Karaoke Forums

I'd like to share a problem that I've been experiencing for many many years that really baffles me and hurts my feelings.

I barely get a smattering of applause when I sing and most of the time I don't get any reaction at all.

It doesn't matter what I sing or how well I sing it. It doesn't matter if the crowd is into the karaoke, I can get up there, do a decent to excellent job (depending on the song) and all you can hear are crickets. It really bothers me the most when the person I follow gets applause and the person that follows me gets applause and I don't. I end up doing this mortifying walk of shame back to my seat. At times I almost feel singled out and I don't know why.

Even though I am a quiet person, I am polite to everybody and I don't come across as arrogant or aloof. I clap for other singers and I am not judgmental. I sing a number of different songs spanning different genres and decades. I'm an excellent singer. I don't say this as a boast, I say it because while I don't get the applause, I often have people coming up to me to offer sincere compliments either to me directly or to my wife about me. I've even had more than one person tell me that "they" (the audience) have no idea how good of a singer I am. So it's not for lack of a pleasant singing voice. However, even if I sucked I should still get sympathy applause. I want to cry sometimes because I am a pretty shy person and I choose to expose myself like that and when I get zero reaction it is very disconcerting.

Try posting to the singers show case. It may be a lack of stage presences. Some have it most don't. Just a thought as a KJ (host) I encourage the audience to give back some love.

I would say you are not going to a show with the right type of host, because a good host would have made sure you got your due.

Sounds like the host isn't trying to coax the audience to respond. But then there are just some crowds that just don't respond no matter what is going on nor whom is kj'ing.

But sing for yourself - if people like it, you may or may not hear their response but don't measure your performance upon others lack of interest, do you need the reassurance of applause (real question, not trying to be mean, some people just want the applause)? Just sing and have fun doing so for yourself!
I prefer applause personally but am not bugged if it doesn't happen.

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I've seen tremendous performances get no reaction after some musically-challenged ones got good ones. I've had people say, "I thought it was the radio".

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

If you like what you are singing, then keep singing it. Applause isn't always a true measure of appreciation. Some karaoke crowds can be kind of clique-ish. They clap for each other. Don't worry about it.

More than likely just stage presence. Move around some make eye contact with the audience. Show them you are alive and its not the radio or background music. You dont have to overdue it but if you just stand there and sing with no kind of emotion people just wont notice you very much.

If you were at one of my shows I would make sure the audience gave you some applause. Try some of the above suggestions next time out.

Keep on singing dont give up!

With very few exceptions, just about every show I've ever attended, the audience applauds for the singers... even the ones with no stage presence (regardless of whether they sang good or bad).



I couldn't have said it better myself.

@ 315KaraokeFan --- You DID get a reaction (based on what you described). The one thing you can definitely be proud of is, people may not have applauded for you at the appropriate time, but they actually took the time to walk up to you and personally congratulate/compliment you on your performance. That's something you didn't say was bestowed upon the others who received applause.

The OP never said whether all of this was at one venue or many.

If one, my guess would be a hosting problem. Time to try another venue. If many, it may be time to look at yourself. By this I do not mean singing ability but stage presence. Could you be coming off as arrogant or over-confident on stage without knowing it?

Could your stage mannerisms make others feel awkward?

Please take no offense, I am just offering examples that I have seen in the past. Could be anything....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Hey, you're lucky. I once had someone come up and put their hands over the lyrics screen while I was singing and say, "Please stop!"

Is the host clapping for you at all? I always start the clapping myself. But there are some nights where people will only clap for their friends. Or the karaoke is just background music for them and they don't seem to realize that a real human being just put their self on the line and sang their guts out. I've cheered and hooted and hollered and held up signs and threw candy to clappers and still had people just sit there stubbornly. Some places/audiences are just strange sometimes.

Try a new venue with a new host. Ask the host before you sing if he encourages applause after each performer or does he just call up the next one. If you tell the host your concerns I'm sure they can get you the kind of response you want.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

Sometimes the best singers are the ones who get the least amount of reaction. I've seen regular singers who are so good, when the crowd hears them again and again, they look at the person like they're trying to be a show off, and when they're done, it's like crickets, yet everyone in the room is quite aware that they are the best singer in the place. So, if you feel you really nailed a song, and there's no reaction, it could possibly mean that you nailed it too perfectly. Yes, in karaoke, there is such a thing. If you were singing in a concert to a crowd that paid to see you, you'd probably get a huge reaction, but in the karaoke world, sometimes the crowd will look at you like you're just too good to be there. I'm not saying to bring down a notch at all. Keep nailing the songs, but sometimes you have to accept the fact that you're so good that you're beyond the point of reactions at a karaoke show.

Try out to sing in a band. That will let you really know where you stand.

I made an art form out of being able to finish a song and get little reaction when I hosted. I did this because my show was about anyone being able to sing on my stage no matter what talent they had. Now, I can get all the reaction I want or little to none at all if I want. It has a lot to do with how you react during and as the performance is ending\ends. If you slide off the stage like you don't want to be noticed, they probably won't. If you leave standing tall and with a huge smile on your face like you just road the best roller coaster of your life, they will take notice.

Try something next time. During the performance, smile and make it seem like you are having the time of your life. When the song is over stay at the mic, raise one hand up and out to the side, smile as big as you can and simply say THANK YOU! into the mic. Let us know what happens.

I was about to post something similar, but MrBoo has stated my thoughts much more eloquently than I could. However, I would add that you might do well to practice your stage exit in front of a mirror a few times first... Check the smile... check the gestures... Would YOU applaud for that person in the mirror?

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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]

I've never heard you perform so I can't say for sure but if there is a mystery with no evident solution I always return to the base premise. In this case the base premise is that you're a pretty good singer.

Maybe you suck and don't know it. Maybe you're hurting people's ears. You're not going to get approbation for causing pain. The people coming up to you with positive comments may be trying to make you feel better by misleading you. "You're great" is as easy to say as "You suck!" and means about the same thing.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to determine your Suck/Greatness factor and that is:
At home when you're alone. Sing into a recording device. No backing track no effects. Play it back. Does it sound good to you? This is VERY effective if you're honest with yourself. If it sucks, practice singing to yourself until it doesn't suck. Then and only then, go back to karaoke. Hands will clap!

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Okay, who took my pants?

No, -, not the Voice, American Idol or any of the other TV talent shows. Medeocre and even poor singers that are having a great time on stage will draw attention before an awesome singer with no stage presence.

Technical proficiency is only part of delivering a performance. Honest, emotional investment in the song plays a much larger part than you realize when the performance is live.

People have an uncanny ability to zero in on false or faked emotion, but they also instinctively recognize when you truly "feel" the song.

I would guess that most of us in this business have always experienced music in our lives at a deeper level than those who treat it simply as background noise. We remember the who, what, where, and why of the events in our lives when we first heard a particular song. The others just remember that they have "heard that song before".

Unfortunately, on many nights, the crowd is made up of many more of them than us. Not much any of us can do with that.

great post

lemme add: try some humor. i remember (while I was in the audience once) one singer would always add at the end of their song "I clap for myself!" and then they would start clapping loudly for themselves because they felt nobody clapped for them. it would make some people laugh and eventually join in. next thing you know, that person would regularly get applause afterwards. remember: if you want something, you gotta ask for it sometimes, shamelessly. a closed mouth don't get fed.

I have found that in most but NOT all, so called karaoke singers, they all had a lack of Confidence...With Emotion being number 1 i believe singing with confidence may be next..get up there and strut your stuff..JMO

I have to agree with the confidence thing. I often hear more cheers when I sing with my hubs. We're both decent singers but he has no shame and I feed off his energy. By myself I have a hard time ruling the stage. Even after I got over butterflies and can make eye contact, walk around, etc. my voice still sounds...ummm....safe and repressed I guess. I'm Joan Jett when I sing alone in the car but I'm Karen Carpenter on stage, which isn't bad...except when you're trying to channel your inner Joan Jett!

Smule has a karaoke-style app called Sing!. I like to practice my "confidence sound" with it.