Here are the top 25 karaoke songs that we in Britain love to sing.
For those whose only experience of karaoke is the office Christmas party, the release of the first “official chart” could help in deciding which song to opt for – a choice which can make the difference between humiliation and the maintenance of some dignity.
At the top of the list is Waterloo, the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winner by Abba, the Swedish pop group. The band also provides the fifth most attempted number, Dancing Queen.
The only other artists with two entries in the top 25 is the band Queen, with Bohemian Rhapsody, at number two, and Don’t Stop Me Now, at number 16.
The index has been compiled by PRS for Music, formerly the Performing Right Society, a licensing organisation which monitors music use in order to collect royalties for songwriters.
For the first time, it has collated a list of the 25 most popular from an analysis of its data going back to the early 1990s, when the karaoke craze started to take off in the UK.
Karaoke aficionados say the top 10 are all popular songs with well-known tunes and lyrics and are mostly up-tempo. With one exception, they are also relatively easy to perform and are comparatively forgiving on those without an abundance of natural singing ability. But Bohemian Rhapsody, the second most popular, is notoriously difficult to sing, featuring several changes in harmony and rhythm, as well as complex lyrics. It is also long.
The results suggest that karaoke is more popular among older age groups. Nine of the top 25 are from the 1970s, with seven each from the 1960s and 1980s. Not one has been released since 2000 and only two – Angels, by Robbie Williams, and Livin’ La Vida Loca, by Ricky Martin – are from the 1990s.
The Beatles have only one song in the top 25 – Hey Jude, at number 15 – and there are no songs by Elvis Presley.
There is a relatively even split of songs for men and women, and three of the top 25 are traditionally sung as duets.
Karaoke originated in Japan in the 1970s and means “empty orchestra”. It swept through Asia, then the rest of the world, coming to Britain in the late 1980s and soaring in popularity in the early 1990s. As well as pub sessions, there are now several specialist karaoke bars and clubs. Home machines are now available, as well as karaoke-style computer games such as Guitar Hero and SingStar.
The top karaoke songs
01: Waterloo, performed by Abba, written by Benny Andersson & Bjoern Ulvaeus
02: Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen, Freddie Mercury
03: My Way, Frank Sinatra, Claude Francois & Jacques Revaux / Paul Anka
04: I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor, Frederick Perren & Dino Fekaris
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For those whose only experience of karaoke is the office Christmas party, the release of the first “official chart” could help in deciding which song to opt for – a choice which can make the difference between humiliation and the maintenance of some dignity.
The results suggest that karaoke is more popular among older age groups. Nine of the top 25 are from the 1970s, with seven each from the 1960s and 1980s. Not one has been released since 2000 and only two – Angels, by Robbie Williams, and Livin’ La Vida Loca, by Ricky Martin – are from the 1990s.
