Karaoke Forums

I've never wanted to be Simon or Randy. Or Paula or Kara for that matter. I've always believed a great karaoke host never renders judgment on the quality of a singer's performance. We're not talent judges, we're there to give ALL singers equal ballyhoo and support. And certainly never move someone up in the rotation because we might think they sing "better".

Then I happened upon the blog of "award-winning karaoke hostess" Gerrie Woo, and her theory on why her San Diego-area show is "so popular and exciting":

If she thinks your singing sucks, you'll get on stage when she's da mn good and ready!

When did the karaoke host become a "judge"? Here's what Woo's show boasts as the "Fastest 'No-Nonsense' Rotation" --

Woo’s Rotation - When I start the show I try to start with a good singer and a good song. So, it doesn’t matter if you were there for an hour before the show. If you don’t have a good song up or a below average singer, I am not going to call you up first. If I can, I will start the show with good singers. I don’t want to shock the non-singers with bad singing. Sometimes they don’t have the patience to give the show a chance and they’ll leave. And I don’t blame them. I would leave too...

Really? I'd leave any show where I saw the host playing favorites. If I'm there an hour before the show and know I have the first slip in, I da mn well expect to be the first singer, no matter how many of your rock star wannabe friends are in the house!

We are not producers. In many respects we are just as much of a service person as the waiter or bartender. Yes, be an entertaining host! How is it that Jay Leno can make even the most boring guests look great? Just like a really talented karaoke host can present even lackluster singers to the crowd and make it fun!

I pity those who in her opinion are "below average singers" I'll bet she's real enthusiastic once she begrudgingly deems it's their turn to take the stage.

Sometimes I get nothing but ballads coming in. And that can get real boring no matter how good the singers are. That’s when I have to call up one of my regulars (I keep a list of all my regulars’ songs on file) to sing an up tempo tune or play a regular non-karaoke song. I may have to call them out of line to break up the boredom.

Wow, those non-regulars sure can be boring! Maybe she should hold auditions earlier in the day to see which singers would be worthy of sharing the stage with her.

If I get several really bad singers, I try to put in a good singer to make up to the audience the awful stuff they were forced to listen to. This usually happens when there are new singers that I don’t know. They come up and they are really soooo horrible. I have to think quick of someone to put up next that is really good.

I ranted a little more on my blog, but my curiosity for the group is whether I'm spot on or way off base? Do you do any of the things in your rotation described by this California KJ?

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The ONE thing we would like to do is break up a group of three who sing ballads one after the other and not well. But one of them brings up all three of their slips at once so it is hard to excuse spacing them out so we haven't done it yet. One host I know used to announce that he was going to mix up the order to have it be boy/girl/boy/girl and no one objected.

But the rest of that stuff? As you say, the true talant is making even the recreational singers entertaining without hurting their feelings. There was a host who was openly discouraging the bad singers and boring songs at a local casino and karaoke ended up dying and being booted to a week night. I have gotten that not overtly insulted but not exactly welcomed treatment at two places and it is hard to sit there for the rest of the evening feeling like you are an embarrassment. They may end up with better singers but it doesn't seem like a fun way to earn a living.

Too many screwed up drunks in a row is bad for your show.

People who continue to scream in the mic after you've told them not to is bad in general.

Too many weak, or poor singers in a row is bad for the show.

Too many ballads in a row is bad for the show.

As host, the show is YOUR responsibility. You can delegate the task, but you can't delegate the responsibility. At the end of the night people will remember YOU, not drunk Johnny who could barely stand, much less sing.

I do try to slip the talented newbies between the ballads and the drunks.

Those folks who are rude, and obnoxious to me and other won't find me looking for them to put in a submission when their turn is coming. And I won't call them 10 times either. They may get skipped.

At the end of the night, when I'm down to cut offs, those who don't have in submission are done, and I WILL favor the talents over the hacks at that point.

Note, however, if you get your song in, are respectful to me and other singers, show enthusiasm and really try, talent won't be a consideration ever.

Crappy talent, combined with poor karaoke etiquette doesn't earn you any favors. With talent, I won't stand for disrespect.

I'm a host, and I have an obligation to make judgment calls for a good show, not a glorified button pusher.

All that said, this woman sounds like an idiot.

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Wow. I just read Ms. Woo's blog. What an EGO! It's seems that karaoke to her is all about who SHE thinks is good, what songs SHE considers good, and what a fantastic and "award winning" hostess she is. It sounds like if she doesn't know you, and you put up a song she doesn't like, then you may not get to sing at all.

I noticed how her comments section was "closed".

Shows can be successful for a varitey of reasons. A host may think the show is successful because of the way they constantly juggle the rotation, when in reality it may be because it's the closest bar to Boeing when the 11:00 shift gets off. I think most singers are cognizant to where they sit in the rotation and if you've been singing for several months, you are pretty well clued in to what a kj does and why they do it. I think it hurts to get bumped around in a rotation. The singer starts thinking, "Gee, my song isn't as good, or maybe I'm not a good singer"--a bad feeling to have when you step up to sing. When I get to the Great Karaoke Show in the Sky, I know that my place in that rotation will be solid, the sound will be great, the beer will taste good, and I won't get bumped! The key is for the host to develop an element of grace--making the lesser singer feel welcome. People sing better when they feel welcome and wanted. If the host feels embarrassed by the singer, it will show, and it will make the performance twice as bad (or worse) as it would have been if the host had just accepted the fact that there is a wide range of talent and that's the way life is and the task I've been assigend with today is just to make everyone feel welcome. ....and a bad, humble singer can sound better than a vain prima donna.

I hadn't sang at a certain bar for a few months, but this last Thursday I stopped back for a song. One of the reasons I had left was because the sound was uneven. Some nights I would sound great. Other nights, the kj was giving someone else the hot mic at the expense of other singers (including me). If I know I'm not going to get a good mic, I have to weed out a bunch of songs that I know I can only sing with a good mic--no fun having your voice wear out halfway through a song. So this week I stop back in, and lo and behold, the old kj that was constantly tweaking the mic and rotation is gone and they've got a new karaoke company there.

Tonight I was up at my brother's. My 4 year old nephew can't pronounce his seven year old brother's name correctly. He says Chrisfofo instead of Christopher. "Chrisfofo" is music to my ears. He doesn't say it right, but he's a human being, he's a live, and the sound is music to my ears.

SD, you GOTTA make it to my Thursday show. PM me for details if you're interested.

She sounds like a crowd killer to me. Let me see - ego, favortism, unfair rotation, all characteristics of a host most singers don't like. It would be suicide for me to run a show like that.

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She probably gets away with what she does because it's the only show her "good" singers go to and don't know better.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Speaking from a host's point of view...I would never dream of putting my singers up based on their singing ability. I have some that are boring singers and I have some that belong on the gong show but they are having fun...and I joke around with them up on stage to get them chuckling and having a good time.

If I get a string of slow songs, I play up-beat music as my intros. If I can, I take a break and play a dance song in-between to break up the ballads.

If I have "screamers", they get warned 1 time and then their mic gets shut off. Disrespectful people won't make it on my stage. The one's that hit on my husband during his show won't get any favors from me either.

Our shows are not Karaoke Marathon shows. We have one of the best shows in San Antonio and if you want to come see us, just send us a message at bigtyme.perez@gmail.com

To answer Dan's question, at the beginning of the night if all the slips have come up at roughly the same time, I will try to put a little order into things by organizing tables of singers into groups. And yeah - putting a good singer first. But if someone has got their slips up way before anyone else they are first no matter what.

These days once rotation is set it's set. No fooling around with it. We live with what's brought up in that order.

I have to agree with you Bill H. the only addition is that I slip new singers in between old singers after the first rotation, so if I have to break up a bad routine that's when it's done and it doesn't look obvious.

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I'll say this, I don't agree with her methods and wouldn't dream of employing them myself. However, I can also see her point and I can see how one could actually be quite successful in the right venue with her approach. Sounds to me like she turns her Karaoke show into quite a production, way more than just singer after singer coming up to croon their favorite top 40 hit. I think if you build the right expectations over time, her approach could actually be pretty successful.

Now for me, it goes against everything I believe in as far as Karaoke is concerned. I could never in good conscience do things her way. But I wouldn't be so quick as to dismiss what she's got going either. It sounds like it works for her so if people don't like it they're free to go to other shows. Sounds like people keep coming back to her.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Karaoke has involved into many formats due to the fact that the public like different things. This is providing what a certain venue wants to offer or what a certain segment wants. Once established a regular format will not work there. For those that dont like certain ways there are other shows in town.

All in all this is promoting karaoke and increasing the customer base. To argue against it or say it isnt karaoke is ridiculous. Hard core standard karaoke will some day be a thing of the past and it is declining in many areas due to the fact that people become tired of the same thing over and over.

Some cater entirely to singers and others provide entertainment. Personally I can have fun at either format and singers reaching drinking age more and more has the same attitude. If you dont realize this then you are not reading crowds or aware of what the trends are.

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There are as many different approaches to shows as there are hosts and venues. Obviously she has success with this. I look at my two gigs and I maintain a totally different focus at each of them.

One of them is strictly a cabaret-style show where the best of the best singers come and entertain the non-singers; I don't rig the rotation ever but I don't have to as with the exception of perhaps 2 singers in an entire evening, the singers are exceptionally good. They don't go there to get drunk, nor to the non-singers. It is a mature environment (no crooked hats). It flows, no one complains about the rotation, the crowd is extremely appreciative - all in all, in my mind this is the perfect show.

The other place is totally different. It would be very possible to change rotation in this place because drunkeness thankfully affects memory - and when they get so drunk they can't remember they have a song up, I conveniently forget them. I advise the bartender that so-and-so is beyond singing capabilities...he is fine with that and usually escorts them out at that point.

I approach these shows obviously with very different 'rules.' One has no rules at all because there is no need; the other, occasionally I have to drop the hammer on someone and I will rearrange the rotation to the point of removing a singer who is beyond singing, etc.

Different strokes for different folks. It is obvious which I prefer....

Do you change the rotation based on singing skill? - no! Everyone is treated the same - good singer or bad. I don't change the rotation around or move songs around to make it fit the night, I am not being a dj, it's karaoke. 9 out of 10 times if there are too many slow songs, someone will come up to change their song to a faster song to break it up, or I might sing at the end of the round if it's in that time frame.

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Woo hoo!!!!!!!! I wouldn't and couldn't run a show like that, but I do agree with those that have said......it could work depending on the venue......Maybe we need to start a book...."Who's Who of Karaoke".......I'm already listed in "Who' He?", as in, who the he!! is he, which means I would never get a chance to sing for Woo, and wouldn't be in "Woo's Who" of karaoke......how bout "Horton here's a Woo" or "Woo hears a Horton"......Is she hot?......would a guy want to "woo Woo"?(ride that train)....woo Woo!.....now excuse me, while I have my breakfest......you got it dude.......I'm having green eggs and ham.........which if you knew me......you'd call me a cannibal...same thing if I eat Turkey.......

instead of bashing Gerrie Woo, it really is bashing San Diego's karaoke circuit if this KJ is award winning with those rules. I'd sing good to get another song, and then sabotage the show with a terrible rendition of my second song.

too each their own I guess .... Why not !!! A host that caters to only above average singers .... If you can fill the rotation and have a great show by chasing away the non serious and drunk people who can't sing ..why not
It's not MY kind of show to host ..but if it works ..kudos to her

It seems like a breeding ground for complainers I'd think. How does she handle telling people why they aren't singing? I can't imagine to many people would take well to being told they aren't good enough. She must have balls of steel to put up with all the disgruntled singers. Or what if you are just average and go in not knowing if you'll get to sing or not depending on the competition. Wierd

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I had the mis-fortune to come across a KJ like this one night a while back as a customer/singer.

I had a night off and went to a pub I'd never been before who were doing karaoke. Plenty people in when I got there as well as some of my regs who'd invited me. Sat with them and immediately put my first song in to the hosts (who it turned out to be the owners of the place).

Had a drink and waited... and waited .....and waited ... and waited. Sat through I'm sure were singers who'd already been up once. Sat through hearing PBTDL TWICE !

Eventually, he calls out my name (after about 1.1/2 hour), I stand up to make my way to the stage as he then announces "sorry 'mate' we've not got the song you requested, do you want to choose another". Ok I say I'll do A.N. other by whoever.

He's already called up the next singer as I return to my seat to await the search/selection/ and insertion of my song.

So I'm now thinking I'm sure to be next. Guess what ? NO ! ... another what seemed to be 4 or 5 singers were called and sang.

Then to my surprise some sixth sense told me that the host was preparing to sing.
I said to my group "If he sings now I'm leaving". AND HE DID SING. My friends convinced me to stay but started to let the host know that I was still waiting.

At last he got me up and I have to say that I absolutely nailed the song - had the crowd singing along and received good applause at the end.

After the applause died down the host says over the mic "Wow that was fantastic". Then in his arrogant way of trying to get a laugh from his regulars says over the mic "Sorry I didn't get you up earlier but from the look of you I thought you were going to be (@$%&#!)" .

The sound system wasn't exactly brilliant, they had way too much reverb on the vocals, the rotation seemed to be non-existant BUT the annoying point of it was that the place was quite busy by todays standards ???

I don't know why they were successful - wish I did.

Anyway they've got one less customer from now on.

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