Karaoke Forums

[quote="chrisavis"][i]

I will generally not even start my karaoke show until I have at least 4 people signed up. I make plenty of exceptions here.

If I have less than 6 on the rotation I keep things slow with a little more filler music or other activities.

Once I have 6 people on the list I will run karaoke back to back with very little filler.

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Really? That doesn't seem fair to those that get there early, spend more money and support you AND the venue. They hand me a slip, they are singing if I am all set up and it's starting time (sometimes before) unless THEY request for me to wait to call them up. I don't care if they are the only other person in the house. Who's going to complain that I let them sing?

If my gig is all karaoke, then karaoke has top priority. If it is karaoke/dj, then it has to be played by ear.

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

Like I said, I make plenty of exceptions to this rule. Also I actively work the croud before start time to get folks signed up. I have had very few times, probably less than 8 that I have started late due to a lack of singers.

-Chris

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-Chris

And in my case it's only if I have NO singers or they request to wait (which does happen).

Tomorrow night I am doing my first show since Ronnie passed away. His fiance is most likely going to be there and has asked me to sing a song in his memory that he sang a few times when the two of them were there. Since it is a slow song, I will try to do it early in the show as long as she is there. I don't like to do slow songs unless it's early or makes sense for the moment in time.

I have another young guy who likes to come early, sing a few songs before the crowd picks up and then not sing the rest of the night. I go out of my way to get him up early if possible. Very few cases where I won't cater to the singers if it is within my rules and makes sense.

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

I found this to be an interesting thread...we do not do any DJing only karaoke....before and after the show we will upon occasion play "snips" of the new songs we have added to draw interest to those songs. I do not feel there is anything wrong with running a Karoke/DJ show and know a few people who do so in our area very successfully it is just not our preference. We do not have a problem with people singing the same 2 songs over and over however "chasers" have become a bigger issue in the last couple of years. Our rotations average 25-30 on the weekends and 15-20 weekdays so filler music is not really needed.

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

I use filler music, not because the rotations are small, but because I don't want any dead air to kill the party vibe. Even if it's only for 20 seconds while the next person is making there way up, there is always something happening.

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As Lonnie has explained in the past, that's not filler music, that's transision music. I too play music between via compuhost. Sometimes 20 seconds, sometimes a minute. Depends on how fast I get the next singer started.

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

Sometimes I like to shake things up. This past show I got all the party favors out I had (small kaleidoscopes, drink umbrellas etc) and marked a few up and announced it was Freaky Friday the 13th Trick or Treat night. They would sing, pull a prize out out of the sack, if it was one I marked, I bought them a drink. Ended up buying 3 drinks, I had pre purchased a few drink tokens.

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

Ripman8 and Bazza ,
I do understand the difference between filler music and transition music....and see no problem if people wish to use either. I have tried using "snips" of peoples singing from the show as transition music....while some did like it we found it actually slowed down the show. Maybe we are just lucky or we have train our singers we but we never have more than 2-3 seconds before the next singer is up on stage ready to start and radio DJ style banter seems to work best for that. We love to play karaoke games, have theme nights and do things like Ripman8's freaky friday show. People do dance to karaoke singers at our shows too....sometimes its just a matter of getting them to realize dancing is ok to....sometimes we go to other shows and they are amazed at us getting people dancing to the singers doing routines to certain songs ect....

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

My shows have grown to be more video-oriented in the last 4 years. So much so that in December I went to 720p HD with my video. As for the ratio of karaoke to non-karaoke, that's based primarily on the amount of singers to non-singers at any given moment. I've been hired to keep the crowd engaged, not just to provide karaoke, and have a very fast paced show without any transition music. The regular singers know this, and the new ones figure out they need to find the mic quick when their name is called or be skipped.

Those who like straight karaoke tend to not like my show and go elsewhere, but I maintain a decent following and have been working 6 nights a week at the same three large venues for over a year, one of which I've been at for over 5 years. I've turned down several offers for shows over the last year as the venues I'm in treat me great. The Tempe / Scottsdale / Phoenix AZ area has plenty of venues that do straight karaoke, and I set my show apart by offering something different.

I usually start my shows on time, although occasionally do wait for the end of sporting events depending on how many are there for the sports vs. how many are waiting to sing. This is at the direction and discretion of bar management, and I'm paid the same for the night regardless. I usually start with a single more outrageous video and usually have at least a couple singers right away, and I follow them by singing a song myself that mixes well with the song before it, and then go into a video that mixes well with the song I sang. From there on out generally a "set" of karaoke where everyone sings a song, followed by videos and music before the next set of karaoke. How long the breaks are between sets of karaoke depends entirely on what the crowd is like at that moment.

I don't do much "dance music" per se, and if someone tries to request a song, I remind them that it's karaoke and they can only hear it if they sing it. My show is billed as having the best karaoke selection in Arizona, and I have a lot of regulars who travel quite a distance for it passing many other karaoke shows on their way.

I'm sure to many on here this may seem insane, but in the venues I'm in it's working well. Ultimately as a KJ you need to do what works for you in the venue that you're in, and be flexible and mindful of changing demographics.

DanDan,
How did you find the transition to the videos ? we still use the converted pioneer LD files and find people love them and think they are the latest thing. DH doesnt want to go to DJ'ing because he doesnt know the newer music but I am thinking about it.

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

i dont think he is talking about karaoke videos, but music videos like in clubs.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Yes I got that Paradigm....we have a couple of clubs that would like karaoke/dj shows and I was "thinking" about signing up for a video DJ service (legal of course) and giving it a try as we have never offered mixed shows..........as long as I can stay away from "gansta rap" venues I think I could handle it with assistance from a service that picks the hottest hits.

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

I'm usually always pretty up on new music, although with my videos I tend to lean more towards funny weird stuff like Jon Lajoie and The Lonely Island. I even throw in a few fake commercials here and there to mix it up.

As for the old Pioneer LDs and DVDs, I have a few and do use them in my karaoke. I just rip them to video files and play them as I would a music video, although I store the files with the rest of my karaoke. I'd love to get more Pioneer karaoke LDs & DVDs.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Most people think of filler music as playing entire songs when there are few to no singers, not so as the music in between one singer leaving while another is coming up to the stage.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

DanDanthetaximan we have 3 sets and I converted them all to digital ....people love them...will PM you if I see any more available as they tend to come in spurts....someone here had a set with a HD already converted(what a great time saver) included for sale but dont remember who....Maybe start a thread and they will answer

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

"Most People" eh? Well most Doctors prefer Camels. I saw it in an ad once.

BTW, 78% of all statistics are invented on the spot.



Around here? Absolutely.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Ripman stays pretty civilized and is not above changing his opinion if the facts warrant it or deciding to try something he might have been against at first. He seems to be one of he least "tool"-like people here.

Thank you leopard, I pride myself on being open to change. I've changed my opinion on a number of things on this forum and my other job is all about change and improvement.


To the other guy, no this isn't 3rd grade so be gone with ya unless you can handle 4th grade!

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