The Great Leveller. A secretly competitive sport that drags the best out of those who can't sing and the worst out of those who can. Not surprisingly, given the spread of karaoke nights across Ireland, an Irish woman recently came out on top of one of Britain's biggest competitions. Marcella Maher, a member of the Harold's Cross-Tallaght Music Society, happened across the Poppets Pop Pickers karaoke competition while the organisers were on an extensive road show of the UK, trying to unearth some gems.

"I was just over in Birmingham visiting my cousins for a weekend, " she says. "We were out shopping on a Saturday and I didn't know anything about the competition.

I was just walking around and saw there was a karaoke thing going on in shopping centre."

After standing idly by for a while, Maher was lured by the �250 prize money, and the fact that the organisers needed two more singers to make up the numbers. She stepped up and they recorded her performance of Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings'. What followed was an extensive online voting campaign between Maher and her other six Birmingham finalists in July. She won that round and then went on to compete against 10 other road trip entrants from different areas around England along with a YouTube candidate.

All of Maher's friends were roped in to vote, and eventually with the support of others who were impressed with her performance, first place and a �1,000 prize were hers. "It's been brilliant, " she said, before revealing what she believe is the popularity of karaoke. "People just don't care. They go up for the laugh.

Normally you wouldn't just start singing in the pub, but people enjoy getting up and having a laugh, because it's just so easy."

A few more competitions are on the horizon, namely fundraisers for her musical society, which performs in November at the Civic Theatre in Dublin. "I'm living off the glory of this for the moment, " she says. "I won't chase competitions, but if it's on I'll go to it."

The attraction of karaoke is obvious. For one, you get a chance to laugh at the bravado of friends who haven't got a note in their head, but have the drunken audacity to leap on stage for a rousing rendition of 'Rocket Man'. And in the other category, those who can sing are allowed to live out their exhibitionist dreams, and for three minutes can pretend they're wowing a studio audience of X Factor with a brutal take on Maria McKee's 'Show Me Heaven'. And you tell them it was great anyway.

And now for the secrets to having a good karaoke night out. Forget about the rusty machine and crackling microphone in the corner of your local. To get some serious karaoke action, head for Uki Yo on Exchequer Street in Dublin. While disguised as quite a pleasant Asian restaurant at ground level, the real action goes on downstairs, where sound-proof booths can be hired for you and your friends to give it loads. And most importantly, each booth has a phone where you can call the bar for more cocktails to be delivered to your den.

If you fancy rocking out without the threat of drunken noodle binges, then hit The Village on Wexford Street on Sunday, for 'Songs Of Praise'.

And perhaps most enjoyable of all is Panti's Casting Couch on Tuesday nights in Dublin's Front Lounge. Apart from having the excellent host of drag legend Panti, the crowd is always kind and the prizes include free booze.

BEST KARAOKE PICKS

What to sing
>> Journey . . . 'Don't Stop Believing' (Sopranos link restores the street cred)
>> Madonna . . . 'Like A Prayer' (the right amount of drama, plus potential for 'I'm down on my knees' dance move)
>> Tiffany . . . 'I Think We're Alone Now' (fun nostalgia = perfect material)
>> Heart . . . 'Alone' (the only power ballad worth touching)
>> The Gossip . . . 'Standing In The Way Of Control' (the coolest belter of the past couple of years)

What not to sing
>> Robbie Williams . . . 'Angels' (too wedding-reception-in-Limerick)
>> Aha . . . 'Take On Me' (singing the doodoodoodoo melody doesn't count)
>> The Bangles . . . 'Eternal Flame' (you can NEVER hit the high notes)
>> Madonna . . . 'Vogue' (rap/spoken word verse = bad)
>> Abba . . . 'The Winner Takes It All' (too melodramatic. Especially when singing it in a dodgy Swedish accent)