Katherine Jenkins loves to rap 'Empire State of Mind' when she does karaoke.

The Welsh soprano - who was a choir girl when she was younger - has admitted she likes to shock friends with her song choice when she enjoys a singalong session.

Speaking to NME magazine about her favourite karaoke track, she said: ''It's not an obvious choice for me, but I really like to do the Jay-Z part because nobody ever guesses it, so it's my trick to shock people!''

The classical singer also revealed that 'We Are Family' by Sister Sledge is the best way to get her on a dance floor.

She added: ''It's like the Jenkins family anthem. When I won my first Classic BRIT Award [in 2005] we were all at the after-party - my mum had bought a coach with her from Wales so there were all the aunties and uncles there.

''We were all spread out and 'We Are Family' came on and suddenly there was a stampede of about 50 people because everybody knows it's our calling to get on the dancefloor.''

The 37-year-old performer also opened up about how she was inspired by Whitney Houston's version of Dolly Parton's song 'I Will Always Love You', and she has always wanted to sing a ''classical version'' of the single.

She said: ''Never will anyone be able to sing it anywhere near close to Whitney's vocal, but I always remember wanting to do a classical version of it.

''So I wrote to Dolly Parton and asked her if I could translate it into Italian and to have an orchestral accompaniment, and she granted me the permission to be the first person in the world to do it in a foreign language!''