Live Entertainment: karaoke
Love it or hate it, karaoke has become an established feature of the pub entertainment scene over the past couple of decades and it doesn¹t seem to want to go away.
Andy Warhol's prediction that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes seems to come true with karaoke or at least it accounts for three minutes. Its great appeal is that anyone can stand up there and be a star for the length of a song.
Gary Hayes and his partner Frances Byworth are two karaoke singers who have put their spare time into a website that helps people find venues in which to sing or listen.
In four years Pubsingers.com has grown from a local listing to an online searchable database of some 1,400 pubs and clubs that offer karaoke - and Gary believes the phenomenon will continue to thrive.
"It is an opportunity to sing in public for teenagers to eightysomethings, people who would otherwise never have that experience, people who may have nothing else in common other than enjoying singing," he says.
"We know many people who travel long distances, to pubs they would never otherwise visit, for a good karaoke night." Although you still need to get a PPL licence for the recorded backing track, the point about karaoke is that it¹s your own customers who provide the entertainment, and that, for Gary and Frances, is the key thing for licensees to bear in mind if they want a successful event. "If publicans aren¹t sure what constitutes a good karaoke, they only need to ask their customers who come in to sing," explains Gary.
"Singing ability is not what matters it¹s the simple fact that the pub¹s customers are providing the entertainment for the night. And that¹s the key to a successful karaoke it¹s about the singers, not the karaoke host." A good karaoke host, or KJ as they¹re known, doesn¹t keep people waiting by playing too much music between singers, Gary advises. "Karaoke and disco are different things, and usually shouldn¹t be combined," he says.
"The quality of the sound is also very important singers need to be able to hear themselves to sing their best. If the KJ gets it right, then people will come back." There is something of a split between the more competitive singers, who can get quite serious about it, and those who¹ll just get up and have a go for fun. If you¹re new to the game you might want to think about which of the two you¹re going for.
Get it right and you could have a long-term attraction. Gary and Frances believe karaoke will be around "for decades to come".
"So many youngsters are taking part and the great thing is they are learning to sing all the old songs," says Gary.
Pubsingers.com is looking to expand its database. To get listed email info@pubsingers.com
