Karaoke Forums

What do you do with the following scenario? You have several (5,maybe 6) guys that come to your show, they are DEFINATELY there to sing. The only problem is that they don't know ANY of the songs that they want to sing. Their whole purpose seems to be to get a mic in their hand, mumble, or look at their friends and laugh, until the 3 or 4 words that they do know comes up (usually the name of the song), then they scream the lyrics into the mic. Then, back to mumble, mumble, scream.
All of a sudden, they become some of your REGULARS. Not just 1, but 5 or 6. No matter what song, or how drunk, OR SOBER, same thing. They're having a GREAT time, while everyone else is wondering WHY are they even up there? What is a kj to do?

Rosario

Let them sing and enjoy the fact that you have afew more regulars.
As for the screaming into the mic, Tell them that they mustn't do that and that if they continue, you will be forced to not allow them to sing again.tell them that it's hard on everyone's ears and also tell them that they could blow your speakers doing it (true or not, tell them anyways!). Guys generally get it when you put it like that, as most guys are sympathetic to the cost of stereo equipment and definitely don't want to have to pay for it, especially pro equipment. Eventually they may improve in the "singing" dept. Then again, they may not, but as long as they are having fun and spending cash in your venue, I would be glad that they were there.

Yeah, I let them sing too. I use a Yamaha board with compression so their screaming doesn't even quite worry me much.

I agree with diafel statement. Screaming into the mic is the main no no. The rest you may have to live with. But always encourage your singers to do better. You might want to help them find a song that they actually know.

DITTO THAT!!!!

Be thankful you have more regulars. Here in the sticks, we have had to drop our normal Thrs/Fri nite gig that has been running for 5+ years, to just Friday nite. Strange thing is it started to fall off shortly after the no smoking ban went into effect in Iowa. I just waiting for the owner to lock the place up permenatly.

Just to clarify, this is a hypothetical situation, I don't personally have these customers, but I have seen it before. Also, do you risk losing OTHER regulars that may leave and go to another venue, because they don't want to sit through these guy's nonsense? Also, these guys don't have any interest in learning songs, or possibly improving. To them, this is what karaoke is all about.

Rosario

If the others leave because of them, then they have forgotten what Karaoke is all about - FUN!. I still would let them sing. You can't censor bad singers from good, because where do you draw the line?
It just wouldn't be fair and I try to be as fair as possible.

Karaoke is about having fun and like everything --everyone should have the opportunity to participate ...ONLY IF IT DOESN'T NEGATIVELY EFFECT OTHER PATRONS AND SINGERS OR YOU EQUIPMENT.

If I had these singers that were driving business away etc. I would have to TELL them ,,,

My experience is that if you just wait a few weeks, they will disappear. I have seen this type of table before, and they come for 4 or 5 weeks. Then they go on to the next thing -- singing was never really their love, just listening to themselves perform their antics.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I agree with everything that Diafel said here except for one thing. I wouldn't tell them that I won't let them sing anymore, but I would tell them that I will turn the Mic Volume down (or even off) if they continue to scream into the Mics.

Mic volume is the solution to this dilemma. Drop it right down to nothing. Most of the time they don't even notice, guaranteed. Saves equipment and saves audience' ears. I had a group of guys like this but they were very good singers - they had their little choreographed thing they did, which the crowd enjoyed the first time. However, the last time they did it, they came in so drunk (and at the very end of the night) that one of the guys fell on the stage. I just stood there, didn't make a move to help him ... actually I grabbed the mic on his way down ... These guys were so annoying that the crowd actually booed them out of the room after that and they never returned. Sad thing is, they were entertaining when not inebriated, but they truly believed they were "all that and a bag of chips, too." Good riddance.

I have to totally agree here with jamkaraoke. In all the years I have hosted, I have only had to ask one person,(recently I might add) to NOT attend any of my shows. Because her being there disrupted my show, and made people leave. Not because of her singing tho,,other reasons that I will go into another day. Karaoke is about having fun, and if everyone takes that attitude, then most everyone will enjoy even those type of guys who you describe.

Went to a bar once where the host was a queen (glam gay transvestite) who played the "(@$%&#!)" role.

She was cutting and harsh to poeple who sang poorly, and moreso to those who sang well. In her mind it was a joke and part of the fun.

Lasted about 3 weeks...

he/she lasted 3 weeks?

or

you lasted 3 weeks?

we had two singers who almost fitted the above critera, (though these two appeared to have some form of disability) the secret is to encourage them to sing either a) more popular songs that the audience can sing along with, b) find shorter numbers c) or to sing the songs they are more familiar with.

These singers were almost there with a couple of numbers before the owner decided to ban them from singing it was an absolute shame, they enjoyed karaoke and could have been quite good with pratice.... one of my favourite memories of the past year was watching them hold hands on stage struggling through a duet looking half at the screen and half at each other, you could see they were genuinely trying and having a great time giving it a go.... the audience supported the couple all the way through. That couple encouraged a lot more to sing... and its a shame they have never been back to my show (although i appologised like mad for the ignorance of that owner and made it clear that I disagreed with him). Luckly every venue i'm in now is supportive of all singers, and it make a world of difference for the atmosphere.

people like that......make my singing sound good.....gotta luv 'em.....

I think I have to agree with mckyj57, they EVENTUALLY give up, and move on. The only problem, is that any NEW customers that might have become a regular and came to the show for the WEEKS these clowns were there, got the WRONG impression of the show, and surely won't come back. Not only that, but may even spread the word about their experience. Cutting the mic off would have had absolutely NO effect, as the person was just mumbling 99% of the song, and even if the mic was OFF, the guy could stand there and scream "she thinks my tractor's sexy" mumble, mumble, mumble. Not my idea of karaoke. If you can read, you can TRY to sing the song. Personally, I think I would have had to tell these guys (after 2 or 3 rounds) that if they don't know any more of the song, other than the title, that they would not be allowed to sing, but if they could find a song that they COULD SING, there would be no problem with them singing. It's not "Joe Shmoe and his Buddies Show". That way, they knew I wasn't going to allow FOOLISHNESS to interupt everyone elses good time, and maybe would just move on then.

Rosario

The risk of rejecting customers is much worse than that, in my opinion.


Let's not exaggerate our importance....when I worry about what people think then I tell myself that if they think about me as much as I think about them, I am safe.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

They way I look at it, it shouldn't be about what YOUR idea of what karaoke is. It's about the customers. Without them, YOU don't have a job.
Simple math.
I had a scenario last night of EXACTLY your example of mumble mumble... sing the well known chorus... and so on. The two girls struggled through the song, but they got through it. A real couple of troopers. They rest of the room gave them great applause for giving it a go. They ended up staying the rest of the night and had a great time. If I had treated them as some of you suggest, not only would they have left unhappy, (and maybe never tried karaoke again) but they would have taken the rest of their table of 6 or so people with them and my reputation as a fair and supportive hostess would have gone through the floor. I could have even lost some of my regulars because of it.
When I first started, I "sang" in a very similar way. It was simply because of sheer fear and insecurity. Not because I didn't know the song, although i'm sure it appeared that way. The hostess and the crowd were VERY supportive and before long I improved as my fear level went down.
If I had been treated the way you suggest, I would not be singing and hosting today.
I would have given up and never tried again.
Come one people, you all complain about the Diva singers. Cut the less talented singers some slack and quit acting like KJ Divas yourselves.
Remember WHY you have a hosting job in the first place. Without your customers, you're just another wannabe with no job.

Cueball:
I only said TELL them that IF they continue to scream into the mic, you won't let them sing again. I have NEVER (not even once!) had to follow through with it, as every single case has smartened up and cut the sceaming out.
Telling them you're going to turn the mic volume off is effectively the same thing as telling them they can't sing, except that they still get up on stage and waste your time (and everyone else's).
I tried your way of telling them that I will turn the mic down, but it only seems to work in about half the cases. For some reason, (maybe because they won't be able to get on stage and have that attention?) telling them they won't sing again seems to have a much better end result.