Karaoke Forums

Oh, they always bring in big crowds, for sure.

But how many regulars do you p1ss off in the process?

How do get the word out to pack the place like that , Jam? Did you advertise in the local paper? Do you have a web site where your regulars can get updates on the contest? Do you keep the ringers away by keeping it low key? Did you mention the name of the restaurant on this web site so people could check out the place? Just wondering?

But the reality is it's human nature for people to want to compete in anything. Karaoke is just one more way for people to compete at something they love to do. Contests aren't designed to let the bad singers win, so no they shouldn't be entering anyway. Good singers do not always complain if they do not win - provided the judging is clearly outlined, the judges are somewhat competant in the music/entertainment aspect. Sure there may be complaints, but they are usually from people that would normally complain if a rotation is too long, or the version is too fast, or.....!
I run one contest every year for New Years Eve for the bad singers to get their chance to compete, called the Lucky 7. For 7 weeks, people sign up, they get 1 raffle ticket, they sing, after everyone signed up sings, we do 1 drawing, if you have the ticket, you come back NYE for the finals. Singing to a huge crowd, that from personal experince have always supported & applauded LOUDLY even the bad singers. Everyone gets a prize, but the top 3 get a cash amount. It's one of our biggest contests every year.

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That sounds more like a Karaoke GAME of chance more then a talent contest which I am totally in favor of. The whole "screw your buddy" game or your song most start with a "blank" letter keeps the crowd involved makes people branch out from their usual song line-up while maybe giving out a token or two during the night. How do you keep the good singers that will obviously win out of your "bad singer" list? Do you straight out tell them they are too good and therefore you wont let them participate, quite possibly irratating them, or do you "rig" the "comp" like this whole post is talking about? KJ'ing isn't about bringing the best singers to a bar or venue, it's about making what you have to work with the most entertaining. Entertained people will come back and spend money and tip. Contests work agains't that in almost every way.

No that is part of the luck - anyone can qualify. Even a good singer, but they have to be drawn just like anyone else. The actual contest is on the NYE night. Never rigged anything. Like I said, this just gives a better chance for people that might not actually get to qualify in a finals - a chance to experience that, and there have been years where the not so good singer actually won over the good singer because of the showmanship that the good singer didn't posess. Again, never had any issues, complaints or problems and have been doing this every year since 2000.

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Oh I see. Sorry man I read it too fast and didn't understand that part. How do you judge the actual contest? Are the terrible singers that bring in a ton of people givin extra pull in the voting ?

I have been in two contests. One of which a 10 year old girl was a part of. She cried when she didn't get first place. What was she doing in a bar anyway. But, in all honesty, I don't think I should have won, but I didn't even finish in the top six, and there were some pretty bad singers involved. I found out that after I left that night, one of the contestants, who was the girlfriend of one of the kjs, flipped out because she didn't win and threw a chair across the bar. The other contest was won by a girl who walked off stage to go to the bathroom and cry in the middle of one of her songs. Can we say sympathy vote? Anyway, the kj at the bar I go to now also run karaoke at a different bar, which is running a contest. He invited me on a few seperate occasions to go and join it. I don't think it will happen. For me, contests just take the fun out of singing.

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what if I am the one whos normal and the rest of the world is all messed up?

Also, at a few bars that I go to, instead of doing a contest, they will give a raffle ticket for each song sung, with a cool, but not overly expensive set of door prizes at the end of the night. Or on one occasion, they run the raffle tickets for about 2 months, you get a ticked for each song during that time, and are giving away 500 dollars at the end of it. Takes the judging/audience problems right out of the picture.

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what if I am the one whos normal and the rest of the world is all messed up?

I hosted one contest a few years ago, that I believe was fun. The big thing I did different was I didn't make it about the prizes at all. We didn't put the prizes so lofty as to take the fun out of it and turn them into a blood feud. However, one thing that I did wrong was to allow anyone to enter, including bar staff. Now, while I believe that the 3 people who won top honors deserved to win, it looked like we were playing favorites, because the 3 winners were all employees of the bar. That is one lesson I learned to never do again.

The main objective of the contest was 3 fold..First to introduce me and karaoke into the clientele...Second was to get people in the bar so they knew it was a "fun" place to be, which this happened. The whole next two years we enjoyed great business. And third was to increase profits of course. The only reason that business dropped off I believe, was due to the economy.

Contests can be fun if done right. They can also be a danger if done wrong, or seemingly unfair. Just be wise in your decisions on how to set them up from the beginning, letting EVERYONE know the criteria for qualifying and judging.

Voting is strictly singing ability (lowest score in this particular contest as we want it more of a fun experience), showmanship (higher than vocals) & appearance (we want you dressed up but this is a little lower than vocal as far as points). Have never, will never use audience response as a judging criteria as it usually turns into a who brought the most friends contest, which is not what it's about. I don't want a mediocore singer bringing in a group that is only going to clap for them over a really good singer that only has one or two people.

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Yeah that wouldn't have happened in one of our contests. You leave the stage before the song is over, that is an automatic disqualify.

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We've done that as well (still do something along those lines every Monday), however it is more of a game, not an actual contest. Again, people DO want to compete, which is why contests are still so popular (I have inquiries on when our next big contest will be a few times a week), it's the ones that tend to never win that are the ones that get most bitter about it - however from experience, 90% of the time the ones that complain believe in their head they are 10 times better than the actually are to begin with. I have never won a contest, came in 2nd once (although I should have won..... ). I do them to have fun, they are fun to me, and obviously are to those who continually get into and ask for them. Not your cup of tea, then by all means do not enter them or avoid going in that night.

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One contest we ran was a blind karaoke contest, where the contestants would have to sing from memory while blindfolded on stage. It was a short lived novelty, but had lots of turnout the first few months, as most people finally realized how much they really depended on the tv for the words - it started to die out. But was fun for a while, watching people singing the wrong verses, or starting choruses where a bridge should go, it was actually pretty funny.

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That's good Lon. That would've been fun to be at.