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On the issue of ... "Do you have this song or that song" ... or when a singer comes up and verbally requests their song ... Do we KJs take into account that 22% of Americans are illiterate?  And for those in other countries, that the illiteracy rate is 20% worldwide?  That's slightly more that 1 in 5 of the people in the US.  Further, I would tend to believe that more of the illiterates are hanging out in bars instead of the libraries.

I've yet to encounter someone who admits they can't read or write while doing a show.  I do have people at my shows who verbally request their songs or have others fill out their slips for them.  I've identified at least two of my regulars that fall into this demographic.

I encourage all singers to write down their songs, but given the high rate of illiteracy in the US, do you think we do enough to make these people feel comfortable? 

It's difficult to tell the difference between someone who's lazy or feels like filling out a slip is below them from those that truly need our help.  I state in my rules (guidelines) that to sing a song you have to fill out a slip, but if you need help please come up and see me (and I just realized someone who can't read isn't going to read that).    

Sometimes I make a joke about it at the beginning of my shows by saying "You have books, and slips, and pencils out their, use them to find and fill out a slip ... I'm assuming you have fingers, but if you don't come up and see me and we'll get you up.  Maybe I should be a little more sensitve to the needs of other people.  Oh boy, I'm having a therapeutic moment.

How many of you have thought of this and make appropriate accommodations for the 'challenged'?  Are there any other challenges we should be paying more attention to?

Probably opening myself up here to some wrath, but I find that the youngsters (21-26) have no idea what 'ALPHABETICAL' order is! Seriously. I tell them it is by LAST NAME first...they still don't get it. "It's not in the book," they say. I say, "Bring me the book, I'll show." "Oh, I can't believe I couldn't find that."   I just laugh now.  I had no idea that learning to sort alphabetically (manually, not by computer) was something they've dropped from school curricula!

I do know, too, that there are a lot of people whose vision is compromised by their age (myself included) - if the printing in the book is too small, they have a hard time reading it. I have gotten to the point where I actually have a couple of pair of "reader" glasses with me and if someone says they can't read the book because they don't have their 'readers' with them, they are seriously very happy when i can provide a pair!

By far, though, the issue of alphabetical order is the one I run into most...and I don't know if I can help those people much!

I definitely fall into the category of having poor eyesight.  The print in the books that our KJ's have is pretty small.  The print combined with poor, dim lighting makes it almost impossible for me to find a song quickly or even write the info on a slip.

This thread brings to mind a certain venue long ago (not my gig) An old gentleman would request E P songs and struggle with the words and stare at the monitor.  Some of us would get up and sing with him when we found out he was illiterate..Karaoke is for everybody and a good host will provide that extra service for those with special needs.

I have had 4 year olds singing and looking at the monitor and learning to read.  They are also learning how to have fun without doing drugs. Cater to all with a smile and provide a complete service. Karaoke is not about rules or a formal regimen It is providing entertainment and a singing platform for all.

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LORD THANK YOU!  What happened to teaching the 'Dewey Decimal System' that library books are filed under.  Remember the old card catalogs?  These were filed exactly how I list my artist book, by last name!  Yes I know libraries have computers & you can just do a search for particular things now days, but c'mon, this is just basic knowledge that don't seem to be taught anymore.  Also for those who are looking for say Garth Brooks under G & can't find it, take a chance & look under B for Brooks!  GAWD THIS IS MY BIGGEST PEEVE TODAY!  Computers are great tools, but honestly believe it's making people stupid because they can't do things for themselves anymore.  I also think seriously since the advent of more computerized shows, many kj's are going almost strictly verbal - no slips required & this is also confusing to singers that don't know what slips are.  Last year before I finally went computer myself, I jokingly put up a sign that we'd be glad to look up & write down your song slip & underneath was a big smiling writing tablet, & under that - there will be a $1 service charge.  Some people ACTUALLY paid it, had one guy throw me a $5 & listed 5 songs he wanted to sing, I told him the sign was a joke & he didn't really need to pay me, he insisted & paid everytime!  OK!!!!
OFF TOPIC RANT COMING - Why do schools allow kids to use calculators for math now days?  What happened to writing the problem out, figuring in your head what goes into what or what times what is etc.... rant over!

Poor eyesight or somebody that forgot their glasses & can't read the print in the dim bar is totally understandable.

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I guess if someone can't read the book and they know what song they want ..by all means ASK ME and I'll be glad to help you out.   But hey if you need reading glasses ....You should go out and buy a pair..there not that expensive .
I'm not going to read the entire book to you !

Illiteracy is a big problem but personally for me  as a part time KJ --I'm not going to concern myself with it. If you don't know how to read  I would think you would KNOW the words to the song ..what can a KJ do ??? There are many many types of CHALLENGED people ...where do you draw the line as a KJ?

What I was trying to get at with this post is whether or not we KJs do enough to accommodate.  I'm not really concerned with the punks who don't want to follow convention or others who just think everything revolves around them.

I'm concerned with those who might not be able to read the books, or might not be able to write ... are we doing enough to let them know we're here for them?  Are we providing EOK (Equal Opportunity Karaoke) and are there things we could do to better the experience for some people who may not be taking part because their needs aren't being met.

I've had people sing from wheelchairs (are all of you able to accommodate this?).  Should we have magnification instruments for those with poor eyesight?  Should we just not care?

See ... I don't care about the punks.  They're years away from understanding that getting drunk and bumbling around town creating havoc is not acceptable.  I generally steer them back to the streets if I can at all help it.  I do want to help those with particular needs, and I don't know if I should have to wait until they announce to me their challenges in life before addressing them.

There are sections of this country and in most big towns the checkout clerk does not engage in idle chitchat., (dont bother me pay your bill and get the hell out of here). Thank god most of this country still provides a personal service  and becomes friends with their customers. And I live in one of these sections. Our businesses here give western hospitality at it's finest.

What is wrong with you people You think karaoke is different from any other business? God!!!

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Why not have a song book printed in txt language.... it might help some of the illiterate younger set!  LMAO

Karaoker,

I soooo agree....and have stated as such before.  If you don't like the 'entertainment business' that you put yourself into, by all means....get a different job where you don't have to deal with people.  However, if you stay in the limelight....do your job to the best of your ability!  MrD

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Everyone is pretty much treated equally by me.  I have customers that may complain about a certain person or certain songs & I just have to pretty much hush them up stating, if I didn't let everyone up that somebody may not like or don't like to hear certain songs, then I would pretty much have to eliminate everyone because SOMEONE is going to not like something about others or their song choice!



We do have regular wheelchair customers, we have a wireless for them as sometimes it's nearly impossible for them to wheel through the crowd to get to the stage, then once there they'd have to go up a 6" step.  So this is the only time our wireless will get used by anyone, otherwise you come up to the stage.  Had 2 wheelchairs in last night as a matter of coinicidence.

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Now that is funny!

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Is this too touchy of a subject to be serious about?  Seriously, do we have a civic responsibility or is it not important to be 'set up' to accommodate special needs.

It depends on what the 'special needs' are.  I am not going to go asking or seek out if anyone needs any special help - typically they will let you know.  
I've had people with down syndrome come & sing, sometimes i'd sing along with them, sometimes I may break my strict duet rule & allow someone else to sing with them.
Someone who can't read or write - have had a couple admit it & watching them on stage trying to sing along, it showed.  I will write up their slip for them & maybe try to be a guide vocal from the side of the stage.
Had a blind guy sing last week - helped him with slips although he had his girlfriend to help him maneuver.

But then you get the people that see this treatment being given & expect it themselves.  Perfect example last night was the wheelchair singers, other singers (that usually complain about anything anyway) wondered why they couldn't sing from their spot, I told them if they become paralyzed from the waste down, then they can too!

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I think the word "waste" was kinda appropriate, Lonnie!

I used to provide "readers" for people that wanted to read my books, but they started walking out... so I would "RENT" them out for a $5.00 charge... the readers STILL left! ! At least I could afford to get more of them! !

Guess I've been lucky with the readers. Of course they're only doled out to my personal friends. And I think I had one pair that was picked up after my show that belonged to one of the patrons! They never asked for them again...

As far as wheelchairs, I do have a dear friend who comes to sing at my show - tremendous singer who used to do nightclub acts but was in a tragic auto accident. She comes to my shows pretty regularly (in fact will come to NYE show)...provided it is completely wheelchair accessible. She usually sits fairly close to the stage. By the way, she is pretty much 100% quad and she manages to hold the mic - have you ever considered that quads don't have the muscles we do to expand our diaphrams to sing? She doesn't get a huge amount of volume but does very well. Always amazes me.  I do give her the cordless and most of the shows she comes to are in nicer places where I will put my cordless Shures out.

I guess you could say I am an EOK provider....provider of reading glasses and wheelchair access!  LOL.

I've never taken in consideration people may not be able to read. How can you do karaoke if you can't read the monitor to sing?

I'm thinking if I do have someone like this it must help that I keep song lists for the regulars, so they don't have to look up their song numbers everytime. i do have one singer that doesn't look at the screen much and is always mispronouncing words or simply singing different words. Gee I wonder?

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I can tell you from experience as a teacher in public schools that the major problem in America is that we have kids everyday getting out of school either by graduating or by quitting school, who can not read.  Most of them can not write in cursive they can only print and what they print you can hardly read.  Because of federal legislation, and the No Child Left Behind Act, education is at an all time low because as teachers, we are not allowed to provide the kind of help each kid needs individually. For example, the child who had downs syndrome must be taught on the same level and has the same requirements for passing a grade as any other kid in school. That is completely unfair for the child with needs. The greatest problem is the testing procedures.  In Texas, the students must pass the TAKS test to go to the next grade. The problem is, spelling and grammar is not important to the test. It is not even considered as a important skill.  The Language Arts test centers around reading comprehension skills. The problem is, most of the kids do not read proficiently.  Educators will tell you that when parents read to their kids when they are small and spend time helping them learn to read when they are very young, the kids will become very good readers as they grow older. We live in a "fast food" society today.  Kids are geared to instant gratification.  The reading process takes time and effort.  Kids are not taught to seek out reading skills. By the time they reach my classroom, I don't have time to teach them what they should have learned when they were in elementary school. We have a defined curriculum to teach.  It has become a standard prprocedureo teach to the TAKS test because that is the only thing the state seems to think is important.  Kid's progress through the grades depends on their success with this test, our jobs as teachers depends on student success on this test, and the survival of our schools depends largely upon the students success on this test.  Therefore, to get the edge, math teachers have been allowed to let their kids use cacalculatorsand English teachers like myself, do not teach enough grammar and spelling.  I am ashamed to admit it, but we are all victims of a system that is controlled by legislators who use education to manipulate their positions during election times.  They advertise that the education system is broke and needs to be fixed. They argue that kids in America are not as intelligent as kids from other countries. They say our scores are lower than kids from other countries and we can not compete with other cocountriescademically.  They don't tell you that in other countries a kid's life if pretty well planned out for them by the time they are 12 and that the only student scores they report are those who are college bound students with high academic abilities.  Here in the U.S., we report everyone in our schools, the lowest academically inclined along with the highest.  What parents hear is the message the elected legislators present..."Our schools are in trouble and we must pass this legislation.  If I am elected, I will see to it that your kids get a better education and a brighter future."  What parent is not going to go for that?  The problem is, that the problems with education are not that the schools can not educate the kids and give them what they need to be able to compete in this world.  The problem is with the involvement of the legislators who are not educators getting involved with the schools.  Yes, they need to make sure education is taking place, but they, for the most part, are not qualified educators.  They have no idea how to teach kids or what they should teach kids. We as teachers are so busy trying to get kids focused on taking these dang standardized tests that we don't get to teach them the important things anymore.  I love to teach literature.  I have to go against the will of my boss and the school board to teach literature on the level these kids need to or ought to have the chance to learn it.  I refuse to spend all my time on preparation for the standardized TAKS test our state requires. I still teach it, but I also try to balance the other important things as well. It bothers me the number of people who do not know which "their" or "there' to use.  The same with the use of "to", "too," or "two."  To me, grammar skills, though not tested, are still important for a student entering the business world to know.  We are now failing to teach important things, for the sake of a test that legislators say is so very important.  If we could get rid of the mixed up legislation and messed up legislators, throw out the No Child Left Behind law and let teachers become teachers again, we would see a real difference in education in America.  Ok, I have ranted way too much and I guess I should have not said anything, but this is something you will hear in nearly every conversation between teachers on any campus in Texas and I am pretty sure you would hear it all over the country as well.  Federal law has pushed education into a corner and what appears to be laws to make things better for the kids has, to a large extent, done more harm to them than good.  The other side of this is that  come election time, the schools will be made to look bad, the idea of vouchers to allow kids to go to private schools will look better that way states do not have to fund public school anymore.  And legislators will look like the intelligent people they are not!  Oops! Sorry, new soapbox! I will quit! I just read this thread and could not pass up my two cents worth.  And that is about all it is worth to anyone but me...2 cents! It is my opinion that we as American Citizens need to be much more informed instead of believing everything that comes out of Washington DC or from our state capitols. --Mike

I didn't know you had to be able to see to be able to sing.  I guess someone should tell Stevie Wonder that!  LOL   I rarely look at the monitor now when I sing at karaoke... it's lyrics are often incorrect and I find it better to concentrate on the music for timing  and avoid the distraction of unexpected lyric errors.



Singing different words than are shown on the screen isn't always bad... a lot of the time the words shown are totally different than the original lyrics anyway... and I see no harm in a little ad-libbing now and then (have a listen to my "Mack The Knife" in SS.... bet you won't find those lyrics on a karaoke screen!... I usually sing those lyrics when I do that song and the audience generally enjoy the change)

As a KJ I hired to provide "KARAOKE" for the patrons of the establishment.
So I should provide EQUAL OPPORTUNITY for all to be able to SING.
If you are handicapped - Heck we'll do our best to assist in any way we can.
If your'e BLIND sure wew can assist you get to the stage and hand you a mic and even clue you in when the song is starting --BUT heck I'm not providing a MONITOR IN BRAIL !.   nor do I think it is the KJ responsibility to be concerned with the few illiterate people out there.... HEY GET OUT OF THE BAR AND INTO A CLASSROOM
This country provides access to learn for people from all walks of life and social status.   Now if I had a steady flow of regular singers who were 3ft midgets I guess I would lower the monitor stand as part of my part to make their Karaoke experiance a better one  LMAO