Written by Tiffany Craig.
Do you enjoy the Singstar games? Do you like emulating your idols to the fullest, or just dressing up in camp wigs? Then Sony has the promotional tour for you! To spread the word about the December 17th release of the PS3 addition to their Singstar franchise, they allowed fans to live a little bit of the dream in private Singstar Anthems, Pop and R&B booths. While I’m not sure I have a pop diva inside me struggling for stardom, I do enjoy playing dress up and inflicting my voice on unsuspecting bystanders. The Singstar invitation promised they’d dress me up, so I roped in some tolerant friends and a patient husband to bare witness.
On a cold Sunday in November we ventured to the Singstar rented space in Manchester’s popular Northern Quarter. We were greeted with concrete floors and light rigging, large white cloths draped the walls with photos of previous participants. An Ikea style bookshelf made of squares and laden with photos of all kinds of musical stars separated the waiting room from the dressing room. Lots more music style decorations were strewn amongst the sitting area, including a Fender guitar.
When we entered, we spotted a guy in a parka sitting in a plastic egg shaped chair and a group singing away in one of the other booths, but no other soul in sight. But soon we were greeted by one of the organizers who took our names and got us soft drinks. We buzzed, excited, but slightly anxious about putting our egos on the line.
The makeover consisted of a small amount of make-up, wigs and some minor accessories. On one of the walls I’d seen a pink afro, in jest telling my husband it would be his for the day. Instead it ended up on me, and I’ve never wanted giant pink hair more. My goth friend Kim ended up in another variation of a pink wig, a cute little bob that graced her chin. Dave, Kim’s boyfriend, ended up in a most awesome rocker mullet with a leather jacket and a bit of eye-liner. Perfect attire for solos to Whitesnake records. My husband was dressed in a fetching ginger wig with a good ol’ feather boa.
From there we were ushered in to our booth, though I didn’t realize until much later we weren’t in the Pop room we’d booked. Another group was enjoying themselves too much and went over their allotted hour. I think in the interest of expediency, if not transparency, we were put somewhere else. We actually ended up in Anthems, which I was somewhat grateful for in retrospect, our editor Didi warned me off Pop. And really, Legends ended up being a gloriously varied adventure in singing some serious cheese.
We missed the sessions with the vocal coach, though I think I’m beyond help into a female range. So the four of us were left to inflict our vocal talents on each other with gleeful amateurishness. We went through the Scissor Sisters, Tears for Fears, Steps, Spandau Ballet, Rolling Stones, Soft Cell and a few others of a surprisingly wide variety.
The Singstar games detect tone, pitch and rhythm, and judge you accordingly, calculating into a harsh little score at the end. For the first 15 minutes this all seemed daunting, each of us humming and dancing around before taking the plunge. Dave, our other goth-turned-rocker for the day, took the bull by the horns and went for it doing solos. Or, he did until we realized there is a two player duet option, perfect for the two-mic set up. At first, we did girls versus boys, with Philip and Dave pairing up to do some epic songs. Together they sang through “Paint it Black” and Simple Minds, desperately showing up Kim and I’s “Don’t Stop Movin” and “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”. After the initial 15 minutes were up, it was war.
The last 45 minutes of our hour in the Anthems booth went by too quickly. After we overcame our initial giggling fits, we took it a little more seriously and became a teensy bit competitive. I learned I am the worst singer I know of (no matter what Facebook might say) and my husband can carry a decent tune. I also learned my vocal range is less suited to Scissor Sisters falsetto and more toward “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”.
The consensus of our little Singstar group was we’d all buy it, if only for a game to play completely drunk after a trip to the local pub. Only then would any human without singing training be prepared to put themselves in front of the cruel ear of the Singstar score firing squad. We also decided that Manchester is sorely lacking in Japanese style karaoke bars and that should be rectified. 
Sony’s publicity tour for their upcoming PS3 Singstar was a huge success, at least in our books. If the latest release, featuring an on-line store where you can buy your own tracks, 44 tracks to start, plus regular expansions is as good as Singstar Legends, I’m definitely in.
The Singstar tour continues to London’s O2 arena from Saturday the 17th of November to the 18th of December. Talent or complete lack of shame required. To learn more, visit the official site.