in the past decade and it gained power over those who love music. Generally, music lovers are either singers or guitarists who are trying to make it big in the show business. Karaoke systems offer the average people the possibility to do something extraordinary and feel special while getting up on stage and perform the songs of their favorite stars. It is very common for karaoke singers to have great fun while "doing their thing" on stage, and some of them even become stars among their friends and other members of the crowd.



Karaoke systems are more about fun, than about singing really good, and the best thing about it is that anyone can try it. The karaoke system has come a long way since its inception in the early 70s because of modern technology. Today, the sound has top quality and the lyrics of the songs are displayed on monitors on stage for singers to follow using CD with graphics for the lyrics. Most of the current big name recording stars use this CD+G format while performing live to make sure they don't mess up the lyrics. Concert stages are provided with those monitors while stars perform, so the singer can see the lyrics come across the screen. You can imagine how big karaoke is that even those in the "big time" are using it to perform live concerts.

Elvis Presley was the first star to use a karaoke system although he didn't use a TV monitor, but cue cards with the lyrics to his songs on them. It is also claimed that Jimmy Hendrix was the first recording artist to produce an actual CD+G karaoke system. The only difference is that his creation had psychedelic graphics moving to the music instead of words. Still, his creation gave birth to the idea and the technology of modern day Karaoke CD+G discs. And these discs no doubt represent the foundation of what has become a world wide entertainment phenomenon constantly growing in popularity.

The CD+G format is the accepted standard karaoke format for singers and KJs all over the world over, and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. After the track is produced to sound as close as possible to the original recording, it is uploaded on a computer as a .wav file and added Graphics as backgrounds and, of course, the lyrics to the song being produced. The lyrics flow form one screen to another like an animated slide show, each screen showing up at the right time according to the song played, thus the singer can see the lyrics when needed. The lyrics are highlighted as the original lead singer performs.

Today, you can find karaoke shows in almost any city, from the large cities to rural communities, in the U.S. and across Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, and mostly in Japan where it actually originates from and where it is still very big. However, American ingenuity was the one that brought karaoke to its high-tech state of existence that it enjoys today.

Karaoke systems are generally found in nightclubs, bars, and cocktail lounges that hire karaoke operators, or KJ (Karaoke Jockeys), and spend thousands of dollars on sound equipment so they can provide fun and entertainment for their customers. Singers are provided with sign-up slips to sign up for their turn. Each song has a number for organizational reasons, which is used by the KJ to enable quick song selection.

Karaoke singing can be a very fun and quite addictive activity once you give it a try and get up on stage and sing. With this type of performing there's no need to be nervous, as everyone around had their first time singing in front of the crowd too. You might want to know that even experienced singers didn't sound real good their first time as it happens with 99% of everyone singing their very first song,. In fact, this is the beauty of karaoke singing because it's all about fun! Anyone can try it and then decide they want to get better by keep doing it. Some people even go on to form bands thanks to this experience, and self confidence gained through karaoke singing.