Karaoke Forums

Okay, I have a question for all the kj's out there, and I'd like to hear from anyone & everyone who would please respond.

In a contest, it seems like people would be mainly judged on their singing ability. IE: Tone, loudness, how the voice fits the song, pitch, timing, etc. I know there are other rating factors, but how much do they play into the overall scoring? I know they also may judge on appearance & performance, but just how important are those two factors?

I mean, in a few contests I have seen, there can be
A: Someone who sings better, but doesn't put much into the performance
B: Someone who sings worse, but dances around the stage

Usaully B will win. Is this the norm? I have seen contests where there is an obvious winner: Better vocals all around, better crowd pleasing song, the crowd whooping & hollering. I mean, where the person would win by a huge margin. And then, the winner is someone who sang slightly off key and failed to interest the crowd at all.

Today's contest I attended was such. The guy who was awesome was 3rd in adult category, the gal in 2nd place was no where near the vocalist.
And, he did not mess up anywhere in the song, he was loud, did not go off key, etc.

Is it favoratism? I mean, does the karaoke local always win? Or what is it judges actually really look for? Because I have seen a crowd look bewildered by the judging results, and complain that it was not judged fairly. (people who were spectators only)

But, it seems to happen repeatedly. And, mind you, I'm from a small town. So, the karaoke judges at any given bar around here are locals, as will be some of the contestants.

So, from you judges out there: Please give honest answers. I just want to know what kinds of things would make a judge score someone good, verses what kinds of things would make them dock you points. (Other than the obvious bad singing, which sometimes doesn't alter the choice )

Thank you for reading my BOOK, after I opened with "I have A question"

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♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

There can be varying factors in contests. Some are looking for JUST good/great singer, some are looking for the whole package (dancing, singing, playing to the crowd - which don't always equate to the actual BEST singer, but entertainment as a whole). I have ran both types of contests & list & promote them as such. We are currently in a statewide contest that is looking for not only the best singer but the best performer as well & it is billed & promoted as such as the winner will be opening for a nationally known act (Peter Frampton). I have run contests based on vocals alone - stage presence isn't a factor. Audience response is never a factor in our scores as this can be totally unfair, especially to the one person who comes in with nobody that is clearly the best singer as opposed to the person who may be ok with 30 people supporting them & nobody else - ever see the last American Idol>>>>?
Honest appraisal of most contests i've seen is MANY (not all) want the local patron to win which is why almost ALL contests are automatically judged as rigged - even if they are fair. Contests if run rught can bring in many contestants & new customers but they can have downsides as well if everyone pre-concieves them as to contests that they know are judged unfairly.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Hey Bluestainedshoes!

Good questions. I just ran a six-weeker with finals last night. I qualified my weekly winners myself, to avoid the situation you spoke of. There were genuinely talented singers in there, as well as others who might not normally make it if others were judging. My view is, while I don't qualify EVERYBODY from week to week, if I can throw in some of the regulars whose attendance and patronage for the bar(read$$) is good, so be it. It's a win-win for both the bar, the customer, and myself.

But for the finals, I lined up 5 local quasi-celebrity judges, totally impartial. The scoresheet I used I actually got the suggestions for in this forum! The top two who won were who I predicted, but the rest of the judges results surprised me! I told all my finalists they should dress for the song, project, have presence, sing in key, etc. Those who dressed to fit the song placed higher than the rest. My judges were all professionals in entertainment/music/sound engineering, all of whom were also seasoned performers.(They each sang a song, by the way, immediately after the last finalist, they were all great, and it went over well with the crowd!)

So, my answer to you would be to judge the weekly qualifiers yourself, trying to be as fair as you can, but get totally impartial judges for your finals.

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Paris K.
Good Vibrations Professional Disc Jockeys

I just judged a final last night. It was based on singing ability and star quality.
The winner, wasn't the BEST singer, but was very good, but he won because he ENERTAINED!
Just look at the stars out there. Some are not that great of singers but get the audience going.
I also agree with the American Idol thing.... Fantasia should have won simply because she KNEW how to capture the crowd. But to me her voice somtimes sounded like Minnie Mouse on Crack!
Diana I felt actually vocalized better and was easier to listen to, but she did not Entertain as well.
Of course either one I was happy about.... since I am a southern boy.

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You can choose to be an Actor in your own life... or a Reactor in someone elses.

I have not and never will judge a contest. PERIOD. I'll be more than happy to provide everything else the contest needs, but I stay FAR FAR away from the judging.

There is always going to be someone who is upset by the judging and who will think they got s*****d. I'd just as soon have them be mad at someone else instead of me. If they are mad at me, then it becomes a case of, "I'm not going to the Big Mike Karaoke show because he s*****d me over in that contest" and then my business suffers.


Most times the whole purpose of a contest is to get some butts in the seats, and it really doesn't matter who wins the thing. Don't lose sight of the forest for the trees!

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

should say I don't judge at MY shows either for that very reason.... only when asked by someone else.
The WORST type of contest is judging by audience response!
People that do that should simply be SHOT ON THE SPOT!
Hummmm..ask me how I really feel about that.

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You can choose to be an Actor in your own life... or a Reactor in someone elses.

I only ran 1 contest. I seperated it into 3 weighted catagories:
1) Vocal Ability on a scale of 1-20
2) Stage Presence (ie. knowledge of song, movement, reading, etc.) on a scale of 1-10, and
3) Crowd reaction on a scale of 1-5

I put explicit instructions on the score sheets of what the judges should be looking for in each catagory. It worked out pretty well, but still there was that ONE PERSON, that complained about coming in2nd.

It brought up that age old question, what is better- to do an easier song PERFECTLY, or to do a much more dificult song ALMOST perfectly. I still have no idea which is better............

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

Well as everyone knows Country Girl and I attend our share of contests. Judgin' or lack of it always varies from venue to venue. Personally I agree that there is a difference between a good singer and a preformer. I sing well enough, but I just can't not preform. I believe how you look is also important. Even in contests that say they judge on vocal ability alone, cause when the judges see you, they'll remember. Sayin' they won't is like a judge tellin' a jury to disregaurd that last remark.

I practice a lot... we have our own discs....we buy stage clothing (the key is not to dress like a clown)....

we don't always use our own discs, cause it for some reason pisses some contestants off....and some KJs bend under their endless moanin'....

we win our share.....Country Girl does better locally and I do better away from our usual haunts....

generally the larger the prize, the better the judges, but this doesn't always hold true.....

I guess ya just don't ever know, cause everyone is different.....

wish this site had spell check......

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[glow=blue]Tequila & A Song
KKid[/glow]

When we run contest based on vocals alone, we usually have the judges faced away from the stage/performer so they can't actually see the contestants if they do happen to perform or look great. All they hear is the music & voice.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Great thread Folks..

I really don't have any thing to add here as you folks seem to have it wired.

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Brian D.
(BHB)

Good idea on the seating of judges.

We were in a contest at a local hotel a few years back. We did not know where the judges were seated. Come to find out we are seated right above them. Not knowing who they were or where they were, I did not watch what I said to the other people settin' at our table.

Seems the judges were the new owners of another night club in the area.

When asked what the new night club was called by one of those seated with me. I replied BLTs, which was the correct answer. But when ask what BLT's stood for, I replied "The Best Lick in Town".

Now the name of the place was BLT's, what BLTs stood for I really had no idea. But I thought my answer amusin'!

What I didn't know was that two of the owners were women and that this coment was way outta line considerin' there lifestyle.

But I'm just another edjucated redneck and that sorta humor is ok at most of the honky tonks I frequent. Infact I heard it from a couple of my friends of simlar taste. We're just kind crude, no insult was ever intended.

Well we didn't win. All the other contestants thought we did, and the crowd apporval was overwhelmin'.

Our preformance was the kind that gives you the chills while your singin'. Every move was perfect. But the judges were quoted as sayin', "They were too good, they must be proffessionals". This either means that they believed that we were too good or they expected those competein' to really suck. Not sure which, but I'm very sure my comments didn't help.

Rule of thumb keep a low profile at a contest when your not singin'

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[glow=blue]Tequila & A Song
KKid[/glow]

KKid,
Been there .. Done that.. If I'm serious about winning.. I'm hiding in the back corner.. doing my own thing and not talking to nobody. The singers that do know me as a comp singer know I have a well rehearsed song & routine that is extreamly close to my style and range if I'm not socializing.

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Brian D.
(BHB)

hasn't happened since....

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[glow=blue]Tequila & A Song
KKid[/glow]

We judge contests on three criteria: vocal ability, stage presence, and crowd response. Sometimes, the better singer doesn't get the crowd response, for whatever reason. sometimes the crowd is stacked in favor of a particular contestant, sometimes they just don't get over.

I've entered some contests...won a few, lost my share. I personally have never hosted a contest, and don't want to. My personal opinion is that contests detract from the overall purpose of karaoke. I don't think a singer should go to a show with the intent of showing off how good they are or comparing themselves to another singer. Do the best you can, of course, but karaoke is about having fun, not about competing.

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Paid2Party
"I love karaoke. Where else can you get paid to come out and party with your friends?"