Karaoke Forums

Another current thread on how many times do "you" get to sing during a show prompted me to ask - -

If you have a small number of singers, let's say two or three including you, at the starting time of your show:

- Do you delay the show's start or do you start on time?
- Do you let the singers perform directly one after the other, or do you add filler music between each singer?
- Do you allow each singer to sing two numbers at a time?
-

ericlater,

Well, this might sound a little "strange", but what I do in those circumstances is tell the few patrons (5 or less) that we're going to have a "karaoke practice session", meaning, now you can try a song you've been wanting too, but were afraid to because there were too many people. You wouldn't believe how much they enjoy that "option". I usually do a song I've never tried ( in public..hehe ) then get the rotation rolling. It was/is a good way to "break the ice" on a slow start night...fun too!!

Donny "B"

_________________
It's a wonderful life!!

[font=verdana] What a great idea!! Thanks for the tip. It always seems kind of awkward at the start when you only have just a few singers. I have had to play a little DJ/filler music at the start, and sing a couple myself. I have thought of making up just a few DJ music books, and letting customers request songs they like. I would have slips for these requests very similar to the karaoke slips, that too would help break the ice, or at least get them to feel more comfortable about bringing up slips.
[/font]

_________________
[align=center]
Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
[/align]

I'm ready to go at 9 but we seldom start then. That's because no one in my group wants to start unless there's at least one other singer. So it's usually 15... sometimes 30 minutes after 9.

A lot depends on what's happening in the entire room. Drinks go up 50c as soon as I start. If there are groups playing pool and I see that they're drinking good and supporting the bar, I always wait until there are three singers. That's what the owner wants. She doesn't want to make a little more money on those guys short-term but lose valuable daytime/ early evening patrons. But with three singers we start regardless because karaoke trumps everything in this place.


I used to be ready with filler but have never used it. That's after doing this hundreds of times in this room. When we start the singers just keep coming.


No. I've never even heard of this practice until this forum. It's never done in my area.

Just my place. YMMV as always...

I start with some upbeat fill music about 20 minutes before the show is suppose to start.
Come show time if I don't yet have 3 singers (not counting me) I will play some original footage/original artist karaoke videos (Geez I am glad I grabbed those up when I finally found them).
Once I have 3 singers (not counting me) I start karaoke and it always tends to grow immediatly, first rotation may end up with 5-7 singers and the second rotation will bloom to 20+ singers before it is done.

No one sings 2 songs in a row at my show, however I have been to shows that do that when there are few singers to start with.

_________________
Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

karaokeing starts the moment the request come in. It does not matter if there is only one singer.
If there is no request slip, bar staff will be given the chance to sing.

I always start karaoke at the scheduled time. Even if there are just a few singers. My early patrons have no problems singing before the energy level picks up. Plus they know that after the first couple of rounds, they will have to wait 60 - 90 minutes between songs. Personally, I find it frustrating to get to a show at the scheduled start time, then wait along with two or three other singers for more people to come in. It is typical in my area though for hosts to start karaoke 30 - 45 minutes late. Many of them seem to use this time to enjoy a couple of drinks.

It's happened to me a few times as host. If anyone wants to sing and it's 9 and even if it's just that person I fire it up. I just don't have a bunch of eager beavers I guess. Personally I don't drink, but I do use the wait time to talk and do catch-up conversation. Most nights my karaoke starts at 9:15-9:20 and that's bar time... 10 fast.

Much of the reason that my posts seem different than some of your it's seems, is because of the size of some of your spots or show. Many of you discuss rotations of 20-30 different singers. I don't know that there is a place around my area that could even handle that type of crowd. I was just up to my old hang out place last night and talking to my KJ friends and they were telling me how busy it was the night before. "Packed...pry about 100 people in the place and dance floor packed much of the night. They stated they had about 15 different singer rotation.....and the is about max. Also, every place I have worked...if we get 15-20, we're maxed out. Anyway, back to topic. I start my shows, before times...almost always about 15-30mins early, but never with singing. I just put some music on and I'll play some pool or just have a few drinks and talk to the patrons or even the owner/bar staff. Sometime I get lot of DJ requests right away, which I try to honor. If I have 1 or 2 people that want to sing after the 1/2hr or so, I get them up and let them sings. I then play some more DJ music and simply ask them if they want to sing again right away, then after a song or two, I'll let them sing again. I'll continue this until the rotation is warranted to stay with just karaoke. If there is singers and they want to sing, they sing. If not, I have no problem catering to the one person that wants to hear some obscure DJ song or many. I'll switch up the show to cater to whatever is in the bar at the time.....MrD

_________________
[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

Always on time - even if it's just me & the bartender. The show must go on.



They will go on like it's a normal rotation - one right after the other. The only fill music in between is just enough for one singer to leave the stage while another is coming up.



I used to when I started getting complaints by the singers that they preferred not to do twofers. Plus it would inevitably start getting busier at some point & when you try to tell people that we have too many singers now for the double shots, the people that didn't get 2 in a row start getting upset. So 1 song per singer per round - even if there are only 2 singer in the house. I only insert myself every other round in this case, never every round.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Three of my four shows start before 9 p.m., so sometimes it's a little slow at the start. But I'll make it go, even with one other singer and myself alternating at the beginning. It has always picked up within 30 minutes.
I have quite a few karaoke junkies coming to my shows - that's why the early start time - and I will usually have 10 or so lined up by 9, allowing me to drop out quickly.
My shows are geared to karaoke only. Filler music is played only to get singers off and on the stage. We have a lot of dancers, though -- to the karaoke singers.

If I start at 9 and there's even one singer, away we go. Like others, those arriving early understand that they may get a song or two in before the crowd. Good idea on "practice time." I think unofficially I've probably been doing that but didn't give it a name. I'll try something new - people enjoy watching their favorite host get humbled by singing a new song in front of everyone - I sure don't mind doing it. Others will try a new song before the crowd builds as well. Then after the crowd builds, if they've had a good experience, they'll request to sing it again - and of course I will oblige them.

If I show up at a show and it's supposed to start at 9, there is something really deflating about the atmosphere if it doesn't start because there aren't enough people for a rotation - a rotation is you and a singer, in my opinion, until everyone else arrives.

I believe when people walk in and see someone singing, they'll join in; if they come in, everything is set up, but it isn't running and no one is singing, many are too uncomfortable to ask and may just leave with a bewildered look on their face.

k

Both of my shows tend to start later than advertised, because no one comes in that early. Both places, the crowds usually don't start getting there until 10:30-11:00, especially my Tuesday show, where it doesn't really start kicking until almost midnight most times (I always tell people that want to sing a lot to get there early). I'll have everything set up and some tunes going as people start to arrive, then once I get two or three slips, I let everyone know we'll get rolling in a couple minutes. I break out the first song, then move into the rotation. 19 times out of 20, by the time I get to that third slip, I've already gotten 5 or 6 more.

This topic has made me wonder, though: do you play a bit of music between singers to fill the dead air? My method is once a singer is done, I fade into a fill song, solicit the crowd for applause for the previous singer, then call up the next, fading out of the fill song and into the next karaoke song once the singer is ready. Keeps the energy up, and the show flowing. Some shows I've been to, the KJ doesn't play music between singers and the silence is awkward.

_________________
hi-voxentertainment

I usually always start on time. If I only have 2 or 3 singers to start I know more are coming, so this gives the early birds a chance to sing more.

I stay true to the rotation. I never do twofers. That would be suicide.

I think it depends a lot on your patrons and what type of bar it is. I am all karaoke - no filler music. I usually always have singers waiting to sing before I start, so there would be no need for playing music before hand.

You really have to do what is best for your situation. The only thing I would totally disagree on is letting someone sing 2 songs in a row. If the rotation is that small they will get up again quickly.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Exactly how I do it as well. Just long enough between singer transition.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I always start on time, but if I only have a couple singers, even including myself, then I WILL do a music video or mix music after the rotation of two or more... Once I have like six or more singers, I pull myself out of the rotation. If it slows back down, then I readd myself. But music videos and comedy routines (on video) have saved my bacon on some slow nights!

I'm way jealous! Everyone else seems so organized. Me? Not so much. Because we're in Alaska, it doesn't get dark until midnight or later in the summer, and in winter it's dark by 4:00. Tough to expect a crowd to arrive on time up here.

In the case of a short ro start, I try to have a little fun with the early-ites. Most of us know what each other enjoy singing, so I'll choose one of singer "A"s songs (before he/she arrives), and get two or three early-ites to put together a back up dance or do-wop to the song. Then when singer "A" comes in and does her song, suddenly she finds "Pips" or Do-woppers behind her. BTW, whan a tourist requests that same song another night, the Pips are back, and do it behind the newby. The people at the newby table get out their cameras and love it!

... and no, the back up dancers don't sing. well, maybe a little do wopping, but they do not steal a song by performing behind the singer. They just add to the fun.

Yo Donny! That is exactly what we do, we have about 3 or 4 people we know really well that always show up about a 30 minutes early and they are ready to sing at start up time. We also early in the night practice songs we may not be too familiar with or songs we may have just gotten. For some reason for most people it has become the norm to not get out on the town till about 1045. We do twofers until the crowd get larger.

We are all friends and none of us care about rotation till other patrons show up then of course we get stricter. It works for us, biggest problem we always have is people showing up at 1245 and saying we need to let them sing. I would guess that is probably most KJ's biggest headache. For the most part you just really can't pidgeon hole karaoke, almost every venue is different. That is why I love hearing about how different people do different things and learning and trying new things out.

I attend as many of my bro's shows as possible and we even have a hand sign system worked out to help him mix each singer better. As someone said before hard to mix if you are set up behind the speakers without getting up and going back and forth. My two pennies. Rudy.

We start on time as much as possible, even if it's only 2 singers present. I think since i'm paid hourly and only for 4 hours then i should start asap.

I'll start with an opening dj song, welcome everyone and advertise drink specials, then scan the room for type-of-crowd and sing the 1st song while doing a sound check. If it's just me and one other singer that signed up, we'll take turns, but i'll usually use my 2nd turn, if needed, to try and entice the crowd to sing.

To get the crowd, any crowd going, i'll pick an easy popular song and pass around the 4 wireless mics and get them to join in until the regulars come in. Being 90% tourists here, it's easy to get them interested in singing as a group.

Songs like Santeria, Don't Stop Believin', and Runnin' Down a Dream work well, as does the Stars on 45 Beatles Medley from Zoom. It contains like 8 songs that practically everyone knows and it's a challenge to go with the song changes. Everyone seems to love it.

After a couple of crowd pleasing songs the slips start to come in pretty fast. I let the crowd know they can sing from their seats if they're more comfortable and not have to come up to the stage. This happens a lot at the beginning of the shows.

The Zoom Eagles Medleys do well at the very END of the show and harmonizes the karaoke singers into a group before closing. So instead of one singer ending the show, it's usually 4-5, which in turn, prompts them to want to return to feel that comradery not found at other karaoke shows here. And it's pretty cool to see most of our regular singers teaching others to harmonize to everything form the Eagles, to End Of The Road, Sentimental Journey, and some Doobie Brothers songs.

It's not unusual to see the singers outside while i'm loading equipment after the bar closes, still harmonizing acapella with the tourists. Gives me a feeling of making their night a little more enjoyable and feeling new friendships were formed because of karaoke.


Warmest Aloha! J.R.

For the few shows that I might do in the year, I always start on time, regardless of how many people are ready/waiting to sing. If I have nobody waiting to sing, I will sing. If nobody hands up any requests, I will sing another song. If, by the 3rd song, I haven't gotten anybody, I go on "Auto-pilot"... I plop in a MULTIPLEX CDG and let it play (hoping that someone will become enticed).