Kelly Clarkson captured the hearts of Americans once, becoming the country’s first American Idol. Now the singer is aiming to capture the hearts of iPhone and iPod touch users with her singing game Kelly Clarkson Open Mic.
Open Mic is styled in Rock Band and Guitar Hero fashion. While singing, your goal is to keep the pitch arrow level with the pitch lines that are displayed above the song lyrics. Instructions are available in text format, or in a video guide featuring Clarkson herself. In addition to the game aspect, Open Mic also features Clarkson news, tour dates, and a Ticketmaster portal to purchase concert tickets.
There are only five tracks available: “My Life Would Suck Without You,” “I Do Not Hook Up,” “Already Gone,” “Cry” and “If I Can’t Have You.” A few more tracks would make the $4.99 price more bearable, so I hope developers consider adding some. Headphones with a mic attachment are required for iPod touch users, and iPhone users will see better results with them.
During play, the lyrics are often laggy, so if you don’t know Clarkson’s songs well you’ll have trouble. At one point in “If I Can’t Have You,” the lyrics and pitch bar disappeared completely. I initially thought this was on purpose—the game claims to throw in curve balls such as the lyrics disappearing or Clarkson’s voice dropping out to increase difficulty—but when the words reappeared they were all jumbled together. I managed to get through the song by humming, but clearly that is not the intended method.
Players with lower voices may also have trouble. The game is designed to match Clarkson’s exact sound, rather than taking into account correct pitches at lower octaves, so warm up those falsettos, gentlemen. But despite its glitches, and my lack of vocal talent, I found this app to be quite fun.
This game is clearly designed to promote Clarkson’s new album All I Ever Wanted and her fall tour, but it’s got some extras fans will be excited for. Singers with the best scores on Superstar mode of “Already Gone” can win the opportunity to sing with Clarkson’s band during a sound check on her U.S. tour. A runner-up will also be selected in each market to receive two free tickets and a meet-and-greet with Clarkson.
