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I got this question Wednesday and it isn't the first time I've heard it.

Do you have to know the song to sing it?

Of course I try to answer it as nicely as I can. I told her she needs to pick a song she knows extremely well especially if it is her first time. She gets up to sing and nothing comes out of her mouth. I try to help her the best I can, but it's a train wreck. Next thing I know she's announcing I suck on the microphone. NICE

What is your least liked dumb question?

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There are no dumb questions. Some simply do not understand how karaoke works in that you at least must have a working knowledge or be familiar with, a song. It's like actual guitar players trying to play Rock Guitar, or vice versa.. They get thrown off with the mechanics of it. I would just ask how familiar they are with the particular song they want to attempt. Her response was just wrong though.

I think that's where the flute melody came in on some of the old Pioneer, DK, and nutech discs... some wanted a guide, or at least felt there should be one.

Personally, I sing to the original at home to know it, and then after I know the song, sing to it again! I'm surprised that I don't know how a certain tone went ... kinda like uh, no you AREN'T as good as you thought you were!

As far as announcing you suck... Babs, words from idiots should NEVER bother you. I'd just look at someone like that, grin, and think to myself, "Well self, you've been doing this HOW long???"

Yeah, the only person that sucked was the moron with the mouth! !

as far as other dumb questions, which I honestly don't feel are so dumb, it all goes back to Lord's comment about people just know knowing how it all goes.

Hey, this song doesn't sound like the original...

Jeez, all they do is pay you to push buttons... ANYBODY can do that!

The other KJ down the street is far better than you (especially when you KNOW better)

Hey, can you download anything?

Comments like these just continue to amaze me how often they still come around over and over...

Here's a good one "What do you think I should sing, I'm new at this", the best part about the question is YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THIS PERSON BEFORE. You've gotta love "em.

Serenity Now

Maybe Babs singer should try out in the contest Ohana is having in Seattle. From the contest description ( http://www.nwkaraokeguide.net/2009%20Fi ... /Ohana.php ) it sounds like there is a good likelihood the singer will not know the song they are to sing!

No dumb questions? In the beginning of each show, I run through a sort of patter. This includes " ...in the front of the books you will find slips and pens. Please write down your name, the name of the song, and the number, and bring it on down....yada yada"

You KNOW that within 5 minutes of that SOMEONE will ask where they can find slips, or pens, or how to sign up......

Or, standing in front of the 6 ft. projection TV where they have seen lyrics from earlier singers' songs, and asking where the words will be......

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Suicide contests are alot of fun. We ran these for years. Thinking about starting another one. But our differs as they are picking from the entire book. We call them up, we flip through the page & they say when to stop. Then get someone from the audience to pick the left or right side of the book, then I run my finger down that page & the singer yells stop! NEVER know what will come up.
They were judged on basically how hard they tried, stage presence & whether they finished the song or walked off - most at least tried to muddle through. It was pretty fun, $20 prize for the night.

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Did a person win if they really knew the song and did a great job with it, or were the winners only the people who didn't know what they were singing, and gave it their best try.

Nah, that is the luck of the draw - like said it was for $20, it was mostly regs that came in anyway - they just did it for fun, wasn't a contest hopper draw. Plus if you won, you had to sit out 4 weeks from participating again. Plus sometimes the ones that gave their all & really gave the stage performance still won over the one that actually knew the song when it happened. It wasn't really a singing contest, stage presence was the big number in this one.

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Newb: I'd love to sing <XXX>, but I don't know the words.

Me: Don't worry...they're on the screen.

I know it's not a karaoke question, but I was working in a grocery store, and this "lady" comes up to me and asks me, "Do you have to stir Cool Whip before you use it?" DOH!,,,,HERES YOUR SIGN!

Dumb question..is that the same as annoying question?

I can't believe I'm the first to mention this one, because I've read many of you talk about this before:

"Hey .........(I'm ignoring you)......HEY..........(still ignoring you)..............HHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY, (and I love being called this...) CHIEF!!!!!!....My woman and I gotta roll in 15 minutes. Can you bump me up the list?"

Why yes, ....I'd LOVE to. And by the way, thanks for asking!

SIde note: I finally did it the other night...my partner host and I have been running a show in a bar setting for a year. And although we have begun some endearing relationships with the patrons of this place, we still have some issues with clientele honoring our pre-prescribed "rules" for karaoke...Mainly, the one which states, WHEN YOU PUT YOUR NAME ON THE LIST....DO NOT ASK ME TO MOVE YOU AROUND. DON'T HARRASS THE HOST BY ASKING HOW MANY SPOTS YOU ARE DOWN THE LIST...If you need to smoke, get a shot, order food, poop, whatever, that's fine...Go Have fun, and when it's your turn, WE'LL HOLLA! (We use Sax and Dotty's with the running audience screen on at all times...)

So, I get drunk guy (pardon me, but I don't remember which one that guy is on the Menagerie list..BUT)...anyway, it was drunk, can't sing for S*** guy, who insisted that his woman NEEDED to hear his musical stylings (Something like Tesla's Love Song) before she left...presumably to get her warmed up for some horizontal boogie later on, I'm sure. (he was #6 of 14 singers at the time) So he said, "BUMP ME UP!" I replied..."God, I would LOVE to do that." AND I DID!

And I didn't expect this to happen...(Sadly, I just wanted the guy to leave....) but almost immediately, I had a group of 3 really hot college age girls come up and make the same request ('Sasha has class in the morning, and we have to roll...can we sing, like .... mmm....NEXT?') Well, I wouldn't DREAM of making Sasha late for bedtime, so ABSOLUTELY 'you guys can sing next......'

In the meantime, Drunk guy, who had moved only about 10 feet away to the nearest video blackjack machine, kinda caught wind of what was going on.....oh and he gets ticked.......confronts me...and says "I THOUGHT I WAS NEXT" "Well you WERE, till I found out about Sasha's problem" So, she's gonna sing next....

Now, keep in mind, all these fine specimens are REGULARS in this place...and this asking to be bumped nonsense is something that happens ALL THE TIME....so.....

you wouldn't be too surprised to hear that Billy, another singer at position 11 of 14, is slowly approaching the table, and says to me (I kid you NOT) "HEY Sean, gimme the mic bro, this crowd needs to start rockin. Put me in for (Wait for it, .................................wait for it...................................ok here it comes) Careless Whisper....and I'm gonna give 'em what they need".......

"YOU're SO RIGHT, Billy...that's exactly what this crowd needs. (Looking at Sasha) I'm sorry hon, but Sir William is correct. This entire ROOM has needs, and Bill is here willing to sacrifice for the cause"

Drunk guy just throws his hands up in the air,....mumbles something about me and his mother.......(wink wink) and walks out of the bar........Sasha and the crew returned to their seats (Mind you, until CLOSING TIME.....3 hours later)......and Billy eventually "rocked the house" with Careless Whisper...(and no...not the cool hip Seether version...but the flaming original.......) but only after his appropriate time came in the rotation.....

I guess the main point being, sometimes we ALL do dumb stuff...and have probably asked a 'dumb question' at some point along the way. I guess we all have a way of handling these....and sometimes the best way for me to do it, is in a way that makes me sit back and laugh.....but at the same tries to insert a point to the person who asked the question. I do this as a 'paid hobby/labor of love' because I'm fortunate enough to have a great 'day job'...so I don't take all this TOO seriously, (cause it's not my main source of income...) However, I do hope that my point comes across effectively, and not just as me trying to be jerky...BUT in saying that, I don't worry to much bout the small stuff......I just worry about the "NEEDS" of my crowd....Thank God for Billy.....

MAO! Yeah, that one cracks me up. My retort, "Um, yeah... that's where the karaoke part come in!"

Barstar, I NEVER, period the end, I don't care how cute the girl is, or what your lame a$$ed story is, BUMP anyone.

"We're getting ready to leave, can you bump me up?"

"Nope".... because invaribly, 3 hours later they are still there.

However, if they become obnoxious about it, I will jokingly state "I can be bribed with $10 and $20 dollar bills, or sexual favors (If the girl is cute)." That usually shuts them up. (Usually. )

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And that's why, Barstar, I NEVER, EVER move people in the rotation. Move one, and you eventually have to move them all. And why on earth would I actually help them to leave sooner? The point is to have as many people in the joint as possible!
How do I handle the request to "move me up"? I use the simple one word answer approach: "NO". Works wonders. And for those that aren't too drunk (or are) and are maybe a little smarter than I thought they were (or aren't), I simply tell them that my computer program will not allow me to move them. It's a blatant lie, but one well worth telling. See, they quickly move on to something else and quit bugging me every 5 minutes to move them once they "know" the computer program won't let them move up.

As for the stupid questions that I hate:
"Where are the words?" Ummm... on the big screen you've been staring at all night.... (or on the small monitor right in front of you where you can't see it).

"Pick a song for me, anything, I don't care what" Actually, I'm tempted next time I'm asked this to pick a totally innappropriate song I KNOW they don't know - for example: "Like a Virgin" for the huge nasty looking 30- something biker dude.

As for people coming up and asking me to put them in for (fill in the blank) without a slip, I tell them, "there's books right there and slips with them. Fill out a slip and bring it up".
They almost always try to argue with me "oh, come on you don't need a slip, just enter me in" - This from a carpenter - I just replied" oh come on, you don't need a hammer to hit that nail, just use your head". The slips are part of my tools. I use them as a backup rotation guide should I crash or should the proggie glitch. So, no slip, no sing. I've learned the hard way. I NEED those slips. Especially when I don't think I do, guaranteed I WILL.

Along the same lines is "Do you have (fill in the blank)?" reply: "Books are right there. Check the book. If it's not in the book, I don't have it." (actually I need a book update, but they're usually asking for a song that obviously should be in the book. I just hate laziness. If they're too lazy to bother to look in the book, then I guess I'm too lazy to enter it.)

Now I know while you're reading this it must seem like I come off as a *itchy person, but most of my answers do actually come off sounding polite and of course I don't tell them my *real* thoughts. But it's sure good to be able to vent on here and say what we REALLY think!
CHeers and Happy Mother's Day!

One of my biggest kicks is watching a 4 year old singing and staring at the tv like they are reading the words I actually think they are learning to read ans associate words. They can ask dumb or the most enlightening questions but they will teach you what karaoke is all about. It is not a religion or rituals to them. It is pure singing and learning new emotions and how to think and live.

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When a child asks a question, it is NEVER dumb.
And you're right. Seeing a child sing karaoke is amazing!

i think a couple of you missed the much intended sarcasm in my last post. jeesh

No, didn't miss it, but did comment on it in a serious way for those that did.
Cheers!

Babs said:

That's why we ALWAYS lower the mic the second the song is done or they give up.

I'm sick of the "YAHOOOO'S!" and "WEEEEEE!" of people just trying to see how loud they can be.

It also cuts down on those that "want to say a few words" that turn out to be either political in nature or otherwise "funeral related."

Like; "This is dedicated to my aunt jean who died just 2 days ago and raised me from a kid and all my brothers and sisters loved her too and yadda, yadda, yadda...."

I used to have one woman that would pick her song herself and whenever I played it and she screwed up, she'd try to "blame it" on me like I put in the wrong song or version..... After about the 5th time, I learned to shut down the mics.