When pondering what Shakira would dress up as for Halloween, I would guess based on her recent album release and hot dance single with a video to match it that Columbian dance goddess would be donning some fangs and pointy ears as the big, bad, sexy wolf. Sadly Shakira´s November cover of Rolling Stone is only slightly dissapointing with no wolf costume, though Shakira still looks as gorgeous as ever as she talks about the album, the changes in her music and her upcoming tour.

She wolf, the first single off Shakira´s new album has brought her back into the spotlight after the major successes of her first few US albums, though this time Shakira isn´t just getting attention for her amazingly honest hips. Her ability to enter into a completely new arena with her music, in this case the world of dance and electronic pop, and create a fusion with all the world and latin influences she is known for has gained Shakira a round of applause from many critics.

"You've got to put together a nice meal and make sure the spices don't take over the main ingredient. And at the end of the day, it gives a nice flavor in your mouth." Shakira told Rolling Stone, explaining her hard work and experimentation with different beats and sounds.

Still, when you get down to it, She wolf and just about every other song the album is about, well, getting down. "From the beginning, I wanted an album that was dancy and fun. I wanted to have fun with this, and I want people to have fun with it as well, to forget about the economic crisis at least for 10 seconds on the dance floor,” Shakira told Time Magazine.

While we will have to wait and see how much Shakira´s upcoming single, Did it again and Give it up (featuring heavy hitters Timbaland and Lil Wayne) get people in the mood to move, She wolf has definitely hit the target. With lyrics like, ¨There´s a she wolf in the closet, open up and let her free,¨ She wolf is the perfect carefree anthem for girl´s night out.

Ladies, it´s time to start shaking those hips and reach for your inner animal, because Shakira´s She wolf is now available here on Red Karaoke. And if you prefer to howl in Spanish, give La Loba, the Spanish version a try.

Yes, I got a black magic woman, she´s got me so blind I can´t see. She´s a black magic woman and she´s trying to make a devil out of me. This week is the last of our halloween themed karaoke challenges, and Black Magic Woman is the spooky song meant to give you a run for you money.

Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac wrote the orginal Black Magic Woman in 1968 for their album, I love another woman. Though the single was pretty succesful as it was, in needed a little flavor for it to become a top ten single.

Mexican-born rocker Carlos Santana brough Black Magic Woman to life, adding jazz and latin rhythms and turning it into a medley with Gábor Szabos 1967 hit, Gypsy Queen. The blues and latin infused sound helped the single reach #4 in 1970 on the US charts and turned into one of Carlos Santana´s biggest hits.

So let Black Magic Woman make a devil out of you and give Carlos Santana´s voodoo classic a shot. Remember, to enter into the Karaoke Challenge you simply have to record your own rendition of Black Magic Woman, then go to the forum and post a link to your rendition in the Contest area. Your vocal stylings on this spooky song could be featured in next week´s newsletter.

This week we have another halloween themed challenge, the appropriately named Spooky.

Spooky was orginally a sassy saxophone instrumental, written by Mike Sharpe (a.k.a Shapiro), though the classic is better known by -get this- The Classics IV who wrote the famous line ¨Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you¨ and turned the song into a top 10 hit on the Billboard charts. Other artists have made Spooky a hit, including Dusty Springfield whose version is also on Red Karaoke.

With lyrics like I'm gonna tell you all what my heart's been dyin' to be sayin'. Just like a ghost, you've been hauntin' my dreams, so I'll propose on Halloween, Spooky is the perfect Halloween themed love song. So get in the spirit of the thing and join in this week´s challenge, but don´t forget to post your version in the forum, or you could miss your chance to be in the Red karaoke blog.

This week´s challenge is another appropriately Halloween themed karaoke due to it´s somewhat creepy meoldy, People are strange by the Doors.

People are strange is a single from 1967 and very succesful hit of The Doors, having reached the #12 spot on the US charts. The song is, like Mad World, another anthem for depression due to its themes of alienation and being alone in the world, and was even supposedly written by Jim Morrison during one of his frequent depressions.

The song has been succesfully covered by several other groups, inclurding Echo and the Bunnymen for the Lost Boys soundtrack and also by horror rock group, Twiztid for their album Freek show. How appropriate for Halloween. My favorite rendition happens to be the live cover Evanescence frequently did during their 2007 tour.

Join in the halloween spirit and take a stab at People are strange by the Doors. If you post your version in the forum, you could be the lucky pick that appears in next week´s newsletter!

This has been quite a year for karaoke, what with the World Championships in Finland, star celebrities like Sean Kingston and Kelly Clarkson using karaoke to help promote their newest albums, and now even the Black Eyed Peas have joined in the fun.

The Black Eyed Peas have just set two new World Guiness Records with their special Mile High Karaoke. 140 fans bidded on ebay for spots on a flight between Melbourne and Perth Australia for the chance to join the Black Eyed Peas as they attempted, and were succesful, in winning the World´s Highest Live Performance and also the Highest Recorded Track.

The record, previously held by Jamiroquai, was broken in classic karaoke party style as Fergie crooned along to Led Zeppelin´s Black Dog and Will.i.am tried to channel some Manilow with his own version of Copacabana.

But the Black Eyed Peas aren´t the only people breaking karaoke records this year. Finland also had their spot in the limelite when they broke the Guiness record for the World´s Longest Non-Stop Karaoke, beating China´s measly 145 hours with a wopping 240… not to mention the Finns already hold the record for Largest Number of Karaoke Singers at any given time, a massive 80,000.

Cheers to the Black Eyed Peas, the Finns and their crazy karaoke world records… maybe Red Karaoke will have to try and top that 240 hours one day.

One of the world´s most famous, influential and just down right cool women has started her very own search for the best karaoke singers in America. That´s right, Oprah has announced her own nation wide search for microphone hugging, lyric reading, talented vocalists. That means all this time you´ve spent warming up here on Red karaoke could have finally prepared you for your shot at personal fame, ´cause let´s face it, once you´ve made it onto Oprah´s couch, you´ve made it.

Oprah is known as one of the most powerful women in the world, simply by the amazing things she has and continues to do on her show. Now she has teamed up with gospel artist Bebe Winans to look for America´s best karaoke singers, and since anything she touches (books, children with untapped talent, politicians) turns to gold, this is an opportunity you don´t want to miss out on.

You have until October 19th (thats 10 days) to go to Oprah´s Karaoke Challenge site, and upload a 2 minute video of yourself singing along to your favorite karaoke. This shouldn´t be any problem for our Red Karaoke users, well versed in recording their own karaoke renditions. Oprah and a team of judges will scourage all of the entries for the one special voice that might get to appear live on stage with Oprah herself!

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I know Red Karaoke has the talent. So go check it out and give it your all, I´ll be looking for one of you next to Oprah in a few weeks.

Though Adam Lambert made this week´s karaoke challenge a recent hit for his incredible rendition of the single on American Idol this past year, the haunting Mad World has been around long before Adam was hitting high notes.

Mad World was originally written in the 80´s by one of the greatest bands from that era (at least in my opinion) Tears for fears. It was the group´s first international success, gaining them recognition on the Top 40s in more than a few countries.

Still, most people my age know the song from its resurgence two decades later, when Gary Jules turned Mad World into a somewhat creepy, but equally moving teen anthem for depression, or as Curt Smith of Tears for fears described it, a ¨voyeur´s song¨ from the ¨eyes of a teenager¨, not to mention the key component to the cult classic Donnie Darko. Jules´ version became a number 1 hit… and possibly the favorite rendition, until glam-idol Adam Lambert came along and added his enigmatic vocals to the mix.

Lambert´s performance, though risky for the Idol contest, paid off well for him in the end, whether he won or not. Though no one can stand against Tears for fears in my book, even Jules himself raved about Lambert´s performance, ¨He totally understood the vibe of it and the power of it and delivered it in a unique and beautiful way. … I think Adam is straight-up the most interesting, for my personal taste, of anyone I’ve ever seen on the show.¨ High praise from the man who made Mad World a massive hit.

Do you think Gary Jules would have the same thing to say about your rendition? Why don´t you give Mad World a shot, be sure to post your rendition in this week´s karaoke challenge thread, and you could end up in next week´s newsletter.

Last Friday Billboard held it´s annual Women In Music Luncheon and honored the year´s top thirty women in the music business, including a couple of Red Karaoke favorites.

Lady gaga nabbed the Rising Star award. ¨Twelve months ago I never would have imagined being here,¨ she said, giving testimony to her rapidly growing stardom and new position as dance queen and most memorable fashionista. It´s clear this is just a start for the controversial celebrity, thought after massive international hits like Just Dance and Pokerface, it´s hard to imagine how much further Lady Gaga can go.

The real honor went to Beyonce whom Billboard gave the Woman of the Year Award, avoiding any Kanye West hiccups for honoring the wrong woman. Heck, Beyonce´s performances at the recent MTV Awards, from the flawless Single Ladies choreography to her classy recognition of Taylor Swift´s stolen moment, she did enough to earn the award all in one night. But it is undeniable that Beyonce has had one amazing year from top singles like Halo to her incredible choreography to even her business sense and charitable causes.

Check out the karaokes of these two amazing stars, Beyonce and Lady Gaga, and see why they are two of Red karaoke´s, not to mention the rest of the world´s, favorite artists.