Karaoke Forums

How do you work your rotations. I'm just going to be getting into hosting and I really want to plan this out ahead of time.

I've seen many different things but most recently I've seen a KJ make you sign in.  This was new for me because most of the hosts here somehow just know who has just walked in and who has sang a couple times.

I do like the "sign in" type rotation but I see issues with it as well. What do you all use?

~Lazer

I try to keep it as simple as possible.

A single line type of mentality. Like in line for the bank or store or whatever... waiting to pay.

Many people use a whiteboard/chalkboard... first come, first served.

For me that works best. BUT this is a highly discussed topic amongst kjs! !

Best of luck to you!

This has been discussed many times here. I think it deoends a lot on what type of venue you are playing in. Is it a bar, restaurant, private party? What size is your crowd?

If you have a small crowd duets probably won't be a problem, but if you have a very large crowd you may have to limit the duet to one turn for both singers. If I have a group of singers that always sing together they get alloted one turn. If it is a duet it has to count as one persons turn. People don't like tp give up their turn for a duet, so I don't get to many that do that.

I think a big no-no is allowing more than one song in a row to any one person, no matter what size your crowd is. (Unless that is the norm in your area.) If you have a small crowd they can wait a round to sing again, it won't be a long wait.

Adding new singers to a rotation is done several different ways. None of which I think is wrong. You have to feel out your venue to see what works for you.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Thank you both. Very helpful.

To me a proper rotation is no one getting up twice before anyone else.

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How would you handle adds in that sense? New people just walking in? Do you complete the current rotation then add them, or do they go in next and then continue from where you left off?

~Lazer

When I start the night with 8 or 9 singers I just add them at the end of the rotation because it isn't that long. As the night goes on and I have 1 or 2 people filter in at a time I add them in before the end of rotation every other singer. Old singer, new singer, old singer. It depends how long the rotation is. If someone has been waiting an hour to sing I'm not going to put a new singer before them.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I will insert new people into the rotation usually a few songs after they turn it in.  If I have a bunch of new singers, i'll generally do a couple new, old, couple new, etc...It gives everyone a chance, but still allows the older singers to be coming up as well.  Others may see it as unfair, I don't personally.  I think it unfair that a new singer gets to a venue & has to wait an entire round before singing.  I know for fact that we have several singers that work late shifts & can't get in earlier, i'm not going to penalize them for that.  They may only get to sing 1 song to everyone elses mulitiple songs, but at least they get to sing.  At a point in the evening I check how many slips I have left & will call no more slips from anyone - even new singers or singers that didn't bring up another slip before cut off.  This cut off generally averages an hour before the show ends (hour & 1/2 on Fri/Sat nights).

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

As a new KJ the best thing is to have 2 sign up sheets - The first Titled
"Karaoke Sign up and Wait Sheet" and the second one Titled -
"$20 will get you to sing next sheet".   YOu might as well make some extra money !!!


Just kidding  LMAO  LOL  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO

1st come 1st served and use your common sense.  ALso have singers BRING ANOTHER SONG SLIP up when ther are called to singe their 1st song--this will keep them in the rotation.  You should keep the slips in order or if you have a large rotation - write names down on a board so you can keep track.... YOu can have the best voice and the best equipmant and selection ...But just SKIP someone ONCE and they will call for your head on a platter  LMAO  LMAO

My KJ program keeps them all in order. When a new person turns in a slip, I put them in at the end of the rotation. I have been to gigs that people put new singers ahead of others that have been waiting and the ones that have been waiting seem to get upset, after all, they got there early with the hopes of singing a couple of times. It is upsetting to be 5th in line and then look up and your 9th.

My rotation is practically just like Lonman's. I have been doing it that way for 6 years now and none of my regulars complain.

Kelly

Whatever rotation method you use, be fair!  The crowd will turn ugly and there will be talk of tall trees and short ropes.  If you use some fancy sort of rotation scheme post an explanation.

As for group singing (duets, trios, etc.) I used to encourage it while I was KJing because it gets the party going.  Singing is fun.  The more people you have doing it the better.

The two most common methods of rotation seem to be the sing-one-bring-one method, or the actual "Rotation" method.  

With sing-one-bring-one all request go to the bottom of the pile and only one is accepted in the pile per singer.  As the singer comes off stage they hand you their next request.  This works wonderfully well until someone want to give you fifteen slips at the beginning of the night and want's you to figure out when they should be up next.

"Rotation" works like a big wheel with each singer as a spoke and an ever expanding hub.  Singers are assigned slots in the order thus singer 5 always follows singer 4 who always follows 3 etc. and a new singer is added at the end.  The advantage to this method is that the singers always know where they are because they know who is in front of them.  The down side is that you end up calling people who don't want to sing anymore or who have left.  It can also befuddle someone new to your show because they are used to waiting in line.  If the new singer is number 15 and number 13 happens to be singing at the moment, the new singer has only one person in front of him/her/it.  The logical assumption of the new singer therefore is that there are only three people in rotation.  Or worse, he/she/it sees that the room is full and goes off to the bathroom or out for a smoke assuming that there are a zillion folks ahead of him/her/it.


Whichever method you choose, save yourself a lot of headache and use a computer.

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Okay, who took my pants?

My rotation is as follows:

I sing the first song of the night.  This establishes the start of the rotation.  Then I field slips and letting singers sing until I reach me again.  Depending on the number of singers, I may sing again, or not.  At this point the rotation has been established.  Then as new singers join in, I weave them into the existing rotation - old, new, old new. blah, blah, etc.

Duets suck.  I get people submitting five slips at a time wanting to sing with five different people, expecting to get up five times in a rotation ... not gonna happen.  If it's slow, I'll work 'em in, if not, they get pushed back.  If any one of the duet singers submits a solo then that takes precedent unless they've made it clear they want to sing the duet before their solos.  It's tricky and I don't have a science for it but I don't get too many complaints.  I explain to those who ask that it's not because of me so much as it is the other singers ... I don't want to give the impression that one is getting up more than any other and sometimes I have to explain it over and over.  Duets suck.

Oh ... and I make a lot of announcements regarding duets logic, being patient, how my rotation works, the next 5-7 singers so people know where they're at.  It keeps traffic to the stage at a minimum and let's people know if they've got time to smoke, or if it's too late to go home.  Communication is the key to a happy crowd.

Although nothing is set in stone, I tend to do about what lonman has described.  I like to use the sing one/bring one routine.  Others, bring 5 at a time...then I put the in pile and they sing the top one, unless the request to sing a certain song first...which is fine.  I also may look thru them and put up a song depentant of what other types of music the people are singing.  I don't like to go from metallica to johnny cash if at all possible.  What gets the tricky is when 'new' singers come in.  I generally get them in, within a few songs....unless there is a group of new, then I try to get some of the original rotation mixed in between the new singers.  Again, duets change all the rules, but it counts as a turn.....people try to jump in at the last sec to help or fool the rotation, but that usually means..they end up waiting to sing again...hehehhehe!  Try to keep it as fair as possible, that's all you can do.  Never will everyone be happy or understand why they didn't get to sing more.  MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

Isn't that the truth






I don't mind if I get one slip or 12 at a time. I have a lot of regulars at my venue. Most have a index card with their list of songs on it. Anyway my point being, when someone hands in a slip I keep their place in rotation for 1 round. I simply put an "X" on the front after their done singing and when they give me their next slip I put it in that spot. If by the next round I don't get a slip they loose their spot.

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

My compuhost keeps tracks of the rotation for me automatically, but before I had that I just simply wrote the first singers name on a slip of paper and then every other one after that.  I followed that rotation all night. If someone leaves, cross their name out!  Pretty simple.  As far as duets, Whoevers name is first on the slip, it counts as their turn.

When I helped my friend Spencer at his show. He had a rotation based on a key singer (usually me or some other regular) When the new person signed up, they were inserted after me in rotation. They kinda new when they were coming up based on when the "keys" were up. If someone didn't re-up, they lost their spot in the rotation. The only time this had problems was when groups of friends tried to get themselves up to sing group songs using a different name of their buddies each time. We would figure that one out and they would lose a turn for two rotations.

This is taken from my "Rules" page in my book when I host a show:

Starting the Rotation
The first slip received establishes the start of the rotation.  The rotation continues through the list of singers (which includes first time singers) before it returns to the starting point.  When you are called to sing your song, bring another slip for the next round.

Adding New Singers to the Rotation
New singers are added to the list at the end of the current rotation with those singers already established. It is best to arrive early and get a slip in as quickly as possible.  

Submitting Slips Using False Name or For Somebody Else
Anyone caught doing this will be removed from the rotation.  Sorry folks, we're all here to sing and have fun. Submitting slips under false names is not fair to the others waiting their turn.  Turning in a slip for somebody else to sing who doesn’t want to just wastes time.  Any person who turns in a slip for somebody else that doesn’t want to sing must buy the whole establishment a round.

Duets & Groups
These are counted as one of the person's songs on their slip.  For instance, if Jim asks Marianne to sing a song with him, it counts as Jim's song, not Marianne's.  Duets are never counted singly.  Any one person can sing a maximum of two times per rotation.  Example:  once as an individual, and half of a duet, or in two duets (or groups), but never twice individually.

Leaving and Coming Back
If you leave and your name is called, and you are not there to sing, you will be skipped over and called for the next song.  If you are still not there, your name is removed from the rotation.  Your name will be mixed back into the rotation upon your return as a new singer.  You must sign up again, as the song pending was deleted.

I run a standard rotation with the exception of new singers get up once right away. This is to get them in the rotation and insure that they get to sing at least once. I count duets as a turn for each person. Then it's in order (unless my slips fall on the floor or the wind blows them or I sneeze on them)...just kidding. Had that happen once when I had a pile of slips and wasn't using computer to keep track...