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Hi everyone! I posted this in "My first night as a KJ", but felt that it might be better for responses if it had its own thread..feel free to input here.
Just to be fair about this, I offer some meager defense for the KJ/DJs out there; having a little "bed" of music inbetween singers (a bed is the stuff you would talk over)is quite helpful in making the show feel like it's cooking along- PARTICULARLY if you use high-energy music (pop, fast country, or my fave- swing)to break up the lethargy that develops in the crowd after hearing four ballads in a row....oy... Dance music? It can be beneficial to your business, honestly. The secret is (as in any other performance art) to read the crowd...if you don't have people raring to get up out of their chairs to hit the floor, keep a constant flow of singers. If you have people constantly dancing to anything that the singers put out there, add in a three-song set-or, even better, encourage some of your regulars to "switch gears" and do some uptempo numbers (not to plug another company here, but those Sybersound dance remixes can work wonders- even if the quality is not the best, they have BASS and DRUMS which is all the non-karaoke guests {read: Philistines} need to get up and boogie!) Perhaps set a theme for one night a week: a Retro-80's party, or a 50's-60's Sock Hop, a Disco nite, or (my personal fave) a Jimmy Buffett Parrothead Party (limbo, anyone?) Just a couple of suggestions for you...
Posts: 303 | From: Portland, OR, USA | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
I definitely agree that you need to gauge your audience on this. I have been to shows where the KJ, pleading for people to dance, played dance song after dance song, and it was obvious that no one was going to get up and dance. In that situation, he should have cut off the first song and got the singers going again.
Now, I will mention one thing about interspersed dance music that I always hated: that is being the first singer called at the end of the dance set. It is a little difficult to sing while still gasping for air.
Posts: 1025 | From: San Francisco, CA, USA | Registered: Jul 1999
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RC good idea, never occurred to me to use regular music in between singers. i get a lot of singers out to my shows,if 40 to 60 singers are a lot to you, and i call out who is up next, 4 or 5 in a row at each break, so there is no real down time during my show. i do play dance music at the end of my show, usually 5 or 6 songs and that gets people dancing, but they still dance during the show be it fast or slow songs. again, a good idea.
Posts: 219 | From: Hamilton,Ontario,Canada | Registered: Feb 2000
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I've only had relatively negative experiences when the KJ incorporated DJ music inbetween songs... so, I'll point some negative examples:
Last year, I went to a Halloween party where they hired my friend to run the Karaoke show. When he got there, to his surprise, there was a DJ there as well. They both set up their equipment, and there was a "duel" between how long each should go for before switching off. For instance, they'd let 3 Karaoke singers get up, then the DJ would jam for like an hour. The song requests kept piling up... The DJ would play dance and Halloween songs that I was planning on singing for Karaoke! Basically, I couldn't stand it anymore and left to go party in Hollywood.
Last month, I went to a show at 10:30 PM. There were about 15 singers before me. The KJ would play dance songs in between singers and I never knew how long it would be until she'd stop the DJ'ing and put the regular singers back up. Needless to say, I got to finally sing at 1:45 in the morning - by then most everyone was gone. I never went back to the place since.
So, the moral of the story is... I'd recommend playing dance songs inbetween singers until the next singer is ready. If you notice that people are really getting into the song, then let it continue to play. Otherwise, don't let it stop the singing from going on. People get ticked off having to wait forever to sing. (This is assuming it's not a slow night).
My second advice is for Sound Choice to release more dance songs for Karaoke! I don't see any reason why a lot of dance songs are not made available (except for those without a whole lot of words). So, I've been preparing a dance song request list, and I'll post it up next week probably.
One of my goals in life is to make a Karaoke event just as fun (if not funner) than going to a dance club.
Posts: 1487 | From: Irvine, CA, USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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Valid points raised there, Grateful! I want to add that it is generally a GOOD idea to double-check what songs your people are singing for two reasons: 1) So you don't accidentally play something that someone is in rotation to sing...as a matter of fact, I try to avoid even using that particular artist during that rotation if I play "beds"
2)Format: If you know that the person that is up next after a dance break is doing country, then it probably isn't a good idea to play an R&B set right before him/her...again, this falls under going with the flow of the crowd..a good DJ knows how to mix formats (won't post the topic, but if you want to hear my formula feel free to email me: New people- look under the "Who?" icon to get the info)
And again, I want to remind you that if you don't have a lot of dancers, don't play full songs...conversely, if you don't have a lot of singers, it never hurts to "test the waters" to see if anyone wants to get up and get down..
-RC
Posts: 303 | From: Portland, OR, USA | Registered: Aug 1999
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We play music in between singers, just to keep the flow of the show going, and every once in a while we'll play a dance set. But like RC said, keep an eye on the crowd, do what they seem to like. Definitely DO NOT put up 3 singers, then play an hour of dance music when there are 10 more people waiting to sing. I used to go to a bar that had karaoke a few nights a week (happens to be the same one the Sextones are always ripping on, the guy says he has 18,000 songs...LMFAO!!). On the weekends, the KJ would let people dance more than he would let them sing. Yes, there were alot of dancers, but there were also alot of singers, who were there because they advertised karaoke. I haven't been there in about 2 yrs (on the weekends to that KJ's show) because of that. Obviously it works for some people, because now they're doing karaoke 7 nights a week, and from what I hear the KJ hasn't changed one bit. I just didn't like it, because I wanted to sing, and sing, and sing, and sing...
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Singirle: I think I know who you are talking about.. I don't know if we are allowed to say names of places or people on here, so I won't mention it. But omg! I can't stand that place. I used to go there when they had someone else there also he was an older guy with a pony tail and on his nights it was great but the other nights were so much dance music it would take most of the night to get my turn if I even got it! I've talked to the bartender there and the owner how I felt about that guy and they even told me that they know how so many people don't like the guy.. geez why do they keep him there I wonder? needless to say I haven't been in there in a long time either. I just had to comment on your reply cuz it sounded soo familiar
Kimmy
Posts: 19 | From: s.w.suburbs of Chicago | Registered: May 2000
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Sorry guys, but I don't like any kind of DJ dance music between karaoke singers. Here in Cleveland Ohio there are tons of dance bars and few karaoke bars (especially on the weekends). The karaoke bars are loaded with singers. There is just no time to add dance music between singers. A good KJ can add announcements between songs to fill dead air. I like to dance and I do so when others are singing. I also like it when people dance when I sing. Karaoke is supposed to be karaoke if it is advertised as such. I suppose if I was at a slow karaoke show (under 5 singers including the KJ,) I wouldn't mind a dance tune thrown it, but no shows that I go to are like that.
Posts: 397 | From: Strongsville, OH | Registered: May 1999
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I really can't stand clips of music between singers. It's too frickin' annoying! It's usually KJ's that can't think up funny banter or can't talk about the promotions the Venue is having.
I've heard so many bad KJ's it's pathetic. Same thing: Ok, now let's get up ___________ to sing." Same line every time.
I like to incorporate tid bits like trivia, clowing around with the singers, jokes (not too dirty), but all quickly while I cue up the next song.
Dale
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Posts: 175 | From: Grand Rapids, MI | Registered: Apr 1999
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