Karaoke Forums

It was suggested that I pose a question here.

My biggest question for you veterans out there is this:

What do you define as a "good" host and a "bad" host?  I see it time and time again in the forums and was wondering if there are any threads that specifically cover this subject.  Considering I am just getting started as a host, it is imperative that I set out on a path to be a "good" host, or I will not survive.

Any suggestions are WIDELY appreciated.  

Searching the subject hasn't worked well, considering how often it is mentioned, .

Good host - Be attentive to your crowd & singers, KNOW your equipment & how to run it to make each singer sound their best, keep an organized & fair rotation that will try to get everyone up in as timely a manner as can possibly be done in a nights, do not play favorites or take bribes to move people to closer singing spots, keep your personal life out of the bar - you don't feel good or had a bad day - leave it at home, when you get to work you are smiling & at least look as though you actually enjoy being where you are & being with the people that are coming in.

Bad host - does everything opposite!

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What Lonman said.....

Don't cut corners, there's no second chance to make a first impression. Buy good equipment, even if you have to start out with a lean songbook, as long as folks sound good, they'll forgive you. Take a lesson from me, do not and I repeat do not spend tons of cash on buying crappy filler sets, you may be tempted when you first start out and if you do, I understand, been there done that. But regardless, as soon as you can replace those song with better recorded material. It may be impressive to have a ton of songs in your book, but if you can't even look folks in the eye when you play some crap SGB version of a tune, then buckle down, swallow your pride and get better material.
I was a trial by error guy when I came here to this site and wow how I've grown since then, but I did a lot of it the hard way, save yourself some time and grief and listen to these folks. Well at least listen to guys like Lonman....
But when it comes to ideas, steal from the best and dump the rest, but remember no idea will succeed unless your willing to give it a 110% commitment. If you're looking for fame, date Britney Spears, if you're looking for fortune, you have better odds with the lottery, but if you're looking for something that has it's moments, where you look out to the crowd and you know in your heart that you're giving it all you've got and you've got everybody singing along at the top of their lungs and they're having the best time of their lives.... then welcome my friend, there's nothing quite like it.

CAN I GET AN AMEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS

James
maninblack

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

In addition to Lonman's excellent suggestions I'll add this.

If you are working a local hangout, get up to speed with the room as fast as possible. Write the names of the singers down with a brief description of each and take it home. Go over the list and place faces to names.

Save singers slips. When they come back in, bring their old slips to them. Greet them by their name. But you don't need to push them into singing... just leave that open to them.

I've only been at this a couple of years. I made a lot of mistakes at first. This personal touch with the singers is the only thing I can think of that  saved me.

The room is too busy and I have too many singers to do this now. But I still save slips. All the regulars have their own personalized containers with their slips on a table next to the stage. They walk in, grab their container and take it to their table. It takes me an extra 15 minutes to put the slips that were sung that night back into everyone's containers but it's worth it.

I'll save slips for a night & give them back to the singer so they can take care of it.  I have some singers that literally have a stack of slips of songs they've done, want to do or special songs that are over the 3-500 mark.  I used to save slips for all, but it's too much in my situation and no way it would be possible to be able to store them all anymore.  If you only run a couple shows a week, this a nice thing.

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Saving slips is good advice I wouldn't have thought of.  Yeah, I know a lot of companies that sling around SGB, including the biggest and oldest around here.  I can't stand their stuff.  I try to stick with Sound Choice and Top Hits Monthly, especially when it comes to new music, since they seem to be the only company that puts out lots of new songs on a regular basis.  What other companies put out music on a regular basis?  Any other companies recommended like SoulFly, etc?

Working the room is something I already planned on, along with trying to recognize singers.  As far as rotation, I have no intention of breaking it.  Keep it coming guys.

If you use Compuhost, it "saves slips" for you, as it keeps a complete history of every singer name. We have only a few singers compared to Lonman and others who do lots of shows, and I can see where it would be nice if you could have different save names that showed up as just a first name on the rotation....

purpletib

Before we go off, perhaps even on tangents, may I ask how look you've been involved with karaoke.  I have to believe that you did not "wake up, one day out of the blue" and decide to be a KJ.  If that is correct, you've been around as I was before I became a KJ last year.

So....how do YOU define what makes a good KJ?

It's all in the above.  But..I asked this question tonight.  There is another KJ in one of my jobs on 2 different nights.   So i'm curious as to how they are doing.  Well Saturday night they only bring in half the money that i do.  The bartender said they bring in a lot of drama.  KJ fighting with his brother.  Not Physically but verbally.  Still bad for business.   His wife's a whacko according to the bartender.   It all reflects negatively on your business.    From the singers to the bartender to the bar owner, what do they think of you.  What they say about you is even worse..  

This bartender even said i'm cuter than him...

He's a microphone hog.  Sings many times during the rotation.   Plays "family" rotation favorites.  All reflects on his singers attitude and level of partonage.   Do this if you want to chase everyone away.

Do you think he's well liked and recommended?

You have to know your competition and find out what they do right and what they do wrong.    Keep the good.   Don't be a jerk.   Smiling and friendly.   Be firm when you need to be.     Don't take any crap from anybody.  It's your show.

Promotion helps your image.    Promote yourself and the bars.

I posted that in my intro.  I have been in the karaoke scene for 10 years.  I decided it's time I start making a little money doing one of my favorite hobbies.  Will I get rich doing it? No.  But I've come to a point in my life where I finally have to say, why not do something I love to make a living (or at least partly), especially when I'm not making big bucks now anyway.  Heck, it's taken me two years to put together my system with the funds I've had to work with.

What makes a good KJ to me?  Rotation is number 1.  Good banter is also important.  Interacting with the singers, etc.  Everything here that you guys mentioned.

However, I've noticed on this forum that "bad" KJs are referenced all the time.  I'm more interested in that, to avoid any pitfalls.

In my own area, I'm kind of perplexed as to how things work out considering I know that one of the longest standing KJs for the biggest company in our area has a HUGE following, but in my opinion he is NOT a very good KJ.  For the most part, he isn't bad in most respects, but certainly not superior at anything either.  Worst of all, HE PLAYS FAVORITES.  How do I know?  I used to love him back in the day.  Sang at a lot of his shows, and sang often.  Over the past couple of years I've been scoping out other KJs and not singing at his shows.  Now, I'll go to his shows AT OPEN and sing once the entire night, halfway through, in a rotation of around 30-40 singers, while his click sings 3-4 times.  Now I almost avoid his shows.

Another KJ I know (in fact, we were in school together...actually that's the case with a couple I know...) bought a system from the guy he worked for.  He can't seem to keep gigs and I don't think hes a bad KJ.  At least, on the surface.  From personal experience I know he has poor business management and that may be his downfall, but I'm not sure.  Other than that, he's a good singer, fair with rotation, and is a good host.  Al I do know is that the guy that sold him his rig...also seems to steal all his shows.  And THAT guy will probably be my biggest competition.  THAT'LL be fun!  

A good KJ need not be a good singer.
A KJ who is good singer but sing far too much is a bad KJ. (esp with a long rotation)

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

My own situation with saving singer's slips is because I'm in a local hangout that seats maybe 100. This is not a large room or casino, which is karaoke at a whole different level for sure!

But... when I get asked what the most valuable piece of equipment I have onstage is, I point to the two boxes with the singers slip containers in them. They make it all possible. Without them I'd be nothing.

And it's a big deal to these guys. When I feel a singer has become enough of a regular to deserve their own box, I'll get them one, hand it to them when they come in, and announce it  over the mic with "Congratulations!"  They act like I just handed them $100!!!

Since I didn't know what I was doing (I've never done karaoke before and didn't hang out in karaoke rooms really) I have been making this up as I go along. And I made a lot of errors. But this part of the operation is a ritual now. The singers pick up their containers, go to a booth, spread their slips out, and with the help of their friends pick what they want to sing. Then they put a paper clip on them (I'm just using Post-Its) and place them on the board in front of me. Behind me on a table is a mirror image of the front with the sung slips, to make it easier for me to re-load their containers afterwards. And it also helps me keep track of rotation in case the front board gets messed up... you know the old saying... sh#t happens...

Purpletib, you know more about karaoke than I do if you've been in the karaoke scene for 10 years. You really don't need any advice from me. You are probably better off ignoring what I"m doing and listen to the veterans in here. I'm still ripping and just killing time. Ugh!

One KJ I have seen has one of those 192-disk CD library folders, and he just sticks the slips in the pockets of those. I thought that was quite convenient and easy to alphabetize.

I have this set and there sure are some bad ones in it, but they aren't all bad. I still use it for probably 20 songs or so... the Bloodhound Gang stuff, Otherside (RHCP), Voodoo (Godsmack), Hash Pipe (Weezer), Plush (STP), Jeremey... but I cringe when I see this one come up. Not because of the cut. They all try to sing like Eddie Vedder...

It's the most variable set I've got for sure. But a bit maligned I think when I hear people say it's all bad.

You know that's a good idea that I can use for the occasional ones not in their own boxes. Right now I don't have a good method for dealing with those. Thanks mckyj!

Yup, that is A GREAT idea for slip storage. I've got one at home that is gathering dust - will take it with me to Friday gig and label with singer's names..They can come and get them and put them back at the end of the night. I have a singer at Friday night gig who loves to help - she puts new song sheets in books, put books on the tables, bring me new singer's slips, etc., and I think I"ll just hand it to her on Friday night and let her take care of it. "the slip book monitor." .

As to the question, I think really you have to REALLY ENJOY BEING AROUND PEOPLE. All kinds of people, in all situations. I know that covers a lot, but I don't care how tired you are, what happened at your day job that day, if your foot hurts, if your car wouldn't start on the way to the gig, you just HAVE to be able to put on that BIG freakin' happy face, and maintain a positive attitude throughout the ENTIRE show...EVERY TIME.  

The general public deals with jerks too much of the time and I want the people who come to my show to be able to enjoy a change of pace from what they're dealing with.  I have changed people's moods in a few minutes ... they walk in frowning or scowling, walk out at the end of the night having enjoyed every minute of it.

The technical part of hosting, of course, is of utmost importance as well, and knowing HOW to do the job (mixing) is part of what makes them happy.  But again, if you didn't care about the singers and how you are affecting them, you wouldn't bother mixing right if you didn't feel like doing it 100% of the time.

When people see that you MIX FOR EVERY SINGER, they appreciate it. The first few seconds of a song, when I'm tweaking for that 'perfect sound' people watch and listen...and they SO appreciate it. I know which singers want a little more effects on their voices. I can tell if someone isn't 100% up to snuff, maybe recovering from a cold, and will give them a little more volume than usual so they don't have to push their voice.

I really think you have to enjoy people, watch them for their reactions to things, and do what you can to make their night at your show the best experience they've had all week...meaning doing whatever you have to to make that happen.

K

About 20 songs or so out of 1200 that are worth anything?  Not a very good return ratio.  
I have had 18 discs that were given to me (would never spend good money on them), out of the approx 270 songs, I only list maybe 17 or 18.  There were several more that I could have listed but the versions were so bad IMO it wouldn't have been worth it.

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Well you're right. I wouldn't recommend anyone buying SGB. But if you have it it's not worth chucking the whole set just because it's SGB.

There's that one genre... 90s grunge and metal bands ... that they've got some decent versions of. There's some Creed in there that I think I use too... can't remember offhand.

I think the problem anymore is people are accepting these low quality discs as good because they are more readily available & these tend to be what some of the cheaper companies use so they get used to the versions - crappy or not.  As far as the SGB like I stated, to me, these are some of the worst, I do use a handful & one of the version switches I did included Alanis Morrisette Uninvited.  I had the PHM version & somebody asked for the SGB version & to my surprise it was much better so I switched the listing in my book.

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Yeah... "Uninvited" is one SGB that I use also.  

After ripping this whole set last week I pulled out the good cuts and put them in a separate folder so I don't have to wade (or have a search wade) through the whole thing.