Karaoke Forums

You know, I'm totally with Koyote on this. I tire of the pompous arrogance on this forum of people who think they do it the right way and that's the only way that it can be done. You have to play to the venue you're in. People come to Karaoke not just to sing, they come for the party atmosphere. This is why if the bar isn't paying attention to the singers, the singers don't have fun. It's not enough to sing, there has to be a complete involvement of the whole venue to really get things rolling.

So there is a certain need to take care of the non-singers too. Now how do you do that? Well some venues and/or crowds apparently call for playing dance music sets. Others call for keeping people singing as much as possible because that's what the non-singers came to watch. And there's a whole spectrum in between. The fact is if you want to put your finger on one method of running a show and say this is the only way a show advertised as Karaoke can be run, well then you're a candidate for the king of fools.

I would hope that part of what makes each of us skilled as a host is the ability to read and respond to the crowds we have each night. Happy customers means return customers and return customers means you're doing your job.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Sure. I play dance sets myself from time to time at various places. Usually only one a night, but sometimes two or three. But playing to a party atmosphere is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about the slow times, aren't we?

And again, I have nothing against any type of show anyone wants to put on. Just don't call it karaoke when it is not karaoke. Call it Karaoke/DJ? I know what I'm getting. Call it Karaoke then half the time is prerecorded music? To me that's false advertising.

I am not there to listen to prerecorded music. Maybe no one else here thinks their time is valuable, but I feel mine is. And hanging out in bars listening to prerecorded music isn't how I want to spend mine. Other people may love it, and I certainly have nothing against that. But a host baiting me in with karaoke then wasting my time? I hate it, and I don't stand for it.

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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.

For my venues on a SLOW night, if the singers are GOOD or at least DECENT, i will keep them singing consecutively until hopefully the crowd builds up.

If they are HORRIBLE or are drunk and can't hold a note, then i will DEFINATELY play filler music or even a dance set to preserve the staff's and other non-singers' sanity.

If i ended up LOSING those BAD singers and they never returned, so be it.- They weren't promoting karaoke entertainment in a positive light. I'd be BETTER OFF playing the karaoke tracks with background vocals.

I average about 18-19 songs per hour. My die hards show up early and eat before the show. My average number of singers is 25 total for the night (3 hrs). At the end of the night the die hards sing (3) songs and the late arrivals sing twice. Everyone seems to more than happy with those stats.

Mrmarog

I base my singing expectations off the size of the rotation. If the place is packed, I can live with 3 times. Normally, I go in expecting to sing 4 times. If it's dead and a little filler here and there isn't going to break my heart -- especially if I get up 5 times or more.

I've gotten to sing as many as 7 times in a night, but it got to be a drag - I was really challenging myself early on and my voice was getting really tired.

I work in a small venue and do a show that starts at 7 p.m. Sometimes there are tables of people waiting to sing (Thursdays seem to be the busier night, which in this area has historically been karaoke night); Fridays can be slow to start because people often go home first instead of coming in for dinner. However, there are diners who come in specifically on Friday nights because I will play human jukebox and sing their requests until the regular singers come in. I don't mind doing it, it is stuff I'm familiar with, it allows "sing-alongs" and the owner is thrilled that I can entertain his guests. Other nights I may sing 2 songs the entire night. When I refer to non-singers in my posts, BTW, I am referring to people who come in SPECIFICALLY to hear the great singers that come to my shows. Most nights the average rotation is only 6-7 or sometimes 9-10 singers...but it fluctuates over the night. The non-singers stay all night and listen to everyone. Really the perfect situation. I'm tired of working in big, noisy bars with a lot of drunks.

please see my new thread on this subject "So, What Would You Do?"

We don't go to places that seem to have the large rotation that I've seen on here before. But I'm more than happy with once an hour. Twice could be a plus, and less than once an hour isn't really a minus. If the joint is kickin' and a fun atmosphere, fine with 3 songs for the night. I like to sing, but we're out for fun also.

So what is considered a large rotation?

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First, when I said we don't go to places with a large rotation, that's just how it works. We don't avoid a place because of a large rotation. It's just the ones around the house that we go to max around 20-25. But generally stay under 20. We like to stay within 10 minutes of the house normally. A large rotation to me is when you guys mention shows consistantly having 30 -50+ singers, holy #@!%. My only experience with that much participation was just this past Halloween when we had about a 2 hr wait. And I have to tell ya, it was hopping and we had a blast. Small bar and standing room only by the time we got there, but a great time.

As a singer i would be happy to sing once an hour and don't expect more, so if it happened, GREAT! I go to places to socialize first, dance second, and sing third, so it doesn't really matter.

A large venue here sometimes has rotations on upwards of 35+ and the kjs don't seem to know it makes good business sense to cap the rotation at some point and keep your regulars happy or they'll go elsewhere. ( I have 10 of their regulars now! HA!).

I will be honest and say that i am NOT inclined to let them know that they should cap their rotation.

Karen i would LOVE to visit your show. Attending a show with QUALITY singers and just sitting back and listening is perfectly FINE with me. I can BE entertained as well as be entertaining.... Kudos to you.

JR, would love to have you at my show ... and anyone/everyone else on this board. Swingcat and Bluestained are apparently going to be making their way up into my neck-o-the-woods soon. I'm very much looking forward to that.

BTW, where do you do your show, JR? I talked to some recent honeymooners the other day, said they had been at a karaoke bar and saw an elvis impersonator. I didn't know if you had ever mentioned where you do your show - of course now I can't remember where they said they were ...

Lately most of my singers get to sing only once or twice a night (3.5 hour show, no filler/dance music).


The bar where I do shows often has a band performing before the karaoke, but on nights with no band, I sometimes set up an hour early.

At those times I may get a rotation only 5-6 long before people start ariving. People might get to sing 3-4 times in the first hour on those nights but only 1-2 times on the next 3 hours.

On the rare occasions I get a short rotation a lot of my singers take it as an opportunity to try out new material that they do not feel ready for a full house. Even with a small crowd they want to sing as fast as they can grab the mic. I sometimes even cut the regular song I just run through the system as a sound check off before it is finished if the karaoke crowd looks really eager.