“WOW” the Crowd!

By Sue Sawyer

At least one in four Americans admitted to singing karaoke at least once according to “Strategyone” a marketing company. Karaoke is said to be about 90 percent courage and 10 percent talent. To “WOW” your audience and avoid disaster, here are a few short tips to get any crowd rooting for you.

• Sign up early and let the KJ hold your song request until the room fills. In the meantime, mingle with the crowd and cheer loudly for the early crooners. Think of it as “karaoke karma.”

• Pick the perfect song giving folks a song they know and want to sing along with. Perfect songs fall into the categories of monster ballads such as “November Rain” or anything Meat Loaf, Garth Brooks or Whitesnake. Elvis tunes are good choices as well. More “WOW” songs include “Gigantic, Planet Rock, Add It Up, Bizarre, Love Triangle” and for the country set, “Jackson.”

Those groaners include 11 minutes of “American Pie” (try the short version), “Bohemian Rhapsody, Ice Ice Baby, Lose Yourself, Blitzkreig Bob, Material Girl” and for the cowboys, “Freebird.”

If you’re thinking of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” try substituting “My Michelle” or “Rock and Roll Tonight” to avoid falsetto solos, unless that’s your typical singing range, then bring out “Ebb Tide.”

• Instead of banging on the mic or yelling “check check”, use words and try dedicating your song to someone. No name necessary... “To the pretty blonde at the bar, or our terrific server, Suzy.” You get the picture.

• Unleash your inner ego when the music starts. Go for it... strut your stuff like Mick and writhe like Axel. Make a point of serenading the audience like Frank. Don’t blow your wad in the beginning of your song. Build it to crescendo. Save the dynamics until the end. If a chorus goes in repeat at least three times, during the last lyric chorus group, let the audience finish and reach your mic out towards them. During long instrumental breaks play air guitar, jump, jive or even add to the song. Do the David Lee Roth jump or a knee drop. That will take lots of practice in private. At the song’s end, remember the fade away, long note or scream. A deep bow or thank yous are in order too.