As usual, the Grammy Award ceremonies was filled with fashion fierceness and flops, surprising song choices, plenty of tribute performances and loads of more exciting highs and lows. While some were memorable for the good (Adele took home a whopping 6 awards), some will without a doubt go down in Grammy recollection for the bad (there were almost no words for Nicki Minaj’s shocking display), and we’re here to share with you Red Karaoke’s take on the whole night…

The Nominations

It was no shock to us that the British song bird and musical genius behind Rolling in the deep and Someone like you, Adele, received six nominations for everything from pop album to specific performances, but we were surprised by Taylor Swift’s usual high number of nominations being riddled down to a mere 3 possible wins, along side R&B diva Beyonce and her sole two nominations.

Meanwhile, Kanye West and Lil’ Wayne surprised with seven and five nominations respectively, and one of our favorites, Bruno Mars, was nominated six times due to the success of his hit Grenade and the album Doo Wopps and Hooligans.

The Fashion

While we may not be considered fashionistas in our little karaoke community, we couldn’t help but not the incredible looks of some of our favorite artists as they arrived at the 54th Grammy Awards. While Nicki Minaj tried to hard to channel Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift looked too grown up for her tween fans, we thought one of our favorite pop singers Katy Perry looked the appropriate mix of funky and classy, while Rihanna went the other direction and channeled her sexy side. Yes these singers know how to dress… maybe we should try channeling their looks in one of our recordings?

The Performances

This year the music industry lost a few remarkable voices, and last night the Grammy Awards did an excellent job of remembering each of them - including two unbelievable tributes that stood out above the crowd. First and foremost, Jennifer Hudson not only gave an emotional showing that the late Whitney Houston would’ve been proud of, she may have given the star a run for her money on the classic ballad I will always love you.

Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt weren’t far behind though, with their own beautiful tribute, instead to Etta James, an indisputable “great lady of music”.

But these stars didn’t really surprise, since we’re used to their usual mind blowing performances. The real shockers came from the young Taylor Swift and the misguided Nicki Minaj. Now, we love Taylor Swift, but her record of performing well at award shows isn’t necessarily sparkling, which is why her perfect performance of her award winning Mean was such a pleasure to finally see on the award stage. Too bad we couldn’t say the same for Nicki Minaj, whose over the top and down right offensive performance has facebookers and tweeters blowing up over the scandal. Can there be an award show without drama?

The Winners and the Losers

Well, you’ve probably already heard that Adele“>Adele walked away with all six of the awards she was nominated for. Most of the of the winners, like Taylor Swift, Foo Fighters and Amy Winehouse, were no suprise either… but what we were really wondering was… where were Bruno Mars awards?

At last! Another round of Red Karaoke’s fun, forum game, Who sang it better? Where you get to decide between the originals, the remakes and the cover artists. This week, we are featuring a classic and a Red Karaoke favorite, Landslide.

Landslide was Stevie Nick’s first original contribution as the new singer with Fleetwood Mac back in 1975, along with her other well known hit, Rhiannon. Nicks has described the single as being about a personal crossroads, describing as she wrote the song, “looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us … at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways.”

Little did the group know, Landslide would not only become a hit for Fleetwood Mac, but also for two very different bands. In 1994, the alternative rock group Smashing Pumpkins redid Landslide as a haunting acoustic ballad, become one of the groups most beloved tracks and receiving the seal of approval from Nicks herself, who said about the rock group’s cover, “Over this song, there’s been this incredible connection … he reached out … I believe that my poetry is really meant for everyone, no matter what age.”

Then in 2002, country girl group The Dixie Chicks infused a little bit of Southern charm into Landslide, reaching the Top 10 of both the Country AND the Pop charts. Now it seems like everyone has taken their shots at recording the hit, from Glee’s Naya Rivera along with Gwyneth Paltrow and Heather Morris, to Miley Cyrus… even rock group Paramore did their own rendition.

Now we want you to tell us, of all these great renditions of Landslide, Who sang it best?! Tell us in the forum… or if you think you can do better, SING it and SHARE your rendition!

Believe it or not, the Colombian goddess that is Shakira turned 35 today and since we happen to adore Shakira and her hip shaking songs, we can’t help but talk about the “loca” Latina - and our favorite karaokes by her. Join us as we take a look at our five favorite songs by Shakira here on Red Karaoke.

Whenever wherever

First on our list has to be, without a doubt, the song that brought Shakira to the ears and eyes of stateside fans, Whenever Wherever. With the combination of her deeply unique voice, those mesmerizing dance moves a and quirky-ness that isn’t commonly used to describe most American artists in conjunction with the term sexy, there was no doubt that Shakira was destined to be as big an icon in the US as she was South of the equator.

Underneath your clothes

Already the fantasy of most men with a pulse, Shakira took it up a notch with her ballad Underneath your clothes, an ode to what she deserves from a man, and what every man wishes they could give her. But yet again, Shakira managed to combine sex appeal with sweet affection, showing up all the other belly baring pop artists of the time with her twist on a chart topper.

Hips don’t lie

Before she ever sang the words, fans everywhere knew there was something special about the way Shakira shook her hips, but she described it perfectly in her hit Hips don’t lie. The sensational hit, which was featured in films, requested in clubs and dominated the radio the summer it came out, is still one of Shakira’s most recognizable and fun hits today.

La tortura

As if one hot Spanish singer wasn’t enough, with Shakira’s Spanish single La tortura introduced us Americans to none other than the swoon worthy Alejandro Sanz. No, we didn’t all necessarily understand what they were singing about… but does that necessarily matter? Didn’t think so.

She wolf

And last but not least, one of Shakira’s more recent chart toppers and definitely another example of her oddball hotness, the can’t get enough of it single She wolf. Whether its on the radio or in the club, or singing it right here on Red Karaoke, we cannot get enough of this fun song.

Those are just five of our favorite singles from Shakira, but there are plenty more to choose from. Record your own rendition of your favorite Shakira karaoke and share the rendition in the forum or on facebook!

It might be a silly question, but we are going to ask it anyways. Do you love karaoke? (duh) What about weddings? Well, if your answer was yes to both questions, then you are going to love the latest trend in wedding videography… Marryokes. Intrigued? Then keep reading.

Marryoke is exactly what it sounds like, a musical union between Marriages and Karaokes. This latest trend within the wedding industry involves everyone from the bride to wedding guests and caterers miming and performing a song of their choice - whether its the Black Eyed Peas or Lou Reed. The footage is usually shot on the wedding day and, once filmed, edited together so that it appears as if the participants are performing the song themselves.

What’s the story behind the latest way to add something new to your wedding festivities? Well the ceremonial forcing of guests to lip sing to couple’s favorites songs (even if its Party Rock Anthem) seems to date as far back as… 2008 or 2009? Probably in the United Kingdom… though battling wedding planners, of course try to lay claim to the fad that has skyrocketed their businesses, particularly with online outlets like Youtube and Vimeo allowing their productions to gain thousands of views and likes.

Wherever and whenever it started, it seems to have taken weddings - and Youtube - by storm. Watching these videos, it’s hard not to smile, laugh, and maybe even sing along, but its hard to imagine having a camera man ask you to lip sing the words to Moves like Jagger while you walk down the aisle.

So, karaoke lovers, what do you think of having a lip sync karaoke of your favorite tune on your special day? Something you’d love to remember the occasion with, or a big nuisance? Tell us what you think here, or on Red Karaoke’s Facebook page!

With new mp3 backing tracks released every week, it’s always a pleasure to introduce a new artist to the Red Karaoke catalogue. This week we have the pleasure of welcoming California native and dance hit maker Dev and her latest single In the dark.

Discovered by the Indie-pop group the Cataracs through her Myspace ‘flows’ and recordings of songs from artists like Amy Winehouse, Dev was nothing short of a diamond in the rough. After finding her, Dev’s personal recording of Booty Bounce was sampled by the Catarac’s smash hit with The Far East Movement, Like a G6, which ended up reaching number 1 in the US, and sold over five million downloads in the United States.

In the summer of 2010, a music video was made for Booty Bounce and uploaded onto YouTube, where it has generated over ten million views. This led to Dev’s signing with Universal Republic and her first official single, Bass Down Low, which reached sixty one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the Heatseekers Songs Chart.

2011 saw the release of Dev’s debut album The Night the Sun Came Up, as well as her second single and Red Karaoke’s newest dance karaoke, In the dark. Not only has the single skyrocketed, but Dev’s reputation as a showstopper and hit maker has led to collaborations with artists from Demi Lovato to Japanese girl group Girl Generation, and will release a single with Enrique Iglesias later this year.

Now you can sing Dev’s latest dance hit In the dark right here on Red Karaoke, or download the mp3 backing track to take with you anywhere.

This week we’re excited to be introducing a new blog feature on Red Karaoke where we go behind the scenes of some of our favorite musicals - both new and old, from Broadway and film - and give you guys a glimpse of the history, magic and of course songs that are all part of why we love musicals so much. And to start it all off, we are taking a little look at Million Dollar Quartet, the musical based on the first “supergroup” of the fifties.

On December 4th, 1956, by pure chance, four of Rock and Roll’s future legends, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, assembled at the Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, for what became one of the most famous impromptu jam sessions in history… and the subject of 2010’s Broadway production Million Dollar Quartet.

The story goes that, Carl Perkins, who by this time had already met success with Blue Suede Shoes, had come into the studios that day to cut some new material, including a revamped version of an old blues song, Matchbox. Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, who wished to try to fatten this sparse rockabilly instrumentation, had brought in his latest acquisition, singer and piano man extraordinaire Jerry Lee Lewis, still unknown outside Memphis, to play piano on the Perkins session.

A little later, Elvis Presley, a former Sun artist himself, and at the time, the biggest name in show business, dropped by. After chatting with Philips in the control room and listening to some recordings, Presley decided to join in on the jam session. At some point during the session, Sun artist Johnny Cash, who had recently enjoyed a few hits on the country charts, popped in. Cowboy Jack Clement was engineering that day and remembers saying to himself “I think I’d be remiss not to record this” and, as they say, the rest is history.

Now the infamous session, which produced incredible recordings of jams like Love me tender, Reconsider Baby, Don’t be cruel, Down by the riverside, When the saints go marching in, and many more classics that are featured in the musical that has traveled all over the world and is currently touring the US.

In the musical version, Perkins and new performer, Jerry Lee Lewis, are meant to record together. Elvis Presley stops by the studio along with his girlfriend, later joined by Johnny Cash, who has stopped by to talk to recording impresario Sam Philips. And just like the original story, they soon have a jam session together. But in the made-up version, Philips attempts to sign Johnny Cash to a contract, unaware he has already signed elsewhere.

You can sing these incredible hits from the Million Dollar Quartet, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, here on Red Karaoke.

This year we are bringing back the Red Karaoke World Tour, where every couple of weeks you can read a feature on a cool, new artist and their karaokes that you should check out - but from around the globe! This week we are headed East and checking out the jazz stylings of Japanese transplant, Juju and her English cover now on RK, Lullaby of birdland.

Though Juju may currently reside in New York City, she spent her early years day dreaming of becoming a jazz musician in the far away city of Kyoto, Japan. Since the age of 12 Juju became involved in the music scene, and was brave enough to travel to New York City alone to pursue her dream once she turned 18.

Once in New York, Juju found her musical influences growing from Jazz to Hip hop, latin music, R&B and soul and was able to find avenues to pursue her singing. In 2001, Juju began being featured in a number of works by other artists and in 2002, provided music for the foreign film Kyōki no Sakura.

2004 saw the debut of Juju’s first single Hikaru no Naka e, as well as the beginning of her popularity in Japan. When her third single, Kiseki wo Nozomu nara, was released, it topped the USEN charts and remained on the chart for a record length of 22 weeks, though she still had not gained the popularity she hoped for.

Then, in August 23, 2008, with the release of Kimi no Subete ni, a collaboration with Spontania, Juju received her big break, with the single receiving over 2.5 million downloads. Again, on November 26, 2008, another collaboration with Spontania named Sunao ni Naretara earned her even more fame, with the song receiving 2.2 million downloads.

Now you can sing Juju’s English cover, Lullaby of birdland, featured in the Japanese drama Doctors, here on Red Karaoke. Enjoy the jazzy quality and beautiful lyrics of Juju’s karaokes and let yourself travel the world with just one song.

With the new year, you may be looking for ways to add to your Red Karaoke experience. Sure, there is plenty of singing from our huge catalogue of karaokes, and over 30,000 mp3s, as well as a fun ranking system, but what else is there? Well, we’re here to tell you there is one resource that can make your Red Karaoke experience everything it was meant to be… and help you become one of the stars in our community. That’s right, we’re talking about the Red Karaoke Forum and all the fun you can have there, so keep reading for tips!

Redkaraoke.com

The first and foremost important thing you need to know about the forums, is where to go to get all the latest news on what’s happening within the Red Karaoke community. Whether it’s juicy updates on our premium services, the launch of new applications such as our facebook or mobile apps, or even helpful info about quirks in the site or resolved issues, the Redkaraoke.com Forum is the best place to find news and let us know what you think about, well, Redkaraoke.com!

Tutorials and troubleshooting

Whether you’re old or new, the one place no Red Karaoke member should be afraid to go is the Tutorials and troubleshooting forums. From advice on how to get started to video tutorials on how to correct your settings or adjust them for certain effects, you can find everything you need to perfect your recordings. But most importantly, users themselves share and answers questions and problems for each other, often offering tons of expertise for individual problems based on their own personal experimentation. There really isn’t anything like a helping hand.

Recordings

Since Red Karaoke is all about sharing your voice, its a surprise not to see more of you actually doing it… but maybe you haven’t yet stumbled upon the place where you can do just that. The Recordings forum is a place for community members to post their own recordings, get feedback and listen to others, and a great way to discover new voices! But that’s not all, you can also take a minute to share a link to your favorite recording you’ve listened to this week and nominate someone to be featured in the newsletter. Now that’s building a community!

Games and contests

One of the most fun places on Red Karaoke has to be the games and contests area. There are often official and user created contests with fun prizes, and plenty of different games you can play that ALSO help you share your recordings and make more friends within the community… in fact, right now there is a fun new game inspired by a certain facebook fad…

New member area

We all know how hard it is to be the new kid at school, and the same goes for new members of our community. So before you leave the forum, make sure to check out the New member area to say hello to our newest voices, answer a few of their questions and help point them in the right direction.

These are just a few of the ways you can use the Red Karaoke Forum to your advantage, and there’s plenty more - like the Who sang it best? discussions and all of the different Holiday threads- but we think you get the point. If you’ve been singing on Red Karaoke, but you haven’t been to the forums yet, well… you’re just getting started!

The new year has come and gone, and so, as our very first blog of 2012, we couldn’t help but hone in on one of the most surprising musical performances of New York City’s always highly anticipated New Year’s Eve bash… Justin Bieber’s cover of The Beatles classic, Let it be. And what better chance to ask one of our favorite questions on Red Karaoke, Who sang it better?!

When Justin Bieber started playing the easily recognizable piano notes that faintly begin Let it be, we could barely believe that Bieber was about to attempt the song that holds the number-one spot on “The Fans’ Top 10″ poll included in The 100 Best Beatles Songs: An Informed Fan’s Guide.

Yet there Bieber was, in front of thousands of screaming fans, singing the last single released by all four of the original Beatles in 1970, just before Paul McCartney and the others parted ways. Taking it one step further, incomparable guitarist Carlos Santana joined Bieber, and the two created a rocking rendition of the mellow Let it be that certainly did the New Years Eve party-ers, and the original version, justice.

And while we may have always been partial to the gospel inspired version recreated by Carol Woods and Timothy T for The Beatles musical Across the Universe, we’re having a hard time deciding who sang it best.

So tell us, do you prefer The Beatles original of Let it be, inspired by one of McCartney’s dreams, the film version full of soul from Carol Woods, or do you like Justin Bieber’s more modern twist of the classic? We’re waiting to hear from you in the forums… Who sang it best?!?!

Sing Let it be with Java, Flash or purchase the Mp3 to take with you anywhere!

Billboard’s 2011 Woman of the Year, the young and talented Taylor Swift, celebrates 22 years under the sun. And considering that since the age of 17, Swift has one every kind of accolade you possibly can as a celebrity musician, including being the youngest CMA Entertainer of the Year to ever win and being named by Rolling Stone as one of their Queens of Pop, Swift has got plenty celebrate this birthday. In honor of a Red Karaoke favorite, we too want to celebrate the shining star the is Taylor Swift by sharing our personal karaokes of choice when it comes to Swift.

Tim Mcgraw

Tim Mcgraw was the breakthrough single about every country girl’s favorite country singer and first love… the kind of musical writing that would make Taylor Swift one of the world’s most successful young singer-songwriters in music history and made us adore her youthful innocence.

Love story

As one of the most popular pop singles on the radio - and on Red Karaoke too - its no wonder that once you here Swift’s mega hit Love story, there’s no way you are going to get it out of your head… might as well sing along!

You belong with me

Showing her spunky side,in You belong with me, Swift sings about getting one over on the popular girl in school - all in the name of true love of course. Even coming from a devious angle, Swift can’t help but win over the hearts of her fans.

Fifteen

Just like all of the rest of her songs, Taylor Swift’s Fifteen is autobiographical, describing her experience as a freshman in high school. Thousands of adoring fans, whether young or old, can enjoy this simple theme and remember their own days as a nervous freshman as they listen to Swift’s words.

Mine

Last but not least, Mine shows Swift’s slightly more mature side, though fans never need worry, she will always stay true to her roots of autobiographical songs of love learned and lost.

With so many karaokes from Taylor Swift, its hard to choose just five, so browse through them all and enjoy singing your own favorites right here on Red Karaoke.