Karaoke Forums

Last night I heard a gentleman do a flawless rendition of "It Might Be You." by Stephen Bishop and it got me thinking that while I love seeing all of the different personalities and singers that karaoke brings out, I do prefer to listen to and sing the softer, slower ballads. My personal opinion (and it is just that, so I'm not saying I'm right), is that slower songs without a lot of instruments in their arrangements, tend to take a little more finesse to sing well and that mistakes that could easily be glossed over if made during a "fast" song, become glaringly obvious if made on a song of this type. Nevertheless, like I said this is just my opinion, but I'd like to hear if any of you agree with me or if not, tell me what you think. I love your opinions.

I'd personally rather hear fast upbeat fun songs over well done sung ballads that can make a night drag on and on. That being said I do appreciate hearing a well done ballad, but would pray it's not all night, "Ballad Hell'.

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This topic has been discussed several times without any real conclusions. My simplified statement is "fun, fast or familiar (slow)" is what it takes to be well received by the listeners. Other singers, for the most part, only seem to care about their own songs. So my conclusion is to sing for the audience or sing for yourself..... what ever makes you happy.

i prefer a mix of both, too many slow songs will stick a person in what has been referred to as "ballad hell" and trust me, it's no fun.

But then too many fast songs can get a little monotonous, depending on what the song is.

My absolute favourite genre for me to personally sing is late 50's to early 70's. The problem with this type of music is it is usually under 3 minutes, so you don't actually get a lot of singng time

I think it also depends on the club and type of clientele. We get a lot of 21-40 on avg patron so we get a lot of newer pop & rock (70's to lots of today), metal (everything from glam hair metal of the 80's to Megadeth/Metallica/Pantera, alternative (Seattle grunge), new country. Anything older than the 70's isn't done too often not that I don't mind or try to prevent it, just isn't very often.

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That's the thing about Karaoke, It's what the singer wants to do, not the KJ.

I too like a mix, but I find that upbeat, party type songs lend toward a night a better bar sales. "Ballad Hell" is something that can happen on any given night though and I feel it it up to the KJ to steer the tone of the music. Make suggestions and maybe even move singers around (with their permission) to manage thge flow of the evening.

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-Chris

Even as a singer I hate ballad hell, and I will sometimes adjust my song choice if the previous singers have all had downer songs.

What I hate is a singer who *always* sings slow songs. And there are quite a few of them, sad to say.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I have a guy like that, he just can't seem to get faster songs out of his mouth and limits himself to slow songs.

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I sing a range of stuff. I can usually gauge the atmosphere in the pub by the audience and choose my songs accordingly. I have a list of songs for when things get silly, some for middle ground nights and some slower songs as well.

I don't always go with the flow though as a lot of the locals are older and stick to the old crooners and lounge types. Sometimes a large, white dude gotta sing some Taylor Swift or some Lady Gaga just to get some laughs and break the monotony.

I also love hitting the high notes in Take On Me when there is a new crowd who don't expect it. They get treated to some low stuff like Love Will Tear Us Apart and Wicked Game, maybe some Editors songs, then I bust out the A-ha and watch faces drop. I can be a bit of an attention seeker at times.

Still, it all depends on the night.

I like both slow AND fast songs, but I tend to prefer fast ones. It was a little frustrating last night--I was the first singer up and I did "Der Kommissar" and everyone else was in a ballad rut! A lot of people said I did a great job--but then the next girl did some overwrought ballad, and although she had a nice voice, I was REALLY hoping for more upbeat songs. It's a good thing I didn't do any Evanescence (although I love them)! My other song that night was a semi-uptempo oldie, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".

As for tonight, I'm staying put. As I've said here before, I love to sing, but I love to rest too. So guess what I'm doing tonight? I'm resting--and talking to you guys. So nice to be back in my singing groove and back on this forum!

BTW, I'm not a kj--just someone who loves singing.

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I love being a mom!

My favorite genre is "something that I've never heard anyone else sing for karaoke and would really like to do". That could be darn near anything.

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I love being a mom!

Here, here. Read my messages above--I so agree with you.

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I love being a mom!

We can't really control what singers select, but as host we usually have one chance a rotation to set the tone, or at least change the mood. I went someplace where the KJ's "assistant" would sing a complete buzz kill song for her dead father every night. Some song about you can let go dad, you don't have to worry about me, so you can pass.

The last thing a KJ or his or hers "assistant" should sing is something that brings the mood down. I understand her singing it on his birthday, death day, or father's day, but not every night. Every smoker in the room used this song as the it's time to go smoke alarm.

Keep it lively,
Felix

i've got one guy....
we had a full bar, 30+ singers. and a much younger dance drowd so the singers were doing upbeat classics, motown dancers, and modern hits and then......
great voice, but he gives me Michael Jackson Smile
put the brakes on the party atmosphere right quick and in a hurry.
we have an old cowboy (got to be pushing 90) who only sings 40's and 50's western and did not bring things down like Michael Jackson did.

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

Not a karaoke example, but...

A few years ago I ran out of gas. So I walked a little ways to a gas station to get some gas (I just bought a large cup and filled it). While I was there, the radio was playing Whitney Houston's "All at Once". (She had just died that day.) And I'm thinking, "Great, I'm out of gas and I'm having to listen to a depressing song! Even worse, it's a depressing song that is being played because the person singing it has just died!" No disrespect to Whitney is intended here; I just tend to like her fast songs better. Most of those probably wouldn't have worked as a "tribute", but my favorite is " Love Will Save the Day" and that _might_ have worked. "The Greatest Love of All" is a slow song that definitely would have worked.

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I love being a mom!

I get a LOT of that. I am constantly hearing & buying requests for stuff you don't typically hear in karaoke or just obscure stuff.

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Had that happen last week. Even made an announcement to further bring it down. She asked if she could make a dedication right before the song which I am ok with, but it lasted about a minute (seemed like forever) - and being a really good regular (this isn't the norm for her) I bit my tongue.

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Good to see you again, Lonman!

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I love being a mom!

:)

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