This year the Superbowl featured yet another classic rock band in a long line of big names over the last few years, The Who, whose medley performance of their greatest hits was darn good considering the "godfathers of punk" are old enough to be called their grandfathers, not to mention they were more interesting than probably the quickest football game I´ve seen in awhile. Join Red Karaoke as we take a peek at the influential history of The Who.

The English band´s origins began with a group called High Numbers, formed by Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle, which in 1964 grew into The Who with the addition of one of Rock´s greatest drummers, Keith Moon. They were considered "visionary" and full of energy, spreading the anthem of their single My Generation, "Hope I die before I get old" as far as they could.

After more than ten top singles in the UK, The Who finally broke into the US Top 40 in 1967 with Happy Jack, following the hit in the same year with their biggest US single ever, I can see for miles which peaked at #9.

After a period of creating nothing but hit singles, The Who changed direction in the late 70´s towards conceptual rock opera, starting with Tommy, a two disc look at the spiritual path of a "deaf, dumb and blind boy."

With their return to hit singles came probably their most well known album, Who´s next, which has been called "flawless" and considered a defining moment for seventies rock. The album includes hits like Baba O´Riley´s, Won´t get fooled again, and of course the youth anthem Teenage wasteland.

In 1978 The Who suffered the loss of Keith Moon who died of overdose from alcoholism medication. After a period of mourning, the band welcomed Kenney Jones in his place and recorded two more studio albums, Face dances and It´s hard with him.

Though the band had an extremely long farewell tour in 1982, splitting off to work on new solo material, the Who couldn´t seem to stay away from the stage, no surprise for one of rock´s hardest hitting live acts, usually involving the destruction of some musical instrument. The band regrouped to go on many tours, including big city performances of their rock operas Tommy, which was adopted into a Tony award winning broadway in 1993, and the mod rock show Quadrophenia.

The Who, who have sold more than 100 million records, charted 27 top forty singles and have 17 top ten albums in the US, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. They were also honored in 2001 by the Grammy Foundation with a Lifetime Achievement Award for "creative contributions of oustanding artistic significance to the field of recording."

Get in touch with your rock roots and sing one of the many recordings by the Who here on Red Karaoke.

This week´s challenge is by Fleetwood Mac, and was chosen to honor the recenlty criticized Stevie Nicks. Who cares if she sand back up for the poorly matched Taylor Swift, Nicks is still the musical icon who gave us Landslide, a coming of age classic and the karaoke I am challenging you all to sing.

Landslide was written by Stevie Nicks when she was 26 and featured on Fleetwood Mac´s 1975 album. Many times Nicks has said she wrote the song in about 5 minutes, which is amazing considering it is one of the most heartfelt pieces of music about making choices and deciding where to go in life.

Which is exactly what Nicks was aiming for. "I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. I wasn't making it big in the music business. I was confused. [My father] told me I should give it about six months and I kind of agreed with him…" Nicks told Arizona Living in 1983, explaining the deep nature of the song.

Now the song has been sung by many who relate to the same idea, covered by artists ranging from the Smashing Pumpkins to the Dixie Chicks (their only number one hit ever!).

It´s your turn to give the Fleetwood Mac hit a try. Sing Landslide and post your rendition here in the forum. If you´re lucky, your version could be chosen and featured in next week´s newsletter!

Last night was the 52nd Grammy Awards, which featured plenty of star powered highs and lows, wins and losses ranging from the expected to the undeserved, and a few amazing high lights that likely won´t be forgotten for many grammy nights to come. Join Red Karaoke as we take a look at the entire night amd share what we think of the annual awards ceremony.

Stephen Colbert, a nominee himself, started off the night with some ho hum jokes, but finally got to the good stuff when he announced Lady Gaga as the first act. Her intro into Poker face was different, but in my opinion, not different enough for the queen of crazy, and I found myself bored- that is, until she was lowered into her own personal "fame machine" and popped out with none other than Elton John. Their duo of Your song may not have topped on Gaga´s list of bewildering stunts, but in the end it was a nice change of pace to see her display some serious musical prowress on the piano, and to hear her unmechanized voice for once.

Lady gaga´s Pokerface was among the nominees for the first category, Song of the year, along with Kings of Leon´s Use Somebody, Maxwell´s Pretty Wings, Taylor Swift´s You belong with me, and of course, Beyonce´s Single Ladies. Beyonce, who was a 10 time nominee, had her first win of the night which got me wondering if Miss Sasha Fierce would be cleaning up and break her previous record for Grammy wins.

Greenday and the cast of the new show American Idiot, which I confess I don´t have any idea what it is about, did a mildly entertaining performance of 21 guns before Taylor Swift beat out the likes of George Straight, Keith Urban and Leeann Womack for Best Country Album and accepted her first grammy publicly, no Kanye to interupt her special moment this time.

Beyonce followed with a performance of If I were a boy which medlied into Alanis Morissette´s You oughta know, which I would´ve described as yet another demonstration by the vocal goddess Beyonce of why we are all mere mortals, except that I was too distracted by the artist´s crotch grab early on in the set. While I understand the context of the move, I wish the usually classy Beyonce would´ve saved it for her tour, I mean, this IS the Grammys afterall.

Pink was on next, and her mesmerizing acrobatical performance of Glitter in the air was not only one of the best parts of the night, it was probably the most exciting thing to happen on the show for the next hour. The singer looked beautiful and her voice was perfection, even when suspended upside down for three minutes. Pink said it best later on in the night, there is no excuse for lip singing after that.

Zac brown band nabbed the best new artist award, beating out my personal choice, Keri hilson, which was followed by the same old stage swarm by the Black eyed peas and a somewhat boring performance by Lady Antebellum of her pretty country ballad Need you now. Stephen colbert ended up winning the Best comedy album and Kings of Leon surprised by stealing Record of the year from any of the more likely nominees; Beyonce, BEPs, Gaga AND Taylor Swift (yay for KOL!).

Jaime Foxx roused the crowd a bit with Blame it on the girl, featuring T-Pain and a surprise appearance by Slash wish was mildly interesting. Greenday expectantly won Best rock album though I would´ve voted for Dave Matthews Band personally. The following two performances were equally memorable for completely opposite reasons.

Taylor Swift, nominated a wopping 8 times, performed not just one but three of the hits off her album Fearless as well as a duet with Stevie Nicks. Now, I´ve always had a tender spot in my heart for the bright eyed young songwriter, but the only thing that could´ve been worse than her performance last night on the Grammys would´ve been if she had beat Beyonce for Best Female vocalist. Swift´s a sweetheart and I couldnt´t be happier that she was honored with Album of the Year for her own original material on Fearless, but that performance was better suited for a middle school talent show, not the Grammys.

Now, the 3D Michael Jackson tribute that followed was memorable but in the positive meaning of the word. Lionel Richie introduced MJ´s Earth Song which featured a star studded backup including Celine Dione, Usher, Smokey Robinson and an interesting matchup of idol rivals Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson (who looked AMAZING). The performance was moving, but not as moving as Jackson´s son and daughter who accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award on their father´s behalf, receiving a standing ovation to their emotional speeches.

While we were promised an exciting remaining Grammy night, not even Bon Jovi´s first Grammy appearance in history was enough to make it interesting. The night creeped on every so slowly through a few more awards (best rap collaboration by Rhianna, Jay-z and Kanye), a few somewhat impressive performances (Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige right on par with Dave Matthews Band), and the final win (or upset in some books) Taylor Swift for Album of the year.

Every person has their go to song during tough times. Over the past week, I´ve found myself singing along to Tom Petty´s I won´t back down in the back of my mind, while dealing with what could easily be described as a "tough" personal week, and now I have the chance to sing it out loud. That´s right, this week´s karaoke challenge is the classic message of defiance, I won´t back down.

Petty wrote I won´t back down as the first single on his solo debut, Full Moon Fever. The succesful song, topping the Rock charts and peaking at number 12, had plenty of starpower behind the hit. The song was cowritten by Petty´s buddy, lead of ELO John Lynne, and featured the Beatle´s Ringo Starr on drums and George Harrison on guitar.

So, whether you´re boss is riding your back, school is drowning you, or some other crazy stuff is going on in your life, think of Tom Petty and belt out I won´t back down. Post your rendition in the forum and you could be featured in next week´s newsletter.

It wasn't until films such as Saturday Night Fever and Thank God It's Friday that disco's rose in mainstream popularity. The Bee Gees, the Jacksons and Donna Summer played a crucial role in pioneering the disco genre. But the disco era was more than music, it was a lifestyle for many. When we think of the disco era the first thing that come to mind is the disco ball, afros, Studio 54, quad roller skates and disco clothes such as leisure suits, funky disco shirts, disco men's platform shoes, polyester disco pants, etc. Those were the days!

So, it was in this era that the singing brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice took the American disco scene by storm. It is estimated that the Bee Gees' record sales totaled more than 200 million, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all-time. The Bee Gees were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Their legacy is so profound that a 1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees".

Unfortunately, Maurice who was actually musical director of the trio passed away in January 2003 due to a strangulated intestine. In the same year, The Bee Gees received the Grammy Legend Award. Since then the remaining Barry and Robyn have occasionally got together to play at charity concerts. They also played at the 30th annual Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on 20 May 2006. According to perthnow, Robin has recently been touring Europe as a solo performer but there are still no plans to resurrect the Bee Gees banner. After Maurice's death, Robin and Barry decided to retire the group name, leaving it to represent the three brothers together.

At Red Karaoke, in honor of this legendary trio and to celebrate a bygone disco era, we're happy to bring an assortment of Bee Gees karaoke tracks for you to have fun recording and dancing. So, dust off your disco ball and invite your best Bee Gees-lovin' pals to have a karaoke disco party now.

The rankings and the way in which they are generated have always been one of the most debated issues on Red Karaoke, and any other site that offers the chance to sing or upload music and receive votes. No matter how clear and well planned the system, the popular votes always end in creating problems, because preferences vary from one person to the next, and because many times the system is abused by voting for buddies, voting in return or retaliation, or sometimes by intents to manipulate the ratings and rankings.

In Red Karaoke, we have spent nearly three years working through this problem. Even after creating multiple changes and improvements constantly, the ranking always creates huge debates, protests and complaints, due almost solely to the abuse of the popular voting. The problem is largely based in the confusion that the rankings based on popular votes will show the best singers, when in reality, it almost never does: to be popular in a community of singers has nothing to do with singing well or badly. It´s possibly to be an exceptional singer and never receive any votes because you have no friends in the community, or even because a great singer doesn´t get along well with everyone, or creates jealousy. So, often there are great singers missing from the rankings, which makes them angry, which creates arguments and debate, etc…

The Red Karaoke team has been circling this problem for more than a year, searching for a solution that can make both sides happy: for those who have great vocal technique, and for those that are popular for their personality, have many friends, or have more free time to meet people within the community.

Our solution is RKBot.

RKBOT´S FUNCTION

RKBot is software, a robot, a machine that analyzes and calculates, completely automatically, the technical quality of any recording. RKBot analyizes the following elements of each recording:

Notes: This relates to how the notes of the melody line are interpreted. Each note is defined by the start, duration, quality of intonation, intensity and the color (how well the note was sung). The color is derived from the results of the analysis of intonation and expression.

Intonation: This relates to to the relative intonation of the voice and the melody over time. In order to judge the melody, RKBot also compares the relativity of the notes with the pattern of intonation.

Expression: This relates to the expressive and ornamental style choices of the singer (vibrato, scoops, portamentos, etc.) The primordial difference between a professional singer and an enthuisast is precicely in the musical expression.

Based on these criteria, RKBot assigns a series of scores and presents a final average for each recording, between 1 and 10. The higher the score given by RKBot, in theory will mean the song analyzed is of a better technical quality. Although it is important to remember one thing: RKBot is not perfect. It is possible that errors may occur, and it is possible that a recording which seems mediocre may get good scores. It is also possible that a recording of bad quality may get a lower score, though the actual vocal techinique is good.

For this reason it´s important to take RKBot´s score with a grain of salt, but in general we believe that he will do a great job of scoring recordings, and will serve as a good judge of the singers with the best technical skills and those lacking something.

But remember, to have a good vocal technique does not always mean a good singer. There are singers whose vocal technique is appalling, and still are very succesfull selling disk by the millions. In music, not everything is black and white, and there are often many influential factors. Without a doubt many professional and succesful singers would receive low scored from RKBot.

Don´t be afraid or worried if their RKBot score are low: it doesn´t mean you still can triumph as a singer and gain many fans.

A very important different between RKBot and other automatic scoring systems like those of Singstar or Lips, is that our RKBot does not compare the recording with the original song. So be sure not to copy about the original, it´s not taken into account. As different as your version could be from the original, what is being rated is a good vocal techinque. This is a big plus of RKBot in comparison with the games mentioned, and permist much more variety and freedom while singing.

TWO TOTALLY NEW RANKINGS

And precisely for this reason, because the machine isn´t everything, and in order to cover every aspect of the site, from now on in Red Karaoke we will have two rankings. Or better said, two groups of rankings: there will be a ranking of users and recordings generated directly from the results of RKBot, and another ranking that we have called “popular” because it deals precisely with the popularity of members based on the votes they receive and the participation on the site. This ranking will also be influenced in part by the RKBot scores, so that working to improve your scores will be important for everyone.

This way, we will have rankings of singers and recording with good vocal technique and rankings of singers and recording that are most popular. The best of both worlds, and both at the same level, with the same space in the main page, and with a spot in each users records and the ranking pages.

Obviously, there remains the option to not receive votes as there has been, for those who don´t want to enter the game of the rankings. Thos who do not want to receive votes will not receive scores from RKBot either. And those who wish to receive votes will be analyzed by RKBot whether they like it or not. That is to say, those who decide to play, will have to play in both ranking, RKBot and Popular. You cannot be in one or the other: it has to be both, which will make the game that much more fun.

60 DAYS AND MINIMUM VOTES

Another important improvement is that, from now, every one of the rankings will only take into account the recordings made in the last 60 days. The older recordings will keep there votes and scores, but will no longer count in the rankings. This new rule will help to be sure the users and recordings that are most prominent are active members of the community, and make the rankings much more dynamic. From what we understand, a person who has not recorded anything in the last 60 days is not very interested in being in the rankings, and so won´t be taken into account.

An important detail: RKBot has only been working a dew days, so it still hasn´t been able to process the scores of recording older than 60 days. This process will continue over the next 3 months, whch means the older recordings, for the moment, will not show the RKBot score, but will soon in the near future.

Another change is that now, in order to receive an average popular rating of a recording, you must have a minimum of 3 votes. Until a recording receives 3 votes, it will not show its average rating. In this way it will be more difficult to know whom and how someone has voted on a song and will avoid some problems. Of course, votes will continue to be anonymous in order to avoid retaliations and fights. In any case, for those who want to know all about how the rankings and voting work (as much as we can tell), we recommend you visit this page.

RED KARAOKE, AS A VIDEOGAME

Essentially, all of this is no more than a game. The rankings simply add a bit of spice to this community. Red karaoke, with RKBot, will seems much more like a videogame like Singstar or Lips, which also give a score to each song. However, in Red Karaoke, we also have the popular vote which makes it much more complete than a traditional videogame. And given that RKBot does not compare the recordings with the original songs when scoring, this gives much more freedom to sing uniquely.

Having RKBot allows us to launch new games and new contests in the future, which we hope will make participation much more fun. We are sure many users will use RKBot to organize parties and games at home, or generate parallel competitions between daring members now that we have an impartial judge.

RKBOT, YOUR SINGING COACH

But RKBot isn´t just the independent judge that so many users have demanded. He is also a teacher, your own singing coach: you will be able to compete with yourself in order to get the best scores, which will help you improve your technique little by little. We are convinced that with RKBot the recordings of our site will improve, and it will be much more interesting for everyone.

Youtube has all sorts of interesting oddities, and plenty of inspiration for karaoke lovers like us here on Red Karaoke. Why just this morning, while stumbling through the assortment of home made fan vids and music videos, I happened accross a very interesting cover of Dancing in the moonlight by Alyson Stoner.

In case you didn´t know, Alyson Stoner happens to only be 16, though you may recognize a younger version of her as a kid dancer in several Missy Elliott videos. Stoner will probably be the next teen sensation Disney turns out, but after seeing her rendition of Dancing in the moonlight, a song more than two decades older than her and in my opinion one of the best one hit wonders out there, Stoner´s already topped Miley in my book.

Alyson Stoner covered the 70´s hit, King Harvest´s one and only success, for an upcoming Disney stright to DVD release, so its definitely a kid oriented version of the tune. My guess is the first time Stoner heard the song wasn´t from King Harvest´s 1973 album, but probably the much more popular 2000 cover by Toploader that was featured in every teen girl´s favorite romance A walk to remember.

Either way, teeny bopper Alyson Stoner reminded me of one of my favorite songs I haven´t heard in awhile, and she did it in her own pop lite style, so kudos.

Can you do better? That´s right, this week´s challenge is Dancing in the moonlight (the 2000 version), and I´d love to see a new twist. Post your rendition in the forum, and yours could be featured in next week´s newsletter!

With the world´s attention turned towards Haiti in the aftermath of last week´s earthquake which left thousands dead and millions more in need of food, water and shelter, many musicians have taken the chance to use their fame as a key tool in generating relief for a devestated nation.

Download to Donate for Haiti is a project that got started by Linkin Park and Dave Matthews Band´s respective non profits, Music for Relief and BAMA Works, in collaboration with the United Nations and Habitat for Humanity. The two groups are teaming up with artists like Peter Gabriel, Alanis Morissette, the All American Rejects and Enrique Inglesias among others to contribute completely new material to one album which will be available on Music for Relief´s website.

U2, Jay-z and Swizz beats have also announced they are joining forces to create new material which will be featured on Itunes to benefit the relief effort.

U2 is also just one of the headlining acts on MTV´s major benefit concert airing this Friday, January 22nd at 8 p.m. Joining Bono´s crew will be several big acts including Sting, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Alicia Keys. All the proceeds will benefit organizations such as Redcross, Oxfam, and Unicef, as well as the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund, run by Haitian born Wyclef Jean who will be hosting the benefit concert alongside George Clooney.

Other artists such as Lady Gaga, James Taylor and Patti Smith, and many more are headlinging their own concerts where all proceeds will go to different Haiti relief efforts.

Don´t leave yourself out of the mix. Join the Haiti relief effort by supporting any one of these artists´ projects or an organization like Redcross or Oxfam, and make sure not to miss MTV´s benefit which will be broadcasted on several major network and cable channels.

Welcome to another Karaoke challenge, where you could have the chance for your karaoke recording to be featured in Red Karaoke´s weekly newsletter. This week´s challenge is the motown 70´s hit Papa was a Rollin´Stone.

Papa was a rollin´stone was a soul single, originally written for the Motown group The Undisputed truth, though it was the Temptations that turned Papa was a rollin´stone into the original 12 minute, billboard topping, grammy winning classic that we all know and love.

The single´s instrumental introduction, including the infamous bass guitar and cymbals, make Papa was a rollin´ stone stand out among the Temptaions many hits, and the hits of the time. The vocal arrangement and emotion the Temptations were known for, however, turned Papa was a rollin´stone into one of their last greatest songs.

It may not be the easiest challenge ever, but aren´t you a little tempted? Join in this week´s karaoke challenge and try singing The Temptation´s Papa was a rollin´stone. Post your rendition in the forum and it could be featured in next Thursday´s newsletter.

Red Karaoke users have been begging for more country, and when you ask, we deliver! Today we welcome a new artist to Red Karaoke; country favorite, Reba McEntire.

While Reba may be a new face to Red Karaoke, she´s no newcomer to the music industry. McEntire has been singing since childhood, first as a part of a small group with her sister and brother, and later when, still in high school, she was discovered singing the national anthem at the Oklahoma City rodeo and signed by Mercury Records.

Though her career began in 1976 and she landed several top 10 singles with Mercury, McEntire´s real success came after her first number one single with in 1984, How blue. From the mid 80´s to the late 90´s, McEntire was without a doubt the dominant female in the country music industry, taking center stage with her dynamic persona and distinctive twangy voice.

McEntire, however, knew how to use more than just her voice. She was one of the first country artists to really take advantage of music videos, creating intricate plots and always including famous celebrities to act out her story driven songs. McEntire was also an entrepenuer, creating the succesful promotional and publishing company Starstruck Entertainment in 1988 with her second husband, manager Narvel Blackstock.

There is no doubting Reba McEntire has remained a force to be reckoned with throughout her career. She holds seven ACM Top Female Vocalist Awards, 12 AMA´s for Favorite Female Country Artist and four CMA´s for Female Vocalist of the year. She has been honored as the CMA entertainer of the year and won more than a handful of Grammys. Between 1986 and 1997 alone she had 17 number 1 hits and another 15 singles that landed in the top 5.

McEntire has continued to remain a jack of all trades, with acting roles in films such as Tremor opposite Kevin Bacon, Little Rascals and One night at Mccool´s. She was even offered the role of Molly Brown in Titanic! She has published an autobiography which became the basis for her 2000 stage tour, starred on broadway, receiving critical acclaim for her role in Annie get your gun, and even has her own hit WB series Reba.

With her 26th studio album, Keep on loving you, yet again topping country music charts and her upcoming appearance as the ACM awards host, for the 12th time, I´d say it´s about time Red Karaoke caught up. Enjoy these new karaokes by Reba McEntire; Little Rock, The greatest man I never new, Why haven´t I heard from you, and Forever love, and look for more soon here on Red Karaoke.