Oh, I really love this song. It's one of the best songs ever written, in my opinion. Hooray for Jim Steinman! Hooray for Bonnie Tyler! Hooray for Rory Dodd! :D
Singstar, as a karaoke system, is pretty good. You get to watch the music video for the song, and sing your part. The lyrics and a guide to show you which notes to sing and the duration are shown on screen, so you can see if you are singing off-key, too early, too late, etc. There is a rating system at the end. It's all good fun.
I actually bought myself a copy of "Singstar Anthems" (with the microphones!) on PS2 when it came out just to sing that song on karaoke. It's got a funny video too; funny because it's really over the top, a rather ridiculous fantasy, and very very 1980s.
It's very difficult to sing on single player, though! It forces you to sing the "Turn around bright eyes" parts as well as the lead vocal, so there is nowhere to breathe! [ack! erk... dying... splutter...]
It turns out that Total Eclipse Of The Heart is the biggest selling song downloaded on the Playstation network Singstar store. (For those playing on PS3, you can buy any Singstar game and then download extra songs, where I would just buy a PS2 game with the songs I want to sing).
The top ten in full:
1. Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler
2. Final Countdown - Europe
3. Just Like A Pill - Pink
4. Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
5. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
6. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
7. Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
8. Take On Me - A-ha
9. Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
10. American Pie - Don McLean
Not a bad list, though some are much easier to sing than others!
There is a good write-up from The Guardian - the following is an excerpt:
On the subject of Total Eclipse, what is it about that song that makes it such a PlayStation karaoke gem? Of course, the Cadburys advert has no doubt raised its profile over the last year, but I expect it would have topped the chart without the endorsement of a drumming gorilla.
No, I know why it's at the top. In many ways, the song is like a videogame level. It starts off slowly and quietly, building the setting, introducing you to the central themes. Then the pressure begins to mount up, leading to the mini-boss of the middle section, where the drums come in. After this, a brief period of calm, before the climatic explosion - "We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks!" - a vocal boss battle of epic proportions, requiring several special moves across the vocal register.
And then calm again, as the song ebbs away on a tide of bitter lament, a love affair shrouded in darkness and unspoken anguish, like Solid Snake skulking away from another ostensibly successful mission, his soul sullied, his head bowed.
