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What to sing New Year's Eve karaoke songs
A long night with a hard deadline in the middle. Get on the list early, save the group song for close to midnight, and keep something low and easy for after, when voices have gone.
Sign up the moment you arrive. The list gets long early on New Year's Eve, and the countdown won't wait for your second verse.
Then pace your voice. Hours of talking over the bar leave little for midnight, and drinks and cold air do a voice no favours by one o'clock. That is why the picks here get lower and gentler as the night goes on.
Before midnight
Before midnight: get the room going
Party songs that are easy to join, for the hours when the bar is still filling up.
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I Gotta Feeling
Black Eyed PeasMade for exactly this night — mostly chanted rather than sung, with a hook the room already knows.
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Celebration
Kool & the GangThe verses are short and the chorus is long, which is the right ratio for a bar at ten o'clock.
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1999
PrincePrince's party song for the end of the world, with the first verse split between voices, so bring friends.
a group: trade the verse lines, everyone on the chorus
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Shut Up and Dance
Walk the MoonFast and a little high, but it's done in about three minutes and the bar is on its feet by the chorus.
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Party in the U.S.A.
Miley CyrusChatty verses that sit comfortably, then the chorus the whole room was waiting for.
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Shake It Off
Taylor SwiftMore attitude than voice: talky verses and a spoken bit in the middle you can ham up.
Midnight
Around midnight: the whole bar sings
Save these for late — they land best when everyone is loud, a little sentimental and already standing.
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Auld Lang Syne
TraditionalThe midnight song, and hardly anyone knows it past the first verse — with the words on screen, you're the most useful person in the bar.
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Mr. Brightside
The KillersFast, relentless and with no quiet bit to hide in, but nobody will hear you over the bar singing every word.
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Livin' on a Prayer
Bon JoviIt sits high and lifts again for the last chorus; do it as a table and let the room take the top.
a table: whoever goes highest leads the last chorus
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Bohemian Rhapsody
QueenNearly six minutes and it changes shape several times, so split it — the room will take the operatic middle whether you ask or not.
a group: take a section each, everyone on the loud rock bit
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Hey Jude
The BeatlesOver seven minutes, but more than half of that is the long singalong ending, which the room does for you.
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Africa
TotoThe verses sit low and easy; the chorus jumps up, and the bar takes it off your hands anyway.
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Take Me Home, Country Roads
John DenverComfortable from start to finish, and it's the one strangers put their arms round each other for.
After midnight
After midnight: for tired voices
Voices go around one o'clock. These sit low, stay short or never ask for volume — and none will look bad on someone's phone tomorrow.
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Closing Time
SemisonicWritten to end the night on, easy on the voice, and bars really do play it at last call.
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Piano Man
Billy JoelLong and slow, a waltz the room sways to — you carry the verses and everyone else takes the chorus.
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Margaritaville
Jimmy BuffettLow, lazy and half-talked, for a voice that has already had its night.
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Ring of Fire
Johnny CashLow, steady and under three minutes, so even a worn-out voice gets to the end.
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Stand by Me
Ben E. KingSlow and steady, and it never asks for more than you have left.
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Happy New Year
ABBAA slow ABBA song about the moment the party's over — gentle enough for a voice that has done its shouting.
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Wagon Wheel
Darius RuckerStays comfortable start to finish, and the room sings the chorus louder than you sing the verses.
Remember what actually worked
New Year's Eve is a night people remember in pieces. The songs are worth keeping: log each one before the next round — Too high, Just right or Too low, and a star rating — and in the morning you'll know what actually went well, not what felt like it at one o'clock.
Your list and your log live on your phone and open without a signal, which matters in a packed bar where nothing loads. Tag songs Skill if you can really sing them and Fun if the room loved them regardless; midnight songs are mostly the second kind.
Come January, ask the crystal ball for a reading. It reads what you logged and suggests songs you don't already have, each with a line on why it should suit you — a better resolution than most.
Questions
What are good New Year's Eve karaoke songs?
Before midnight, party songs that are easy to join, like I Gotta Feeling, Celebration and 1999. Around midnight, the ones the whole bar sings, such as Livin' on a Prayer and Mr. Brightside. After, something low and gentle, like Closing Time.
What song do you sing at midnight on New Year's Eve?
Auld Lang Syne is the tradition, and the lyrics screen helps, because few people know it past the first verse. Hey Jude and Bohemian Rhapsody are the other midnight songs a whole bar can carry.
What is a good group karaoke song for New Year's Eve?
Bohemian Rhapsody splits into sections, so a table can take one each. 1999 was recorded with voices trading lines, and Livin' on a Prayer works best when the room takes the last chorus.
What should I sing at karaoke when my voice is tired?
Something low and short. Ring of Fire is under three minutes, Margaritaville is nearly spoken, and Stand by Me never gets loud; skip anything with a big high finish.
Know what you’re singing before you’re called.
KaraokeList keeps every karaoke song you can actually pull off — and when the list runs dry, it finds you new ones, each with a reason.
