Karaoke Forums

OK, a couple months ago I picked up a new show at a restaurant/bar. I set up in the restaurant side which has plenty of seating and a small dance floor. Everything seems to be going quite well, except for one situation that I really hadn't thought of until this last weeks show. I host on every other Saturday night, sharing opposite weeks with another host. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. sharp. The place allows minors until 10:00 p.m. and then out they go. Last Saturday was a very busy night, I had 35 singers, and made it through 2 rotations and most of a third. The problem is, there is a young girl, maybe 9 or 10 years old who has become a regular and is adorable as they come. Her dad brings her and sits and waits patiently for her turn to sing, but I feel guilty not being able to get her more than 1 or 2 songs before she has to leave. Question is, do I make and exception in her case and let her sing maybe an extra song or two? or do I treat her just like all the rest of the regulars? I'm torn!

Frankly, I wanna make her feel special, but I don't wanna upset anybody else. This little girl is very well liked by the big portion of the regulars. What is your opinion everyone?

Scott

In a restaraunt I would talk the owner into an earlier start (more pay) and maybe get some more kids and have the first hours as family time. it is a wonderful opportunity.

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my friend, if you're lucky enough to have that kind of consistant showing I wouldn't mess with it. In all likelyhood, the local law and liquor is why the girl can't stay longer, so the bar can't do much about it.

She's 9 or 10? Then at 10 O'clock its time for her to go home anyway, however, I agree that perhaps starting earlier might be a good thing... if the owner is willing to pay you more.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I recommend making her wait her turn like everyone else. You are going to tinkle some people off if you decide to use their valuable time. You may feel it's a good use of time, but not everyone will agree. Also, remember if you have 25 singers you are spending 250 minutes of their combined time, not to mention the time of their non-singing friends.

Kids nowadays have no need to be made to feel special. So many parents overdo that, to the point where when you treat them like anyone else they feel mistreated.

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

If you feel that strongly about it, and the place won't add extra time, maybe you could start 15 minutes early on your own time and let her sing a couple before the show starts. I've actually done that a few times as a favor to exceptional singers who want to work something up before we get officially rolling.

Other than that you can't bend the rules or someone will raise a stink. Guaranteed.

I'm doubting very much that the owner is willing to pay any extra, cuz I already get 50 bucks more than the other host. However, starting earlier might be an option. That is something to consider. If I make an exception for her, someone else might want the same consideration, and so goes the snowball effect. Again though, I want to give her more opportunities to sing. This place really has been a terrific venue so far, and I don't wanna screw things up.

Places that serve alcohol are for adults to "hang out" at. I don't want to "hang out" with children when I go out to karaoke. I like baseball but I can't join the local little league and play with the kids, now can I? Children have plenty of activities in todays world without having to "hang out" in bars and restaurants til all hours because their parents want to put their "adorable" kids on display. Let the kid "hang out" with other kids her own age and if she's really talented, she can try out for American Idol someday. Maybe her daddy can rent out a hall once a month and throw a karaoke party for his daughter and all of her friends to have a great afternoon of singing and dancing. I won't try to get an invite. I promise.

I know if I owned a bar or a restaurant and the Karaoke Host asked me for extra money so a nine year old could do a showcase every week, I'd laugh at him. If I were a customer in that situation, I'd complain to management about having to listen to some precocious child while I was trying to eat my dinner. If I were a regular singer at that venue, I'd wonder why this child gets special treatment when I'm there every week and I don't get it. If the kids DAD wanted to pay the KJ for a early half hour of karaoke before the official start of the show, I'd be sure to show up after she was done. If I really liked the food at the restaurant and the children's hour interfered with my dining experience, I'd probably go on a different night.

I like children but there is a time and place for them. In my opinion, they DO NOT belong in bars at such a tender age.

So far I haven't had any problems. But I'm dealing with adults. I don't do it regularly. And the place is practically deserted at 8:45 anyway so not many people are even aware of it. So as always FWIW...

Bruce, if you didn't notice, I said this is a restaurant/bar, and I set up in the restaurant side, totally separated by doors and walls. It is a family diner, and the children are welcomed totally. As far as karaoke goes, she and others like her are the future of karaoke, and I won't have her told to go somewhere else and play like other little girls her own age. She is a part of my show, and I want her to know it. Period.

Bill, I like your idea of starting a few minutes early just to give her at least one more chance to sing, sounds like that's something that won't hurt at all. Thanks

Scott

The graduation parties, birthday parties and all others had kids that are now my customers and besides that they are good and not karaoke nuts like old timers. They are your bread and butter in the next years. The population of singers will multiply so groom and recruit them now.

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Id see if you can make a deal with the owner to start it at like 7 and go 7-9 Kids/family karaoke. Youll get a STRONG response from the family side of the biz. Make it a FAMILY night segment. Adviertise it and build some buzz off it. In this economy you need to have SOMETHING MORE than the next guy. It will attract people of ALL age to come and sing and have dinner. But I would shut the kids off a 9pm and out they go.

Another altenative would be to do a dedicated family night starting and 6-9 for kids and then 9-12pm adults on a Sunday night. Lots of ways to make it work.

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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

As Swingcat suggests, perhaps having a separate time for family karaoke will work better. Years ago I started hosting a show that started at 8 p.m. in a bar/restaurant; the kids could stay until 9 (per the restaurant management, not the liquor board, which I believe says it is 10!!!)....anyway, we ended up with so many kids that the adults got perturbed...and spoke loudly about it to me. So, we moved the kids show to the night before from 6 to 9, and the next night was adults only 8 to 12. Worked out great, the place made a ton of money, and everybody was happy. Good luck with this dilemma.

k

Hmmmm your attitude belies that statement.


I like Karen's solution!

The solution is probably very simple. I take it you do a 4 hour show. And because the children can be there until 10, then personally I would make the children a priority. if there are say 12 children then that about 2 rotaions or so for them. If there are onlt a few let them up a couple of times an hour interspread with the adults. Any adult that doesn't understand this or gets upset is a twit. The adults can get going at 10.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I would make an exception, and I do for young children that have to leave by a set time. For me it is for a couple of kids that one of my regulars sometimes brings to my monthly weekend show.

Since the Mother and Father are among my most regular singers on my weekday shows, and are quite popular with most of the other regular singers I don't have a problem bumping their kids a bit in the rotation (they never ask to bump their own turns up). Now if the rotation is already busy that does not mean that they would get two songs, but at least they would sing once.

I dont have many minors at my shows, but the occasional one or two add something to the show (and the girl is a good singer and I know she spends the week planning ahead and practicing for the show).

My view is handle it on a case by case basis and let the person sing, especially if they are associated with regulars.

I try not to bump people up in the rotation too often, but sometimes I make an exception. For example a bachlorette party showed up at my show and waited an hour for the future bride to sing one song. Normally the wait would have been closer to two hours, but since she brought about 12 people into the bar I made an exception even though they were not reuglars.

THe rotation should not be absolute, but it also should not have too much favoratisim or spcial cases. It is a fine line, and if the show is busy and the wait is long there will allways be someone who is unhappy, regardless of what you do. The trick is to make the most people happy while avoiding getting any minority very unhappy. It is just a matter of reading the crowd.

I agree with Bill, it is exactly what I was thinking.

Bruce, c'mon, you sound like scrooge! To hammer out a drawn out long post like that in that negative fashion, well I can't even think of the words.

I can certainly understand Bruce's POV. Being a father of two adorable girls, and frequently find I can barley tolarate OP kids. When mine start acting up, and put them in check... I hate, as host, having to do that for other people's.

On the other hand there may be an opportunity there, and I think the best solution is to get together with the manager and start discussing some options. I would love to take my kids and karaoke with them someplace.

It sounds to me that your venue does promote a family atmosphere, and this would be a great way to put that to use and make some money for YOU and the owner, as well as provide an excellent family entertainment outlet (and cultivate some future karaoke singers).

Either start earlier and say family time is from 7-9, or make it a seperate night.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

It's all fun and games until a bar fight breaks out and some little boy or girl gets hurt or some drunk gropes a little kid in the boys room. Then when Child Protection Services investigates the parents and finds that they were negligent for having their ten year olds in a bar or restaurant late at night where alcohol is being served. If I would have ever taken my kids to a bar when they were young, my ex-wife would have had me in court so fast my head would have been spinning. My kids are now in their twenties and I enjoy taking them to karaoke bars with me for a night out. I remember one time on vacation in Florida, I took my 16 year old daughter to a karaoke place(restaurant) that also had pool tables. These two dirtbag rednecks wouldn't stop staring at my daughter until I walked over to them, told them how old she was, and asked them what their problem was. There always seem to be one or two people who don't know how to behave and it can get very ugly very quickly. Needless to say, I never took my daughter back to that restaurant. Kids just don't belong around drunk people.

If you want kids to have a chance to do karaoke more than normal, run a night for them.

I do several benefit shows at our local state park, churches, and fund-raisers -- last year I did eight shows, this year I already have six scheduled. These are shows that mostly start at 6pm and run until 9 or 10. Of course I am not paid for it.

The vast majority of the singers are kids, and they love it. But we run a regular rotation, and I make them wait their turn like everyone else. A lot of kids will pester you for special consideration -- that's what they do, just like wanting to buy a toy in the supermarket. If you give in to that you create a monster, with kids jumping around yelling and acting out. But if you tell them calmly that everyone has to wait their turn, and insist on it, they understand and even get on board with it.

If you make sure you have all the Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana songs that are out, you will be playing those disks a lot.

I just think you are opening a can of worms in many ways if you mess with the rotation for one kid. What happens when the second, third, and fourth ones show up? And what happens when your crowd of adults shrinks because they can only take so much kid? What show will there be for her then?

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

That's all fine and dandy Bruce but perhaps you missed Scott's last post. The karaoke is in the restaurant. Not a bar. Besides, I like the idea of starting a little early for free time to give the kids a chance to have some fun.