THE karaoke world's newest star is about to find out if Russian dumplings are good for the throat - he won a million of them at the Karaoke World Championships.

Edward Pimentel, a telephone company technician from Albuquerque, New Mexico of the US, got the unusual prize after the audience at the competition in a Moscow banquet hall voted him their favorite early yesterday for his dapper and assured R-and-B performances. He chose Usher's "DJ's Got Us Fallin' In Love" for his final-round song.

Organizers said the dumplings are enough to last 27 years if someone eats 100 of them a day.

A panel of judges chose two Finns as the male and female champions - Sam Moudden and Maria Saarimaa-Ylitalo. They were awarded karaoke machines. Moudden, sharply dressed in Rat Pack style, performed "Je Suis Malade" and the purple-gowned Saarimaa-Ylitalo sang Celine Dion's "I Surrender."

Two singers who stretched karaoke's boundaries beyond the usual pop favorites placed second. Fedor Rytikov, a gastroenterologist by day, advanced to the finals with the "Nessum Dorma" aria from "Turandot," then stayed with Italian music for the final with "L'Immensita."

Russia's Julia Kurileva was second with the most adventurous choice of the night - the wordless and eerie wailing of Pink Floyd's "Great Gig In The Sky."

Tami Marie, also of Albuquerque, placed third among the women and Austria's Georg Duschlbauer was third among the men.

Amateur singers from 16 countries took part in the three-day competition.

• throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)
• mexico [´meksikəu] n.墨西哥 (初中英语单词)
• unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)
• audience [´ɔ:diəns] n.听众；观众；接见 (初中英语单词)
• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən] n.比赛；竞争 (初中英语单词)
• moscow [´mɔskəu] n.莫斯科 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• female [´fi:meil] a.女(性)的 n.女人 (初中英语单词)
• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)
• advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)
• italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
• amateur [´æmətə, ,æmə´tə:] n.业余爱好者 (初中英语单词)
• banquet [´bæŋkwit] n.宴会，盛宴 (高中英语单词)
• adventurous [əd´ventʃərəs] a.冒险的；惊险的 (英语四级单词)
• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)