Singstar software rocks but playlist brief

By PETER GRIFFIN

If you've ever finished up a night on the town at a tacky karaoke joint, you'll know just how easily fun and embarrassment can go hand-in-hand.

But if it's amateur night you're craving, you don't even have to venture out the door anymore. Pick up the booze, draw the drapes and settle down in front of the TV.

Sony's Singstar probably has a teenage audience in mind, but its attractiveness is that it can appeal to young pop-star wannabes, and, well, old pop-star wannabes.

The set-up includes a couple of microphones, which feed into a USB adapter. A disk carrying the software and songs completes the package. It's the usual plug and play deal - you'll be up singing within a couple of minutes.

The software is impressive. Select a song from those bundled on the disk, and sing in true karaoke fashion with the words displayed at the bottom of the screen and the song's music video playing in the background.

You can sing solo, in pairs or in pass-the-mic mode, and add vocal special effects.

Afterwards, you get a score and rating - I was consistently rated "tone deaf", except on Motorhead's Ace of Spades, where the electronic judges thought I showed promise.

Impressively, the Singstar also supports the EyeToy, an earlier Sony invention that lets you appear in your own music videos.

The ultimate party set-up would be the Singstar and EyeToy used together, with a cinema projector blasting the picture up against a big white wall.

Your TV speakers will struggle to give any depth to the vocals, which are often drowned out by the music anyway. Feeding the SingStar through your amp-power home theatre set-up will give good results.

The game has a "Star Maker", which puts you through the world of Harmony City, where you will perform at venues and seek pop-star fame and fortune.

Frankly, it's tedious. You'll find yourself randomly selecting songs or setting up "sing-offs".

The disk comes with 30 songs, a mix of old karaoke staples and new pop. Elvis chips in with Suspicious Minds, Blondie contributes Heart of Glass and A-ha's Take On Me is there. But so are songs by The Darkness, Pink and S Club.

You'll find yourself running out of tunes part-way into the night and longing for a more fulsome playlist.

My regular karaoke joint, Beech's, boasts a hefty songbook, even if half the tunes are in Korean.

Overall, Singstar is a slick package and, with the ability to buy new songs, should keep you reaching for the mic.

Singstar

* Price: $100 or bundled with a PS2 machine for $329

* Herald rating: 8/10

Pros: Easy to set up and use, lush graphics, EyeToy functionality.

Cons: Song list quickly exhausted, limited by TV speakers.