Karaoke Forums

Let's suppose that your voice has been getting really hoarse as the night goes on.
You can't even hit those high notes right now.  The singer ahead of you in rotation is doing a killer version of a real crowd pleaser and the crowd is LOVING it.
Do you sing your song anyway or do you maybe "mysteriously" disappear
for the next couple of songs?  LOL

If the song was one that would push the limits of my vocal range I would quickly change to a song that would not. Otherwise I would save my voice and sing another time when it is better. The person that sang just before me would not factor into it.

_________________
FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I have that problem at every show I host.  THe wife is a semi-pro singer, and I hate following her.  So in the rotation, if we are singing, I always try to go before here.

If someone else is in front of me, and does a song that is realy good, I will switch my song so it fits better in the rotation.

As to the "throat going hoarse" thing....... well, you know about that. Happens every time. I just try to do my harder songs earlier in the evening, before I get hoarse.

As to "who sings before me"...... that doesn't bother me at all. Unless, maybe..... we've had 100 acid rock songs in a row, and I'm getting up to do a Loretta Lynn song.  LOL  

But, as to how "good" the singer before me is, I don't think I've ever really dwelled on that.

I think I compare myself to myself more often than not. (like: How I'm gonna do THIS time since my throat is scratchy... vs... how I did on this song LAST time I sang it)  Cause you know, sometimes I sing better than me, sometimes I sing worse than me. Then I get kinda mad at myself..... but I never have to sing after myself anyhow, so that doesn't matter.

Okay, okay.... I'm leaving.  :D

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

I've had this happen a couple times. But I still go up during my rotation. I wont let myself sing too poorly in public. I don't like people thinking I'm inconsistent in how well I perform. If it's really bad and I just have to sing, then a lot of the kj's that I know are really cool about letting me change my song when it's my turn. I don't do it a lot, but a couple of places around here have the songs on a computer or something to where you just press in the number, so it's really easy for them to change what song I'm gonna be singing.

_________________

Does this only apply to vocalist's ?  or instrumentalist's in a "battle of the band's" as well... Or musical competition's when the person before you is spectacular, and you're on deck... Damn, I wish running away (mysteriously disappearing) were possible.  There's some good competition out there... Used to make me feel like (@$%&#!)

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Yeah, competitions are tough because the person who goes first sets the standard, then you have the middle people, then you have the last performance which stands out just because it was last. I always though it would be better to go first or last. That way you can be the first thing the judges see, or the last hidden "wow" factor that everyone remembers.

_________________

Oh, total opposite for me when I did fiddling contests. Or even the events I played & sang at that were NOT competitions. I hated to go up after someone who was really good on the fiddle. Our district had a habit of putting me and my dad back to back (cause I usually played guitar for him, along with my brother.... who also played behind me.... and if I sang, dad usually played the fiddle behind me) So it kinda made sense to put us in a row. But I used to tell them, "For crying out loud, put me up BEFORE my dad.... not AFTER my dad".  LOL

In contests, if the person right before me was very good, I SWEAR I would be all thumbs playing the fiddle- out of nervousness that I couldn't sound that good. Flip side, if the person right before me played badly- it built my confidence that I could "do better than that".

How pathetic is that?  LOL

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

 Not pathetic... it's called being human, silly!

_________________

It's karaoke, who cares who's ahead or behind you, have a blast.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

Ditto  :dancin:

_________________
ROBDOG *WOOF WOOF*

Double ditto.... on the "karaoke" anyhow.  :yes:

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

Yep, ditto here also. Are you kidding me? Miss my rotation or go later? NEVER!!!

What I usually do is acknowledge to the crowd how great the last singer was and invoke my right to incite the first rule of Karaoke, never follow better singer than you. However, I will sing since I rarely follow the rule.

_________________

Seize the day and SING!!!

   I don't enjoy competition's for this exact reason. Load's of time was spent preparing us to win.. Noone ever taught us how to deal with defeat, and phrases like "Hey, it  happen's", and "Get over it" weren't the same as the preparation for losing. Again, in my day, it was all about excelling at something, to not excel was tantamount to average which might as well have been failure... I HATED competing.
I never even felt I could ask "What if I lose", yet I wish I did EARLY on.. Yet noone would've likely had an answer, that was shameful.

To those of you that say "It's only Karaoke", I agree, but let me ask you a hypothetical question... Four singer's are scheduled to Sing....

1) Jason
2) Jazzybags
3) ________ <---fill in your name here
4) Billy


You mean to tell me that in MOST cases the bulk of you would feel comfortable singing among such talent knowing "It's JUST Karaoke" ?  and the fact that you are still PERFORMING in front of other's wouldn't cause feelings of self consciousness, or humiliation ? I don't like to perform doing something I love, only to end up making a clown out've myself:  It's one thing to deliberately act like a clown, yet it's another to make a fool of myself when I'm doing something I love, and unless I feel I'm decent enough to be performing, I personally WON'T....Karaoke is for me behind closed doors, always has been.. because there IS such a thing as ego.  Few like to make a fool of themselves in front of people. Now while I can totally understand that on an average night at a bar, few should or do care who precede's them in a line-up.... If you wouldn't be phased and seriously humbled performing in front of an audience being 3rd up in the above example... Explain to me, HOW the heck you do it... I don't get it !

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Steve you take karaoke way too seriously, it is for fun.  I wouldn't care if some huge superstar was in front or behind me.  I get up, do my thing, and have a blast.

As for contests as I said before I do it for fun not "fame".  To relieve stress not cause it.

I will never become rich and famous due to my singing so why on earth would I be bothered followiiing a superstar.

I am a professional but never said I was good.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

That's why competitions are a bad idea for most karaoke venues....if you can't say that you can sing at a competitive level, you are certainly going to be embarassed in a competition. I know that around here, whenever any reputable karaoke outfit holds a contest with a prize of $50 or more, peeps come out of the woodworks that you have never seen before, and half of them have developmental record deals already. They seriously kinda follow the circuit of talent competitions as a way to make some supplemental income! 95% of those who attend your average karaoke night have absolutely no chance and frankly probably should not enter or else they are going to be pretty embarassed up there....

So, it may be good for the bar for one evening, but it is CERTAINLY going to alienate MOST of your regulars...

Regular karaoke night is for fun, competitions are a serious thing and usually not intended for the casual singer!!

_________________
C Mc
KJ, FL

I don't take it that seriously.
Since I'm in the same place 3 nights a week I've gotten very lax.
I'll sing like Micky mouse goofing around because it's fun. I'll do a song
I've never even heard and make it up as I go if someone really wants me to.
Of course it sounds bad - I don't care.
It's all for fun.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Well, with me anyhow, lemme explain my logic:

In something like a fiddling competition, it's like 10% natural flair/style/born-with-ability, 90% learned. If I were a better fiddler, had more practice..... I could play like those people who are better than me. And it aggravates me that I can't/don't. More years of practice, maybe I could. It's all about how "good you've become" (so far). So, playing against better players..... can be tough, make ya nervous as hail, make you want to sit out your turn in some cases. Am I making sense? Prolly not, but I'm gonna keep going, LoL.

Singing- karaoke.... to me..... is total opposite. Now I don't care who says what, this is MY opinion. It is 10% what you've learned, 90% natural flair/style/born-with-ability. I mean, sing all my life..... I'm still not gonna come out "sounding" like Jazzy, Billy, or Jason. And personally.... nor would I want to. Cause that would not be me. When you're up there singing your heart out having fun, OR even for those people doing a singing competition- you're trying to be the best YOU can be- NOT sound like someone else, or do the same as the original singer. Though I don't think every song should be "changed, made your own"..... vocal wise,  on a 100% night when you're sounding your best and hitting every note dead on... you're still gonna be... the best YOU.

Now, if there were a girl who sounded exactly IDENTICAL to me, and SHE got up and sang right before me, but was doing a better job than me, and singing all the same songs... then, maybe that would be a little bit intimidating. But, it's not that way. I don't care who sings right before, or 3 or 7 before me...... whatever...... I'm never gonna sound like them singing, and their never gonna sound like me. Cause a voice is what you're born with- and you make the best of what you have.

I feel like I'm spinning in circles, taking forever to say something so small. (where the hecks my coffee cup? ll)

If you get up thinking "Gosh, I'm not gonna do this like Billy or Jason would"...... that's the wrong way to think. Cause, you're not them. You just need to concentrate on doing the best impersonation of Steven singing the song.  Cause the best YOU... is the best you're ever gonna be.  You just have to become...... comfortable in your own skin. Then it ceases to matter what so-and-so sounds like, cause you're just competing with yourself... and what you know YOU can do.

Honestly, I bet ya Billy would not want to sound like Jason...... and Jason wouldn't want to sound like Billy either.  I've heard both sing numerous times (and Jazzy....), and I think they are all.... comfie with who they are vocally. Like they should be.

(and no, I swear under oath I'm NOT drinking, or smoking any of the green stuff..... haha..... I just seemed to have woken up a bit illiterate..... hope this makes a bit of sense, and doesn't all sound like jibber-jabber)

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

I think it made a lot of sense. I think I'd feel comfortable getting up after Jazzy. Idk the other two singers, but I know Jazzy rocks. I also know she has a completely different style of singing than I do.

I think what would really make me NOT want to sing is if someone was being super aggressively competitive when I just wanted to have fun at a karaoke bar. I've had a lot of female singers do this. Or sometimes it not even the singers, it's their friends who will say stuff like "Oh, you can sing that better" or "Sing this one, that'll show her up." And I'm sitting right next to them so they know I can hear them. I think the worst thing that's ever happened to me was when a group of girls came in, heard me sing, called their friend (they didn't realize my bf was standing outside when they called) and the friend came out to the bar. Their friend was a good singer (I'd actually competed against her before) but why the need to try and show me up at karaoke? They finally just got out hand, started booing when my name was called... it was awful. The kj told them to knock it off or leave though....

_________________

Seems like one would be overthinking this.  If you're hoarse, do what you think is right ot enjoy your turn.  I frankly don't care if the person before me in rotation is better or worse.   I do for fun and try to get the crowd to have fun.  Rethinking a bit, I do like it though when person before me is good-- then crowd is sorta primed (not bumbed at crappy performance) and I get into it too.


This reminded me of a related topic.  I noticed, when I first started doing Karaoke, that I would get hoarse later in the evening even though I had only done 1 or 2 songs.  I think part was what I was singing and how.  But I also think its the Bar atmosphere-- Smoke in the room, Plus its loud so you're talking loud all night with the people your with.  For some reason though-- either thru how I'm singing or combo of other things, I don't seem to have the problem anymore.  Maybe becuase I "practice" -- theory being that your singing voice (mine being what it is-- not great/good) needs "training" like any other muscles in your body.