MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer threw a karaoke fundraiser for the Red Cross of Greater New York last night and TVNewser stopped by. “It combines a couple things I love: helping NYC’s vulnerable communities with emergency preparedness and singing Shania Twain in public,” wrote Brewer in the invitation.

Attendees could pay to force others to sing while the target could perform or pay their way out of it, explained Brewer who sits on the Centennial Circle for the American Red Cross.

“My Red Cross group is particularly focused on helping the most vulnerable families prepare BEFORE an emergency happens – encouraging them to get a kit, make a plan and be informed,” Brewer told us. “And it’s worth singing the praises of the good work the Red Cross does – both in preparing for emergencies and handling them afterwards.”

And sing she did. TVNewser got there a little late — thanks to our own shindig — but we hear Brewer and the “Today” show’s Sara Haines delivered a duet of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” that stopped half of lower Manhattan.

More pics after the jump and info on the charity here.

Brewer being serenaded by “Dylan Ratigan” AP Brett Osmon