Karaoke Forums

Maybe I should have started a new thread but this is pretty much on topic so I'm posting it here. Moderators can move it if they want.

I'm new to this. I've never done a contest. So from those who have... and singers who have participated...

1. Can it be done without alienating all the singers except the one who wins?

2. Was it a success for the room while it was going?

3. Was it a success in your eyes as a KJ? Was the room busier and did you gain new singers after the contest ended?

4. Did you charge an entry fee?

On the surface of it, I don't think I would ever want to do a competition in my home room. All along I've been stressing to this mostly young group that we're just the opposite here. Non-judgemental and you can get up on my stage without worrying about what others think about your abilities.  

My singers are my most valuable asset and I wouldn't want to basically reject any of them.

So if any of you have managed to pull off a contest and not lose any regulars afterwards, or maybe even gained new ones, I'd like to hear your story.

Hey I got moved! That was fast!

You will always PO someone that thought they were better and that they should have won.  The majority that enter contests are ok if they win or lose, but there are always a couple.  Judging is a big key as well.  Get judges - especially for finals - that are musically knowledgeable in some fashion.  Our last contest finals we had 6 judges consisting of a local radio dj, 2 musicians from karaoke friendly local known bands, a vocal coach from the local college, an engineer from a local recording studio & a karaoke host from a city that they would not know any of the competitiors (hopefully).  Also NEVER use audience response as a judging criteria.  Reason being you can have a scenerio where 1 person brings in 20 people for the applause factor but that person may not be that good.  The 1 person that is really good may have only brought a couple people or by themself, & the other crowd will automatically cheer for their person only.  Always let the judges know about this scenerio & go by their own ears on the singer alone, not by the applause they get.



Contest nights when we run them are usually the biggest nights of the week.



I've been doing contests in our club since 94.  Everytime the club packs out, the finals are slammed.  As far as gaining NEW singers, it happens, but not largely.  Most contests bring out the contest hoppers that will go from club to club & some actually make their extra spending cash that way because they are pretty darn good.



We will charge anything from $1 on the small weekly contests - and generally put the entries toward the 2nd or 3rd place prize.  The bigger contests are $5 entries because we do want the more serious contestant & that money goes into the prize kitty as well or if the club has to pay for a statewide contest, it will go for that.



Contests are not for everyone.  Funny thing is as much as everyone says they hate em, they sure do pack out a room!  It's human nature to want to compete, singing is just another reason to compete.  I'm sure most sports events started out as it was just supposed to be for fun.  Even karaoke has been taken to the ultimate karaoke contest with American Idol.  People LIKE to compete.



I've lost singers & gained singers from contests.  The ones I lost usually come back after while anyway.

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Yeah I just did. Thanks for your input.

Never helps in the long run, usually hurts the long run.

The rest doesn't matter if you kill the crowd.    Chances are you will.


Signed i'll never do a contest again, even if it means i lose the job.   The aggravation is not worth the outcome.

I'm against contests myself. But that is me. I would hate to tick off my loyal crowd.
Someone always thinks they should have won instead of the person who did. Only one person can win that means you have a lot of people thinking the contest was not fair because they didn'y win.
Good luck !  :hug:

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NO

Yes, but that ended quickly after the "contest" was over

NO, was not a success as a KJ.  Yes the room was busier, but again it ended soon after the contest was over.  People only came to sing to win the $$$

NO



IMHO a karaoke contest is a BAD BAD thing.  Do a search and see all the other postings on the contest subject.

If a friend or relative wins, your dead.    Even if they deserve it.

I've run 8 contests, one being extremely large and advertised in a tri-state area. Our overall prizes were topping $20,000 total.   Ran for 12 weeks.  Compensated professional judges.   Had at least 80% of singers i'd never met.   Surprisingly but not-so (she's excellent), one of my regular singers won top prize.
 Others thought it was "set up" by me even though i had nothing AT ALL to do with judging.  3 judges sat every week at the front table and judged on vocal ability, stage presence, and audience reaction.  I thanked every singer the same way so as to not show preference.

End result is i lost 6 regular singers for months because their fragile-egos were shattered because they either didn't place or make it to the finals.  They eventually came back and acted like nothing ever happened.

People hate to lose when they've had their egos and confidence built up by others in good faith, only to have it shattered when they've been outperformed by others.  They target the nearest reason for their failure-  The KJ, then the Judges, then the music, then the crowd, then the rotation order they sang in, etc....

Eventually they look in the mirror and realize they're either not as good as the winner themselves, their performance was "off", or their song wasn't the most appropiate or entertaining enough.  THEN they take responsibility, stop sulking, and return as if nothing happened.

Unfortunately haveseen it tooooooo many times.  And as a kj is stresses you out because we work so hard to get everyone to like you and return to your show.

Contests (good ones with $ prizes) usually ruin all that hard work.

contests are well-intentioned but usually hurtful in the end- personally and economically.  "You're dead in the water" as someone else posted. You do all the work and then take the multiple hits for it.   No Fun.  Unfulfilling in the end.

sneaks in >>>>
climbs on JR's lap and licks his left eyebrow  :hug:

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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."

I was part of a national contest sponsored by Pioneer and Sinbad hosted the finals, years ago.
$25,000 prize and a recording contract.

People accused me of rigging the contest.  :O  :shock:  I saw people want to beat up judges.  :O  :shock:  I saw people get mad and stay away for 6 months.  :shock:

Was it worth doing if people get that mad?   How much long term income was lost for a short term gain?

Karaoke contests = poison.

In a local corner karaoke joint, contests cause a temporary swell in attendance; the contest ho's go wherever there is a contest and don't usually spend any money. When the winner has been decided, off they go in search of karaoke fame & fortune. In a bigger place, I can see it - people who aren't regulars might come in and take a kick at the karaoke contest cat...but regular singers aren't interested in contests. Based on who auditions they, and I, can tell you before hand who will win. Just the way it is. Someone wins but MOST PEOPLE LOSE...Even if they are great singers.  It is difficult to find anyone musically sophisticated to TRULY judge on the basis of talent; mostly it's just a stupid popularity contest. Can't depend on contests to build a clientele, which is what makes karaoke pay for itself week after week after week....the regular singers, not the contest ho's.

k

Exactly..

They take up singing time from the regulars.     It turns in to a beauty contest, usually.    The bar owners want a regular to win.  If an outsider wins they get pi$$ed about it.  Or they will tell you a "local" has to win.    So none of that is fair.  The KJ is going to take as big of a hit as the bar about the unfair contest.    The KJ has to do all the contest organizing.     The KJ hears ALL the complaints.    Your other shows might even be effected by the lose of the regular singers.     That's not fair to the other bar owners where you work.    Such a simple, good idea turns into the biggest nightmare for weeks or months after the glitter fades..  

Pray that your karaoke competition does regular contests.   It will help your business.

Put the bug into some of your singers ears that the bar down the street should do a karaoke contest.  Get them to bug the bar owner to do one.    It couldn't hurt you.

Depends on the place the contest is held I guess.  When I hung out at places that ran contests there was no hard feelings from the regulars as most of the regulars were participants.  We looked at it as a way to sing in front of a good responsive crowd.  The ones that whined & moaned about losing were generally the ones that didn't spend anything anyway.  So no big loss there.  I have done some pretty big contests around here, won some, lost some.  No big, it's fun in my opinion.  Most I won was a $500 cash pot of an 8 week contest.  Cam in 2nd & 3rd out of a few & lost several...oh well.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

In a perfect world that would seem OK.    But it doesn't matter what the singers want when it has the potential to ruin the enitre karaoke night and crowd, as contests do.

Two Words: PROFESSIONAL RINGERS!!    

I had the displeasure of having to attend a contest here in Portland, Oregon one night. It was a 1000$ finals. The winner was a prominent blues singer lady from Salem, Oregon who had her own band and plays at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival in front of 15,000 every year. The runner-up was a professional singer from New York who not long before had performed on NETWORK TV on The Live At The Apollo show from the Apollo Theatre in New York. In this case it became more a proferssional singer competition as opposed to a "KARAOKE" contest. Maybe the term PROAM would be more accurate.

The 3rd place winner was the only actual local amatuer Karaoke singer who placed. None other of the local Karaokers even stood a chance and most of them were actually very good.  About a year later I saw the second place guy competing in a county fair contest at the Clackamas County Fair.

Ringers travel from big dollar contests to big dollar constest. If not a ringer then it WILL be the CUTE BLOND with the BIG GROUP OF FREINDS who hollar loudest that will win.

As you can tell I HAVE NO USE FOR CONTESTS AND NEVER WILL. I wont host one, promote one or participate in any capacity in one. Its not what I go karaoking for, and its not what I am willing to KJ or DJ with.

Thats as clear as I can put it.

On a sidenote----about a year after THAT the blues lady came in when I was KJing one night and I recognized her and said hello. She was with her man(manager??) and we got to talking and shw was bitching that they went to Vegas to compete in the Star Search Karaoke thing there and that they wouldnt judge for her as all the other winners were TOO YOUNG AND PRETTY----bitching about AGE DECRIMINATION!!   What A LAUGH!! I guess there is JUSTICE in the world after all!!!
THE RINGER GETTING STIFFED!!!!

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT