sounds like a reasonable "just for fun" approach!:)

Still going !
 

It's been over 4 years since I posted the original question! I'm amazed the thread still has life. Like 'em or not, contests seem to hit a nerve for us karaoke folks.

I sure appreciate all your responses, and I'm sure that thanks to them if I ever do another contest I've got enough of your great ideas to improve any future contest of mine.

Still, I feel I will try to avoid them when possible. My gut tells me that if I tell this singer they are number one, I'm telling the rest they are not.

Dennis

Contests are used to temporarily boost attendance at karaoke shows to sell more liquor and make more $$$ cash! No one cares who wins or who the best singer except the singers. The bars like to award the karaoke contests to the bar flies and regulars who support them with their $$$ cash. Just an observation over the years going back to 1988 when laser karaoke started. Anyone wishing to be in a real contest can join the next "Amerian Idol" contest.

I have adopted the policy of no contests because while it may bring more patrons into the bar they end up not coming back once the contest is over which in my opinion is a death sentence to the karaoke host when asked why the week after the contest there is a lower amount of people attending the show. I would rather do give aways than contests or a contest that has nothing to do with singing ability but encourages the singers to get involved or sing songs that they would not normally try- something like a mystery song contest.

That is precisely right, as in fact, you are creating losers.
What fun is that, right?
I, also, do along the way, giveaways throughout the year.
I make it random; Pavlov's theories state that random positive enforcement works best.

Funny thing is if contests are so terrible, WHY then do people feel the need to enter? Why are contest nights always packed?
Answer simply, if it's fun to do & people enjoy something, SOMEONE is going to make it into a competition - this goes for ANYTHING that's supposed to be fun, not just karaoke. Why do people compete - it's human nature to try to be the best! All the way from the prettiest baby contest to a Grandma quilting contest & everything, sport, hobby, music & anything else you can think of - Guiness book of world records is nothing BUT a huge contest in almost everything imagineable.
We run contests all the time, don't lose customers over it, our regs know that when the contest is over, things will get back to normal & we've actually gained new regs from contests - not all the time, but most of them we've ran. Only advice is try to keep everything as fair as possible (even though people will still see it as not - again, human nature), allow all judges sheets to be reviewd, never allow audience response as a scoring criteria, have judges at least knowledgeable in the music field & having absolutely nothing to do with the club holding the contest.

It's the show host who suffers more than any of the contestants. Most show hosts hate contests, not the contestants.
- Alan

Depends on how they run their contest to begin with. I've never had a problem with them.