Karaoke Forums

I KJ at the same bar 3 nights a week. I keep a list for my singers of their regular songs. This has made my life much easier and the patrons love it. When I see them in the bar I pull their slip and add them to the rotation. They don't have to ask me. The great thing is 90% of them let me pick their song. I can control the night so people have fun. Starting with mellower songs and saving the rocking songs for the meat of the night, like a dj. They trust me so much with song choice most will try a new song I suggest. Does anyone else use this practice?

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some friends of mine do. I used to. But found that in a mobile situation, it can be just horrible (had the box that their slips were in got dropped and totally destroyed due to me overfilling it... slips went EVERYWHERE. And the real reason I stopped is that many of my customers don't sing the same things over and over. So my slip bundles kept getting larger and larger...

I used to until I had so many that there was no way to keep them anymore.  13 years at one place adds up to a buttload of filing.  Got to be impossible.  Now the customers keep their own slips.
Downfall to that is that many don't ever branch out & try new songs since they already have their "comfort zone" slips already filled out & reaady.

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Good points
I have gotten a little creative since I have about 50 index cards.
Yes I've written them out on index cards and add their new songs as we go
I also keep them in alphabetical order in a recipe box

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I have done this for 8 years and like Lonman says you can build up alot of slips, and like Matt says for mobile gigs it can be a nightmare if your box spills..BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!! (several times)LOL  

In my stationary gig it works out fine I just keep a couple of index files w/alphabetical tabs and then set them on a table. When a regular comes in they just come up and find their slips. They also store them when they leave.

It became a problem when I would have 2 shows running the same night. Some customers would go to the other show....no song slips there!  My shows are all
computerized so I began using MS Excell to keep track of each singer and it works great. No matter where I'm at their songs go with. We are beginning to convert many of the regulars to this and give them a printed sheet with the info on it.

When you are beginning to build a show..greeting your customers when they first arrive and having their song slips in hand is a very effective tool in building clientel.
It makes them feel special.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

There are hosters now that enable the KJ/DJ to switch formats. methods of entering songs, or by reading the audience switch from mainly KJ to DJ.. Ones like compuhost keep a singer list for each singer and can tell you when and how many times they have sang any song. You can que out of this list...

Some of my singers turn in a multiple list for the night, some I just call up they will pick up the mic and ask wat am I doing?  I'll ask wat do u want to do In 2 sec its playing.  Others I just work with their history.. Some just walk up with no slip and after talking a min say put me in so-n-so.. No prob...

I'm waiting for one of the hosters I've paid for to have these capabilities. Enter a multiple list for a singer It automattically goes thru the list and keeps the next rotation by queing the next song.. If a singer is up in 2 songs and they dont have a req in it automatticaly ques one out of their history... If the singer wants it will kamakaze them every other song or at a selectable ratio....And more that slips my mind right now...

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We never keep slips.  The more they use the book to look up songs the more chance they will see something they might like.  Also a local electronics (tvs, dvds, vcrs, karaoke, etc)pay for the slips, so more there is out there the better.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

If I KJ'd I would keep song lists for the regulars and for a kamikaze list too, one reason for a kamikaze list is that those songs will liven up a crowd and save on the many misses or Cooler songs.  Some Rocker doing Right Said Fred will get more enjoyment than Norah Jones.  And I'd too make some preferred lists too.

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Melly - I do something similiar to your game, but call it scaryoke.  LOL

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That's funny Melly & Babs, cause I've done the same thing occasionally with various regulars over the years & called it both those names. Lately, though they like to call it "Kamikaze Karaoke". Entertaining to watch, though, no matter what it's called! Still fondly remember an older cowboy-type regular of mine singing "Lady Marmalade"

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For the regulars, I keep their song slips in those small snack sized ziplock bags.  I've got a plastic box that they fit perfectly into for transportation.  They are stored in alphabetical order, so when singers come in they just go in and grab their bags.

For something a little fun we will occasionally have singers who want to play along put their bag of song face down on a table.  Then each singer picks up a bag other than theirs and sings from that bag.  It's fun because for the most part they are all regulars, and know what the songs sound like from hearing the other person sing them all the time.

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

I like the bag idea, but I think I have to many slips. Do you use sandwich bags? I like the idea because it protects the slips from beer spills, hee, hee. If so what kind of plastic container do you use to hold them? I don't think my recipe box could handle plastic bags.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I have just started karaoke-singing this year and I've seen some people that have lists of songs.  I've thought about doing that--but I don't know.  I like being unpredictable.  :)  Babs, I can see your point, though, about being able to plan where to put different songs to create the mood.

I like the idea!! I guess I'm a regular at a certain place too, and sometimes the KJ "TELLS" me what I'm going to sing next.........I love an assertive woman....within reason.
One night, a fill-in KJ of hers was going to pick my last song of the night, I thought she was going to humiliate me with something like "Boy George" or ???
It was one of my regulars. But I humilated myself because my voice was weak and gnarly and I struggled.  :no:  :wave:

Sorry about the double-posting. Not sure what the problem is, but I'm working on it.

I have only been KJing for about a month now... I have a few regulars (maybe 15-20) that have their own lists.  I think it is more of a pain in the butt than anything.  They seem to be the customers who take themselves too seriously.  They see it more as "oh, I am a regular, so you need to cater to me by letting me avoid filling out a slip" kinda thing.  I tell ya what...when it is super busy, I can't keep an eye on the door to see who comes in.  I am also on an old school system where I don't have the option of placing a bunch of people/songs in (they have a player that has a 6 disk changer, and all the disks are already preestablished/preloaded into the cartridges by number, etc.) so I still depend on keeping slips in order and in front of me.  Why should I have to fill out a slip for them? Also, most of the time when they pull their slips and say "oh just put me in for whatever you want", they end up coming up as I am introducing them and requesting that they do something totally differeent than what I had pulled for them to do.

I have a ledge next to me and lay out the lists in order. This is nice because if they want to know when they sing next they look at the ledge to see where they are in the order.  I have any where from 15 - 30 singers on a given night. (80% have lists) I do not have to fill out a slip because I have their list right there. I don't have to look up songs for them because they are on the list. When I used discs I would lay their disc on the list. So when it was their turn it was ready. I had a single disc player. I now use a Cavs unit. I'm lucky I have the room to do this. They usually let me pick their songs, so I have it ready before they come up. Or they will let me know ahead of time what they want to do next. I find it much easier to keep things moving this way. Plus I can control what kind of songs are sung. If everyone is lively and wants to dance I keep the up beat songs coming. If they are in a sing a long mood I play that type etc...

There is nothing that bugs me more than people hounding me to look up songs for them. I have 20,000 songs, so my books have small print. Some people can't see well enough or are to drunk to look up their own songs. You know what I'm talking about. How about people who just walk up and say put me in for ____ song and walk away. OK who's going to look it up when I'm trying to do my job?

The lists have helped me out tremendously - but different KJs have different enviroments - what works for me might not work for others

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