Europcar, the leader in car hire services in Europe for leisure and business users, is on the hunt for the best in-car karaoke singer. With its fun Caraoke Competition for the summer, Europcar is calling on the public to post their personal performances in their ‘car’ on Facebook. The most entertaining performance - as voted for by visitors to Europcar’s Facebook page - will win the grand prize of a Fiat 500 car.

“You only need to sit in a traffic jam and look at the driver in the car next to you or behind you to realise that in-car singing is a great stress reliever” said Ken McCall, Managing Director, Europcar UK. “So we thought we’d mount our own hunt for the best in-car karaoke singer with our Caraoke Competition. And there’s a great incentive - the best performance voted for by visitors to our Facebook page will win a Fiat 500 car.”

Marking the launch of the competition, Europcar asked its own UK staff about their in-car singing habits. The results were enlightening!

More than 88% admitted to being secret in-car singers.  And the favourite song to sing at the top of their lungs whilst in the car was Ace of spades by Motorhead.  Least favourite was pop classic ‘Dreadlock holiday’ by 10cc. The top 3 selected songs are ‘Ace of spades’ by Motorhead, ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ by Toploader and ‘The final countdown’ by Europe.

The competition plays on the unspoken but often witnessed, urge motorists have to sing out loud in their car, when they hear their favourite tune on the radio.  And with so many singers and wannabe performers entering talent shows but falling short of their big break, Europcar’s Caraoke provides a great opportunity for the more eclectic singers and entertainers to prove their worth.

The idea of the Europcar Caraoke Competition is to inspire people to show their star quality and get them to record their favourite song from a list of 10 classics including the Troggs hit, ‘Wild Thing’ and ‘Lady Marmalade’ by Labelle and then upload their videos to Facebook using You Tube API feed. Entrants are encouraged to campaign for themselves by collecting votes for their Caraoke videos through their own Facebook friends and groups.

Those not wishing to record a video can simply vote for their favourite videos and share them via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EuropcarUK). The performance with the most votes will win the Fiat 500.

In addition to the grand prize, a series of weekly prizes will be given out between July 25th and August 22nd including Amazon e-vouchers, Eastern Airways flights, an overnight stay plus dinner and breakfast the exclusive at a Hand Picked Hotels, Garmin Sat Nav systems, Samsung Galaxy Tablets, Driving Experience packages and Spa Days at the luxurious 5 Star hotel resort Stoke Park. Weekly prize winners will be selected via a prize draw giving entrants more chances to win prizes.

Promoting the competition, Europcar will also be hosting two road show events to encourage shoppers to participate in its Caraoke Competition. Europcar is encouraging people to make a date in their diaries to exhibit their talents by recording their videos in the Europcar Caraoke car at the road shows taking place in Bluewater, Kent on Saturday 28th July and the Bullring, Birmingham on Saturday August 11th.

“Our job, as market leader is to set the standard for the car hire industry” added Ken McCall.  “Implementing fun social media campaigns is something we are keen to do more of to raise brand awareness and improve perceptions of the car hire industry. With Caraoke we aim to reach attract a new audience and change consumer expectations of car hire companies.

“The talent show style competition gives people the chance to utilise the popularity of social media and become stars in their own right.  Our survey results make for interesting reading and it seems the car is as good a place to sing as in the shower! On tedious journeys and in traffic jams what better way is there to relieve some anxiety than having a good old sing. We all have a favourite song that we can’t help but sing along to and I’m sure there is a karaoke king or queen in all of us waiting to be revealed.”