A survey of 2,500 adult Britons identified the karaoke as the most irritating invention. About 22 percent of survey participants picked the sing-along machine as their top choice.

It was followed by 24-hour sports channels with 17 percent, computer game consoles 12 percent, cellular phones 11 percent and alarm clocks 7 percent.

An unidentified young woman beat up a guy for singing Coldplay's song "Yellow" at Chances Bar in Seattle Thursday night, telling him he "sucked."

The 21-year-old also pushed and punched the singer to get him to stop singing and it took almost four men to stop her.

A South Korean woman sang karaoke for 60 hours while her husband is fighting a tumor. Does she sound like some cruel or self-centered wife? Read again as Kim Seok-ok, performed to cheer up her ailing husband and set an example for others living with sick family members.

Except for a five-minute break every hour, Kim did not stop for 59 hours and 48 minutes, 36 minutes beyond the previous record held by a German.

In the new pilot CBS reality show called "The Singing Office," workplace karaoke stars will have to the chance vie for a cash prize and perform for a national audience. The concept is based on a successful Dutch show.

"Singing Office" will drop in unannounced to staffers at two companies and hold impromptu singing auditions.

Chinese newspapers reported on Friday that a ban on disco music in private rooms of nightclubs and karaoke bars have taken effect in an attempt to control the rise in illegal drug activity at Beijing's entertainment venues.

The Beijing Times newspaper said, "Because many drug takers regularly dance and go crazy to upbeat 'disco' music in private rooms, police have specially requested karaoke machines not have this music."