Karaoke Forums

Wendell Payne the head of the KWC USA Chapter has been accused of fraud in the last few weeks. seems he has taken money from people for the Venue signups and pocked the money himself. The winners of the 2013 USA nationals have been informed recently by Wendell that he does not have the money to pay for their tickets and expenses to Finland for the world finals. not to mention that he does not have their prize money . He also has not paid commissions to most the state representatives for their sales of KWC venue licenses.

When approached (After Wendell Told them That he didn't have the money) for comment on this, Kim, One of the winners of the 2013 USA Nationals, Said:

<Wendel> said last night that two guys that helped at the Western Regionals in Vegas were going to fund our flights. He said they were suppose to call at 10 am pt. That time came and went. Carter <The Other Winner of the Nationals> emailed Wendell this afternoon and said what's up. He said the guys have our information, emails and phone numbers and he himself is waiting by the phone. It's now 4:30 and no word. I've been keeping an eye on the flights and they've gone up twice today. It's now $2,600 for two tickets. When I won, I checked into the flight. The cheapest was $800 for one rt. So they are spending $1000 more waiting until the last minute. I will not pay extra for my fiancee's ticket. We were suppose to get $1000 cash and that was to go towards his ticket. Wendell was supposed to book both tickets and he said if there was anything left of the $1000, we would get the rest. That's not going to happen now. I had an newspaper interview and the <Reporter> was calling me all day to see if I heard anything. He's writing an article about me winning the national's and doesn't know how this story is going to end. Will I be going or won't I? Oh and hear this, Carter and I both have been UN-friended by Wendell on the Karaoke World Championship FaceBook page so that we can't write anything on it. He's so scared of what we are going to reveal.

I would be very concerned about next year. He robs Peter to pay Paul and even with Financial backer's. With him running it, who knows what will happen. It's his last year because he had a 5 year contract with Finland, then it can be taken over by someone else. I told him he should let someone else do it. I wrote him one more time asking if he heard from the people that are suppose to buy the tickets. If they magically appear, I will let you know. The way he operates, it was only a matter of time before it would catch up to him, and unfortunately for us, this was the year. It's the 10th anniversary <of the KWC> and the US will not be participating. Sad....

Where did all this money go? The only speculation that we have is that Wendell recently paid for some personal cosmetic surgery that would cost somewhere in the 10 to 20 thousand dollar range.

If anyone was thinking of getting involved in this contest. Be warned. Stay Away!
You WILL lose you money with nothing to show for it.

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

Re: personal cosmetic surgery. Disclaimer: Innocent until proven otherwise.

Although there were no conclusive evidence to the contrary (yet), your speculation could be true. Just my assumption of course & as usual, I’m only kidding. Here’s Wendell, link posted fyi. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI8-dgyD ... cfH050hPSw

Kim & Carter, winners of the Nationals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_riOVxm ... cfH050hPSw

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Might try to get hold of Athena & Frank. I think they were going to be a part of the KWC- which means that they might have a little more info, and also could have been stuck by this guy.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

We are participating in this years contest at 2 venues. I am not aware of any negative information on this issue and have not seen any evidence of such, just speculation in this thread. I certainly hope this is not true.

Interesting! Please keep us updated. Thanks.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Very sad situation... I got an email from the KWC organisers and they confirmed only that the US winners will not be attending the finals in Finland. So it looks as though there is some truth to the original post. Where the money went is anyone's guess but it for sure didn't go to the winners and flight expenses... Looks like the US KWC partnership is up for grabs at this point!

Fraud?

In a Karaoke contest?

Say it ain't so.

When I get your address, I'm sending you the cleaning bill for my shirt...

Innocent until the fat lady sings..

That happens every karaoke night.....

-Chris

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-Chris

"Participating" this year??? I thought the OP referred to a quote from one of the National winners, meaning, in the US, it would be over for the year...

Yes! Participating! Note kjflorida’s post “I am not aware of any negative information on this issue and have not seen any evidence of such, just speculation in this thread.” Therefore, it is what it is - speculation until kjf receives confirmation direct from official sources. re: Bradsinger’s post.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

The KWUSA Facebook page has been removed.
The http://KWUSA.net web site is in "maintenance"

*Something* is going on.....

The KWUSA Titter feed is still working though - https://twitter.com/kwcusa

-Chris

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-Chris

We have been in contact with the worldwide sponsors and it does appear there have been some problems and they are working to find solutions.

To clarify our participation, First rounds of completion start in September and continue until regional's are set normally in the late spring of the following year, therefore any winners we had would be continuing in the 2014 contest

Oh, oh, I click the link. It sez: "Problem loading page. Server not found"... something's up! (or down) or damage control (speculating)

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Looks like All Star has stepped in to save the day! Just saw this on KWC Facebook page:

Karaoke World Championships Hello All,

In light of all that has transpired in the USA with the failure of the organiser to honour his obligations to the winners, we can announce that alternative arrangements have now been made. Although it is certainly last minute, we are happy to announce that Rick Vogt of All Star Karaoke has agreed to make the travel arrangements for Kim and Carter along with their travelling companion to fly to Helsinki to compete in the World Championships as they richly deserve.

As a leader in karaoke for the past 20 years, All Star’s professionalism and commitment is well known throughout the industry. All Star Karaoke operates the largest karaoke download site in the United States and their new state of the art computer system powers the KWC championship competition in Lappeenranta. We are grateful that Rick could step in at this hour of need and make the dreams come true for Kim and Carter.

Best regards,

Atte Hujanen
CEO, KWC Organization

So, there you have it. All's good after all, it's ongoing & business as usual. Can't find the link, tho'. Brad S, can you please post?

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

I can see it added to other peoples posts if you look at most recent...

This kind of garbage may be "karaoke business as usual", but I don't believe it should be grouped in with good business as usual...