Karaoke Etiquette

[Hollanda]

Very good point. It is rude to try to force someone to sing if they do not wish to. I see it constantly. It's awkward.

[Jones]

This rule is based on my one experience going to a karaoke bar (on my birthday, no less!):

Please, if the five people before you sang tear-in-your-beer breakup songs, for the love of holiness, don't sing another one! I came to have fun on my birthday, not to listen to folks croon out a lament for their ex-whatevers.

[Hollanda]

This rule is based on my one experience going to a karaoke bar (on my birthday, no less!):

Please, if the five people before you sang tear-in-your-beer breakup songs, for the love of holiness, don't sing another one! I came to have fun on my birthday, not to listen to folks croon out a lament for their ex-whatevers.

Pod.

[Zilla]

I would be one of those leaving if it was bad karaoke.  It might be fun for the person singing it, but it's not fun for anyone listening.  I'm not going to heckle, but my ears deserve to hear the songs done well.  If I wanted to hear bad singing I can do so for free in my own shower.

Weird.  I've always had fun going with my friends to karaoke, even if it was mostly caterwauling.  I'm starting to feel like I must be doing it wrong.  Culture difference, maybe?

I'm beginning to think there are two whole different worlds of karaoke, one where it's taken really seriously and you're supposed to be good, and one where it's really informal and the point is to be goofy and have fun. I've pretty much only encountered the latter.

There might actually be 3: good singers, goofy & fun, and then there's bad.  I don't enjoy watching people who think they're wonderful go up there looking for validation - it's a bit of a buzz kill actually because it's sad and either my heart breaks a bit for the sweet person singing who is under the misguided impression they have talent or I'm doing the huge internal eye roll because they're not just bad, but they're also cocky.  You've got to be in the group of goofy & fun, or the group of good singers to be enjoyable to watch.

You hit it on the head.   I enjoy when they are just there to have fun and enjoy themselves.  I am too shy unless I have a few drinks under my belt, and I might just might sing with a group.


I cringe so much for the people who take it seriously and think they are so good. It's highly uncomfortable.  Or they let a little applause go to there head and think they are da bomb.  I can't tell you how many times I have seen on American Idol the bad singers saying that they won Karaoke contests.  I am like yeah, you were probably the best of the worst?

[Hollanda]

It's a lot of fun to some. To me, it's a hobby I enjoy immensely and I'm an ok singer. Singing is therapeutic sometimes.

And really, it matters not a bit to me whether someone is awesome or terrible...if that person is enjoying themselves and their attitude is ok towards other people, good for them for having the nerve to do it. In addition, I.don't care whether people like or dislike my singing - each to their own.

Karaoke is supposed to be fun. When it stops being fun, it's time to stop.

[Emmy]

Very good point. It is rude to try to force someone to sing if they do not wish to. I see it constantly. It's awkward.

I am with you on that.  Please, please, do not force anybody to sing.  I am a terrible singer and find being on stage an embarrassing experience.  Yet after I tell them this, people will still insist I 'have to' sing. 

I'm with agreement on Hollanda about the general attitude of karaoke.  It is supposed to be fun.  If people really dislike off key singing or want to be a music critic, karaoke isn't the event for them.

My worst experience was just after graduating college, when I was really down about being dumped by a guy I really liked.  We went to an event where there was karaoke and my friend insisted I had to sing "I Will Survive" and that it would be therapeutic for me.  She literally drug me up on stage (and she did stay there with me).  There was no monitor and neither of us knew the words to the song except the chorus.  It was a humiliating experience.  After that, I couldn't look anybody from the crowd in the eye. 

[Hollanda]

There was no monitor Emmy?

Even though I do know songs I choose to sing, I still need to know the words are in front of me, or I am liable to just go hugely blank, which is embarrassing. 

Back on subject, it is awkward for everyone in the audience as well as the reluctant singer. Nobody knows where to put their face, and when the song is done, you mostly get a "pity applause" as much as anything else. It's awkward for the DJ as well, because he can usually see several people who do want to sing, yet he's being pushed to choose the one person who doesn't want to sing. It's hideously awkward for the person who does not want to sing...basically, that person is being pushed into the limelight when they really and truly would rather be anywhere else. I feel awful seeing it and admit that I do usually leave the place when that happens.

Like anything else, forcing someone to do something they don't want to do will always end in tears. 

[Emmy]

My unfortunate experience was at a college event on campus which normally isn't set up for karaoke, so there was a DJ, music, and a little platform stage, but no monitor with the words.  The best thing I can remember about the event is I was very relieved it wasn't well attended.

[WillyNilly]

I love to sing and know plenty of songs by heart and sing along in my car or home loudly, proudly and with a smile on my face. But I hate kareoke because in my experience the audience is generaly filled with negative, nasty haters. Yeah I have terrible pitch, and my timing can be a second or two off, but I don't feel I should be made to purposely feel bad about it - which plenty of people try to do. Its supposed to be goofy and fun but I've found it rarely is unless you are a great singer.

[afbluebelle]

Info Note: I have a lifetime membership to a karaoke club 


1) If you are in the audience, just clap. If they stank, who cares? It's about having fun... don't harsh someone's day
2) Don't do a song someone just did... it is kinda rude, and really boring. Everyone complains about the radio overplaying stuff, why should you?
3) "Don't Stop Believing" is pretty much always going to be a sing-a-long song. Please don't get huffy if the entire bar/venue starts singing with you and decide to stomp off stage. You just look like a jerk, and a good citizen will jump on stage and save the day, making you look even more like a jerk.
4) If the singing is so bad you can't take it, you can do something else. Son't be a jerk to the person on stage.
5) Please, for the sake of everyone, don't rub the mike on your sweaty groinal region while making fun of an 80's hari band. Yes, it is funny... but my lips have to go near that thing!
6) Don't point you gun at me for singing the song you like before you put it in as a request. I have a gun too... we all do. Moron  (#6 took place in Afghanistan. Unloaded weapon, but seriously? Bloodhound Gang had more than one song, and we had karaoke every week)

[JonGirl]

Info Note: I have a lifetime membership to a karaoke club 


1) If you are in the audience, just clap. If they stank, who cares? It's about having fun... don't harsh someone's day
2) Don't do a song someone just did... it is kinda rude, and really boring. Everyone complains about the radio overplaying stuff, why should you?
3) "Don't Stop Believing" is pretty much always going to be a sing-a-long song. Please don't get huffy if the entire bar/venue starts singing with you and decide to stomp off stage. You just look like a jerk, and a good citizen will jump on stage and save the day, making you look even more like a jerk.
4) If the singing is so bad you can't take it, you can do something else. Son't be a jerk to the person on stage.
5) Please, for the sake of everyone, don't rub the mike on your sweaty groinal region while making fun of an 80's hari band. Yes, it is funny... but my lips have to go near that thing!
6) Don't point you gun at me for singing the song you like before you put it in as a request. I have a gun too... we all do. Moron  (#6 took place in Afghanistan. Unloaded weapon, but seriously? Bloodhound Gang had more than one song, and we had karaoke every week)

Holy Moly!!   

[afbluebelle]

Yeah... I get that it was supposed to be a joke, but I was raised around guns. First rule is never point them at something you don't intend on killing.

[Slartibartfast]

A few more:

1) Karaoke singers are there to have fun and maybe to get a little attention.  They are not there to strip for you, dance suggestively, or put themselves up for auction.  Catcalls do NOT help.  (I was at a national convention mostly populated by women, and the karaoke bar at the hotel ended up being mostly drunk middle-aged women and a handful of guys.  I was downright embarrassed for my gender at the way some of the women were treating the men whenever the men got up there to sing.)

2) Just like in any other endeavor, it's important to wait your turn.  Don't chat loudly through everyone else's song and then expect them to be quiet for yours.  Don't have your eleven best friends all sign up individually to sing and then do a dozen songs in a row where you all sing together.  Don't belt out the song when someone else is on stage, unless that's how the karaoke is usually done at that location and the rest of the audience is singing along too.

3) It's karaoke, not a concert.  Don't be upset if your musical rendition failed to stop every nearby conversation in its tracks.  People are obligated to be polite, but they're not obligated to give you their full attention.

[Auntie Mame]

Info Note: I have a lifetime membership to a karaoke club 


3) "Don't Stop Believing" is pretty much always going to be a sing-a-long song. Please don't get huffy if the entire bar/venue starts singing with you and decide to stomp off stage. You just look like a jerk, and a good citizen will jump on stage and save the day, making you look even more like a jerk.

People get huffy when the audience turns into a sing along?  Heck, half the reason my girlfriends and I sing that song together is because we love it when the audience sings with us! We encourage it.   Honestly, you simply can not expect people to sit quietly during "Don't Stop Believing", or "Living on a Prayer"

[MellowedOne]

I've always thought that karaoke was custom made for those who love to sing but can't     That's why I love it anyway, LOL!

A few suggestions off the top of my head:
-The worse someone is, the more applause/appreciation you should give.  After all, they know they can't sing worth a lick, and it took courage to get up on the stage?
-If you've got a good voice, for the love of all that's holy please don't restrict your choices to slow songs by Celine Deion, Whitney Houston,etc.  Use those pipes for some of those awesome fast songs us nonsingers are scared to touch!!
-Ease up on the slow songs.
-If you are singing, do not be afraid to add a bit of showmanship!  It's so easy to get positive feedback from an audience, and it is awesome!  One of my favs is 'You Know You Make Me Want To Shout-Otis Day and the Knights' - it really gets the audience involved!
-Please don't choose a song if you only know the refrain.  Do a mental run-through of the song--if you can't think of anything other than the refrain, it is not going to be a good performance.