Karaoke Forums

Well, I took my teen daughter to KaraokeFest and we really had a lot of fun!

There were about 7 outdoor stages where anybody could get up and sing and the rotation time ran from about 30 to 60 minutes. So I would fill out a song slip and then take my kid on one of the rides where by the time you got through the line, off the ride and walked back to the stage, you only had to wait maybe 10 more minutes before you did your song.

It was mostly fun listening to all the singers regardless of how "pItChY" they sang because you could tell they were having fun! I can only say "mostly fun" because, I'm sorry, but there were maybe 2 or 3 singers out of the entire day where my daughter was just looking at me like "dad, if you don't put about a mile between me and this guy's voice, I'm grabbing the next park security officer and reporting myself kidnapped."  LMAO  So it was off to another ride in those situations but it was still fun!

But, hey, I sang my songs and the crowd clapped and I'd get my contest coupons for the drawings that they held.  I didn't win anything but it was still a great day!

The most "traumatic" event of the day was after lunch when my daughter and I had walked clear across the park to watch some of the finalists compete for the grand prize. We were waiting to go in to the amphitheatre when I noticed something missing and said to her...."Ummmmm, honey, where's your purse with all your stuff....and all my SoundChoice Karaoke CDs that you were holding for me?"  :O  And then all you would have seen was two blurry streaks of us sprinting  :dancin:  :dancin: through the park back to the restaurant where, fortunately, we found her purse with all its contents being held at the register. Whew!

Oh, the biggest disappointment of the day was not being able to connect with fellow SS member, Jee (Jalo) from Finland, at the park. He apparently got there around 4pm (we'd arrived around noon) and we probably even sang at a couple of the same stages but never around the same time. But it's fun to know that for at least a couple of hours we shared the same KaraokeFest "experience" and maybe next year we'll plan it better! Anyone else here in the forum attend the event? Love to hear how your day went! Hey, maybe next year a few of us can actually plan to meet at a particular area of the park at a certain time!

Hugs  :hug:

That sounds like so much fun!  I wish I could have gone but it's so darn far away for me to go!   So glad you had a good time and shared with us!  
 :hug:

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SAY IT WITH MUSIC!!!!

Hi Melodie! It really was a great time! I originally qualified for the semi-finals but the  venue I had to compete at was pretty far out of my area and I ended up competing against at lot of club locals who had what we call in America the "homefield advantage" since the club was filled with mostly locals doing the voting. It's just the way it works out but it was still a lot of fun and I'd compete all over again even knowing the outcome! Maybe someday they'll figure out a way to handle the voting in a more unbiased way because some of the people who actually made it to the finals at KaraokeFest just weren't anywhere near "finalist" caliber. And that comes from singers who try to improve their own chances of becoming a finalist by voting only for the worst singers at their venue - they figure that if they're voting for the worst then others who may be voting for them would give them the boost in votes to win the competition. But the drawback is that when too many singers all vote for the worst singers in the group - the worst singer gets the most votes and ends up winning and going to the finals! It's a really silly thing and you just have to have a sense of humor about it!

Oh, but it was fun at KaraokeFest because you could sing at the different stages and everytime you did they'd give you a ticket for a contest drawing to win some small prizes. I only had a chance to sing 3 songs because I wanted to make sure my kid had fun doing the rides and I only planned on singing 3 songs anyway. You've probably already heard all the ones I did which were:  The Heart of Rock and Roll,  Feeling Alright (the original version which I just subbed today), and the last song I did that day was Addicted to Love.

So I didn't get that many contest ticket entires for the drawing (but actually I ended up getting one extra ticket for doing Feeling Alright I guess because the KDJ liked it some much). But no luck in the drawing! There's always next year though - maybe I'll see you there!  :D

Have a great week!

Hi Rita,

There's always next year! Maybe we can pick one of the restaurants inside the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park and a bunch of us could arrange to meet there at a certain time! It would be fun meeting so many of you in person and then we'd all head to one of the outdoor stages and sub our song tickets together so we could perform back to back! Well, you never know, right? There's a whole year to go!

Have a great week!

Christopher,

We are very happy you enjoyed KaraokeFest and hope you will be with us next year.

If you will allow just a couple of points of clarification:

1. No one see the votes for the Creme de la Creme Singing Competition except our staff so it is not possible to make accurate assumptions regarding the outcome. You would be very pleasantly surprised at how honest most people are when they vote (in many cases even forsaking the friends they are sitting with in favor of others they deem more worthy). That is not to say there isn't an occasional bad ballot but due to the large total number of votes it rarely , if ever, comes into play. We may not always agree with the outcome but the system has worked very well for many years. It is good to keep in mind that everyone has an opinion as to who were the best singers and we have to respect that.

2. The hourly drawings during the main show were not for "small" prizes. There were 3 drawings for prize packages worth between $300 & $400 and a 4th drawing for a complete Karaoke system valued at over $5,000.

Thanks again for your kind words about KaraokeFest. See you next year!

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Administrator
Karaoke Scene Magazine Online

Yes, definitely looking forward to going and maybe I'll actually make to the finals next year, too!

[quote=If you will allow just a couple of points of clarification:

1. No one see the votes for the Creme de la Creme Singing Competition except our staff so it is not possible to make accurate assumptions regarding the outcome. You would be very pleasantly surprised at how honest most people are when they vote (in many cases even forsaking the friends they are sitting with in favor of others they deem more worthy). That is not to say there isn't an occasional bad ballot but due to the large total number of votes it rarely , if ever, comes into play. We may not always agree with the outcome but the system has worked very well for many years.[/quote]

Sorry, I have to disagree. I saw singers at the finals that were singing flatter then the pancakes I had for breakfast at IHOP recently and you'd have a nearly impossible time convincing me that they were voted to the finals for being the "best singers" out of a series of semi-final competitions unless all the remaining singers were mutes - and in a couple of cases, a mute could have scored better then what I heard. In my opinion, the judging at the semi-final level that determines who goes to the finals should be done by a panel of 3 KJs that are not from the immediate venue area where the semi-final competition is being held.  Also, I don't think the KJ hosting the competition at the particular venue should announce (as they did in the venue I attended possibly without realizing it) just who is local and who is from out of that venue area. And this is not just *my* opinion because I spoke with several KJs who were hosting the outdoor stages and they all agreed that "cream" doesn't generally rise to surface by the time the finals come around but that a lot of "sour cream" does make it into the finals.

Now, as you should be able to tell, I don't let this apparent fact of KaraokeFest life and competition effect my enjoyment of it! I still had a great time and as I said, I'd compete all over again even knowing what I now know going into the competition - because next year I could end up being the "local boy" or maybe I'll just compete at more venues to improve my chances or maybe you'll refine your judging procedures. Whatever, I sing for the fun - not the prizes which seems like a good lead into to number 2 in your post...

[quote=2. The hourly drawings during the main show were not for "small" prizes. There were 3 drawings for prize packages worth between $300 & $400 and a 4th drawing for a complete Karaoke system valued at over $5,000.[/quote]

I'm sorry if the use of the word "small" offended you - "smaller" would have been more accurate in context of the Karaoke system being offered last (which I had forgotten about until you mentioned it). I only was able to attend 2 of the drawings and at those that I did attend, I didn't get the impression that there was actually $300 or $400 of merchandise or whatever packed into the baskets or whatever it was that was being offered but I couldn't really tell from where I was sitting. Maybe they just looked "small" because I was sitting way up in the back of the amphitheatre.  LOL  Anyway, after recalling now that there was a Karaoke system being offered at the final drawing it would be more accurate for me to say that the drawings ranged from a $5,000 karaoke system (big) to the "smaller" prizes at 3 earlier drawings.

[quote=Thanks again for your kind words about KaraokeFest. See you next year![/quote]

Your welcome! Thanks for posting your clarification! Nice to know someone from KS administration reads the threads!