Karaoke Forums

[font=verdana]Do any of you ever do any sing along type songs in your shows, and if so, how do you get the audience to participate?  At Christmas time, we did Feliz Navidad as a sing along, we had a few people singing, but not near as many as I had hoped for. It seems like it would be a good way to get the whole audience involved and in the mood, but not the easiest thing to do. Any suggestions?  [/font]

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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At least one show a week i do sing-alongs at the beginning of the show to entice the majority of customers not courageous or ready to sing yet. (or drunk enough)

I'll pass around the 4 wireless mics i use and start songs like sweet caroline, santeria, don't stop believin', mony mony, or baby got back. Those songs never fail to get the crowd going! i also play duets like summer nights, love shack,  or cruisin' to advertise my large selection of duets.

just keep a smile on your face, ask for "help", and most people willingly will at least try to sing with you.

...getting them onstage with you is another story.......wireless mics at their tables leaves them in their comfort-zone around their friends.

I also usually end my show with End Of The Road by Boyz ll Men and never have less than 4 singers singing along.

Good Luck!  J.R.

[font=verdana]I just have the corded mics, at this time.  A wireless setup is on my wish list.  I have thought that if you had a wireless and could get out amongst the customers and sing, you might get a better response to a sing along.  I would be a little hesitant about distributing wireless mics to the crowd, those darn things are expensive. [/font]

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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check out a few topics on cheap wireless - if you want to experiment with wireless - get yourself a dual set up from GEM SOUND - The entire dual set up costs $49 and you can't go wrong.  I use them and there GREAT  for what they are  $49 dual set up.  :hug:

I call audience participation, getting anyone to sing.

I use cordless microphones to ease the stage fright thing.    

I have used it once in a great while, usually at Christmas.  Other than that i never do it.  Too many singers that want to sing.    If the others aren't ready or don't want to, i'm not wasting my time trying to convince them.  Too busy running the show for the ones that want to sing.

OHHHHHHHH- yea....forgot YOUR show SW is busy all the time- people standing in line at the dj table before you even come in to set up....right.....

NO SHOW, unless you have no competition or are in a very rural area, has LOTS of singers from the get-go EVERY SINGLE SHOW....or unless they only perform on weekends when more people come out or only run 2 shows a week.

if you're talking about 5 singers at the start of the show- that's NOTHING- catering to only them without trying to get MORE singers could be hurting the bars bottom line. The longer everyone stays the more they usually spend....why not upsell and hook newbies...makes perfect business sense.

In other words...some shy people actually want to be coaxed into singing. After that they may become regulars and make more money for the bar...duh!!!  

-i've only 12 years at this karaoke thing with 6 kjs in 30 different venues (total) that's all. But i do expect some snide-azz remark back from you. SAVE IT this time.

You are not the only KJ in the world to run multiple shows.

Most of my shows average 15-30 per night.

Hmmmmm.....I thought about singing Feliz Navidad once, but I couldn't remember exactly how it went, which is kind of embarrassing because it's a pretty simple song, but the part right after Feliz Navidad I couldn't remember--there is something about it that section of the song that doesn't flow smoothly in my mind.  So it's possible the song you picked may not have been the "right  one" for the night, who knows....   So what ARE good songs that everyone might want to sing along to?  The Bohemian Rhaspsody...maybe....is that a good one?

Drizzle- look up a few post ago. I named a few good ones that always work for me.

Sw- never said i was the only one running multiple shows. Besides- you're dodging....so now EVERY ONE of your shows besides the one you run is busy all the time and you don't wanna convince others to sing????

-not the best business practice or advice to give others here...  :no:  :no:

ONCE AGAIN, not every show has singers ALL the time from beginning to end 100% of the time. Most kjs either sing more songs themselves or use filler-music to upsell karaoke to the crowd....OR....do crowd participation songs to get new singers...duh!

-sometimes the MORE you speak the greener you actually sound  :yes:

-admit you're wrong and we'll move on....

I'm wrong...you just don't get it.

Not every one of your shows.  Don't include me in on that fiasco.

There are some professional KJs that can and do run very good shows that attract lots of singers on a regular basis.   If you can't maybe you should be studying more of my posts.   And quit pretending you know it all.  Instead of telling everyone why you have to have group sing a longs all night long.    I have singers and plenty of them.  People walked out tonight because the wait was too long for them.   If i was wasting their singing time with nightly sing a longs, i wouldn't have any singers either.  LMAO   Get it???   The singers i have want to sing.  It's why your singers aren't there.  You're wasting too much singing time trying to get nonsingers to sing and you are ignoring the reason you are there.   The singers you have waiting to sing.

Real good business advice. Right out of JRs professional karaoke business manual.    

"Have sing a longs all night and ignore the singers so you can try to get some more singers, that aren't singing because we have to do sing a longs to attract more singers."  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO  :headscratch:  :drinklaugh:

All of you "KJs" without singers (playing bumper music and dance sets) need to write that down and study it.  I will be giving a pop quiz on it.

OOH! OOH! I hope i get a warning for saying this....you're an EEE-DEE-IT sidewinder!!  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO

Here ya go again spouting-off, turning words around to suit your worthless points, outright LYING about the success of your make-believe show, and all-the-while NOT GETTING THE POINTS MADE.

If you read more closely next time and engage what you call a brain, you will agree that NO SHOW is busy EVERY SINGLE MOMENT EVERY SHOW 24/7/365! BTW My current shows ARE busy every night, just sometimes the 1st 1/2 hour only has 3-5 singers. I want to hook MORE along-with them and get the ENTIRE BAR wriled-up for karaoke... but for SOME REASON (worthless-ego?) u can't comprehend that.

Of course I'VE run extremely BUSY shows over 12 years you dumb-butt (where's the emoticon for that? )...this is WHY I'M SEMI-RETIRED LIVING IN HAWAII AND YOU"RE NOT you sad EXCUSE FOR A KJ!  LOL  LOL  LMAO  LMAO

...don't take it personally though.  :hug:
i think if i get 3 warnings like you maybe i'll get a toaster oven too!

I'm fully retired...  LMAO  except for karaoke...


I've been down 500 feet in a 3 man mini sub off Oahu.  Been up 2000 feet gliding over the north shore.   Para sailed Maui.  Watched the sunrise on Haleakala  Don't care if it's spelled right.   Snorkeled the crescent shaped island santuary.   Drove the road to Kona and helicoptered the volcano.   Turned down a full time job on Maui.  

It's a jungle out there.

Had over 13 karaoke jobs a week.   All of them had singers without ever doing sing a longs taking up the singers singing time.

we went to a venue that NORMALLY was rockin' and for some reason, was deader than Lonnie's dead horse emoticon!

Weather played a factor... but it was an unheard of non busy. And not just on the karaoke side... no pool players, darts... this bar NORMALLY was full on Friday nights.

So shaddup already SW! !

So out of the 13 jobs per week, did you and your kjs keep singing until other people signed up, or are you gonna look me in the eyeball and tell me everyone of those shows had singers waiting to sing and were busy until the very end of the show??

Every Bar and Venue, despite it's popularity gets slow.   Other venues open up.  Regulars don't make it sometimes.   Places lose their appeal.   Holidays come along.   Some people can't afford to go out week after week EVERY week.   For unknown reasons (we can't know them all) people don't show up til late.   people don't feel like singing.    people get sick.

The funny thing is...we have tens of thousands of tourists visiting, unlike your average karaoke venue, and i'll sometimes have 50 people sitting at the tables eating, but noone will sign-up to sing until after i start the show. They are waiting to see what i'm doing besides signage, waiting to see if i can sing well, BUT more than always, waiting until OTHERS sign up to sing- they don't want to be first, and they need the ALCOHOL to kick-in.  AND the Majority may be JAPANESE Arghh!

Soooooooooo, i have a choice (if no regulars are present yet cuz it's early).   i can sing 5 songs in a row (mondays or tuesdays).  I can play filler music.   I can talk on the mic and keep upselling like a fool.     I can beg for singers.     OR ...HEY! I can pick a popular sing-along, pass around mics, get them involved from their seats, and HOOK them into singing more. When others see others participating, it takes about 2 minutes until my books start disappearing and my table is full of requests.

EVERY new customers that come in SEES that my show is ROCKIN' from the time i start it, the energy level is HIGH, the lights are low, the stage area is lit, my DJ lights are giving club-appeal, and MANY people are SINGING AT ONCE!. If you've NEVER experienced THAT kinda POWER...you should definately try it and see 4 yourself.

I am paid well to perform and entertain.  You need a back up plan to do your job.  I have MORE incentive to up sell songs because i make more money.  We charge $1 per song on-top-of the above-average rate i lock in per show.

I didn't MAKE that $1 rule, but i fully support it because hawaii IS an expensive place to live if you want to:   live comfortably.    parasail.    jet ski.    rent exotic convertible cars.    go shopping.    eat at fancy restaurants.    take helicopter tours over volcanos.    go scuba diving or snorkeling off a boat.    go deep sea fishing.   do all the things YOU did while here.     ...OR pay my mortgage on my $500k condo AND a maintenence fee every month.

This of course, ad-nauseum, being ON TOP OF paying off corporate taxes, credit card debt, the car note, health insurance, business insurance, home insurance, car insurance... and saving for retirement. Oh yea, and buying my wife 2 pairs of shoes a week so she can stay in-style.

YOUR area MAY be different.

You're such an advocate of KARAOKE-ONLY. This should appeal to you.  :wave:

I use 5 cordless mikes and three corded mics (each'll go 20 ft) for sing alongs

I have a slew of songs designated for sing alongs.  Please note, I have found it best to use the version with the "vocal" when doing sing alongs (if available)

I don't have any particular format as to when to pass the mics out; I just know when it is the "right" time.   BUT, at the end show I always queue up "Goodnight Sweetheart" by the Spaniels, which ALWAYS goes over great, even with (to my surprise) the "20 somethings" in the group!

TIP:  I don't announce anything when I do a sing along.  I have my wife pass the mics out and as quickly as possible I start the music.  If there is any hesitation (on the part of the audience), I have a headset to get things going with.  Rarely do I have to participate at all!  My regulars look forward to and enjoy the sing alongs.  Not only do they like the concept, they like that they never know what I have queued up ahead of time.  All a part of keeping the energy high

All right jreynolds you got my attention.

So OK what's big with Japanese singers? I don't have any Japanese tourists dropping in on a nightly basis mind you.  But this is interesting.

Do they speak English? Do you have Japanese versions? And what they sing I would imagine is a reflection of their perceptions of US music, am I correct? But karaoke is big in Asia I guess. I mean it is a Japanese word....

I don't have any opinion on sing-a-longs and fill music BTW. I don't, but probably would have to if I were doing this more than two nights a week. Which is the deal... you gotta go with the mix that works best in your particular room.

Let's see Bill.......um FLank Sinatra, Earth Wind & Fire, Elvis Press-rey, Bon Jovi, and alot of 80's bad-hairdo rock songs are popular with the Japanese singers. I love 'em more when they mis-pronounce words or names- it's  very endearing.

I purposefully don't bring my limited japanese selection to my shows because they would take over and upset the english speaking singers.   And they don't tip anyone anytime anyplace and i'm talking about servers, bartenders, and valets.

Most of the time they don't speak more than a few words of english, but they are VERY sweet and BOW to you and thank you constantly. Most of the english they know is phonetic from the songs, and they have no idea what they're saying.

i LOVE 'EM because they're sweet and harmless, support the show by buying food, but when they start asking for japanese karaoke music, i send them down the street to a japanese owned karaoke bar and rental-rooms so they can get their sing-on.

I have been doing dj/karaoke for so long i've learned to have a backup plan for just about everything..so as not to pause or tank. Nothing's worse in my opinion than not knowing what to do next- or more embarassing.

And let's not forget "Release Me"!!!!

Do I have to go into detail?

It sounds like you have an interesting room.

So... what about "Sukiyaki"? Do they sing it in Japanese, or at all? In fact - since I don't have either version - what does the original one look like in karaoke? Is the screen filled up with Japanese characters, of is it phonetically spelled out in English? And I know that I'm getting really trivial but it's a boring Saturday morning...

So you send the singing paying customers to other karaoke bars.   That is a good back up plan.    No Japanese songs for the Japanese singers.    Brilliant... why didn't i think of that?   No wonder i'm behind you in the karaoke business.

I have to give you credit for another idea.

Spelling bee karaoke sing a longs.   Using such songs as D-I-V-O-R-C-E and R-E-S-P-E-C-T and of coarse T-R-O-U-B-L-E.    For guys like me.    That could take up some singing time and educate all at once.   You could also include an English lesson so your Japanese partrons could sing Elvis better.

Look in my eyes....   Yes i can carry my show but usually the show carries itself.  I do attract singers.   There are slow nights that have to do with televised sporting events or weather or the economy.   But if i only have one singer (very very rare) my karaoke show will still go one.    I can sing the entire night if i have to.   That's my back up plan.    The karaoke show must and will go on.    I'm too busy entertaining the entire crowd to be out there begging someone to sing.  Until they are ready, i'll take command like i always professionally do.