I am a veteran karaoke singer and occasional kj of over 10 years. I have been to shows in Washington and California so as you can imagine I have seen alot of good,bad and ugly shows. I am going to list off a number of things that I believe are key to being a great karaoke host. Please note these are just my humble opinions and I don't claim that these are the representation of a certain bar or karaoke company. With that said I bring you the list (drum roll please....)
- Be personable! I have worked with the public for nearly 20 years and the most important thing is customer service. Being a karaoke jockey is no different. Smile and greet the person who comes up to your booth and hands you a song slip. Another thing is to engage the audience. Start the show by introducing yourself and your company. Tell the patrons what the drink/food specials of the night are. Afer all you are an employee of the bar as well. It's your job to make the bar money and put some cash in your pocket as well! It's ok to maybe make a joke or two during the show but don't waste time trying to do a stand up routine or tell everyone your life story. People come to sing and have fun. They don't want to feel depressed because you just spent the last twenty minutes telling everyone your wife just caught you cheating and you live at your little brother Mikey's house in the attic. If you have a great personality and are energetic then that is what will draw the most people in week after week to your shows.
- Know your equipment in and out! - Most people would think this is a no brainer! It would be like saying," well since that guy owns that car, he must know how to drive it!" A number of kj's that I've seen have next to no clue on to how to run their sound boards. Those are the hosts where you will hear constant reverb or the sound sounding too loud or quiet. You will look over at these untrained kj's and they will be sweating looking at their board just turning random knobs and hoping that it works by some miracle. A great kj has their system down pat and knows what levels to adjust the singers too having them sounding their very best.
- Have a good system - I realize that professional karaoke machines are not cheap by any means of the imagination and can cost thousands of dollars. Even so if you are going to run a show and hope to make good money then it would benefit the kj to save up and get a good system that is going to bring people to their shows. If the sound is bad at a karaoke show then most times even if the host is decent, people will go elsewhere.
- Have a diverse song book - Even if the song selection is on the slim side, as long as the selection has diversity to it is what really matters. Don't have a 5000 song book with 2500 country songs! Variety is the spice of life and patrons want to sing different kinds of music. Even if your personal tastes lean towards country you still need to have more than that in your books! Think of what the singers want and like. After all they are the ones who support you. Great kj's generally have a book of 10,000 plus songs with a great variety. The books are usually by artist or title and alphabetically listed.
- Don't ask for tips!! - I have seen a couple kj's beg people for tips saying that the bar pays them next to nothing and that they have no other source of income. Again people don't want to hear a sob story and you shouldn't be knocking the establishment that your playing for either when your on the job! Having a tip jar next to your booth is great and patrons will see this and usually tip a couple to several dollars. I have seen great kj's by the end of the night fill a tip jar full with green backs and they didn't even have to ask! That's the way to go! Most kj's do have day jobs to pay most of their bills. Karaoke hosting can bring good money at times and some hosts do host five nights a week.
- Keep a fair rotation - No one likes when the kj plays favorites or purposely skips over singers because they don't like their voice. Everyone deserves an equal chance to sing no matter what their singing skill is. Good kj's have a system that they've used for years and everyone is kept happy.
Hope you've enjoyed this segment of my blog! Until next time kids!
-Stephen
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