Karaoke Forums

When I was in Alaska I was in a contest.

There was a ringer - a vocal teacher from the local college 'qualified' for the contest. When they found out what she did - they asked her to be a judge instead of in the contest.

I was in the contest. I shouldn't have won because there was a guy who was simply just better than I was who brought costumes, etc. But I had many people who came up and told me I was expected to place. You see, costuming was part of the criteria - he and I were the only ones that did ANY costuming AT ALL. But I found out there were two 'rounds' and I only had a costume for one. A friend of mine had a pair of 'boxer shorts' with fake buttocks in them. I wore them for a song I did (with my jeans sagging). The problem? The judges though it was 'real'. They thought it was my real buttocks!

That one thing alone was enough to prevent me from being anywhere in the top 5.

Was I upset? Sure I was. I was more disappointed than anything.

But that's ok... Life goes on. I still sing, and as a matter of fact I've gotten better.

Not all criteria are going to be on the 'rules'. The problem is you need to find out what those criteria are and go for it.

Which is why I don't judge contests. Every venue that's thought of doing a contest I told them I would be more than happy to run it - but that someone else had to judge and that it shouldn't be the 'audience'.



But just because someone is a great singer doesn't mean that they are going to 'make it'. Last year, we had a woman sing at Scary-oke at the Halloween store (fundraiser) who was pitch perfect and knocked the song out of the park. She was singing mostly torch songs and things like that - but the problem was she lacked any 'heart'. There wasn't any 'pain' or 'fear' or 'love' or 'excitement' - just a technically perfect performance. The term that actors use is 'being in the moment'.

If you want your daughter to excel or if you have hopes of her 'making it', I'd consider acting lessons to supplement her singing. It will help her to 'connect' with the audience and possibly help her have more 'heart' in her performance.

Like it or not, a HUGE part of being a successful performer is appearance. Singers are not solely judged on their vocal abilities but also on their appearance, especially female vocalists. Case in point, see Taylor Swift. If you've ever seen her perform live, she's terrible. The pitch work on her albums is pretty obvious. However in her case she's a cute kid with great song writing ability. Now if she weighed 60 pounds more, do you think she'd have even appeared on the scene? No way.

I work with a band right now who has a phenomenal lead singer. Honestly I'd put her a very close second to Carrie Underwood (and that's not a biased statement, that's how I felt about her ability when I first saw her). However, she has a hard time getting big gigs because she is visibly overweight. We've actually had entertainment coordinators tell us that the only way they'd re-book the band is if she loses 50 pounds. It's crap but it is what it is.

So how this applies to your daughter's situation is that every performance needs to be approached the same way. You have to pay attention to your appearance, your technique, your audience interaction, everything.....every time. Sure it's only a Karaoke competition, but "you" care enough to be upset about not winning then you should care enough to give it your best.

There you have, my brutally honest 2 cents worth, but hey, that's how I roll

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

There is no doubt you daughter has a great voice for an 11 year old. But I know I would mark her down, for several reasons the main one being that she sounds like she has had training. It's a kids karaoke contest, I would be more impressed with a natural but raw talent... in my opinion your daughter has too much experience and shouldn't be in it* (and after looking at the youtube site my suspicions about previous experience would have been correct).

For the record, Savannah has had zero vocal training. She has been a natural since the age of about 1 or 2. It is amazing how things can get sooo off course. My gripe was that there was nothing written about 'appearance' in any of the rules and regs. Song knowledge? that was listed, stage presence?.....that was there as well. Vocal ability? that was there too. Not one place was there anything about appearance. For the record, I received a phone call from someone involved in the contest and was told that Savannah was "Just too talented"! Although she is still only an 11 year old child, I have made her understand that the world is not always a fair place.

As I stated earlier, her path has been paved. You will all be seeing much much more of her in the very near future. I'm not concerned about this anymore. I got my phone call, my apology, and the REAL answer...something I knew all along, but wanted someone to be straight up and honest with me. We deserved that at the very least.

Thanks so much for all of your advice and opinions.

Appearance goes with out saying in any contest it.

I feel for you.... yes it's a singing contest but besides the vocal talent you daughter has ..is everything else that goes with it. LESSON Learned for next time

A big part of stage presence is how you APPEAR on stage....not just how you move on stage, but also how you LOOK on stage. Stage presence is what you PRESENT to the audience.

Judging a person's singing is so subjective. The difference between a good score and a bad score could be something as simple as picking a song by the judge's favorite artist. Nobody wins EVERY TIME. Learning how to be a good loser is a great lesson to learn.

Didn't mean to take the topic off topic, was more saying that judges are influenced by so many things subconsciously that they may mark a good singer down even though their is no section dedicated to a certain area.

As a suggestion I would certainly look into vocal training (rather than singing lessons), she could be picking up bad habits that will later damage her voice, which would be a shame.

Anybody remember Milli Vanilli?



When they were busted for lip syncing, the real voices on the albums were revealed.. and they came out with several albums that went absolutely nowhere.

People loved the good looking, athletic looking, dancing Milli Vanilli team.. nobody wanted to look at the fat freddy davis looking guys.. even though they were the same voices.

Unfortunately.. especially now in todays visual world, many people listen with their eyes more than their ears.

Hmmmm? Ruben Stoddard, Fantasia, Clay Aiken, Adele...etc...etc. I think times have changed since then....at least I hope they have for the sake of those that were blessed with voices and not accompanying looks.

Umm Ruben ain't doin' much of anything these days. Clay Aiken's first album was a success, his second did alright but he's fallen off as well. Fantasia, had one solid album and that was it. And these are all people who had a huge head start by appearing on Idol. By way of comparisson look at how wildly successful Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson have been. Even Chris Daughtry who didn't win has a 4x platinum album on his first shot out of the gates.

If anything, judgements based on appearance have gotten worse. Since you're using American Idol as a reference, listen to what Simon says all the time. He talks about how important appearance is. Record labels do too. They need someone that not only can sing but is marketable. How many overweight women have you seen come out of Nashville since the Judds? Would Lady Gaga being doing much if she were grotesquely ugly or weighed 250lbs? How many truly ugly people are there in pop music today? Very very few. Appearance is part of the package.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Kelly Clarkson has received flak for weight gain. But she is so deciated to singing and so good I just don't notice it. In fact she is one of the few I could think of who doesn't have to act/dress like a streetwalker to be famous.

The emphasis on looks has gotten out of hand but really, dressing for a karaoke contest is like dressing for a job interview. You could be the best candidate in the world but if you don't arrive looking prepared for the position, you may not get far.

I'm WAY over the appearance issue. As I stated before, I received my phone call, got my apology, and it was exactly what I had suspected . I'm just glad someone had the balls to speak up and tell the truth.
As far as the industry goes, back in the day, not one of these artists would have even gotten a chance had AMERICA not been the one to speak up and say "IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!" Talent is talent. Remember, it was AMERICA that put every one of the artists that I listed (Except Adele) on the charts. It was the material that the artists delivered that took them off~

I've never entered a karaoke contest, but based on what I'm hearing, I would say that it is actually a talent contest for singers and dancers, and not karaoke. What is the difference between a karaoke contest and a singing contest, or are they really the same thing?

Although there are some highly talented singers in karaoke, it seems to me that the most popular singers are the ones who know how to work a crowd. The ideal karaoke contest would be held in a bar, with a rotation, and perhaps with an applause-o-meter as the judge.

-denise

"THEY" finally figured out how to keep you quiet. THEY got someone to tell you what you wanted to hear and you "went away". Problem solved.

How 'bout if YOU go straight to hell? How bout that, Sparky? I can only imagine the pathetic life that you lead. I don't give one rats (@$%&#!) if YOU get it or not. You my fine little loser are nothing but. Nuff said. To those that offered constructive criticism, thank you. To those that offered vile and hatred.
{edited}

Added by mod - Watch the language please - Lon

Why was I expecting EXACTLY THAT? Have a good day, Dad. Maybe she got marked down because they don't like YOU. You have finally showed your true colors.

Typical stage dad. They can only see the talent in their own child but no one else's child seems to have any talent at all compared to their little angel. Pretty sad if you ask me.

[/quote]

Although there are some highly talented singers in karaoke, it seems to me that the most popular singers are the ones who know how to work a crowd. The ideal karaoke contest would be held in a bar, with a rotation, and perhaps with an applause-o-meter as the judge.

-denise[/quote]

I wish that was true, sadly an applause o meter would just mean that the person with the most friends would win. A lot of hosts don't like competitions, because the outcome is rarely impartial and even if it was the other competitiors who didn't win tend to complain, bad mouthing the host and the venue the comp was held in. I also never see a good customer anymore (who had a lovely chilled voice and sang a lot of forgotten oldies) because he entered two competitions, made it to the semi's but not to the finals... confidence knocked he's never sung again Personally the best thing in my opinion as a host is to steer clear of them.

Now now, there's no need to get nasty. BruceFan just wrote what I at least (and probably several others) was thinking. A great many people sing very, very well. It's not a big deal. The music industry isn't looking for singers, it's looking for profit. It can be a very mean game. That is not something I would expose my child to at the tender age of 11. The worst mistake any singer can make is to fall in love with the sound of their own voice. I don't think your daugher is old enough to make that mistake so you seem to have made it for her. You're in love with the sound of her voice. I suspect that you're thinking strangers will hear her as you do. It ain't gonna happen. Please stop being defensive. No one is attacking.

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Okay, who took my pants?

I have yet to see a fair Karaoke contest...EVER. I have gone on record before here saying I would never host one...nor enter one again.

I for one censure the OP for coming in to this place as a newbie and cussing out other people. We don't normally do that here, and I would hope the moderators are taking notice.

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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.

Think some of us were expecting it from his opening post.