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I went to a karaoke bar the other night, and they had a rule that all "New Singers" are next. In other words by new i mean, i didn't have to wait untill the bottom of the rotation to get up and sing my "first" song of the evening, behind the "My Way" guy who's been up 6 times. How many of you do this? What made this nice, is i didn't have to wait for a singer who's been up 5 times to sing "For The Good Times". After i was up once, i went to the bottom of the rotation i guess, because it was over an hour before i could sing again. Is this standard practice? i always just put whoevers next on the bottomof the list?  :thinkin:

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Sweet Little Me In Karaokeland........

I run similar to this, however you aren't necessarily 'nest' per se.  I incorporate new singers in with the old, but you can't walk in & expect to sing next, it can be up to a 20 minute minimum & depending on how many new singers are ahead of you, going in between the old, it could be even longer - but you wouldn't need to wait an entire round.  Once you sing your first song, you wait however long the rotation is for the next song - this basically gives everyone at least one chance to sing, in my area we have a lot of swing shift workers & they can't get to the club early.  Also depending on WHAT time you walk in, I do have a cut off point at some time in the night in which I have enough singers in my que to take out the rest of the night, once that happens, I no longer take ANY more slips from new or old singers - at this point the only slips that can be handed in are those that are already in that want to swap out a song they already have up.  Usually that cut off time is around 12:00, but has been as early as 11:30 or as late as 1:00

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Depends upon the singer. An obnoxious drunk bar-hopper goes in rotation after the current singer and waits full rotation. Depending on the crowd I sometimes revert back to putting new singers at the end of the rotation. It varies with the number of singers and pace of the show. Fair rotation is one of the most important things. I will not go to a show where I am bumped for "favorites"

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well it just so happened that i was the next new guy who hadden't had a chance to sing yet. But i kinda like the system he had, and think i might adopt it. It gave everyone a fair chance, and did not leave up to the KJ who he would "work you inbetween" and when. I didn't walk in off the street and up to the stage. I waited about 15 minuts before being called. But i had a lot of people behind me, and i appreciated not having to wait for repeat singers. Everyone has a cut off time, goes without saying. However, if i have a few that want to sing, and it is getting towards the end of the evening, i work with my regulars, so i can fit them in. I try to give everyone a chance. Within reason, i don't follow the clock on the wall. We have karaoke from 7pm untill 11pm, it has been at least 4 years or longer since i've gotten done at 11pm. So i have enough time before 2pm last call to get everyone in. I have been at the same club for over 5 years now, and i treat my singers right, and that's why i am still there. And i can't begin to count how many yard parties, pool parties, graduation jobs i've gotten from the people of my club.

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Sweet Little Me In Karaokeland........

I work my rotation very similar to Lonman. If you happen to walk in at the end of my rotation and before I start at the beginning again I will slip a few new singers in, otherwise I will lace the new ones in to the rotation. Normally it takes about 15-20 minutes to work newbies in, then they keep their place in the rotation and when they sing again depends on how many singers there are in the rotation.

Some folks here will disagree with this type of rotation management, but I have found that it keeps the whining to a minimum and generally is acceptable to most folks.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I do it just like Lonman does. I've never had a problem with it.

It depends also on how many new singers come in at once though. If I have 8 or more all at once they do have to wait a bit. I try to stagger them in between the old rotation. (new, old, new, old)

If you have a lot of karaoke bar hoppers, meaning they sing one song and leave, this may not be a good system for you. You want people to stay and spend money to support the bar. I have mostly regulars, so it isn't a problem for me.

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i am at a private club. It's an Amerigan Legion Club. So members only, no bar hoppers. I know the ones who are members and regulars, and those that are just visiting. And like i said, i would put them at the end of the rotation after their first time up. Yeah ..it kinda stands to reason if you have 8 singers walk in at once, you wouldn't stop your rotation untill 8 singers sang. But i don't have that situation, at least not there....

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Sweet Little Me In Karaokeland........

It's Saturday night, I have the forum all to myself.  What an echo!!!!

I didn't (now semi-retired from karaoke) run a rotation at all but rather a "sing one-bring one" approach.  The new singer priority thing tends to promote bar hopping, as in, they came in, sang, and left.  Since we're there to help sell drinks this was a bad idea.  I wanted party people, not singers.

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Okay, who took my pants?

That's because your yell bounced off've my empty head.  You aren't by chance a vivacious voluptuous wanton woman are you ?   The type I wouldn't bring home to mom ?   (Since she'd try seducing her too),  Nice thing about this bar is that you don't need to keep ordering soft drinks for ridiculous sums of money,  deal with kids singing obnoxious songs, and it's tougher to get 86'd from here when someone get's in your face.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I want to thank you all for your input, suggestions, and friendly help. This is sure a great forum, with wonderful professional people with great ideas and knowledge. I want you to know i take all your suggestions and knowledge very seriously. I know sometimes karaoke host don't get the recognition from the music industry that you deserve. Although i play in a band and i am around musicians all the time. It doesn't take me long to straighten a few of my guitar buddies out when someone starts making light of karaoke. We have our place in the music industry, and i think as a musician, on a purely entertaining level, karaoke is more of an entertainment to most folks then sitting there all night listening to a band. I know, because i do both. Each has it's place i guess, and i enjoy both...again thank you for all your help.    George

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Sweet Little Me In Karaokeland........

That's happened to me at several venues.  I've been setting there paying $5.50 for drinks for a couple of hours and then the KJ lets a guy that just walked in the door in front of me. One night I had three new singers, one right after the other come in and jump rotation.  I'm just thankful that there are a lot of karaoke bars in our area. I have a choice - I don't have to go back. Heck, after reading the start of this thread, I find that I'm still ticked off about it.

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Singing just for you

When you.... "walked in off the street" did he let you right up? if not then i would complain as well...And i have never in my life been to a karaoke bar anyplace on the planet where a rotation was two hours long. I bet those guys were his buddies. You should of complained to the club owner, that wouldn't happen twice if i could help it. and $5.50 drinks? we have some senior citizens in this club that don't spend $5.50 between the two of them all night! And maybe you better read my original post again. Nowhere in my post did i mention that this kj ever let up more then one new singer at a time without getting back to the rotation.

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Sweet Little Me In Karaokeland........

If the KJ applies this system consistently, I have no problems with it.

Usually when I sing it benefits me to stick new singers at the end of the rotation because I try to be there at the time the show starts, when the rotation tends to be shorter.  After about three songs I'm usually ready to leave.  In the long run it doesn't really make much difference except for how long it takes to get to your first song.

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Reward: nine yen in drawer.

good point! consistency is the key here!

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I'm like tom, I usually get to a venue early with a group but we normally stay late.  And for the most part as you mentioned, we are all senior citizens. I wont complain about a KJ, the way I've got it figured, it's his gig.  If I don't like the way he does business then I just leave - it's his show, not mine.  As I've mention before in other threads on this subject, when we go out there can be anywhere from ten to twenty or more of us together.  If I leave to sing somewhere else they leave with me.  And, I've left several venues where the KJ decided to play with rotation which ended up just about empting the places. I was in business for myself for many years and one thing as a business owner you learn fast - most people wont complain - the just wont come back.

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Singing just for you

2 hr wait isn't far from the norm any given Fri or Sat night at my show, usually wait time is well over 1 1/2 hour.  My weeknights avg 45 min to an hour avg.  
This weekend was exceptionally slow, if you were a singer you would have sang probably 5-6 songs on Fri & even more on Sat.  Very rare, but these nights happen.

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I have had 2 hour waits, but it isn't a regular occurrence.

I don't put people in imediately. I start staggerring new people in about 5 to 8 down the line. It depends on how many singers I have to tell you the truth and what part of the night it is. If the wait is 2 hours they can't expect to sing at all if they walk in the door 1 hour before close.

The real point is - once you are in rotation you have to wait a whole round before singing again. Who cares where you start them, everyone is still getting a turn.

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a 2 hour wait was standard for the Fri & Sat night of the place I cut my karaoke teeth at. And the other venue down the street!

And thanks Jackson for mentioning what I felt... if I'd been there for an hour or more waiting to sing and someone walked in and got up within 20 mins, I'd have to find another venue.

I'm not trying to argue here because I respect others opinions. I'm just wondering why it would upset you so much if you were given the same courtesy when you first came in?

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Here it's dining, dancing and Karaoke, we're usually at the venue dining early and waiting for the kj to set up. Sometimes it doesn't bother me too much if it happens early in the evening when the rotation is short, but at the end of the night when the rotation is long it gets to me.  Especially when the kj shuts down at the end of the night and I've been waiting to sing for an hour.  Here most of the clubs have karaoke until ten or twelve and then switch to a live band. So the kj has to stop at a certain time regardless as to the number of singers waiting to sing.  It's up to the KJ - they have to do what works for them, but I can tell you this - I lot of other singers feel the same way I do about rotation.  This is especially true for your better singers.  The drunk that gets up and sings just once in a while will never notice for the most part.

Where have you been Babs?  Miss ya!

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Singing just for you