Karaoke Forums

Most of my audience usually claps for everyone. Sometimes I say give it up for john doe and it pretty much forces people to clap. I tell everyone they did a good job no matter how bad they sing. It makes them feel good and keeps them coming back. People in the south are fairly nice. Come to Cajun country Louisiana and u will see.

It could be a number of things, but mainly, the KJ is dropping the ball if he/she is not trying to encourage the Audience to applaud. When I host a show, I announce 2 simple rules at the start of my show (and if necessary, repeat them a few times during the night).
Rule 1: Please applaud for the people who get up to sing. It takes a lot of courage for some of them to get up and sing in front of a crowd.
Rule 2. Please take care of XXXXXX (Name of the Bartender/s Waiter/s). They are working very hard for you.
Throughout the night, if I don't hear anyone clapping when a singer has finished, I will interject with, "Let's give it up for...", or "Remember Rule Number 1... I can't hear you."

Since you did say the crowd applauds for others, but not for you, as someone also mentioned, others may be jealous of your singing capabilities, and thus, they don't clap either. Or, as already mentioned, you might be singing some obscure song. As great as you may have sung it, sometimes people just don't react normally (with applause) if they don't recognize the song... BUT, you did say that you get people approaching you (and your Wife) personally to extend a compliment. Now that is something that you don't see happen with many singers at Karaoke. That can sometimes be better than getting an applause.

I've had one venue where I've tried everything to get them to clap including sweets It's Just hit and miss

Karaoke for some, (especially a show that is mixed well) will become back ground noise and no amount of polite hints from a host will be acknowledged.

I've noticed when I'm out socially everyone claps. I suspect it's because I automatically clap at the end of any song which subtlety tells the people I'm with how to behave in normal society - which in turn encourages the rest of the bar.

Bar staff and owners can make a huge difference - seen as the most powerful people in the venue, people tend to copy their behaviour.

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'A genius is one who can do anything except make a living'. Joey Adams.

The day John Doe sings at my bar, I will not only clap for him, but also shake his hand, buy him a drink, shake his hand, and apologize on behalf of everyone for referring to him by name for all kinds of things.

-Chris

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-Chris

on the audience's side:

sitting in the crowd at another's show, I to find myself ignoring the singer and just engaged in chitchat with others. I use my man powers to ignore the outside world and just pay attention to the person I'm talking with.

and i'm sure it's the same for others in the bar.... they are not being rude, just engaged in a different activity that has their attention so they ignore the singers.

I myself would not go to a karaoke bar to just sing and listen to singers. i'm a social hoar and need to chat it up when not running the show.

but on the other side when I'm running the show, I'm always saying "let's here it for xxxxx" or something to that affect to get a few applause's going for the singer.

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It's all good!

I think real applause, much like respect, has to be earned.

From my experience (as a karaoke provider, performing musician, "sound guy", and general ham) is that talent and ability don't matter nearly as much as enjoying what you do, and doing it whole-heartedly.

Consider the Old Man Phenomenon: He usually shows up at private events, but often appears at the bars, too. He's a good bit older than the rest of the crowd, smartly dressed, but not overdressed. He'll stay near the back of the room for most of the show, quietly chatting up other patrons and offering applause to the stand-out singers. Slightly past the mid-point of the evening, he'll come up to sing song that's pretty middle-of-the-road; neither technically challenging nor obscure, you can hear it on the radio nearly every day. His voice is nothing special, but he sings with clarity and doesn't abuse the mic. But he'll wiggle his hips, look the ladies in the eye, and even strut around the stage area. Women will get up and dance, men clap along, and by the end of song, he's brought the house down. He truly enjoys his 4 minutes of fame and doesn't hold anything back, even if he doesn't have much to give.

I have such a conditioned response that once I was in the restroom when a song ended and I started clapping. I was at a service once and someone sang a religious song and I almost went into "lets hear it for" mode when they were done. That would have been a bad one.

But I am really thinking it has to do with the staff and the layout of the venue as far as how much focus is put toward the show. I just did a show last night at another bar in the same town as my non-clapping show and many of the same people were there and they were clapping, hooting, hollering and dancing. It is a strange phenomena.

While this may also be true for myself as well as others, it doesn't seem to fully account for bradcook315's rant. He stated that he has heard the audience applaud for others, but not for him. I think that he implied that statement to mean for more than 1 single turn during the night. If it were just referring to a single turn on the stage, it could have been an isolated incident.

As a KJ singing I say right away, if you don't clap for these singers tonight, I'm going to sing again. I'll also say things like, come on folks, Bob's up here singing his heart out for you, show him some appreciation.

"at the end of every song we clap, because they were awesome, or because they put the mic down. we can't tell the difference, just make sure to give everyone the clap."

for the phenomenon of clapping for some but not others, i notice that those selective clappers will clap for their buddies (usually) but not anyone else. being entranced in your conversation can make you not notice that someone is done singing, but when it is your friend that is in your group you will pay more attention than to an "outsider".

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

The bar is always higher for the KJ. You are viewed as a "pro" so people expect more. Sound selection matters. Changing your songs matter. Some nights, the crowd is just not into it at the start of the night.

Whether they clap or not, it's not about the KJ's singing so why worry about it? My pet phrase....

"I don't care if you guys clap for me, but when one of you guys or gals has the guts to come up here I want all of you to clap like your best friend just came up here and nailed it! Let's make some noise!"

Hogwash! Applause should be given. I 'respect' ANYONE that gets up on stage - good, bad or otherwise.

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Ehhh, I think that manner of thinking is what kept John Madden on the air for so long. People think "Well, he did it, so it must be something worthwhile". Not so. If you want people to cheer, give them something to cheer about.

Not for nothing, but your attitude sucks! The first time I got up on stage to try Karaoke, I was horrible. I was "pleasantly buzzed," and I attempted to sing a song that I had no business even trying. If it weren't for some "polite" applause which I received the very first time I tried Karaoke (and believe me, I knew it was just that), I probably would never have gone back to try it again. And, not meaning to brag, but I've developed and improved immensely over the years (ask anyone on this board who might have met me and seen me sing).

I clap for singing ability, not for courage.

I applaud singing ability AND courage.

... as well as:

personality
song selection
dance moves
showmanship
enthusiasm
smiles
attempts
sportsmanship
respect
integrity
manners
imagination
perseverance
humility
... and more.

There's no cover and the bar pays for the entertainment, so the "price of admission" is applause.

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Never the same show twice!

Clapping adds to the energy of the show and inspires the singers to put more into their perfomance. It's a two way street. People have more fun if they get involved.

Cueball, you seem to be suggesting that the polite applause is what kept you coming back. I can't speak for you, but I suspect that what you really enjoyed was the exhilaration that comes from performing in front of people, the fact that you overcame some level of shyness to do something you had never done before, and the fact that you gave it your pleasantly-buzzed-best and had fun; surely not the thinly veiled clapping.

If I get up on stage, put my hands in my pockets, stare at my shoes or the prompter, and drone out a monotone version of a boring song, should anyone applaud that? No!

I'll go further and say that if you have to remind your audience to cheer, or chastise them into supporting another singer, then your show lacks entertainment value, or at the very least, does not promote a friendly, interactive atmosphere. If people are simply waiting their turn to sing and then split; if people aren't watching and listening; if people are watching over your rotation order, if you have to go out of your way to get folks to half-heartedly express that they are having fun, then you are failing to entertain them.

I realize that this seems like a rotten attitude, but I greatly prefer qualified criticism over shallow, empty glad-handing.

I'm not suggesting that the "Polite Applause" is what kept me coming back. That's what got me to come back 1 week later and redeem myself by trying again. And when I did, I DID give it my all (unlike the first attempt), by choosing a song I knew backwards and forwards. When I finished, everyone in the place was cheering and applauding for me (nothing polite about it), and that song became a Signature song for me at that place.

As to the other things you just said, sometimes you just can't get blood from a stone. There was one place where I had hosted (briefly), and it was like pulling teeth to get the people to applaud for anyone (even their own friends), and believe me, some of those people were really great. As far as entertaining the crowd goes, I (as the Host) am not the entertainment. The Audience/Participants ARE the entertainment (when they get up to sing). If they're not treated nicely, they may never return. "Polite Applause" can go a long way in making them feel welcome.

There was another place that I had attended 2 or 3 times, and then vowed never to return because of the Clique there. These people were into Soul and R&B. If you didn't sing something that fell into those categories, they didn't pay you the time of day. Then, on top of that, they were always competing with each other (as if they were on American Idol or some similar show). They would act like it was some major competition, and try to one-up each other. That became a major turn-off for me, and I stopped going to that place.

Also, now you will see tables full of people even ignoring each other so they can text or screw with their life-controlling Facebook on their "smart" phones.

Sometimes, you just have to sing for yourself and hope for the best.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

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