Karaoke Forums

I've got a venue that likes to run two contests a year.  Each one has its own theme, etc.  

Rather than running the usual deal with 'X' number of contestants reaching the semifinals which are pared down to 'Y' number in the finals, using a suggestion I picked up on one of these forums, we ran the last two as double elimination tournaments with competioin in three divisions to allow singers of all ability levels to compete.  It worked great and was a lot of fun for both singers and audience alike.  (Feel free to email me if you'd like more info on this format)

Anyway, in an attempt to keep things fresh, I was wondering if anyone here has run into any contests that use a format different from the standard semifinal/finals routine.  

Thanks in advance!

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

My only experience with contests (I did win a semifinal once) is that I sure hope you keep the guys and gals separate.  Us guys don't stand a chance against the girls :)

:-David

I've been toying with the idea of a Karaoke "league".  You have teams of karaoke singers that can earn points every night they come based on different things like stage presence, knowledge of song, singing ability, etc.  I think this could work because the people would come as early as possible and stay as long as possible to earn points.  Plus with a "league" style format you can say get team shirts and all other kinds of fun stuff like that.  Then you would have team members actually pressuring each other to show up and compete instead of hoping the that no one else shows so they get an easy win.  Also instead of being adversarial, like so many contests turn into, there would be team spirit.  I'm trying to solidify this idea now.  I'm glad you brought up this topic because I would like to hear what you guys think of my idea.

i got to a semi final once,it woz liverpool vs man utd,v disappointing...score woz zip-zip,woz singin,come on you blues..got battered!

I like the idea of a karaoke league pk.  I think that would be a good way to build a loyal following, especially for an operator like  myself who has multiple shows in the same venue each week.  

Perhaps you could encourage singers to try new songs by giving extra points for things like singing a gender bender, or on particular nights declare a theme and give extra points to singers who sing songs within that particular genre of music.  

Not a bad idea for boosting attendance at regular shows...not sure if it will be the same sort of a draw that a big money contest would have though.  

I think dave's also got a good idea in keeping the men and the women separate.  That's not something that I've tried, and could make for interesting viewing.  Perhaps a division for men, a division for women and a division for gender benders.  That would still allow us to use the ever popular tournament format.  

Keep the ideas coming folks, I knew this forum wouldn't let me down!

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

If you have a big money prize a double elimination could be interesting...

On the other hand you could try a karaoke league that's similar to a bowling league where they pay each week and then seperate out the pot based on points at the end of the time frame.  Running 6-8 week leagues would keep the league short enough that others can join in once if they like.

I would NOT award points for performance quality though.  Perhaps something like:

New song (never sung in league before) - 5 points
Singing previous song - 1 point
Gender Bender - 5 points
Costuming - 5 points
Stage presence (doing more than singing) - 5 points

So a new gender bender w/ costumes and dancing could rack more points.  Preparation is key to a winning team.  Each team puts in $5 per week, and is paid out to all teams based on percentage of total points from all teams.  I really like this idea and might talk to the bowling alley about more information on how they handle payouts, etc to get a better idea of how it all works.
Something where the points were for having fun and not necessarily being the best singer opens up the options.  Each team gets x# of sings per night to rack points.

Thanks Mike, I'm both surprised and happy that I could help :)

A few more comments.  First, before anybody gets the wrong idea, I lost the final in a contest that did have the guys and girls split.  It's because the place had some of the best male singers I have ever heard.  Perhaps it was the format that brought them there.

Second, when trying to have two separate contests, be prepared for a long evening that may get difficult for you customers to endure.  Of course, if you are in a bar, this will make the bar owner extremely happy :)

:-David

As a contest participant and not a KJ, I thought I would comment on your ideas...

1) I really like the idea of a league.  In my neck of the woods, I think this would encourage more people to sign up for the contests rather than sit back wishing they had.  There are a lot of really great singers who enter contests, and then those who are not-so, but still bring something to the contest to be recognized.  Splitting up the good ones, the not-so-good and placing each person equally might be a little hard to do, but would be the ideal situation, ultimately.  I know I would be more interested in participating more often if I knew I was doing it "for the team" as opposed to just trying to beat out 10+ people just to win the cash for that evening, being entered into the finals and then not being allowed to sing in the contest again until the night of the finals.  At least that's how contests work where I'm from.

2) I once thought that guys and gals needed to be separated too... but when you think about the music charts and how that works, both genders are competing with one another.  It might be interesting to see a contest like that, although I think I would be less prone to enter if I knew I was competing solely against the females.  There are a lot of males who are far better singers than myself, and I have been beaten by several.  That actually doesn't bother me nearly as much as getting beaten by another female

3) When running a contest where the audience members are the judges, I have a slight problem with going by stage presence and costuming as a factor.  If this were made clear in the beginning that everyone was to dress up and do something more on stage than just stand there, that would be fine.  But there are a lot of people who are very strong singers who deserve to win based on their vocal performance, yet they don't do much stage-wise.  

Sometimes I think the song itself should determine the performance.  If it's a ballad or a really slow dance song, I don't think the performer really needs to do much more than stand there.  One example of this was a contest final I witnessed fairly recently...there was a guy who dressed up, jumped around on stage, swung his blown-up air guitar around and pretended to "smash" it on the ground, all while performing the most hideous rendition of Poison's 'UnSkinny Bop' I've ever witnessed in all my years of contest participation.  He couldn't sing his way out of a paper sack with punch-out holes marked "EXIT HERE!!"  But.... HE WON!!!  He walked off that stage with $500 cash in his pocket for doing nothing more than making a fool of himself.  The other audience members were a bit perplexed by this as well, not to mention the contest participants he beat.  There were 11 entered, and at least 4 of those SHOULD have won based on vocal talent.  Had I been in the contest myself, I would have been seething!

In my opinion, if it's a karaoke contest, it should be just that:  Karaoke.  Not how well you dressed yourself up as Yoda or Gene Simmons.  If all the participants agreed in advance that costuming and some sort of stage acting were part of the contest, that would be fine.  But I do have a problem with people winning based solely on the fact that they're bouncing around on stage like a mexican jumping bean, bringing their buddies up there and doing the "shoop, shoop" movements behind them, yet singing worse than my four year old cousin on cold medication.

And yes... I do ramble.

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Dear "Deb", if I may call you that for short.

First, I wish I were singing "Fly Me to the Moon" to you rather than having this discussion.

And speaking of what great lengths men go to to win over females, wouldn't you think that male judges in bars are slightly biased toward the girls?  Not suggesting any hidden agenda on a guys part, though it would be cheaper than buying drinks :)

:-David

David... yes, absolutely you may call me "Deb" anytime.  In all actuality, that is my real name.  Well, it's "Debbie", really... but everyone calls me Deb, so...

'Fly Me To the Moon', eh?  You trying to compete with my boyfriend?  He does a lot of Sinatra too... quite well, I might add.  But sing it for me anyway... I love listening to different renditions of the same song

Certainly will have to agree with the male-judge bias.  This is hormone factored, though.  LOL.... not saying that all you males cannot control yourselves and base your critiques solely on the way a woman looks on stage.  Yet you have to agree it helps if she's pleasant to look at.  Am I wrong?

Let's take, for example, 300+ pound Betty Lou with an amazing voice.  She's up there giving it her all...sounds great, hitting each note just the way it should be, pretty much nailing it for all intensive purposes... yet she's rather large.  And this distracts from the overall performance, especially if you're not into BBW.  And please note anyone who may read this:  I have NOTHING against larger-framed women whatsoever.  I look at people as they portray themselves:  Individuals.  Please don't slam me for this.  I was once much larger than I am now so I know how it is.  However, based on society's standards as to what is "acceptable"... generally, the larger you are compared to pin-up model standards, yeah, it's harder to be accepted by the population.  And this is unfortunate.  I know a lot of women who can sing me under the table, and rightly so!!  I have been beaten by several, and have congratulated each and every one of them on their justified accomplishment.

So, David... what happens if all the judges are female??  You know the outcome would be completely different.  Especially if the female judges in question were STRAIGHT.  When judging, I go by perfomance PERIOD.  And yes, I have been a judge on more than one occasion.  And I did vote for a female each time, just because those particular times, that person was the better KARAOKE singer.  There are many males I would vote for in that instance, yet they were not participants at the time of my judging.

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Deb,
 I gave up on long distance Internet relationships a while ago.  And I'm a ways away from having the courage to listen to my own recorded voice, unless I listen to it in the shower and that will get me electricuted :)
 The female judges you are talking about...are they the same females who like to sing "Earl Has to Die?"
 It is nice to meet you :)
:-David

You should still submit a recording sometime... whether you can handle it or not.  You obviously sing karaoke, so it couldn't be THAT much different...

Um, I'd say a lot of the judges might in fact be the same singing that wretched Dixie Chicks song (whom I absolutely LOATHE, btw) but they I suppose they still offer some quality to be considered for a judge in the first place.  Of course, this quality could be alcohol-based as well.  We're talking about bars, afterall.

Nice to meet you as well

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You think everyone deserves an equal chance based primarily on their vocal performance.  Sounds fair to me.

I focus on my vocal performance, with the addition of trying to move my eyes around the audience.  I dated a formal pro once and she said that was important.  She also said I needed to stop smoking or I would never be able to sing anyone except Frank Sinatra.  Well I still smoke and I'm still doing Sinatra :)

I love to hear the ladies do Karaoke who are also singers in a church choir.  Their voices are so powerful, and they are comfortable with themselves, regardless of their size.

I might try something new.  I saw Kevin Spacey's depiction of Bobby Darin.  Bobby Darin acted out the words to a song as he sang it--in a very subtle way.  Kind of like Sinatra snapping his fingers only a little more animated.  Animation is good--it conveys that I'm comfortable on stage (even if I'm not :)

What kind of songs do you like to sing?

:-David

I caught your post on Kevin Spacey's movie 'Beyond the Sea'... I just watched that last Tuesday, as a matter of fact.  Was quite disappointed overall in the general movie plot, but I love Kevin Spacey as an actor.  And the fact that this was a life-long project for him, his production, and that he sang each track for the soundtrack impressed me beyond words.  I could care less about the plot after that.  LOL  

Absolutely everyone deserves a fair shake at their vocal performance!  Afterall, isn't that what it's all about, really??  If it were an original recording, with nothing to compare to, that's completely different.  But when you know the song, and are familiar with each riff and chorus, yes... judging that makes it biased.

In college, I took a speech class... and I hated every minute of it.  Then.  Now, I have no problem speaking publicly.  I attribute that to singing karaoke.  Back when I took the class I was taught that you had to look about the room, making subtle eye contact with each individual so as to appear that you were speaking to them one-on-one.  Same with singing.  Yet I was soooo shy with the singing thing back then.  If you were curious enough to search for some of my past posts, you'd find the shyness factor comes up quite a bit when it comes to my singing.  But yes... making eye contact is a big plus.

I too love listening to ladies who sing in choir.  Size is not a factor for me, at all.  I love listening to anyone who can sing, and create chills up and down my spine.  You should definitely try something new.  It's fun to try things you're not always comfortable with.  I do that quite often, actually.

As for the type of songs I like to sing... well, there isn't anything in specific.  I will try anything just once.  If I find I cannot sing it, I won't attempt it again.  If you're interested in hearing anything I've sang before, head over to the Singer's Showcase.  I have 5 songs posted.  I believe each one of them is in a different genre.

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Debbie,
 I'd like to hear your songs.  But the Internet security where I work blocks most audio files.  I already tried listening to files from this site and they don't work.

 That's why I posted a question about Windows Media Format samples.  For some reason, I am able to listen to that format in samples at mycdg.com.

 I hear you about Karaoke helping me be more self confident when speaking in everyday life.  I also think it helps me vent some of my arrogance so I'm not so arrogant when I'm around my co-workers, etc.  In this forum, I hope to be "respectfully arrogant."  LOL

 Sounds like you have always wanted to be a singer.  Cool.  I have always wanted to be a performer.  I used to think up little skits and get my brothers and cousins to perform them for my grandparents.  And I play a little guitar and a little keyboard.  So I guess I don't have a lot of talent at any one particular thing.  But maybe I can combine a lot of stuff together and come up with an acceptable performance when doing a song.  Kind of like the nightclub acts of the 50's and 60's.  Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Darin and even old blue eyes himself.

 Thanks for the encouragement for me to try something new.  And now maybe something new for you.  Have you ever been to a Karaoke joint where the KJ also plays a keyboard himself?  I go to a place like that almost exclusively.  It is a lot of fun.  Now that I have been going there for a while, the KJ takes some time to work out some songs with me to do live.  But it's not serious.  He likes to say, "Dave, let's do this one live."  Then he shuts off the Karaoke machine and I'm left there trying to sing the song from memory.  Sometimes he tells me the words as I'm singing.  The whole thing is hilarious.  I guess my best song is "Georgia on My Mind" and we do that one live.  People always love it.  So if you can find a place where the KJ also plays live music on a keyboard, I really recoommend that you try it.

 Okay I have to get to work.

 And I apologize to Mike for taking this thread way off topic.  Maybe we meet again soon on a different thread?

:-David

Dear Lonely Heart,

Oh wait, this was a contest thread.  LOL

OK folks, I'm taking the plunge to see if I can make it happen.  I've put plans in place to start a karaoke league.  I dunno if it'll fly or not, but I do have a good solid base of regular customers who will probably be interested.  

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

can i join your league pleez?..or are you going to be elitist,(i sing in the key of lemmy by the way!)

I love this idea about the karaoke league!!! great great idea..
I was in a travelling bowling tournament league that had so much fun meeting new people and getting to know each other better.
Mike you have to let me know how it is going. I would love to start one here in
California.  This is so cool because it takes your regulars to a whole new level!
Great idea!  :worship:  LMR

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GIRL POWER!!!!!

Wow!  So I haven't been on since I posted the Idea a couple of days ago and you alreday got it going.  Just remeber who gave ya the idea if it turns into some kinda big money maker.

I'm not big on competitions. I just don't have a very competitive nature.  Have only been in one and was talked into that one.  But I love the idea of a league.  I would join something like that!  I think it would be cool!


Sorry......had to edit........can't spell!

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SAY IT WITH MUSIC!!!!