People sing a lot more than usual during the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe it's the ubiquitous yuletide spirit, or the constant carols. Perhaps it's an easy jump from "ho, ho, ho" to "Fa, la, la, la, la (pause) la, la, la, la." Whatever the reason, this is a singing season.
And the good people at Singshot.com are trying to put all that vocal activity to good use for charity. For some reason, they chose me to be their Rudolph of the blogoshpere.
Singshot is a new online talent platform centered on singing/karaoke. If you have a PC or a Mac, a broadband connection and a microphone (internal or external), you can record your own version of popular songs (the site provides the music and lyrics) that can be saved on their servers, and then listened to and commented on by the world. Think American Idol meets YouTube. "Time" listed Singshot as one of its Top 50 Coolest Sites of 2006.
Singshot gave me the chance to record any song I wanted from the thousands they offer. In exchange, they are donating $500 to the charity of my choice. Then, for the entire month of December, Singshot will donate $1 for every reader who listens to my song, records a version of any song he/she chooses, and then "tags" his/her song with "HuffingtonPost" (tagging is easy; all you have to do is type HuffingtonPost in the handy space provided when trying to save the recording). My donation maximum is capped at $25,000.
In addition to rallying my fellow bloggers and their readers to this charitable cause, I hope to inspire the participation of politicians and celebrities, too.
For instance, there's no doubt President Bush likes to karaoke while on vacation in Crawford, probably something by America. I bet he does a great "Horse with no Name." Or maybe Cher's "If I can Turn Back Time"? And Dick Cheney will croon "Rock the Casbah," his unofficial theme song for the past four years. Mark Foley may not think he's in the mood to sing, but how can he resist the call of "Let's Hear it for the Boy"? Hillary Clinton will find rare common ground with the Vice President, as she also chooses a classic by The Clash: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
Mel Gibson should be familiar with the word to "Tequila." Michael Richards might be torn, though, between Stevie Wonder's "Jungle Fever" and AC/DC's "Back in Black." Gwyneth Paltrow can sing "America the Beautiful" - all four stanzas. Britney Spears has already called dibs on "The Thong Song."
Won't this be more fun than dashing through the snow?
For my charity, I have chosen 826 LA, a nonprofit reading/tutoring center in Venice, CA.
Give these kids an unexpected gift that will last long after this holiday season has ended!
Maybe a ten-year old you've never met will write a story about the holiday miracle of 2006.
Fa, la, la, la, la (pause) la, la, la, la.