Karaoke Forums

My Saturday gig is billed as DJ/KJ Plus A Lot More. It runs between 9-1.

Last Saturday when I started the gig, there wasn't a single singer in sight. By 9:20, two of my regulars showed up. One took two turns at singing and sang 2 songs per turn; the other took one turn and sang 2 songs. By 9:45 they were both gone. Perhaps because there wasn't much of any audience yet?

Between 9:45 and 10:30 I had no singers come in so I got the bouncer to sing a couple of songs! From 10:30 on I had singers coming in continuously until I had a total of 13.

I stayed until 1:15 until each singers, particular any new ones, had a chance to sing once or to get one last chance to sing. If I were willing to stay longer they all would have continued singing; I had enough request slips to keep me going until 2am

So, I would like to hear everyone's thoughts as to how you would have filled in the time between the starting hour and 10:30.

My biggest challenge was to remain upbeat and confident and entertaining while I stood in front of the house, by myself, virtually for 1 1/2 hours without singers. While I am prepared to do more than karaoke, I am really not prepared to do hours on end without it!

I think the first thing I would have done is I (and my girlfriend) would have been in the rotation (from the beginning), when you only had 2 singers. I would have also tried to get the bouncer involved at that time, and even the bartender. I would have tried to make a "small" party out of it. Maybe tried some duets with the 2 regulars, ANYTHING to try to keep the show going UNTIL the other customers came in. Some nights are just that way, but the WORST thing to do is NOTHING. I've had shows where the only people in the place were my girlfriend, and myself, for the first hour, we were singing the WHOLE time. Anyone coming in the place knew IMMEDIATELY that there was karaoke, because I ran it the same way as if there were 20 people singing. I made announcements after each song, "up next is Kiki, and if you'd like to sing, just fill out a slip, and YOU could be next". The problem that we had was that it was a new gig, and the BAR had no regulars. (At least none that liked KARAOKE). The gig ended after 3 months, but we did get some GOOD publicity from it, and we're KNOWN when we visit other shows.

Srnitynow

When faced with a similiar sitiuation, I would sing a song or two and the play some upbeat DJ music and keep an eye open for any potential singers I could get up to sing . For me in the past it was not unusual for the crowds to start to come out about 10-10:30. I don't know if there is any more you can do but let any singers sing and try to get the OTHERS involved somehow - get them to sing - play some DJ requests - some Dance tunes.

Just want to clarify... was your gig the first on that venue? It's always an uneasy feeling when only having 2 or 3 people goes into rotation. This is when your skills as a kj/dj comes into play. I love gigging be it with my band or doing kj/dj and always tends to ave fun regardless... just enjoy and have fun... fun is infectious. Like you said, you have enough requests to get you through... make it your playground

What I experienced last Saturday has never happened to me before at this gig. And, honestly, no show at this gig is exactly like the one before.

What I find most interesting about this "real life" experience is that it came about after I starting reading posts on the "How Frequently Do You Expect To Sing" thread that were made by folks who insist that you keep things 100% karaoke, all of the time, and minimize filler music between singers.

And before someone says my Saturday night gig is not billed as ALL karaoke, I have singers that regularly show up to sing at that gig. And I have, generally speaking, a good number of singers in the audience at every show. But as much as I would have loved to have had non-stop singers between 9-10:30, as I did between 10:30-1:15 on Saturday, that clearly wasn't the case!

But, because I am prepared to entertain the entire venue, with or without singers there was no dead air anytime during the evening and there were occasions when there were no singers but the audience applauded for the entertainment I provided! And, yes, I did sing, but only 6, three-minute songs. Actually, I'm wondering if I should have a special inventory of 5 minute or longer songs for such a situation in the future? Any suggestions in that regard?

Tov,

I'd keep the long songs down to a minimum--too much of a good thing is bad .

As far as ..How you run your show, only you know best on what works and what doesn't. You need to be flexiable as to what you do. I tend to believe that the majority of KJ's who are 100% Karaoke are that way because they CAN BE with enough singers to fill up the night. You need to do what every you can to keep what little customers you have entertained!

I just had a conversation with my host about this exact thing, if nobody is ready to sing at start time then you open the show by singing song as normal (and on time!), then mix into 1 or two 'filler' tracks before singing again. While the filler tracks are on you try to get people to sing or ask them if they want to hear you sing something or if they just have a regular track you'd like to mix in.

I like to set iTunes playing the song and then sync up the karaoke version in Winamp but muted. Using pacemaker I can get the lyrics pretty much in time with the actual song and tweak every now and then if necessary. This is why (in the monitor thread) I want to have screens visible from all parts of the venue, it helps tempt people to sing along in their heads which is the first in several steps to them becoming a karaoke junkie!

Jonn

I appreciate your encouragement and point of view about NOT singing longer songs when there are no singers.



I couldn't agree more with your observation about the importance of a monitor for the audience to view.

And, more specifically, how do you synchronize an iTune version a the song with the karaoke graphics? I tried that at home once and fortunately the two versions were basically the same and recorded at the same tempo!

I have rarely had the problem. But I have an extensive collection of w_vocal tracks from Pop Hits, so I am ready to just search on that and put a number in the queue. That way the words are up on the screen, and the couple of times I have done it people craned their neck to see who was singing. (We have a couple of singers who are about as good as the folks they use for those tracks.)

My monthly show is so popular in general that there are usually people waiting there for start. They also know I start right on time and let them sing without filler no matter how many people are in the rotation, so the people who like to sing make sure they get there early. As a result, I rarely have a problem. It's been at least a year since there was a "me only" time. Sometimes there are three or four of us early, but with two or more good singers no one complains. I also make sure we don't go through "ballad hell", as both the one outstanding singer and I have lots of upbeat material in our repertoires.

There's even a 6-10 person poker game that regularly shows up to play there and listen to the music. They like the girls karaoke brings in, and they like country music. No one sings, but they wouldn't miss it, and haven't for over a year.

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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.

Well, regardless of singers, YOU need to start the show on time with a song of your own, and if the bouncer is willing get him to sing too. At this point people may start putting in requests now that the show is "open."

The worst thing is for some potential singers to walk in and say, "What, nobody's singing tonight?"

If nobody's singing, find out what songs people want to hear. Play a couple of song requests and then sing again.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I would have probably sang a couple until people turned in slips, then give them their turn, if I had no more, then I sing a couple more, and repeat.
But since you say you are 'billed' as karaoke/dj +" then I would've just played dance music and worked the crowd to get some singers too.

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Well, since I don't DJ, I run a Karaoke only show. Since I don't do shows on a regular basis, I have experienced the non-singers situation many times (especially at a place that I might only do once every 3 or 4 months). What I do is sing the first song (regardless of the situation... so I get my initial sound check). Then, if nobody is willing to come up to sing, I will sing another song. After that, if I still have no willing bodies, I will plop in one of my Pop Hits Monthly discs, and play the multiplex tracks. While doing this, I will walk around the bar and try to coax some people into singing. After a song or 2, if nobody has come up yet, I'll sing a song that usually gets group participation (like "500 Miles" or Breakfast at Tiffany's"). I will walk around the bar with my cordless mic, and hold the mic near others while I am singing the chorus (just to get them to join in). This usually does the trick, and then they've loosened up to want to sing on their own.