the blog quebecois

Oh, this is cruel. SingShot is a karaoke site that lets you put your vocal chops out there for all to vote on, and laugh at.

Witness:

Sert, or "Ché" as his friends call him, is a Turkish gentleman. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, but I find that if someone demonstrates no singing talent by the age of 26, it's unlikely to be lurking just below the surface.

I've chosen to showcase Sert's rendition of The Beatles' "Yesterday" because:

a) It's an easily recognizable tune, the most-recorded in history, and;

b) because it's mercifully brief.

The site is still in beta and kind of wonky. If the song stops, wave your cursor over the flash player. For the love of God, don't click on it, because then you'll have to listen to it from the start again.

It's a pay site, but offers a two-week free trial. (You won't be asked for a credit card until the two weeks are up.) I couldn't find out how much it costs, because when I clicked through to find out, I was rewarded with this message:

Your session has been expired!
Please re-login, to access our services

Kind of strange, considering I hadn't logged in at all. Like I said, the site still seems to have some bugs.

Note, too, that you don't have to subscribe to it to listen to recordings, vote on them or comment -- it's only if you want to record your Whitney Houston impressions for posterity and the chance to become the laughingstock of the Internet. Maybe that's why the poor woman found solace in drugs.

Update: The folks at SingShot were kind enough to send this comment:

Hi - We're sorry about this error with the link in our Help / FAQ section. It will get fixed shortly, but just so you have the info, our subscription fees after the 2 week trial are:
US $4.95 per month if you commit to an annual subscription plan.
US $7.95 per month if you commit to a quarterly subscription plan.
US $9.95 per month if you commit to an annual subscription plan.

I believe that last option should be for a monthly, rather than annual subscription. I would say that it looks like good value if you're into karaoke. There's an impressive amount of (officially licensed) music.