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the dreaded karaoke back-up singer
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Author:  Product 19 [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:06 am ]
Post subject:  the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

i'm slowly developing an inhuman hatred for folks who wanna jump on the second mic as a self-appointed backup singer.

i've literally had physical WWF wrestling matches between the sexes to grab the second mic as a volunteer back-up singer. even tho i've shut off the volume on the second mic way before they had the idea to back up anyone.

and i almost wanna get violent when i'm singing a song myself as the opening singer and folks already wanna jump on my second mic as my backup singer.

i want people to be themselves at my show. and backup singing should be a harmless thing. but when it happens song after song it starts to wear on you. i've even got a line of folks 6-7 people deep that stand around waiting to be a self-appointed backup singer. i'm like, be gone, roaches! what's wrong with people?

on the other hand, i complain about a lack of karaoke enthusiasm at a different venue, so i try not to be too upset that there's an over abundance of enthusiasm at this particular other venue, but i'm starting to lose my cool with people and getting very rude.

Author:  Paradigm Karaoke [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 3:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

all mics are in my hand, and must be taken from my hand.
mics out and about besides the singer sounds like the problem.
keep them all by you, have them some get one so you decide if they can get one or not.

Author:  mrmarog [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

I too have only one readily available mic, the others have to be handed out by ME. I have had jumpers try to grab my announcement mic, but none have succeeded in singing on it :)

Author:  The Lone Ranger [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 6:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

8) I thought your patrons were baby boomers? I don't have to many mic jumpers, in fact in the last several years I have only had one case of someone wanting to help on a song, I guess I must be lucky.

Author:  mrmarog [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 6:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

The Lone Ranger wrote:
8) I thought your patrons were baby boomers? I don't have to many mic jumpers, in fact in the last several years I have only had one case of someone wanting to help on a song, I guess I must be lucky.
Most of my singers are "boomers" but I get the occasional youngin' that wants to be a star, but too shy to do it themselves. If it does happen it is usually with someone they came with, or a private event where they don't know the rules of karaoke.

Author:  TopherM [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

I'm all good with the backup singer(s), given the following:

1) The singer knows them and wants them to sing with them! I chase off more than my share of drunks that think they'd be a welcome addition to a stranger's song.

2) If the song was entered as "John," but then John and Stacy come up, well John's getting the primary volume and Stacy will be relegated to backup volume. If they were both listed from the start, equal volume.

3) If the backup singer is in the rotation to sing themselves, and I have a rotation longer than 10 people, that is also their turn, no exceptions. I am very clear on this point 100% of the time. Otherwise, there is always a diva in the crowd that thinks they have figured out how to sing backup with every other person that comes up.

Author:  dsm2000 [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

TopherM wrote:
I'm all good with the backup singer(s), given the following:

1) The singer knows them and wants them to sing with them! I chase off more than my share of drunks that think they'd be a welcome addition to a stranger's song.

2) If the song was entered as "John," but then John and Stacy come up, well John's getting the primary volume and Stacy will be relegated to backup volume. If they were both listed from the start, equal volume.

3) If the backup singer is in the rotation to sing themselves, and I have a rotation longer than 10 people, that is also their turn, no exceptions. I am very clear on this point 100% of the time. Otherwise, there is always a diva in the crowd that thinks they have figured out how to sing backup with every other person that comes up.


Counting a duet as a song for each singer is a bit harsh.
They each have a slot reserved and should not be punished for it.

I Do enforce a 2 songs total per rotation limit on Singers.

Author:  CafeBar [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

If a mike jumper gets hold of a mike, run that channel through a harmonizer (harmonized signal only) and set it to an octave higher.

Come to think of it, that would be a good all around cure for all kinds of malfeasance--a 'one-button' unflattering effect could be used on mike jumpers, wanderers, cuppers, etc.

Author:  Alan B [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 12:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

Mic jumpers will not be tolerated at my shows. I will take their mic and personally escort them off stage. Mic jumping is a very rude thing to do and I don't stand for it.

Author:  Lonman [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

If I see a jumper, I go and escort them off stage. Any extra mics are always turned down on the mixer.

Author:  TopherM [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 2:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

dsm2000 wrote:
TopherM wrote:
I'm all good with the backup singer(s), given the following:

1) The singer knows them and wants them to sing with them! I chase off more than my share of drunks that think they'd be a welcome addition to a stranger's song.

2) If the song was entered as "John," but then John and Stacy come up, well John's getting the primary volume and Stacy will be relegated to backup volume. If they were both listed from the start, equal volume.

3) If the backup singer is in the rotation to sing themselves, and I have a rotation longer than 10 people, that is also their turn, no exceptions. I am very clear on this point 100% of the time. Otherwise, there is always a diva in the crowd that thinks they have figured out how to sing backup with every other person that comes up.


Counting a duet as a song for each singer is a bit harsh.
They each have a slot reserved and should not be punished for it.

I Do enforce a 2 songs total per rotation limit on Singers.


As stated, only when there are more than 10 in the rotation. When under 10, duet away! Just a difference of opinion. I don't think someone has "less of a turn" in a busy rotation if they choose to do a duet.

As a singer, I have no tolerance for those times when people go twice (or even 1.5 times if you look at it your way) before I go 1.0 times, so that's the way I run my show :)

When you sing, that's your turn! Choose how you want to use your turn to your satisfaction!

Author:  Toastedmuffin [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 4:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

A big NO to someone who wants to take over the song by "backing up" a singer.

I don't mind anyone pulling up there friend(s) and asking to give them a mic... It's their 5 minutes, and if they want to share, who am I to tell them no.

But I hold the mics, and If they aren't in my hand, I have mute buttons as well. Because sometime the hog sees more then one person singing and thinks "Hey I can join is too!!!"

If I'm dealing with a serial mic hog, It gets muted every time they grab for it. Repeated offenses and we bump them from rotation.

I just don't care for someone who thinks they are a diva and everyone should be happy to sing "with" them.

What I find most about mic hogs... is that they are mostly girls. Guys usually act stupid with each other in groups, but share well, passing it around and such. Most of the time, they already got their "show" figured out. A girl mic hog on the other hand seems to want the spotlight more over whoever is singing it. Very reluctant about sharing a mic with their friends. They also tend to be very "catty" about how another girl would do "their" song. They run up close to the stage and try to sing OVER people even without a mic.

Author:  Cueball [ Mon Feb 27, 2017 11:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

TopherM wrote:
As stated, only when there are more than 10 in the rotation. When under 10, duet away! Just a difference of opinion. I don't think someone has "less of a turn" in a busy rotation if they choose to do a duet.


That depends.... There are some songs that I have participated in, where the song was very one-sided. Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love" is one song that comes to mind. The Female part is 4 lines (approximately 1 minute), while the Male part is close to 9 minutes (almost all of Meatloaf's songs are 9 minutes or more). Another song that I once was asked to do with someone is from "Funny Girl"... "You Are Woman, I Am Man." My part had 1 stanza, and the rest of the song was all for the Female part, up until the very end of the song, where the Male and Female sing 1 more line together.

That depends... Likewise with actually doing JUST back-up vocal. Songs like Bon Jovi's "Wanted, Dead or Alive" for example, where the back-up singer just likes to do the echo parts of the chorus in the song.

Author:  CafeBar [ Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

If the same duo sings twice in one rotation, they're still not taking up more time than they would have individually. The problem is 'fake duos', where one person gets non-singers to sign up under his name and pretend to sing duos with him in order to game the rotation.

One of my concepts of karaoke is that it should be a good show, not just an amenity for singers. If we're doing it right, guests will come in just to listen to the music. That speaks to not having the same people sing over and over, if we can help it.

Author:  chrisavis [ Tue Feb 28, 2017 12:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

All mics are handed out by me or my hosts. We don't start the next singer until all mics are returned.

I don't let people jump in to sing after a song starts. If they are "approved" backup singers, that approval takes place *before* the main singer starts. (exception - the main singer gives me a thumbs up while they are on stage)

Now.....if someone wants to get up on stage and dance or otherwise help entertain during a singer, I will allow it so long as the singer doesn't appear to be perturbed by it.

Author:  andrew3000 [ Tue Mar 07, 2017 10:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

I used to run my busiest show with two mics, on stands, on the stage. It honestly took me a long time to figure out that the best way to avoid the dreaded "crasher" was to take away the second mic, and it's genuinely solved a lot of rotation headaches for me. (People get... antsy at this particular establishment. My rotations run long and my clientele seems to conveniently get amnesia from week to week as I suggest that maybe if they showed up before the second half of the show they'd get more songs in, a novel concept to the easily inebriated.)

Five years at this venue, and I literally just realized this year, "oh, right - if there's not a second mic to crash, people won't crash it." But a microphone is an open invitation to a lot of people, particularly an unoccupied one. So now my policy is that, with the exception of the lead mic, microphones must be obtained from me. Weeds out unwanted crashers and rotation gamers nicely.

Author:  c. staley [ Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

Nope. No mic-jumpers where I work. There are no mics out in the open for them to grab anyway. If they walk up to me and demand a mic, they get the "no way Jose wagging finger" and if they give me crap about it, I'll tell them that I won't let anyone else do that to them while they're singing either.

It seems that these are the same people that will somehow get offended if someone else were to jump in on their song but think it's perfectly acceptable for them to do it to others..

The other types that drive me nuts are the yahoos that canvass the bar looking for someone they can convince to change the song they've already put in to a duet. Those I call the "predatory showboaters."

Author:  Earl [ Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

Like most others here, I simply do not allow the "dreaded karaoke back-up singer" unless he/she was specifically invited by the primary singer. Allowing such is a great way to ruin your show.

Author:  Product 19 [ Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: the dreaded karaoke back-up singer

i also don't like when singers wanna volunteer me in to be their back-up singer. and/or ask me to be their back-up singer EVERYTIME they sing that one song that i helped them out with and backed them up on once, in like 1952. give it up, bro!!

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