Features on all aspects of karaoke
The Up and Downs of Karaoke Competitions
I have entered a few competitions and also judged a few, so have quite a good understanding of the competition from a singers point of view and a judges point of view. I don't think I will ever learn the KJ's point of view first hand, but have spoken to a few KJ's about competitions and the general consensus is that competitions are not appreciated or liked. Most KJ's I speak to would prefer not to 'run' competitions.I first entered a competition in Litten Tree, Bedford and I was very nervous. I decided to sing La Isla Bonita by Madonna and had never sung it before on karaoke, so I hired the Spanish dress (well Scarlet O'Hara dress really with a few home made adjustments) and got hold of a Madonna video. I learnt how to sing the song in front of the video most evenings in the run up to the competition. As this was my first competition, I didn't know what to expect. Who was I competing against? Would I look stupid in my Spanish dress? How would I react if I did or didn't win? Would I get feedback from the judges about my performance? Where were my friends and family going to be so I could see them for morale support? Would I get on with the other competitors or would it be a back stabbing environment? Would my mouth go dry just as I was about to sing? All these questions and more were going through my head all day on the day of the competition.
I got to The Litten Tree quite early and as luck would have it, I wasn't driving for once. A friend of mine had come up from Wembley and he offered to drive us over to Bedford and back, cool I could drink. I was made to feel very welcome with the KJ's at the time who later became very good friends of mine (Lisa & Greg - Diamondfire Entertainment). They gave all the competitors advice about mic techniques and answered all questions about the competition. We all sang a warm up song then we were off. The competition was on the go and as I got up to sing my song, I was nervous as anything, my hands were shaking so much, you could see it when I was holding
the mic. I finished my song and sat down with several bottles of drink and a couple of ciggies. When the results were announced, I was gobsmacked to find out that I had got 3rd place and had won 24 bottles of alcohol of my choice from the fridge, from that point on I was hooked. There were rumblings from some competitors that hadn't been placed and I hadn't experienced this before, but later found out the harsh reality of the competition.
The more competitions I entered, the more competitive I found I was getting and the more fun they became. I then wanted to start judging after a particularly badly judged competition that I took part in. The result was obvoiusly fixed from the start as it was judged by Pub staff and the landlord's daughter won!! That was it, I was going to do some judging and get my own back and make judging what I could fair.
I judged a couple of competitions whilst still entering competitions as well. I found judging more fun that entering, the whole start to finish of the competition from seeing the nerves of some people and remembering how I felt during competitions to the end of the night with the bickering of "I was the best, why didn't I get through" and "It's not fair, you didn't judge it fairly, you know some of the singers" and the best one yet, this being said to the KJ on the night "You hit the suck button so I would get feedback, you've got it in for me" What is a suck button?. I would sit during the songs and religiously write down notes about each of the singers, particularly where I thought they had dropped marks so they could see the notes at the end of the night if they wanted to. I had one competition where we had one of the judges go up to a singer during the competition and give her phone number to the singer saying that if she called the judge, she would be able to get her singing out on the circuit as she was the best
singer of the night. This was not going to be passed over and I had to have a couple of words with this judge, this is not fair or professional practice during a competition. Needless to say, when the young girl didn't win at the end of the night, she brought up the fact that she had been told by one of the judges that she was the best and she should have won. Unfortunately, I had stepped out of the pub to chat to a friend and missed the tantrums.
I have very firm rules when I'm judging and I usually by default (or by personality) take over as lead judge.
All judges must sit separately, preferably the four corners of the pub so they cannot be seen to be conferring. They can also hear different angles of the music.
Judges must not be seen to be talking with competitors family or friends or any of the competitors whether they know them or not during the competition and preferably not before.
I never mark a competitor with a zero unless they really haven't made any effort at all E.G. Dress marks - if they have not dressed in anything other than a Dorothy Perkins pair of trousers and top, then they will get one point because they have made an effort to look nice, if they turn up in scruffy jeans without make-up and trainers and it's not relevant to the song, they get marked 0.
All score sheets must be added up at the end of the night by one of the judges, having several judges adding up score sheets creates confusion.
If there is a tie situation, all the judges get together and discuss who they think should get the extra point to give a clear position, majority vote wins.
I personally feel that judges must be able to back up their marks given so they can explain at the end of the night if a competitor questions the placing, I always make notes and ask other people to if they are judging, it makes it so much easier to explain from notes than from memory. It also gives the competitor a good idea of what they may need to work on for the next competition.
Judges do not have any power, they do not run the competition and can be challenged on the night if the challenge is reasonable and warranted by anyone especially the KJ or singer. Judges can question each other about scoring, particularly if a score from one judge does not fit in with all other judges i.e. Jack, Jill, Bill and Ben are judging and singer 1 comes on who is not bad, but slightly out of tune and not dressed the part for the song so out of 10, the singer scores 5 from 3 judges, but Ben knows singer one quite well and scores 10.
I have had the fact that I know a little about the competition circuit go against me in a competition before, having notes put on a marking sheet stating that "You know what the judges are looking for" and losing marks as a result.
I still get nervous when going in for competitions and I still enjoy judging more than competing. I must be completely nuts...........
Donna
Editor note click here for Karaoke Competition news
Karaoke Info > Articles :: The Up and Downs of Karaoke Competitions