Towards the end of last year, I was contacted by the PR team for T Mobile to ask if I would like to take part in a promotional exercise for the
Lucky Voice Party Box (from the founders of Lucky Voice karaoke bars). It's a karaoke set that 'transforms your home computer into the ultimate karaoke machine with access to thousands of songs on an online song catalogue. You can register on the Lucky Voice website, build playlists, use existing playlists and plan your party. You normally have to buy singing time but T Mobile customers can get 24 hours of free singing time by following the instructions on the Lucky Voice
website. T Mobile offered to send me a free Lucky Voice Party Box (usually priced at £49.95), together with food and drink vouchers to throw a karaoke party for my friends. We all LOVE karaoke, dancing and generally being silly so I jumped at the chance to take part!
I got free access to thousands of songs on the Lucky Voice website in order to throw the karaoke party and I have to say that the whole website is incredibly easy to use. I hooked the Lucky Voice Party Box up to my laptop, then to the plasma tv mounted on the wall in my livingroom and also linked it up to the surround sound system just to make sure the music would be pumping! I was really impressed by the quality of the backing tracks...they really do sound like the actual songs and there's even backing singers on the tracks to make the chorus etc sound more 'full'.
So the new wooden livingroom table was moved out of the way, I stocked up on loads of nibbles and drink and got ready to kick the party off. My neighbours may not have thanked us for our night of singing our hearts out but we had SUCH a good time. Even if you are too shy to sing, it's always fun to watch everyone else! The box itself was very easy to use with controls for 2 mics (you only get one mic with the Party Box kit but you can buy a second one on the website), a volume control for the backing track and even a echo control. The cable for the mic was a really good length too so you didn't have to stand right next to the laptop.
So brace yourselves...here are the pics from Saturday night....
It's fantastic when you hook the box up to a tv like this so you can clearly read the lyrics for the song. I'm always amazed when I read the lyrics to a song because they are, more often than not, COMPLETELY different from what I thought they were. Especially in the case of Lady Gaga songs!
No one was shy to get up and have a go on the mic. It's funny when you think you can sing a song, so you put it on and then realise it's too high or low for your range. You forget that when you sing a song in your head, you're changing it to suit your pitch!
And then came the dancing! We were the backing dancers!
We were laughing all night long and having so much fun. I'm lucky to have such wonderful friends who make it so easy to completely be yourself. It's impossible not to have a good time when these girls are around...
L-R: Nassim, Patricia, Me, Genevieve, Vicky, Fiona, Pamela.
Me and my brother's girlfriend, Vicky doing a duet...
Hmmm, obviously I didn't realise my picture was about to be taken (note the River Island belt I'm wearing that I got in the sales for £7. It actually went really well with this Coast dress) ...
Nassim singing some Florence & The Machine...
We felt it was our duty to jump around like maniacs whilst Trish tried to concentrate on her song...
Hitting those high notes with obligatory face pulling...
This was us doing the Time Warp..."now put your hands on your hips"...lol....
Ah yes, and here's me singing Ellie Goulding's version of Your Song. I look like I'm really into it. ha ha....
It really doesn't matter if you're a good singer or not. Karaoke isn't supposed to be a serious activity and it's so much more fun if you mess around. The Lucky Voice Party Box is a MUST if you and your friends love to sing and I think £49.95 is a very reasonable price for something that creates a total experience in your own home. Another great thing about this is that it's very compact; it's just a little black box, some cables and a mic so it's alot easier to store in your home than one of those massive karaoke machines.
We all had a ball using this and it's just an excuse to pretend you're a popstar for the night, strut your stuff and have a brilliant girly night in. You can even let some boys join in too! ha ha.
T Mobile will be posting my photos of the night on their website, Facebook page and Twitter page so the whole world will get to see our antics! Not sure if that's a good or bad thing?! Simon Cowell may come a knocking...but probably not.
Me and Chris headed over to Ireland on Wednesday for a few days to visit the in-laws and see some friends so I won't be back blogging until Tuesday 25th Jan. I will be checking my emails/comments periodically though so you can still get in touch with me.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, in Alexander McQueen Resort 2011, State Dinner for Chinese Presdient
Making an Entrance: Alexander McQueen Resort 2011
Fashion Diva: US First Lady Michelle Obama last night at State Dinner for Chinese President
It looks like a band of satin fabric was added to compensate for the First Lady's statuesque height (see above close-up). It doesn't look as if that same band is in the original gown. First Ladies aren't allowed to "borrow" dresses like many A-List actresses so possibly after the gown was purchased and/or ordered from her favorite boutique (Ikram), it still needed a little extra length. I may be wrong (and I'm sure my readers will let me know!) but if I'm not, it's very interesting...
