Karaoke Forums

I tried a new place, and the staff sang also in proper rotation. But what made me keep coming back was the bartender. She was awesome and then some. If she was swamped she'd pass up her chance. The kj always let her know the song before to see if she could. Heck, most of the time while singing, she went back behind the bar making the drinks still. But again, business was first and evryone was cool with how it worked.

Hey PC



You say it is a productive show. That is usually what matters most. It is hard to say how to handle the situation when I don't know her relationship with the owner.

Personally I would talk to the owner. I'm not saying she should make demands, but let him know her concerns and see what he thinks. I would let him know that people are upset by what is going on and that she is concerned she may lose clietntel over it. If she explains she is worried about him making money he may not get defensive. I can see the owner singing every rotation, but not every employee. If the bar is successful already he may not listen thinking everything is fine. If the bar starts losing business at least she has warned him it might happen.

As far as singing first - let him and she can sing after. It maybe a nice way of introducing the owner to the patrons.

I understand the frustration of dealing with patrons who are upset they don't sing more, but if the bar is always packed regardless, and she needs the gig, she'll just have to deal with it.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Karaoke is supposed to bring in new customers that like to sing. If the bartender is singing a lot, and the KJ starts to feel like the bartender must sing, or maybe the KJ will lose their job....that is not a good thing. And I think that scenario tends to happen to a certain extent. If the bartender doesn't get to sing, then their feelings are hurt, and bad things can happen. In general I don't mind hearing the bartender sing a song or two a night, but I've seen cases where the bartender sings several songs, and always picks really long songs aw well! The bar hires the KJ to bring in new singers that enjoy a drink, not to bring in new bartenders that want to sing a lot. Priorities can definitely get mixed up.

On the other hand, if I were a bartender, I'd hate not to be able to join in on the fun!

Everything in moderation. If the bartender has the kind of rapport that he/she should have with the patrons, the patrons will enjoy them strutting their stuff - in moderation. Once a night maybe? I've heard of bartenders who wear headset mics and sing while pouring. Venue dependent certainly, as with many other situations.

I feel they should get the same chance to sing as any other customer. When I was still learning the ropes, the guy I worked with always seemed to be buddy buddy with the bouncer and give him special treatment. The bouncer sang old Guns N Roses songs with this horribly growly voice and demanded the music be CRANKED. He'd want it much louder than reasonable and what's worse is other people often got bumped in rotation when this bouncer wanted to sing. Let me tell ya, as soon as I was on my own making my own rules, that stopped. I put bar staff in with everyone else and adhere to my rotation.

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"K-Jay"
www.kjayskaraoke.8m.com

The place I frequent allows the bartenders/wait-staff to sing. But its not out of line.

Usually its a few songs (like 1-4 songs total for all of them). As they are there a lot with regulars (e.g. on a Sat. night), the crowd likes it when they sing-- and they're pretty good at it.

If it works for the crowd and atmosphere-- do it. If its excessive, don't.

There is a place here in Phoenix that has a "DJ" in the back of the bar. There are 1-3 "hosts" that run the rotation which is up front on a "white board" (only its black with neon pens). You tell them what they want and show the "rotation" on the board up front. Sometimes the hosts get into the act with the singers. But the "hosts" also sing and do an "act" (crazy costumes, dance, etc.). Often its more than once a rotation and there are many times when they do singers out of order on the rotation. So while their act is amusing/entertaining, it can also be a pain when there are like 30 singers in the place.

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For those about to rock, we salute you!!!

Last night the owner wanted to sing when I was 3 songs away from closing. Okay that was fine it was a slow night and everyone had already sung several times. Being he's the owner and sings very seldom I put him right in.

He gets done singing and says put me in for "I Love This Bar". My reply, sorry I'm closing. I had the last 3 singers sing there songs staying over only to get in the one singer that would have gotten bumped by him.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Hello All

I said post them in the rotation, as long as the customers aren't neglected .. I usally call their name 3 ahead .. so they know it's coming. Give them time to clear up and get the drinks.

I think most of the customers LIKE to see the staff getting in on the fun.

You can also give them a wireless mic and let them sing behind the bar.

Jason

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Jason Christopher
Want To Learn How To Grow An Outrageously Profitable KJ Business And Put An Iron Cage Around Your Customers? visit my web site below..

I agree with the general opinion on this. They sing when the list is short. Customers come first. They're paying, i get paid.

Around here staff aren't allowed when working (they are being paid to serve, not sing), however they do come on their off nights and put in the rotation like everyone else.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Wow....this post certainly was resurrected from the dead - twice it looks like!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I go to one show where the KJ has 2 helpers with him and all 3 of them sing a song in every rotation and the helpers also seem to get "requested" to sing many duets during the course of the evening. Some nights, the "hired help" seems to be singing over 30% of the time. Out of 4 hours of show time; the three hosts take up over an hour and a half of the singing time. It seems like one of them is always singing. You would think that they would at least take themselves out of the rotation when they know they will be singing a duet with someone else but they never do. It seems like they took the job just so that they could sing more often.

Bruce, some KJ's really did get into this business to be able to sing more, so it seems with some. Don't get me wrong, I actually agree with you here.

Singing staff... hm, I would say it depends on the venue/show and how good/entertaining the staff is and how many staff members there are.

I have one show on a Monday night that would not exist anymore, if it wasn't for the good singing/looking female bartender. There's a lot of my singers and even folks that don't sing, that come just because of her. That place is packed every Monday (!) ever since the show started 1.5 years ago.

Then on the other hand, my Sunday venue only has one bartender and one waitress (big room). And they just manage to handle the crowd, so I won't let neither one sing until the end of the night IF it's a little slower by then...

So it really depends... sometimes a singing staff member can be an incredible value to the show, other times it can ruin a show.

A barkeep is the one exception to my no bump rule since they have to do it when they can be covered by another barkeep.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I let bartenders sing if they want.. but I understand they're also working and can't come running when their spot in the rotation comes around.

If a bartender wants to sing, i'll tell them to let me know when they're ready.. most times i'll just take them a wireless mic and they'll sing from behind the bar.

Patrons get a kick out of it.. sometimes they'll even climb up on the bar and really work the room.

Now I don't let them sing any more than anyone else in the bar.. but I will 'bump' a singer a notch on the rotation to accommodate a singing bartender or waitress.

Wow...2007 post drug up

And you still go there? Why? Seems out of character for you.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

In the end, it should be up to the customers. If the rotation is big and singers are put off by it, then it shouldn't be allowed. I once had a show where a bartender would be requested to sing. It would often have the room fill up (2 room bar) and I would never refuse it, however he went to the bottom of the rotation (on the screen) and sometimes he didn't like that but singers appreciated that.

Now if the owner insists on moving the singer up, I always pointed him/her to the rules in the book. I just won't do it.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I wouldn't mind if a working bartender received what amounted to a wild card for the rotations during the course of the evening as long as he or she didn't get any more turns than anyone else in the rotation. If the place is so busy that there are only 3 rotations during the entire evening, I don't want to see the bartender up there singing more than 3 times during the entire evening.

I USED TO GO to this one place where an off duty bartender would come in on karaoke night and it seemed like he was singing every third or fourth song. The KJ never said NO to this guy and it seemed like he just snapped his finger and the KJ bumped him up to the front of the line over and over.

A lot of bartenders and staff seem to operate under the misconception that people will like them or , in America, tip them more if they sing more than once at most, instead of the more common reaction that is often visible on plenty of faces, which is basicly"Gee, great. Now the wait to sing is longer."

I really couldn't care less wheather they sing or not, but I'd rather they sang only once if at all.I have heard quite a few good bar staff singers but not so good that it's worth making the paying crowd wait longer to sing by putting them in rotation when they are supposed to be working.