singer rotation, duets???

[danamay]

Singer rotations suck specially when you want to be the fairest possible. Right now I do put the new singers up first unless we get a huge stretch of them and then i go 2old 2new or 1 new 1 old!!! Also i don't allow anymore new singers after a certian time allowing the old singers get one more chance in singing! Now when it come to duets I have a hard time with! One duet is allowed per turn per person meaning you sing thats your turn. I don't allow a singer to sing a single and then get back up and sing with a friend sorry thats cheating you just now sang twice in a rotation i don't allow that. Now where to place them is the hardest part! Do I put the duet in the place of the first singer or last singer? Rigt now the last person that sang thats going to be singing in the duet is where i put their slip! Ya the first person who sang who is going to be doing a duets is dropped back. So that im really not careing for cuz it isn't fair to that person either to drop them back so i don't know but that but so far thats what i do to keep it fair. Also just because you are a new singer and want to sing a duet with someone who already sang you have to wait for his turn to come back around to beable to sing! Does this sound fair to you???? Does anyone have any suggestions how i should handle the duets??

[mikedomi]

This one will be talked about for ever (the rotation)

no one way is the right way

the only right way is to do everyone the same way all the
time . so the singers will see your are being fair and doing your rotations the same way.

we do not have a fixed rotation to speak of
the singers who come to our shows know that we try to have everyone
sing the same amount of songs in a night

and have been doing it that way for over 15 years

that way we don't have 10 slow songs in a row and we mix things up that way
the singers don't seam to mind just as long as they get to sing the same as everyone else

[songpony]

My singers would get furious if I were to change the rotation around based on the songs they're singing (too many slows in a row, etc.); I set up a fixed rotation and stick with it. I also try to mix in new singers with the old rather than tacking them on to the end of a rotation (similar to danamay - alternate one or two at a time).

In general, the way I handle duets is I don't make both people use it as their turn - it counts as one person's turn, and THEY have to decide who's turn it's going to go under. This works well in MOST cases, because most singers are primarily singing by themselves and may just have an occasional duet with someone else - they can argue between them who's turn it will take up (with this, you avoid the problem of moving singers around if they sing a duet).

However, I do have a couple of exceptions to this. If the only songs these 2 people are singing are duets with each other, then I would put them under only one person so they don't get up twice in a rotation - this is fair because the two of them together are acting as a single singer. Also, if a person is singing with MANY other people - especially if those other people aren't in the rotation as an individual (i.e. he's just grabbing someone to sing with so he can get another turn) - I make sure that they all go under his name because he's the only "repeat" singer.

I've only had a couple cases where someone tried to get sneaky with me and they each put their own songs up, then started doing duets so all the same people were getting up each time - when they did that, I combined them all into a turn and didn't give them an opportunity to have their turns split back up - if either of them wanted to sing individually, they got put under that same turn (they never did it again!).

[ddouglass]

What does this thread have to do with NEW FEATURE REQUESTS?

[WDEWDAD7]

No matter how hard you try, you are not going to satisfy everyone. First, I would suggest you print and include at the front of your books, your do' and dont's, etc. Then, stick by them. You get more respect for being consistent. I state that all duets count as one persons turn, as do group songs. NO EXCEPTIONS! This prevents one table from dominating the night, which can kill your show. They might try to reverse the names to get up again, simply put it uinder one persons name, period. What gets me are the people who turn in slips with a different name each time. You just have to do the best you can, and have fun. Every once in awhile, you are going to get a whiner, you probably would rather not see this person come back, it's up to you; but, make the majority happy, and you will have a successful show. Hope this helps, and, good luck.

[swany]

I do have a lot of duets in my crowd especially at one bar in particular. Lot of the time they'll have as many as five people singing at once. I often encourage singers to come up and sing with me if there is not too many people waiting in rotation. I use a written list to manage my rotations, if a couple sings only duets, that's the way they are in rotation. I encourage most to put their name up as a single and ask for someone to sing with them, if they are friends and do this all the time I put them a quite a few singers apart and ask them pick different partners as often as possible to avoid strife for me. Still I ask them to put their names up single and ask for a singing partner. I figure it's one song, and if that singer wants to invite ten people from the list it's still the singers turn only and not the rest. Easy if you can get away with it. I've had gripes and I usually have my wife take over and explain the way I run the show on a one on one basis, and tell them to do the same as everyone else that it is a KJs problem and has been and will be for a long time and each of us tries our best to handle it as we see it. Your best bet is to get to know the patrons, and make new friends each night, this works great for me as my wife and I usually work the show together. One night I work the crowd and the next she will. Most often she likes to the run the show and have me do the roadie and good will tours. When she works the crowd it's usually because she has a friends in the audience. Keep a smile and introduce yourself to as many as possible, giving a perception as a good KJ helps but being one includes carrying a pencil and paper for suggestions and new song request. Take their slips up for them and as you get to know the people the complaints go down.