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i have a female friend since college who is in her 1st year as a KJ.

back in the old days, we used to hit the karaoke spots as singers. but i turned into a KJ first. now it's been 8 years of me kjaying and this year she's trying her hand as a kj--with my full support.

problem is: i thought she'd be a knockout KJ after all the years of her singing at karaoke bars. and i'm disappointed that she's fairing below how i thought she'd turn out. she works for a different company, not mine. so i didn't directly "train" her.

again, it's her first year. so i'm trying to be patient. i've held my tongue when i go to her shows. i keep telling myself, it's her first year. let her go through growing pains she'll learn. the other part of me wants to yell at her: what are you doing?? don't you remember all the years we went to karaoke together? didn't you pick up anything from all the great KJs we saw over the years??

for example. i don't think she notices at all: she doesn't ask the crowd to clap after someone sings. it's amazing. after someone sings she'll typically say "that was julie!" or "alright sam!" and starts to play music. and of course, few if anyone in the room claps. i'm there biting my tongue. again, she doesn't work with me or my company. and it's not a competative thing. but i feel since we're not co-workers, it's rude of me if i tell her how to improve her show, is it not? but the friend in me is like, c'mon man! we went to countless karaoke nights. how are you missing this one gimme--ask folks to clap! your karaoke singers are leaving the stage dejected because no is clapping. why would they come back? remind folks to clap! she's coming to the end of her first year and the crowds are thinning at her shows. she hasn't asked me why.

i could tell her at least a dozen things she can do to greatly improve her show. but on the flip side, i'm shocked like all the years we went to karaoke and she'd be so quick to spot a KJ's bad habits and she's doing the same things!

which is why i made a thread about year one as a KJ. i don't remember if i did those bad habits i saw some KJs do my first year. but i dunno now, watching her shows. maybe i did and didn't know it.

It's all in the training.
Not all crowds will clap no matter what you do/ask for - some kj's will just drop the formalities of asking. Possibly one of those types of crowds.
You cannot train an ear - you can only train basic skills and hope they develop an ear, some do some don't. In which they if they don't quite get the equipment, hopefully they can make up for it with good people skills and other areas.
Same with rotation and people skills, some people have it & some don't. I've had people that worked for me in the past that I hired in which I thought would make GREAT kj's, but turned out they just didn't have it or they lost patience quickly in which they couldn't handle the customers BS.
If they suck at all of it - then they shouldn't be a kj at all.

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lemme just get this other vent in and i'll stop:

so i came to see her show as a friend. got there on time and there's no singers. no one at the venue really. but it's the holidays, it's the end of the year. chalk it up to whatever.

so aside from her, i'm the only 'real' karaoke singer there. she's working. (in other words, if she sang by herself all night, she still pitched a shut out. you can't count yourself). i put a song in. but she put herself in the rotation. fine. she sings first. ok. (i wouldn't. i'd let my guest sing first in this case. why not?) but it's her show. but then she plays 2 full songs after she sings, before calling me up. i let that go thinking it's a fluke. by the 3rd go around of this 2- full song filler, i got pissed. i was like c'mon, we're the only 2 singers here. stop playing 2 full songs. who wants to wait for that? when that second filler song starts, i'm like, really? and i'm extra pissed like didn't we go to countless karaoke places and you used to hate things like that. who are you? how in the world do you do the same thing you used to criticize? i told her new plan: cut the filler songs to 45 seconds, you sing, then i sing and we'll pick crazy songs that get folks attention until bystanders in the room get the hint that there's karaoke. you playing 2 full songs leaves the stage empty for globs of minutes at a time and that's not working. a constant presence on stage singing bad or good will inspire someone to join in.

again, if she'd never been a karaoke head before or i didn't know her personally, i wouldn't be so disappointed. i was so excited for her to be a KJ. i dunno. i keep thinking it's year one for her. let her learn the hard way.

i hear you.

but to not ask for clapping at all, to me is inexcusable. i'd rather hear her ask folks to clap over and over and it falls on deaf ears, than for her not to ask at all. i don't think she realizes that she doesn't mention the word "clap" during her show. i should tape her and let her hear it, she'd probably be surprised. this used to be such a pet-peeve of hers back in the day when we'd go to karaoke that nobody would clap at a particular venue.

and by the way, i'm not bemoaning KJs who play a 2-song fillers in-between singers. that's your call. i'm upset that if i had zero singers on my night and the night's looking slow and yet a friend of mine shows up who is also a KJ, i wouldn't play 2-song fillers. not only am i a KJ i'm her friend. i can't see myself treating any friend of mine that way. heck, i get a friend to show up on my karaoke night and it's just me and them singing, oh, we're gonna have some fun that won't wait no 2 songs.

Like Lon states.... karaoke means karaoke, not karaoke plus a whole lot of filler. If that is how she runs her show then that is how she needs to label it.

This is an NBD (no big deal) moment for me. Unless I asked the sole singer if they wanted to sing multiple times in a row (which I've done. I've had 2-in-a-row and 3-in-a-row nights before), I'd probably do the exact same thing she did. I wouldn't see it as 'mistreating' my friend/singer. If I knew the person well enough to call them a friend, I'd know if they'd be ok with what I did, or if they wanted to sing several times in a row. Personally, as a singer, if I were the only one there singing, I don't think I'd want to sing 8 or 10 times in an hour. I'm not that hard core. If I did, I'd just ask the KJ.

She's not allowed to use filler music unless she explicitly states it?

"Good evening everyone! Welcome to my karaoke and filler music show!" whut?

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DJ Don

The problem with a non-receptive audience (non-clapping), is just that... they are non-responsive. Sometimes it doesn't matter what the KJ says or doesn't say. There was a place where I KJ'd (for about 3 months), and it felt like I was pulling teeth to get the audience to applaud for the singers. They didn't even applaud for their own friends. Have you been to every show your friend has hosted during the course of the year she's been hosting? Were you there every week for each of her shows in the very beginning? If not, you don't really know if she tried to encourage the audience to applaud for each singer and eventually just gave up or not.

You mentioned one instance where she had no singers there except for you. Firstly, what difference does it make if she sang first? Whenever I hosted a show, I always sang the first song of the night. This was done so that I could get a proper sound check after setting up. I'd rather sound bad and readjust my settings during my song, than make someone else sound bad. As for keeping myself in the rotation (which you really didn't discuss), it all depends on how many singers I have waiting (in your specific example, I would keep myself in the rotation). When I've had a "no-hitter" show (as you describe) I throw in filler music too, but I play tracks from one of my Multiplex CDGs with the full song version (so that the audience could see the word-swipes displaying while the music was playing). Sometimes they'd start to sing along from their seats, and then I'd come over with a Mic and try to encourage them to take it. That usually warms them up a bit, and they sometimes consider choosing a song that they will get up to sing.

If I was at a show where the KJ had no singers except for me, and he/she was playing 2 full songs in between each rotation (as filler music), I probably wouldn't care that much. After all, that would only total about a 15 minute wait between my first turn and my next turn. Personally, as much as I may like to sing when I go out to a Karaoke Show, I'm not too crazy about being the whole show. I do like to have a rest in between songs (to relax and enjoy my drink, and to have conversation with others). When I've hosted, and have been faced with this type of situation, I usually check with the one participant and ask if he/she wants to get up again to sing or not (or to let me know when they were ready to sing again). Now, if there were only 2 or 3 people in the rotation and the KJ still did that (play 2 full songs as filler music in between rotations (or even in between each singer)), I would say something to the KJ about it (because now that 15 minute wait has become a 25 to 30 minute wait for no reason). If the KJ continued to do that after I said something, then I'd leave (friend or not), and I wouldn't give 2 hoots as to whether he/she felt insulted or not.

If even a single singer is there and ready to sing, I let them sing. Better to have them do two'fers or even three'fers and then play a fill or 2. If the singer is not ready to go again, play a couple more fills. That choice should be up to the singer(s), not the KJ.



"a 15 minute wait" in a "newbie gets the nod" rotation could turn into a 3 hour wait when a busload of college kids rolls in.

My mantra as a KJ is to get as many songs sung as possible. Singer always takes priority over fill.

I agree with you here. Read the rest of what I wrote (beyond the part you quoted from me).

Here in Palm Springs, Ca. We have a big Canadian snow bird crowd this time of year. So if no one is ready to sing, I start up "Oh Canada" and the party starts and never stops. I go first most night to make sure every things right for every one else. I never play loud filler music unless it's for a line dance or something like that.

I should also say, If I only have ONE singer other than me "It's their Show" and they can sing all they want. Well till they get tiered...

As for telling to people to clap, you might want to pose it to your friend as a question/observation: "I noticed nobody seems to be clapping. Is it usually like that? I usually try encourage applause after people sing." You don't have to say what she should do. Just kinda mention it along the lines of how it sucks when nobody claps.

I can understand filler music when you have no singers, but it drives me nuts when there seem to be a good number of singers and the KJ insists on playing filler music anyway. I won't go to a place like that. I don't go to a karaoke night to listen to filler music.

I have been a KJ since 2005, and I am very thankful that I can count on one hand how many times a gig like you described happened to me. Your personality determines the crowd's energy. I have a unique voice that becomes more prevalent as I get a few beers in me. My regulars, when they get to the microphone, will do their best Felix impersonation, and the crowd is always into the show.

I always sing first. The crowd expects it. I have people who come to the show every week, buy dinner and plenty of drinks and never sing a song. All that one lady ask is that I sing one of the songs I sing anyway that she likes. I often hear people here brag about how many people they have in the rotation. I consider a successful night when the establishment makes a lot of money. I have been to many shows where it is filled with people not buying more than the minimum to stay at the establishment, and drink water most of the night. That is not success. If the bar is making money, and I have to sing every fifth song, that is success.

I have had slow starts doing private parties. That is when my video library comes in handy. The videos always get the interest of those at the party, or the few times my regular gig was slow.

It sounds like your friends show is not very successful. Only the owner of the establishment knows. Here there are many horrible Kj's that work for next to nothing. The bar is happy with their return on investment for whatever reason. As a KJ I am also a critic of bad karaoke. There are many factors into where I go to sing on off days. The establishment, cost of drinks, quality of food if offered, quality of music, quality of equipment, quality of people. To go out and have a good time I inevitably have to make compromises on one or more of these factors. If a show got me as worked up as you are by this show, I would stop going. If this is your friend and it is as slow as described, I would take a seat next to her and work giving her tips to improve during our regular conversation.

Felix the KJ

Nothing wrong with a kj singing first. I have done that many times to make sure the sound is right before I turn it over to my singers.

Telling people to clap? I do encourage my audience to clap, but I do not beat them over the head with it telling them to clap after every singer. No way, I would never do that. An audience can quickly get tired of constantly being told what to do.

2 song filler and it's just you and her? C'mon man. I know you mean well, but to me it sounds like you are being way too critical of her. I can totally see and understand why she did that if she only had one singer: YOU. I have done the same thing myself. Her reasoning behind it is that since it's just you and her, she doesn't want to wear you and her out vocally or physically. She is trying to pace the night with some sort of variety until more singers arrive. I totally get that.

Now if you want to just keep singing over and over and you told her that, but she didn't let you and instead played a lot of filler, then yes, I can see your point then. But if you didn't say anything to her and you just assumed that she knew that you wanted to sing over and over and over and she didn't let you... then yes, I would have a slight problem then. But even still, one person singing over and over is not fun or entertaining to an audience either.

Put in a nutshell, it's hard when you only have one singer. I feel for her and to me, she hasn't done anything wrong. Her methods may have been different from yours, but I can't say she is doing it wrong from what you have posted. Sorry.

I do that as well, I encourage people to clap, if they do I let the applause go on for a couple seconds before I call up the next singer. If they are non-responsive - I fade up the fill music & quickly call up the next singer or make a bar announcement. Again, it's not always the kj's fault if the crowd is non-responsive and sometimes make the kj look desperate if they are continually trying to coax people to clap.

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I agree with VP on all points but this one. If the place is empty and its just you and her, this is the perfect time to have fun and experiment. Why play filler music for an empty room? Sing some odd songs. Try something new! If there is just one person in the room I will let them sing continously until someone else arrives. It hurts nobody but me if they suck. Besides. Does anyone really need to "pace" their voice at karaoke night? Its rare that anyone sings enough songs in a night to blow out their voice (unless they are screaming or singing incorrectly of course).

In situations where it is dead like that, I will challenge people to do cross-gender challenges, or just any new song. I got two girls to come up and sing "One Week" by Bare Naked Ladies last week. I even warned them that it was one of thge harder karaoke tracks to perform. But they obliged, had a LOT of fun with it and they broke the ice for the venue that night.

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-Chris

I don't know about that Chris. If I were to have a night like that, where I did all my "Power" songs in a row, I'd lose my voice after the 3rd or 4th song. Shoot!!! 2 songs that I sing from time to time, takes just about everything out of me... "You Oughta Know" and "For Crying Out Loud."

If you lose your voice after two songs, you might consider some vocal lessons. I sing 30-40 songs with my band in a night. On occasion, two nights in a row. Let the mic do the work instead of straining. You don't want to cause any damage.