Say What? Karaoke!

When I met Bride #8 a little over five years ago, I learned about her love of karaoke. After my 26th karaoke birthday party a few months later, she told me she wanted karaoke for her bachelorette party. Considering she just got married last month – you can see how far in advance she was planning, and how serious her love was.

So when another friend and I were planning her big night out, we knew that karaoke was a definite- but what type of place? For Bride #5, we did karaoke in a dive bar in Chicago and had an amazing night blasting out 80’s tunes, but only got to get up and sing two songs on stage. (Plus, we definitely had a few cocktails first to give us the courage to do so). In this case though, we opted for one of the great private rooms available in the many karaoke bars in Manhattan. I like this option, as you get to sing All Night Long (pun intended), without any boos or having to share the spotlight. Many places offer all you can drink packages or have small minimum spending requirements- so that gives you plenty of opportunity for liquid courage.

Whenever I go out and do karaoke, it's a no brainer for me. I always singing Livin' on A Prayer. Bon Jovi is my all-time favorite band, it's my all-time favorite song, and it's always guaranteed to get the crowd fist pumping and singing along. But sometimes when I get in a private karaoke room- I can't think of any other songs to program in the queue. So before Bride #8's Big Karaoke Bachelorette Party, I googled the best karaoke songs, consulted a few karaoke experts and devised my own list. Everyone that night was impressed with how prepared I was, and it made it so easy to get the night started.

I've also been to my fair share of karaoke birthday parties in private rooms and picked up a few tricks there that work great for bachelorette parties. I went to Party City and picked up some inflatable instruments and microphones that make for great props. (If your budget is a little larger, you can get wigs, sunglasses, etc- think of fun bar mitzvah give-aways). At one other party, we ended the night in a big circle swaying from side to side singing That's What Friends are For. If that doesn't float your boat, you can use the other bat-mitzvah ending song and rock out to Last Dance.

I thought I would share the list here, so all of my readers could use it as a starting point to come prepared for any bachelorette parties they have coming up. Warning though- my taste is cheesey but honestly, I've tried before and singing songs like Poker Face are not that easy- but it might be worth a shot and quite apropos to give Single Ladies a try.

Livin’ on A Prayer by Bon Jovi
Oops I Did It Again by Britney Spears

Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones
Man, I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cindy Lauper
I Love Rock'n'Roll! by Joan Jett
Like A Prayer by Madonna

It's In His Kiss by Cher
What's Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner
If I could Turn Back Time by Cher
That Don't Impress Me Much by Shania Twain
YMCA by The Village People
Here Without You by 3 Doors Down
Hungry Like a Wolf by Duran Duran
I Wanna Know What Love Is by Foreigner
All Out of Love by Air Supply
Yellow Submarine by The Beatles

Mamma Mia by Abba
Shoop by Salt N Pepa
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams
Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leopard
More Than Words by Extreme
Keep On Loving You by REO Speedwagon
You Were Always On My Mind by Willie Nelson
Open Arms by Journey
Build me up Buttercup by The Foundations
(I can't get no) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel
Don't Stop Believing by Journey
We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel
Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf
Shook me all Night Long by ACDC
I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred
American Pie by Don MacLean
Vogue by Madonna
She’s a Lady by Tom Jones
Rhythm of the Night by Debarge
I Want it That Way by The Backstreet Boys
Gloria
867-5309 (Jenny)
Jessie’s Girl

It's Raining Men

I Will Survive
I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany
All Night Long by Lionel Ritchie
Summer Lovin' from Grease

Seasons of Love from RENT
Light My Candle from RENT
I’ve Had the Time of My Life Bill Medley/ Jennifer Warner
Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
Baby One More Time by Britney Spears
Like a Virgin by Madonna

What's your favorite karaoke song to sing? Am I missing anything obvious?

Happy Bridesmaiding!