Karaoke Forums

Something got me thinking at last nights show that could be one of the main reasons for some of the "disagreements lately"

1st of all there are categories of singers to acknowledge. (simplified)
Type A: Serious More Sophisticated Karaoke Singer out for the evening MOSTLY for the SINGING. ( doesn't matter if they can actually sing or not)
Type B: Casual Karaoke Singer out for the evening Mostly for another reason but loves to sing( doesn't matter if they can actually sing or not)
Type C: Drunken Karaoke Singer out for the evening for other reasons and usually only sing in groups, when dared or when DRUNK. ( Usually can’t hold a tune i.e.: screamers)

So it would be fair to say that there are CATEGORIES of karaoke shows, karaoke hosts and karaoke venues.
Type A: Professional Top of the Line Sound System "usually" the hosts are ex musicians /ex sound guys / mobile DJ's. - A Singers
Type B: Professional with Good Sound Systems "usually" the hosts are ex singers who just love to sing these shows cater to type B&C singers
Type C: Not Professional Good to Horrible Sound Systems "usually" in it JUST for the money and offer services at below market pricing. - usually don't last but

It's fair to say that you won't find any type C singers or hosts on this board and mainly type A singers and type A&B Hosts.

I categorize myself as a type B host (except I'm also an ex musician). Currently working and hosting 3 steady karaoke gigs.
These shows have or draw mostly TYPE B& C singers and very few type A on a regular basis.

The important thing is the shows are GREAT everyone has a blast and the venue makes money on karaoke nights.
But obviously these venues along with my show/system are not sophisticated to entertain the TYPE A singer long term.
(what the hell is my point)

OH. Sometimes when you mix A singers and B hosts you can get heated discussions (lol)

WHAT TYPE ARE YOU ???

I would say a type B as well. Except Im not and ex singer I just absolutly love to host the show and make sure the party goes the right way. I try not to sing at my shows but it always seems that I get a request and try to only sing then.
Seem to draw mostly B & C singers with a few A's that get thrown into the mix.
But you did forget the one singer catagory of D
D singers are the ones that think the can sing and blame you for not sounding up to par. But with these singers tecnology has not invented the needed equipment yet to make them sound even ok. And yes I do have 1 of these that shows up at 1 of my locations once in a while.

Well you could alway buy an autotune rig and use that on the really bad singers. I will see if I can find the link again..

-James

A and A, with a small percentage of the casual singers, but the shows I do are known for attracting a rather large percentage of listeners due to the talent level. I'm not very tolerant of shows that are just a bunch of drunks doing krappyoke. There, I've said it. Fire away...but I've been doing this kind of show for 14 years, have much success, still love what I do, and still say that karaoke is one of the best ways to keep the chops in shape for when I want to venture back into live performance..never know when the right opportunity will present itself.

Oh, there is another type of host: The "warm body" host who, after showing the slightest level of friendliness is recruited by a multi-rigging organization to do their shows for them. They attract the epitome of the "karaoke is a joke" singers who repel any other patrons very quickly. You know - the kind that undercut to get a gig, run the place into the ground and sour them on every attempting karaoke again.

I'm not a kj, but I am a type A singer. I luuuuuuuuvvvvvvvv singing!

However, on nights when I am really tired and decide to stay home instead of going out and singing (or doing anything else), I am a type zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ;O (that's supposed to be a yawning face)

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It sounds like we are the same as you, Jam. We serve a small, out of the way area so don't have a large pool of A singers to draw from. We are mainly entertaining whoever is there. The idea is to give people a place to have fun, be with friends, etc. We have mostly B singers with a few Cs and some rare As. But one of our As compliments us everytime he comes. Our sound system is Yamaha which again puts us in the middle, I guess. We have props, humor and a lot of dancing in our show to make up for the Bs and Cs. If we get in a crop of good singers, we find ourselves not using the props so much. We adapt to what we get.

Funny you should ask this. I was just wondering if we would enjoy hosting a mostly As show. I know my boyfriend would probably prefer it as the bad singers get on his nerves more. But I see value in giving locals an escape from their troubles for a few hours and don't mind doing a show with the Bs as long as we can make it fun and entertaining in ways not based on the singing alone. Also, getting in a few As seems to raise the bar and the Bs try harder. Creating an atmosphere where they want to try new songs instead of murder the same ones over and over again also helps.

Did you notice that almost every reply said something along the lines of "I'm a type ___EXCEPT..."
Except.
So you really can't pigeonhole anyone into any single category. There are far too many variables.
I'm ALL of the above, at least some of the some.

disagree as far as singers go -- As a singer you should be able to fit your self into one of those SIMPLIFIED descriptions ..of course there variables but you either take karaoke SERIOUSLY --CASUAL or DRUNKENLY

Sorry, not so. It all depends on my mood. For the most part, I take it rather seriously, but I HAVE been casual and even drunk on occasion. It happens. I'm human.

The fact that you are here on this site makes you a A/B singer -- YOu can still be drunk and be a serious singer but you obvioulsy take karaoke more seriously than your average drunk singer .. ((((don't be so difficult)))

But I AM difficult! My parents have told me so all my life!

Well if you're an A host you wouldn't be tolerant of hosting those shows yourself ...but some KJ's do host at venues that have mostly B&C sngers.
maybe a little tolerance to your fellow KJ's ?

I would say i'm a Type A host if I have to only choose one - I don't sing at my show unless absolutely necessary, that was not the reason I started hosting.
We attract (again if I can only choose 1) Type B singers with more of them leaning to the 'can sing' side on average nights.

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I take no offense at what Karen said, even if we lean toward being a Krappyoke show, ourselves. As said, differenent regions/demographics. If you have a large pool of singers in a well populated area, I could see having an A show. If you cater to a neighborhood in a small area, then you work with what you have.

But even we don't try to have bad equipment or sound, and we tolerate the drunk Cs but we don't cater to them. So I think what she means by Krappyoke are shows like next door to us that have a computer, one speaker, one mic and have drunks and tweakers screaming at painful volumes. They don't update their songbook, they go through a series of hosts that they just train from the singers or daughter of the bar tendress, etc. They don't even try for quality. They just want something there. I'm sure she can't have been referring to US.

I know there is no simple answer as many KJ's are probably a B+ (LOL) and many singers an A- (LOL )

But if it gets discussions and awareness going on the fact that there are different ways to hosts shows and different needs of certain TYPE singersand hosts we as a group may be more tolerant of others ideas and suggestions ? ..maybe ?

I don't host so I can't rank myself in that category, but I would classify myself as a 'B' singer.

As far as sound/equipment/selection go for the most part I have a better home system then most of the KJ's and/or pirates in my area. I'm in a rural area with very few venues and I would not put any of them in an 'A' classification, but I would not put myself their either.

If I was to try and compete in the local market I think I could very easily and be pretty competitive just by increasing my library. Would I like to spend a lot more money on equipment? Sure who wouldn't, but if your in the biz to make money and your competition isn't all that great I personally don't see spending tons of money on equipment if it's not necessary to be competitive. You still have to be competitive on pricing if venues are used to spending x amount of money or looking for a replacement. Especially if they don't know any better and are happy with a low to mid B quality shows. As your popularity grows you can always add to/upgrade as money comes in.

Right on the money, pretty much. I know for a fact she's not referring to us.
You can also add undercutting to that list. THAT'S what she's referring to...

picture of my karaoke show last night --a definate "C" SINGER type show last night

Looks like you have a variety of singer types: A, B, C, and Double D

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C Mc
KJ, FL

As for Host and Show........ E-None of the Above, I was a radio dj, but couldn't carry a tune with a handful of buckets, make no money for doing it, and only have a decent little system that works well for us, our Best singer is definitely Type A, this lady has sang professionally before and knocks the room flat every time (she likes my system and new Behringer mic's just fine), our worst singer swears he sounds Just Like Billy Ray Cyrus and he regularly clears the room.................... So can there be another category, People that do Karaoke just for the Sheer Fun of doing it? Peace, S.