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When I began my Sunday night show last fall, I encountered a "regular" who would frequently grab a mic and join in.  After this happend several times, I explained to him that it was inappropriate to do that, and he apologized.

After a few weeks hiatus (from joining in) he initiated new tactics:
      - approach the stage and sing along without a mic
      - point to the mic and ask the current singer if he could join in

Well, last night I had, had it.  The "Star", who had been up to the "stage" several times by then, approached another regular singer who was up for the first time and had waited a long time to sing.  The new singer had songs queued up that he regularly sings.  The "Star" asked him for permission to join in.  The "poor guy" nodded okay, but anyone could see that he wasn't happy; he surely didn't need a partner in any aspect of the word!

When the "Star" overpowered the other singer, I turned his mic off.  The "Star" complained to my wife about that, with little success.  He told her that he had been asked for his help.

When the "Star" tried to get a reaction from me, without success, he left in a huff.

Comments please....  

In commenting, if you see a benefit in reacting directly to the ego of someone who thinks they are so great that everyone else needs and yearns for their help, how would/might you react?

Explain to him..just as he likes his moments in the spotlight --so do the other singers and when he JOINS IN it is stealing some of that attention from the other singers ..pretty simple - tell him to wait for his time in the light

If he disagrees - tell him he is an A-hole and move on

Business 101

heheh Jam I like your style. Eric I am not a kj any longer but I was many moons ago and encountered one or two just like that. I too would turn the other mic off.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

The tactics I use in such a case:

Explain to the star, that every singer is only singing once a rotation. So if he's grabbing the mic once to "help" out somebody else, not only is he losing his turn in the rotation, but also loses the right to help anyone else in the same rotation, since he sang once already. That usually does the trick.

Eric,

WHY are you letting this go on?

THe SECOND time he came up unannounced, I'd take him outside and say one more time and you're done.  The next time... I'd have ripped up his song slips (or told him you were deleting him from the computer's queue.).

It's YOUR show. Do NOT, I repeat... do NOT EVER let a singer think that they have the upper hand.

At a new gig, I had a singer tell me flippantly, "oh, you just don't know how we do things here!"... to which I shut the system OFF. Everyone looked at me, and I said, "excuse ME? This is MY gig. I make the rules. If you guys don't like them, then the owner and I will decide AGAIN if this is the right venue for me. I was approached to do this bar because your last KJ SUCKED. Well, I DON'T, and if you want me to run the show, it's ME RUNNING THE SHOW!"

Even the owner blinked at what I said, and I turned the music back on (was doing filler at the time)... but when I had problems with that same regular, I told him he was done, and wasn't going to sing the rest of the night. When he complained to the owner, she came over and tried to tell me that SHE made the rules. I said, "not with MY equipment, MY investment, and MY talent running this show. You want to make all the rules, then YOU BUY the stuff, do your books, and hire your kj to run it. Do I get to continue, or not?"

It was a bad gig from the getigo... I tried trough love, I tried to be a bit flexible... ultimately, we bailed... and I never regretted it!

Knight

My only lame excuse is that I'm still learning.  Also, he is employed by the bar so I guess I gave him too much latitude.

No singer wants to have someone else steal their thunder.  Or scream off key in their ear.  It's their 4 minutes of fame.  Tell the star, the singer is going to kick your a&& if anyone sings with them again.   Some people feel that they can do anything because it's only karaoke and it's just for fun.  What they don't understand is that your idea of fun and mine are different.  Your idea is to ruin my song.  It's not my idea.   The star needs to sit down and sing when it's his turn.   Nobody needs or wants their help.  There are a few times when someone will ask for help or want others to join in.  But it's not usually every song.   When someone comes up and wants a "helper" mic, i shake my head no.   I don't turn it on even if they think they are going to help.   Not without the singers permission.

I have seen people come up and ask the singer if they can help.  The singer has said no.  And they looked a little shocked but sat back down.

If you are singing and someone wants to "help" you and you don't want help, JUST SAY NO.   If they don't get the hint, there is something wrong with them.

Eric, you could tell the bar owner that the singers are getting Pi$$ed and they will take their money down the road.  That might get the owners attention.

Nothing wrong with that. EVERY newbie (Probie if you watch NCIS! !) doesn't want to offend or step on toes.

But this guy is ruining it for everyone. Institute some rules fast and avoid most future problems.

I used Karaoke Builder Studio to make splash screens (Jpeg or BMP screens converted to .bin files and converted further with mp3toolz to mp3+g) for my rules.

"Don't stand in front of TV" our gig had one BIG tv I hooked up, so if idiots would block the tv, you can guess what the result was.

"Don't Swing the mics"

"Don't Toss the mics"

"If you BREAK it, you PAY for it!" that was always a good one

ONE song per rotation.

A duet is a turn for BOTH singers... you will not sing a duet AND a regular song in the same rotation!

stuff like that.

Oh you'll get some squawkers... usually the troublemakers are the ones that squawk the MOST!

Stand by your convictions WHATEVER they are! Be strong and resolute...

Like kids need a guiding hand, so do drunks in a bar! L O L !!

One suggestion is to keep only 1 mic readily available for the singer.
This way no one is grabbing a mic when your back is turned.  I'll keep the OTHER mic handy for duets or groups songs.  These you usually know about ahead of time.

The only thing I hate about turning things off is that I, all too often, forget to turn them back on!

I'm beginning to think that KJ's should carry a water pistol with them.

As soon as an uninvited guests jumps to the microphone - Shoot them in the ear , paying attention not to wet your equipment  LMAO  LMAO

*bursts out singing to the tune of "Don't Stand So Close to Me"*  Don't stand, don't stand in, don't stand in front of the TV...    

BTW, when I first saw the subject heading "The 'Star' of the Show", I thought this thread was gonna be about me.  Oh well.     Just kidding, I wouldn't try to hog anyone's show.

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I love being a mom!

*grin*  That reminds me of when hubby and I were first dating.  He bought some Super Soaker squirt guns--so sometimes when things were getting tense between us, we would break out the water guns!  I don't know where they are now--maybe we need to get some more...

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I love being a mom!

I use cordless mics so anyone that wants to grab another one and help out has to go through me... good luck to them...i'm a little spoilt in that i am in a little town with a monoply so get to dictate how it is pretty loudly.. any idiot behaviour usually sees them out the door.. if the person singing wants someone to sing with them it's all good.. other than that jumoing up in someone elses song a poor display of ettiquette.. introduce them to the bouncers i say  hehe

Actually, here's an idea:

At my show last Thursday there was a really nice fellow who was totally soused.  I handed him an inflatable toy mic and he was just thrilled to sing with at hsi seat  it all evening.

[glow=blue]We explain at the beginning of the night if we have newbies. We also have it all written in the first page of our books. We've worked this same venue eight years.
We learned along with our patrons. I have on occasion when someone has not done as we asked...physically gotten up...and taken the mic from them. My hubby turned off the song...i apologize to the other singer...send the "trouble maker " on their way. The owners and i have always talked about the rules BEFORE they hire us.
The bar has had five owners....

Bascially...We run the show...THEY run the bar.
I have no problem telling someone when or if they are out of line. It doesn't embarrass me...if they have been warned quietly so we didn't embarrass them in the beginning...and they choose to ignore that courtesy....then i have no compunction of doing it in front of everyone. they show no respect for the singer up there...our show...or the audience...they get none from me.
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Myself and 2 other regulars where I go sometimes get up and help some of the other regulars (the ones who can sing anyway) with harmonies and such. But, it's an unspoken rule that we stay well back from the singer and make sure our background vocals are truly BACKGROUND. Only if the singer grabs one of us (the old throw their arm around you and sing) do we step up.

This is pretty successful and not only the singers like it, but the patrons love it too. There are some moments when we get into some great 3 part harmonies and at the end of the song we all get a round of applause, but we make sure the singer is always the one getting the attention.

We also have a 'star'. He got fixed last week when one of our massive regulars (think Kevin Nash if you're a wrestling fan, if not, look him up) tried to put the star's head through a wall. This is NOT the answer, but it's an example of what could happen if you don't control your star.

The problem is every star is different and will react differently to the various tacts you employ. Kick 'em out, and they'll be back next week doing the same thing. Kind advice not to perform the way they do may also fall on deaf ears. If you lay down the rules so everyone knows what to expect, then the next step is security. If they've been informed of what is required by them in a show, they have no excuse to misbehave.

[font=Verdana]Some very good answers to this post!  :hi5: We have had two "stars" at our show on Friday night. One is a friend of mine and wouldn't think of doing such a thing until she has had a few too many, then she thinks everybody wants her help.  The other is a widow of a KJ that worked in this area for many years, so she should definately know better.  She doesn't so much want to help sing as just gets right in front of the singer and does her little dance[/font].  

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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