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This week’s news post talked about the new Karaoke Revolution. Here’s the full tracklist.

1. “7 Things” – Miley Cyrus
2. “99 Times” – Kate Voegele
3. “A Labio Dulce” – Iskander (en Español)
4. “ABC” – The Jackson 5
5. “Addicted to Love – Robert Palmer
6. “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” – McFadden & Whitehead
7. “American Boy” – Estelle feat. Kanye West
8. “Beautiful” – Akon feat. Colby O’Donis
9. “Ben” – Michael Jackson
10. “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” – KT Tunstall
11. “Burning Down the House” – Talking Heads
12. “Crazy” – Seal
13. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” – Rod Stewart
14. “Dancing Machine” – The Jackson 5
15. “Disturbia” – Rihanna
16. “Enamorada” – Miranda! (en Español)
17. “Feels Like Tonight” – Daughtry
18. “Gives You Hell” – All American Rejects
19. “Human” – The Killers
20. “I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry
21. “I Melt With You” – Modern English
22. “I Ran (So Far Away)” – Flock Of Seagulls
23. “I Want You Back” – The Jackson 5
24. “I’ll Be There” – The Jackson 5
25. “I’m Yours” – Jason Mraz
26. “Just Dance” – Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis
27. “Love Hurts” – Incubus
28. “Love Is a Battlefield” – Pat Benatar
29. “Love Story” – Taylor Swift
30. “Man On The Moon” – R.E.M.
31. “My Life Would Suck Without You” – Kelly Clarkson
32. “No Me Doy Por Vencido” – Luis Fonsi (en Español)
33. “Pocketful of Sunshine” – Natasha Bedingfield
34. “Rehab” – Amy Winehouse
35. “Ser o parecer” – RBD (en Español)
36. “Sex On Fire” – Kings of Leon
37. “Shout” – Tears for Fears
38. “Si Me Besas” – Lola (en Español)
39. “Smile” – Lily Allen
40. “So What” – Pink
41. “Solid” – Ashford and Simpson
42. “Soul Meets Body” – Death Cab For Cutie
43. “Space Oddity” – David Bowie
44. “The Logical Song” – Supertramp
45. “This Love” – Maroon 5
46. “Viva La Vida” – Coldplay
47. “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” – Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield
48. “What Hurts The Most” – Rascal Flatts
49. “Wicked Game” – Chris Isaak
50. “You Found Me” – The Fray

New Moon, the highly anticipated sequel to Twilight, hit theatres yesterday, and the turn out was record breaking. This film built on Twilight, offering more dynamic and intense relationships, more humor and more exposed skin.

Several new boys joins the cast of New Moon, acting as the ever-shirtless Quileute tribe of werewolves. But most of all, New Moon shows Taylor Lautner, a.k.a Jacob, in a whole new light. He’s stronger, faster and so much more than a 16 year old boy should be. In the book, Jacob’s character was a little more pathetic, causing a drastic lead for Team Edward. But since Taylor Lautner’s physical transformation, I wouldn’t doubt if the lead shifted to Team Jacob.

Overall, the film had it’s slow moments, along with countless laugh-out-loud scenes. The audience’s response seemed to be a good one, so I’d say it’s well worth the ten dollar ticket.

This week was all about the fantasy books. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke and The Wizard of Rondo by Emily Rodda each offer a great assortment of fantastical creatures–everything from dragons, brownies and humunculus’s to dots, talking pigs and terlamaines.

Dragon Rider is a fantastic adventure novel by one of today’s most popular young adult authors–Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart Trilogy. Dragon Rider follows a dragon named Firedrake, a brownie named Sorrell and a human boy named Ben on their quest to find a legendary Himalayan mountain range known as the Rim of Heaven. But trouble is hot on their trail. An evil, manmade dragon named Nettlebrand wants nothing more than to locate the Rim of Heaven and eat all the dragons who reside there. Somehow Firedrake must find the legendary mountain range without leading Nettlebrand to the world’s only dragon sancturary.

The Wizard of Rondo is the sequel to The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda. The first novel in the series was a little easier to follow and had a more magical feel. The Wizard of Rondo is more like a murder mystery. When cousins Leo and Mimi return to the world of Rondo, they find their friends have deemed themselves a Quest Team. They recieve a letter from a distraught resident in the Hobnob and set out on their first investigation. Wizard Bing has disappeared, and his apprentice, who has been transformed into a giant mushroom, is now in custody of Officer Begood. Someone his behind these mysterious events and it’s up to the Quest Team, along with Leo and Mimi, to uncover the culprit.

There’s always that one guy or girl that you never got up the courage to talk to in high school. Denis Cooverman had one such girl, so he uses his valedictorian speech to declare, “I Love You, Beth Cooper!” Denis has spent the last four years sitting behind Beth in all of his classes, staring longingly at her beautiful back and fantasizing about what could have been. After he spills his guts for the speech, Beth surprises everyone by showing up at his house. What ensues is a tedious night of bad, raunchy jokes, tired cliches and long, drawn-out scenes that never go anywhere.  Check out the DVD review of I Love You, Beth Cooper on Kidzworld to read more about this sad attempt at a teen comedy.

FInd out more about DVD reviews on Kidzworld.

The new Star Trek movie had a lot to live up to, but thanks to a fast-paced storyline, an updated look and killer special effects, diehard Trekkies and newcomers to the franchise all came out of the theatre with their phasers set to stunning. Director J.J. Abrams has said that he had the DVD release in mind while he was shooting Star Trek  and it certainly shows: the blu-ray is packed with extras, including more deleted scenes than you can shake a tribble at. Check out the DVD review of Star Trek on Kidzworld to see a full list of bonus features.

FInd out more about DVD reviews on Kidzworld.

In our latest releases post, we mentioned the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and there are a few cool things related to that to share with you here. First of all, the game is in a red box, which is kind of crazy given that every other Wii game to date has been in a white one.

Second, Nintendo has made a lot out of saying how difficult this game will be, much like the classics, but there is a new “Super Guide” feature that will let Luigi take on an especially tough level for you, basically.

As bonus material, check out this video of the Super Mario museum at New York City’s Nintendo Store.

There’s nothing better than a good series. And this week I reviewed installments in two different wonderful series’: The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda and Catching Fire (book two of The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins.

The Key to Rondo has that perfect blend of magic and reality. It was exciting and fast-paced with a wide variety of magical and relatable characters. The story follows Leo Langlander and his impulsive cousin Mimi as they discover the secret about a family heirloom–a music box depicting magic land. They soon discover that there’s a whole lot more to the music box than just nice paintings and a pretty tune. It’s actually a gateway into the world of Rondo. After an evil blue queen steals Mimi’s dog, Leo and Mimi follow her into the music box and discover the life and strife inside of Rondo.

What can I say about Catching Fire? Amazing. Intense. Gripping. I didn’t think Suzanne Collins could outdo her first novel, The Hunger Games, but she certainly did. After surviving the Hunger Games–a brutal televised fight-to-the-death–Katniss is just trying to live a normal life. But the stunt she pulled in the arena that kept both her and her District 12 partner Peeta alive is coming back to haunt her. Her survival instinct may have unintentionally sparked a rebellion against the Capital, and President Snow is furious. He’ll do anything to prove that he is in control, even if it means threatening the lives of Katniss and all her family and friends.

Both of these books are fantastic reads. The Key to Rondo appeals to a younger audience (9-12 year olds) and Catching Fire will suit a teenage audience. Happy reading!

Our latest releases post announced that Konami’s legendarily difficult rhythm game is coming to North America, but much easier than the Japanese games. But, the real question is: Who has the hardest rhythm titles? Guitar Hero/Rock Band representing the west, or the Bemani rhythm games representing the east? These YouTube videos should let you decide for yourself.

Guitar Hero/Rock Band:

• Extreme difficulty drums on Baba O’ Riley

• Extreme difficulty Guitar on Bark at the Moon solo

• Extreme difficulty Guitar on Cliffs of Dover

Pop ‘n Music:

• a song apparently called “Super Japanesque“

• Classic 4 hyper, lets you see exactly what’s going on in the arcade version

• a song called Fantasia, in a performance that the game rates “No bad!”

The Hole in the Sky is the debut novel by Barbara A. Mahler. This young-adult fantasy story is the first in trilogy.

The novel follows Kaela and her cousin Shawn as they travel to a magical world by way of “the hole in the sky.” In Muratenland, Kaela learns about the royal family’s strife: their baby has been kidnapped by Gulig, an evil man who seeks control of the land. Kaela must break the family curse and rescue the baby before Gulig causes him any harm.

Battle of the Bands

We’ve got two more Rock Band/Guitar Hero games this week, according to this here news post I just wrote. That’s added onto Beatles Rock Band, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band Unplugged, and Guitar Hero Smash Hits already over the past couple of months, and then we’ve still got Guitar Hero: Van Halen set for later this year. Time for them to battle, I’ve decided, in my own little tournament, to see which game is most likely to garner the most purchases.

1st Matchup: Guitar Hero 5 v. Rock Band Unplugged

GH5 moves on. I’m glad there’s a portable Rock Band now, and at least it’s original, but it’s still no contest.

2nd Matchup: Beatles Rock Band v. Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Well, let’s compare the album sales of the bands each game is using. Van Halen: 200,000,000 albums sold. Wow, that’s a lot. The Beatles: 200,000,000 albums sold… in the US alone. Beatles Rock Band moves on.

3rd Matchup: DJ Hero v. Band Hero

Two “Hero” games? Which will sell more? I have no idea. But DJ Hero is more interesting to me, so I’ll give it the edge.

4th Matchup: LEGO Rock Band v. Guitar Hero Smash Hits

Guitar Hero Smash Hits was basically just all the old Guitar Hero songs, but allowing you to play them with any instrument. Not a horrible idea, but it’s just an expansion, so LEGO Rock Band has to win.

2nd Round, 1st Matchup: Guitar Hero 5 v. DJ Hero

Guitar Hero 5. It’s the main series, and DJ Hero is just getting off the ground with its new turntable peripheral. GH5 will sell more than twice as many copies, I’m afraid.

2nd Round, 2nd Matchup: Beatles Rock Band v. LEGO Rock Band

Not even close, slightly modified Beatles will beat LEGO David Bowie any day of the week.

FINAL MATCHUP: Guitar Hero 5 v. Beatles Rock Band

Well, in the US Beatles Rock Band has sold more so far, and almost paradoxically, Guitar Hero 5 won in the UK. Is it a tie? Yes, but I’m not going to let that happen. Beatles Rock Band is the winner, by a coin flip. It landed tails.