A Group Of Singers

[Bigdog]

Rotation complaints happen from time to time. That will be tha case no matter how the rotation is run.

We are all in agreement that we are conserned about maintaining a fair rotation. We are not KJs that let our friends and family sing whenever they feel like. We don't let the bar owners dictate our rotation policy.

Cronic complainers can pound salt as far as I'm concerned. Crying and whining accomplishes one thing and that is ..it pi$$es me off. Especially if they are constantly complaining about nothing. I'm being fair with my rotation. Now if you want to see unfair keep complaining. Don't accuse me of doing anything I'm not. I don't like it. Keep it up and I don't like you.

Wiseguy, if you work people into your rotation as I do, then it can't be as rigid as you claim. Because you are now inserting them in a way that will work best depending upon how many new singers have just put in slips and the ones you just watched walk in the door. This is where you get flexible.

Someone is going to complain about not following Bob anymore.

My rotation stays flexible. You most likely will not follow the same person all night long depending upon how many singers there are and when they put in their slips. Insert method means making room for new singers so everyone gets an opportunity to at least sing once in the coarse of the night. Last night I had a hours worth of new singers. I had to put them somewhere. Nobody complained. There were some questions about when someone was going to sing, but nobody got mad about waiting. If everyone would have stayed there would have been 35-40. Good thing some normal people have to go to work.

I don't tell any singer (ballad, country, slow, fast) what they can sing or who they can sing with. I don't think it's right. It's actually a form of discrimination.

If you want to sing with someone there is a duet penalty.

You use 4 microphones. If 4 people sing together are they all penalized?

Whatever happened to fun? Granted, Normally 4 singers doesn't sound that good. I would rather penalize 4 people that want to sing together to keep them from doing it at all.

There have to be times when 4 microphones is just too many. I sometimes hate giving a group 3. One was too many.

But if they stay and put in slips they will get the opportunity to hurt us again, all in the name of fun.

[Bigdog]

Having these rules in place is all well and good. However ... Johnny already sang his song, and with a group as well. Now another member of his group is singing but wants Johnny to sing with him. How do you keep Johnny's friends from handing him the mic once the song has started?

Anyone?

I answered that. If I see that Johnny is the main singer everytime their pile just got reduced to one singers turn...him. Maybe two. I try to pick the next most normal and behaved of the bunch. You can't actually stop them unless you run up and act like a total idiot and start screaming and yelling about their serious infraction.

I handle it calmly and discretely by circling only his name or two on each of their slips. Problem solved. Just keep moving up the song they ask for next everytime. They probably won't get to sing every song tonight but 9 of 10 they will be happy all night long. It may not have been the one I picked for them to do next. I just change it to "X." I pick songs that won't be like the last wild song they just did. I try to break up the rowdiness.

When's "X" coming up? It's your Next one!! How far away is "X" song? It's your next one.

Standard KJ answer....It's your next one. repeat after me...IT'S YOUR NEXT SONG. Don't forget to smile at them... They walk away happy to hear that their favorite song is coming up next. They have just been whiz banged and they didn't even feel it.

[jr2423]

In the case of the six freeloading teens, I would have informed the management not only of their conduct, but how their behavior affected the rest of the paying customers. To put myself in management’s position, I would have told them to leave if they weren’t spending money. If they’re not supporting my business, I don’t need them taking up space, or annoying my paying customers.

What has worked for us for the past eight years is one line on our sign-up board contains room for one singer at approximately four minutes per song/line. If the singer occupying that line for the evening wants to share that time with one, two, or more additional signers it makes no difference. It doesn't change the amount of time any other singer in the rotation has to wait. Nor does it show favoritism on anyone's part except for the singer who invited the extras to join in.

I'm sure we've all had our share of people attempting to beat the system; as well as complaints about how we run our shows and /or rotations. You can't please everyone all the time. As for us the complaints have been minimal. And those who would hijack, for some reason, don't.

With all that said I do believe other venues exist where the majority of the clientele become irate when they witness a singer performing more than once in a rotation. Whether it’s right or wrong the fact still exists that the KJ serves the patrons and “their will be done”; If you want to continue working that is.

[wiseguy]

Wiseguy, if you work people into your rotation as I do, then it can't be as rigid as you claim. Because you are now inserting them in a way that will work best depending upon how many new singers have just put in slips and the ones you just watched walk in the door. This is where you get flexible.

Someone is going to complain about not following Bob anymore.

People know it's very unlikely that they will follow the same person all night no matter how the rotation is done. Aside of new singers being added, when singers leave or stop turning in requests the lineup changes.

I don't tell any singer (ballad, country, slow, fast) what they can sing or who they can sing with. I don't think it's right. It's actually a form of discrimination.

If you want to sing with someone there is a duet penalty.

Again, I don't tell anyone who they can sing with. They just have to make a choice to sing alone with someone else on their one turn in the rotation. It's not a penalty... it's the rules of rotation. When you don't allow someone to sing five songs in a row do you consider that a penalty?

I absolutely can not stand a KJ who practices favoritism. I will do whatever it takes to assure that nobody ever even hints that I play favorites with my rotation. To say my rules are strict is a compliment to me.

[Bigdog]

When you don't allow someone to sing five songs in a row do you consider that a penalty?

You are always working on the assumtion that it is a plot to circumvent your strict rotation rules. I assume they are all legit single requests from 5 different singers that happen to want to sing with their friends or family members, unless I see it differntly.

Innocent until proven guilty.

If handled properly by spacing them out and making sure it's not really the same singer 5 different times, the complaining is low or eliminated.

A group of freeloaders is one thing. A group of money spenders is another.

As jr2423 points out...it doesn't take anymore time to sing solo or a duet.

Again this is typically an under 30 age group issue. Drinking heavy and clowning around. I very seldomly get fooled. It happens mostly with groups I haven't seen before.

It's a minor issue at a karaoke show. Not the liver transplant line.

As professional KJs we know a "live" show is always a fluid situation because we never know what will happen next with equipment issues and singer situations from smoking outside to restroom stuff. We do the best we can to keep it fair and seamless. Things pop up that we have to compensate for. There will always be someone that "thinks" (key word) we tryed to take special care of someone. If they really knew me and my dedication to being as professional as possible I wouldn't be accused of things that are not happening.

Not saying I have never made an exception for a singers because of circumstances that can arise where they suddenly have to leave. I try to maintain a good relationship with all of my singers. Especially ones that are faithful regulars that don't cause problems and accuse me of untrue stuff. I will do this with each and everyone.

[wiseguy]

What has worked for us for the past eight years is one line on our sign-up board contains room for one singer at approximately four minutes per song/line. If the singer occupying that line for the evening wants to share that time with one, two, or more additional signers it makes no difference. It doesn't change the amount of time any other singer in the rotation has to wait.

True enough, and following this reasoning, since the goal is for each singer to have equal singing time it really makes no difference in which rotation(s) this time is alloted. Waiting until the next round to sing that duet does not detract from the number of songs you will ultimately sing.

Nor does it show favoritism on anyone's part except for the singer who invited the extras to join in.

Can't agree here. It's my experience that the KJ is always blamed for any favoritism be it real or imagined.

With all that said I do believe other venues exist where the majority of the clientele become irate when they witness a singer performing more than once in a rotation. Whether it’s right or wrong the fact still exists that the KJ serves the patrons and “their will be done”; If you want to continue working that is.

Unfortunately what the singers perceive to be true outweighs what is logically correct and nothing you can say will change this. I simply prefer to remove all doubt of any favoritism at my shows.