Karaoke Forums

I agree with the consensus that there is no perfect method, it varies from KJ company to KJ company....

That being said, we know what we like when we visit a show & run our shows accordingly. We follow a strict rotation and put new singers at the end of the line.

We have also posted a sign that we take no new singers after 12:30.. Our show is scheduled to run until 1:00 but we go to 1:30 (which leaves enough time for the bartender to get everyone out by 2:00). We had a person come in after 12:30, drunk, who was angry because we wouldn't let him sing.... He is the reason for the sign, although we have always maintained that policy.

We let all people get up to sing their "turn" in the rotation. Yes, we do have some people who get their friends to put a song up and "help" them with it, frequently overpowering them. However, we feel that if the person getting up actually sings (which is required) then who are we to say they must sing alone? There is always a possiblity that the person who is being "helped' will eventually get the courage to do it on their own... We have seen it happen & really enjoy it once someone feels comfortable enough to sing by themselves!!!

We do not break our rotation for any reason including the person who wants to pay us for the privilege of the next song.. We do not take tips, we are being paid by the bar & the singer's & non-singer's patronage makes that possible. The tips are for the bartender, wait staff & bar back..... This has worked for us & we do get treated right by the bar staff as they know from the get-go that their attitude & quality of service reflects on us (& vice versa) & we appreciate them.

As for the person who is INSISTENT that they sing NOW, regardless of our rotation rules, they may buy a round for the house &, once our bartender indicates that payment has been recieved, they will be the next singer! We can almost guarantee the crowd will love them!!

Obviously what works for us may not work for others, just as what works for one singer does not work for others.

Susie

Hey Susie--I like that, buying a round for the house! Probably not too many folks taking advantage of that one!

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

Sign up sheets are the best way to go in my opinion; First come, first sing!

Mike,

Nope, no takers yet! I can't wait until the first one tho!!! It does seem to stop the complaining right away tho!

Susie

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You do it in the shower,
you do it in the car,
Ccome do it with us,
and be a star!!!!

Karaoke with Full House Entertainment

[scroll]Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...... [/scroll]

I don't care if a singer hands in 10 request slips at once. I keep a separate place for each singer. I keep my rotation on a legal pad. Early in the evening I put the names down, leaving 2 or 3 empty lines between each singer. When I get to the bottom of the pad, or finish the rotation, I start inserting new singers between people who have already sang. If you don't have another song in right away, that's ok. I will keep your name in the rotation where it is. If your turn comes up and I don't have another song for you, I skip over you.

Groups get one turn per rotation. Otherwise each singer gets one turn per rotation. I will let singer participate in one duet in each rotation too, but it goes on their duet partner's turn

I have a large group of guys that come in together regularly. BJ has to put his name on every request. I finally convinced the group that if BJ is singing in every song, they're not gonna get more than 2 songs per rotation for their entire group. Now they make BJ sit down and shut up so they can have their turn too.

Anyway....that's how I do it, and if someone tries to get cute and insert their name into the rotation ahead of their turn, I tell them their request is now garbage and they can turn a new request in, which will be placed in a later spot, according to the time it's received. (You wouldn't believe how many times I've had someone try to slip their name onto my legal pad ahead of their turn, when my back is turned)

Oh....I forgot to mention, I do not take tips to bump a person ahead. The only exception to that is a hundred dollar bill. If you got a hundred dollar bill in your hand, and it slips into mine.....you're next!!!

Never had anybody take me up on it....... But it shuts up the people who wanna slip me $5 or $10 to go next.

I run VERY similar to blondekj down to the $100 for next turn. I think I would enjoy your rotation.
I actually had someone that was used to bribing the kj (at another show) come & expected me to get him up next for $5. I told him no. He offered $20, I said no & he asked what I would need, told him the minimum would be $100 (which I WAS joking, I have been offered this before & will not compromise my job or following for less than 1 nights pay), well he had it & pulled it out & asked so if I gave you this i'd be next, I said sure! He put it back in his wallet & sat down & waited his turn & has been a regular ever since. Never has tried to bribe his way in either.

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Ugh. I've only been to one karaoke place that had a signup sheet. When I put my first song in, I saw that some people had signed themselves up on every sixth or 7th line for 5 or 6 songs. Nothing fair about that and really annoying that the KJ allowed it. I haven't been back since and it's actually within walking distance of my apartment.

I have been hosting one karaoke show since March and added another in May. So far, rotation hasn't been a big problem because there are usually no more than 10-15 singers in the bar. I have been slipping people who came in later in between older singers and it has worked out fine.

I did get one complaint recently: A girl who comes to my Thursday night complained that everybody should keep their same spot all night. I explained to her that if I did it that way people might come in later in the evening, look at the wait (If we were somewhere near the top of a large rotation), and then leave.

That being said, I like the simplicity of adding people to the end of the list, and I might try it for a few weeks and see how it goes. It may not be a problem because, at least so far (summer is a bit slow in the Northeast), there haven't been a big enough rotation to cause a problem.

ps. I also don't take bribes. I've only had one in my short Karaoke career, and turned it down. I have toyed with the idea of a tip jar, but I can't get past the tackiness of it.

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Patrick
Twinbrook Sound
Waltham, MA

For those who use a tip jar I see nothing wrong or tacky about it. Some KJ's here have used them but they get very little from them. I will take a tip for my service, but in no way will you get preferential treatment. If you like my service tips are welcomed and I do get em. I have a customer who tips a hundred dollar bill several times a year, just because. I do not bump anyone up, BUT I will give each singer the gold treatment equally. I make sure to tell them I take tips but if it is a bribe I hand it back (and I have done that many times too)!

If your clientele builds worry about a change in your rotation if you begin to have a heavy load of singers to handle. In the meantime stay fair and consistent in how YOU run YOUR show. Fifteen singers is only about 1 hour's worth so in 4 hours you should get 4 rounds. Now if that is the total for the evening and you get fewer singers per round you may actually sing a few rotations more. I count at around 4 minutes per singer, you can figure from there.

It sounds like I would enjoy your show too. But I am serious about the hundred dollar tip. If someone gives me a hundred, I'll take it, let them sing, announce why, and buy a round of drinks for the other singers.

I also think tip jars are tacky. The tips that I appreciate are when someone stops by on their way out, to press something into my hand and just say thanks.

I haven't had anyone press something into my hand...well, except for their hand!

But when they stop by on their way out to make a point of saying how much fun they had or what a great job I did, I think that is a pretty good tip!

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Patrick
Twinbrook Sound
Waltham, MA

I actually had a guy offer me $50.00 to let his girlfriend sing again after she had already been up about three songs before. She was a good singer and I liked her, but I had a rotation of about 25 people going at the time and I told him the crowd would hang me from the rafters and it wasn't worth $50.00 for that. I wish I would have thought of the buy the crowd a round thing. that's a good idea, but I think I would take a poll to see if the customers are ok with it.

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Too soon old......too late smart.

By now my tip jar has evolved into a joke with the regulars....I am a cognac drinker (strictly medicinal purposes), and I always drink out of a snifter. Last year, my wife bought me an oversized snifter to use as a tip jar.

Since I put it out, I have gotten about $20 total in it. I just leave it, and the regulars swear they're waiting for me to fill it with Hennesy......

I keep it out because it fits me, but noone takes it seriously, and it's for fun.

Pssst....I'm cheap.....fill MY snifter up (with Louis XIV) and you can sing all night!!!!!!.....

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

I will admit to the following, but I only did it because the guy involved was (and still is) a total jacka$$. One evening, it was extremely late in the show on a very slow night (I think there was a blizzard or something going on), and I had a total of two singers. While one of the singers was singing, the other singer would bring me a song and offer $20 to let him sing next. I gladly obliged, since he was my only other singer. Soon a pattern developed.

At least I split the $80 I made with the bartender, since it was a slow night for her, too. I think the guy may have realized the next day what happened, because he's never tried to bribe me again.

At our shows we have a sign up sheet by the kj, people come up and write their name and song... When they have finished that song then they can sign up again. and if they sign up out of rotation that song is deleted until they have sung the first song. This system seems pretty fair to me, we worked for alot of different karaoke companys before we started our own and we found this is the best system

Ps. new to the site, thank you for welcoming me
cort

I have to agree with Star, not only in the way she runs her shows, but also about having a tip jar. Tacky is passing a tip jar or asking for a tip. IMO if everyone is happy including the bartender and support staff why would I turn away an extra $20-50 a show? We give a good personal service and our customers appreciate it. I also might add, we are very responsive to requests from our clientel to get new songs. On average we aquire 1 CD-G every week of the year. Some are custom Soundchoice, Chartbuster, and Pocket Songs @ $5 per song.

Is it worth giving a tip to be able to sing the songs that you want to sing, that no one else has? I am not implying that tips are required or expected. They are sincerely appreciated though. Enough said..

Hey Ice, glad to see it is going good for you.

Nice to see you participating stagefrightkj.

Hello to everyone else, you guys are great.

Cort
MC Entertainment

I forgot to add,

I like the idea of the singer buying the house a round...has to include the KJ ...

Thanks Susie

Cort
MC Entertainment

No problem Cort....

And you're right, the round the singer buys MUST include the KJs!!!

Susie

_________________
You do it in the shower,
you do it in the car,
Ccome do it with us,
and be a star!!!!

Karaoke with Full House Entertainment

[scroll]Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...... [/scroll]

Thanks for the well-wishes, Cort!

Maybe 'tacky' was the wrong word: I guess I, personally, would not feel comfortable putting out a tip jar. I do agree, though, that making $20-50 per show would be nice!

I was toying with the idea of a $1 cover charge. I know that karaoke shows have always been no cover, but, like Cort, I am also very responsive to requests by clientele (sometimes to my detriment!). Not to sound arrogant or like I am bragging, but I am building a reputation around town for being a very entertaining host, that is fair and friendly to all, and has a great sounding system. Why wouldn't people pay $1?

Okay...Now what do you'all think of that? I have a feeling some people are going to let me have it on this one!

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Patrick
Twinbrook Sound
Waltham, MA