Singing standards isn't just for Liza Minnelli (and the men who look like her) anymore, and karaoke machines aren't just for Tokyo families and rest home retirees. It's finally time to come out of the closet and add a microphone to your list of must-have holiday party supplies. Here are some easy ways to get your new karaoke lifestyle up and running.

For a nice kiddie-pool introduction to the world of vocal gymnastics, there's MTV Karaoke Vision by the Singing Machine ($200). It takes CD + Graphics discs as well as cassettes and even has a built-in seven-inch black-and-white TV receiver for lyrics. You can't have MTV without delightful pop trash, so there is also a series of MTV CD+G packs in various genres for sale. Crack your throat on Blink 182 or make goo-goo eyes at a party cutie while singing "You Gets No Love" by Faith Evans.

If you're looking to take your song stylings to other people's parties, there are pint-size options out there as well. The Vocostar VS-1800 Karaoke Boom Box ($109) weighs just six pounds and lets you sing along with CD+G discs with an included mike. Or just plug it into a TV and get scrolling lyrics. For an even smaller package, there's IVL Technologies' On-Key Karaoke Player ($80). It's the size of a microphone and holds up to 150 songs in its internal memory. Download new tracks from your PC and sing away or plug it into your TV for extra graphics. Best of all, the mike features pitch-shifting technology to keep you sounding Whitney Houston even if you're really Nikki McKibbin. Aspiring drag kings and queens take note: The player boasts a vocal gender-switching function that digitally alters voices from female to male and vice versa.

If you've given in to the karaoke beast completely, think about spending the money and getting yourself the VocoStar VSCTV-3513 ($499), an all-in-one setup that gives you two mikes, a 13-inch color TV, and four speakers in addition to the normal goodies. Any way you choose, there's no better time to make the leap. Now that you've got butch girls singing "Evergreen" at your holiday do, there's no telling what you can do with a weekly singing night.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Liberation Publications, Inc.
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