Well i'm new at this and may mess up , but here goes. I love to sing at karaoke and I kj with my daughter , and I agree!! Karaoke contests are a kj"s nightmare! My solution is a compromise, and seems to placate my singers.
What i do is ask for 5 or 6 volunteers from my singer list to compete and i make it a very upbeat fun thing. here is how it works: I first get the owner of the establishment to agree on 1 grand prize( usually a $10 to $20 bar tab) and to give each contestant a free shot. Then we write down 5 or 6 "FUN" song titles ( Female and Male titles ) and put them in a container. We then have each contestant draw a song slip out and that is the song they must sing. We usually have the bartender or owner choose the winner based on overall peformance and / or crowd reaction. We keep the stakes LOW and the fun HIGH! Usually everyone laughs it up and makes all the singers feel special, but i try to read my crowd before i decide to do a contest. Taking the pressure off the songer seems to make them happier and i still fill thier need to compete. ( judge question impossible though ) hope you like the suggestion.
