Karaoke Forums

Same Same, except I stop at 5 in the line up.
I'll bet you have a lot of people coming back.

I usually sing the first song, have been talked out of it twice, won't do it again. I want the bugs to hit my song, not a customer.

I stay in the rotation to 7 or 8.

I really don't consider myself as having much talent, enough to get by on songs that fit my voice/style but I do get a number of compliments. I may be the host but that doesn't mean I can't be part of the entertainment when time/rotation is right. Usually my songs are upbeat type of songs to keep the room hopping.

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

Right on!

Up until a year or so ago, I did like most of you here... Sing one at the beginning of the evening to set the mics... But lately, I've had the early-birds do the warm-ups, while I check the sound from various places in the room.

Once the rotation starts, I insert myself at the very end... and since we normally have anywhere from 30 to 45 singers, I figure one more won't make a huge difference. I know, I know... I'm cutting someone out of singing an extra song, but we do our very best to get through the rotation at least twice... and I won't sing if we're getting close to the end of the rotation at quitting time.

On any given night, I'll sing one song... or two at the most.

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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

this is exactly how i do it for the same reason. putting myself at the end gives a difinative end to the round and they know that when i sing it's time to start again.

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

Putting yourself at the end is not different than putting yourself at the beginning - except you don't start the show - which like rip I'd prefer to do opening song just to dial stuff in.

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

That's why it is called a rotation (circle).

Whether you put yourself in the end of a rotation or the beginning (except for dialing in your sound) you're still taking turns away from your customers. I agree with the host singing the 1st song of the night. If you're customers need something to tell them when the top of the rotation is. Put it in the scroller. If your like most good hosts I know that I have a good time at their shows. Most of them use the scroller. Which helps greatly in keeping the show going and transition time to a minimum. If you really wanted to most scrollers you could run the whole rotation there. But that seems a bit overkill to me. 3 names running on the scroller seem to work well. Which doesn't work if you don't have an audience screen. Most bars have a big screen I can connect to wirelessly or through their network for the audience screen. As a host when I want to sing Karaoke I go to someone elses show.

I agree with this!

If you have 35 people or more in your rotation and you're still singing AT ALL, you're a terrible host. Most hosts take themselves out when they have between 5 and 10 singers. Some hosts just need to show off a little bit.

Terrible host? I guess I must be, if YOU say so, Oh Great One. I guess, because I'm a "terrible host", that's the reason I have by far the largest following, and most successful shows of the dozen or so hosts in the area...

Not that you likely care, but there goes your credibility with me Bruce.

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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

you're right, having a 35+ singer rotation shows how much that host sucks.

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

I usually sing in the rotation, sometimes I start off the show if it's a slow start, usually I go into the last slot. I drop out if the rotation gets too long. I rarely sing any song that is favored by a regular; often I choose a song to encourage a regular to try it; sometimes I surprise a singer by bringing them up to sing with me. It's no big deal, I try to make the singers happy, that's the goal.

As a singer, of course I prefer it when the host drops themselves out of the rotation when it gets busy at least, if not after doing the initial song.

When I was a host, I would sing the first song to get things rolling, and that was it. Not unless someone actually asked me to sing with them, or requested a song.

I am a fairly decent singer according to most people that I have talked to and I certainly sing a lot better than some of the people who did come to my shows.

But as I saw, it my job was to make my singers shine, not to show off how well I can sing.

MOST people don't go to karaoke just to hear the host sing

-james

Well there is always an exception to the rule. I know if I came into your show waiting in a 20 singer rotation to sing and the host got up and sand in the rotation before I did. I'd get up and leave immediately. No sense wasting my time someplace where the host obviously feels they are more important than the customer. And if you're content with your following and they pay your bills. Keep doing what you're doing it's obviously working for you.

So who exactly do you go to a show to hear sing? (besides yourself)

You got a magic number in mind that is the right number before whatever person who wants to sing is taking your turn?

I sing the first song. I have my reasons and several of them coincide with the reasoning expressed by other successful, experienced hosts.

I usually pull myself once the queue hits 10 singers, but not always.

I put on a 4-5 hour show. I don't take set breaks or stop the karaoke show in any way for anything else. My rotations average over 30 singers nightly and I average 4 or 5 shows a week for the last 6 or 7 years.

This BS attitude about the the host is taking something away from the customer is simply self-centered.

It does not matter at all whether the host can sing or the guest can sing. It doesn't matter at all if Johnny or Jane or Bill or Alice has the mic and is taking a turn. You simply don't have any control over it.

The host is JUST ANOTHER SINGER waiting their turn in the list just like anyone else.

We sing for the same reason any one else does.

Trust me, if I was going out to karaoke shows 4 or more nights a week... I'd be taking more turns away from you. That would be sad, because then, I wouldn't be providing my awesome karaoke entertainment services for anyone else and you'd have to settle.

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Never the same show twice!

As a singer, I don't really care if the host stays in rotation the entire night, and tend to enjoy it if the host is a good singer.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

Hate to say it but when I was a non-singer just accompanying a singing friend to karaoke shows I loved it when the hosts sang. They were usually great entertainers who played to the audience and made everyone feel welcome. They sang high energy dance songs and made sure that we spectators were having a good time, too. What a singer thinks is the best show is not necessarily what the rest of the audience enjoys.

As a host now, I rarely sing yet sometimes I question that decision as I can feel like an assembly line servant rather than in charge of the show. Singers who sit there counting every wasted second that might have given someone one more song are not really enjoying mingling, dancing or supporting the other singers. The ones who walk out if it isn't done their way usually go from show to show anyway and aren't likely to become regulars. When running a show you hope for people who give off a welcoming and fun vibe and not a critical one.

Yes, without singers there is no show and I do like to treat them fairly and give them as many songs as possible. But if you cater too much to the complainers the fun seems to disappear.

Before I became a KJ many years ago, I would go to a show to sing what I loved to sing....ballads. I was not a dancer or a real outgoing conversationalist. I was there to sing what I wanted to sing. I really never gave the boredom of "ballad hell" any thought, because I was there just to sing. I never thought about the non singing listeners until I became a host. Well, at first I still sang my ballads to a less than excited audience response, then I realized they expected ME to pick up the pace not drag it down!

That was many years ago and now 98% of time I do a fast dance/party song. The audience loves it and they know why I'm singing.....for the non-singers. I will have to say that at first I didn't like singing the faster upbeat songs, but it is growing on me. When I go to another host's show I try to do the same thing, but if there is enough fast stuff being sung I will go "off the wagon" and sing a ballad.

You know I don't think people should feel that badly about ballads. Yes, I've had nights where too much can be draggy or when you get an influx of screaming, shouting younguns and you feel you have to up the pace a bit. But sometimes it's the ballads that get the dancers because people like to snuggle a bit and be romantic, too. Nothing wrong with a mix here and there.