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Karaoke Saturday night I help a man fill out a slip for American Pie. I warn him it is a long song. He says that's okay that he just wants to sing the first 2 verses. I tell him I can fade it out after that if he'd like. All seems fine.

I call him to the stage. He takes his sweet time getting there. He steps on the stage. I start the song. He steps down and starts talking to people. The song starts and I'm prompting him to sing - no response. The song is still going - no response - Hello ! I ask if he is going to sing or not. The song is still going. Finally he gets on stage looks at the screen and just stands there drinking his beer. I ask again are you going to sing - no response. I stop the music.

Saturdays are slow and he was new, so I gave him some slack. Stupid me !

Now he asks if he can make an announcement. I know better than to just say yes and ask what he wants to say. He wants to dedicate the song to his girlfriend. Fine I say just make it short. I'll condense his speech - "My girlfriend Cynthia with the blonde hair and the big t!ts has been gone since June. You all know her she lived upstairs. She is in jail and." I tell him that is inappropriate and start the song. Aaaarg !

He starts singing. He is struggling to keep up with the music, so I tried to help him. The audience was trying also singing along to the song. He leans towards me and tells me the song is wrong. That's when I stop helping. Then he tells me my song sucks. Okay, I've dealt with this type of person before. They can't sing the song, so they blame me.

I stop the song and announce this is the wrong version of the song for Bruce. I'm sorry Bruce it's my fault. He gets off the stage grumbling and yells I'm a B!cth and a loser. The audience is in shock.

I continue like nothing has happened and he leaves. Yeah !

Here I thought I was saving face for him by blaming myself. Is it just me that gets these type of people?

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

Babs

What can I say? You attract more jerks than you deserve, and in every instance you've handle the situation superbly.

What I have gained from your experience is to be prepared should that ever happen to me. IMO, if anyone is so self-centered that they waste everyone's time getting to the "stage", starting the song, leaving the stage, making announcements, etc, that person automatically goes to the end of the rotation. If nothing else, if they actually would like a turn at singing, they may find a new-found appreciation waiting at the end of the line, again, for how others felt who were made to wait, needlessly!

While there are exceptions that I have made at my shows when the rotation is thin, the lesson learned here is that bad behavior is bad behavior and should be "punished" immediately and never "tolerated", in the least!


'TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NO MAN'!

I hear ya Babs, I get one of those from time to time. They don't want to take the blame them self so they blame you. I had a guy bitchin' about the version of the song last week....and it was Sound Choice. Next it was the monitor mix, he made sure everybody in the room know everything going wrong with his proformance was MY fault. I didnt want to sink to his level by cutting him down on the mic like he did me so I just faded him out and said "thank you" and called up my next singer.

Sounds like you handled the situation well.

Mojo

I am absolutely 100% nice to everyone at my karaoke shows...to a point. Everyone gets the benefit of th doubt until they start being an a-hole to me or another singer. This type of situation is usually alcohol related.

When this type of thing happens to me, which is inevitably does at least once a week, I always just tell the guy/girl (usually guy) that they are done for the night. Inevitably, they then tell me off and say that they are never coming back, and I am of the opinion that I don't need them, and 9 times out of 10 my bar owner backs me up on it (1 out of 10 a-hole drunks end up being a friend of the owner...you know how that goes).

Anyway, I'm not mean about it, I just professionally explain to them that there are very common sense rules and if they can't follow then they can't participate. This includes messing with my equipment, not wanting to fill out slips, filling out slips for people who don't want to sing, filling out multiple slips under different names, criticizing another singer, criticizing the way I run my show, or just being a general jack-azz.

It falls under one of the basic fundamentals of being a good host - you have to be in control of the show. That guy was controlling your show for however long he was up there doing whatever he wanted, and your other patrons and the show suffered for it. I believe those situations need to be dealt with quickly and decisively, and most of the time my crowd will give a standing ovation when I boot someone like that off the stage.

My 2c.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

good call, Babs. don't argue with them.

No win situation all around!

and Babs... it's called "misery LOVES company".

Always cracks me up when someone is screwing around and then blames the version!

Sad to say, one night when I was drunk, I did that! ! My bud that was running the machine said "YOU DID NOT Just say THAT!!!"

Kept sitting on this one thinking it was a case for Babs but didn't want to bring it up--now that she has:

Last Sat. we had our first heckler. A loyal beginner singer was just about to start her song when a lady in the audience made a very audible derogatory remark about her abilities. The singer stormed off in tears, her boyfriend read the riot act to the lady and then they left for the night. My boyfriend who was running the show hadn't heard the heckling and just thought a bar fight was going on and that the bar staff should handle it so he didn't make any remarks about karaoke etiquette. The heckler's companion, however, told her she was out of line and put up a song for her so that she would see what it was like to have to "have the balls to get up there." She was also a "beginner" but the lesson was probably lost on her as she blamed her poor performance on our song version as not sounding right. ("Crazy"--Sound Choice.)

Still feel bad about not doing something at the time about the first singer's hurt feelings but it all happened rather quickly.

No sooner was that over when another singeer came up to hand in her slip and then burst into hysterical tears. Was able to dig it out of her that she had "just received proof that the govt. had detonated the twin towers and killed all those poor people and that the 2 Bushes ruling was in the Bible and the world was going to end in February."

Must have been a night for distress that spanned karaoke shows from Coast to Coast.

Oh I've had my fair share of these over the years! It found these situations much worse when I was gigging just me & my guitar because I'm standing there playing a song and some idiot is making a nuisance of himself right in my face.
It doesn't happen too often, but it really does wind you up! There have been a few that were so out of order, a savage beating might have been considered quite a suitable response.

BUT, as I have always chosen to bite my tongue, humour them if need be & hope they go away, and usually they do. You only have to put up with idiots for a few moments every now & then. He has to put up with being an idiot usually for most of his life, that's gotta bring him more misery than he brings to you.

You did the right thing, this weekend will be more fun.

I'm afraid she's right, I looked at my bible and on the last page it says, and I quote: " By the way the world will end in February 2008, oh, and the Bush's were responsibly for 911, the end."

The nutbars all come to Karaoke

Back of mine says Holiday Inn......

What a coincidence, thats what my towels say!

Oh my gosh - you guys make me laugh !

I wish sometimes these people were video taped, so they could see how ridiculous they've been. I could play the tape before shows showing what not to do. It would be like a blooper reel. I've had people fall off the stage, puke on stage. lose their pants, berp on the mic etc...

How about a sitcom?

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

Babs, in the middle of November Rain by GnR a lighting strike killed the power in the billiard hall I was singing in, when the power came back on I said: You know you're singing badly when God Himself shuts you down. Oh yeah, I've have burped a few times when singing. Also the very popular taking a deep breath and choking on spit when it went flying down your throat has happened a few times.

We've been having a bit more trouble than usual lately. There is a Greek restaurant that does a free shrimp and crawfish boil on thursdays and a group of girls that used to come to our show goes there first now. Well sometimes they don't show up till 1200 or 1230 and a couple of them have demanded to sing even though the books have been taken up and we weren't taking anymore singers. It's really just 2 girls out of the group and how they ask depends on how much they have had to drink. It's nothing too too bad, but it gets old week after week.

We had more trouble with guys at the billiard hall, definitely more trouble with the gals at this new place. Rudy.

I was having a rough night once, then I made an announcement that calmed it down pretty well:
"Karaoke is free tonight, we're waiving our normal per-song charge. However, we are charging $10 a song if you are an a$$hole or a troublemaker or just really stupid. We won't announce your name or anything, just lay your $10 here on the DJ's table before you sing your next song. Thank you."

That is classic ! Two thumbs up for creativity !

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

it must be something to do with the name Babs

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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."

Babs I get people like this too sometimes and it does just bum your night out. Fortunately most singers are very nice to their KJ!

My worst problem singer was permanently 86ed by the owner at the request of the manager and myself. He was more than a handful for all of us. I was sure happy the owner covered us like that! She never bans a paying customer for good!

Like us all, I have people blaming the karaoke version for their mistakes. But this happened to me recently. A guy sang "Easy" (Commodores.) This song has never been done before so I hadn't heard the track and wasn't listening closely to him either... you get sidetracked doing other things... and then complained afterwards to me that he could have done better but was thrown off because it was missing a verse. I just went in my head... yeah yeah sure heard that one before...

Then while going through some stuff this week by chance I decided to check. And he was right! It's missing verse two! So I owe him an apology. If I ever see him again.

For some strange reason I don't get idiots. It couldn't be because I stand 6', 300lbs of retired MP and everyone knows it.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Wow, what a strange person. You certainly handled it with class though

well we do now pssssst do you wear a thong to the beach?

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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."