Four tips for karaoke success

1. Spontaneity is NOT the name of the game.  Build a personal karaoke repertoire of at least five songs.  

• To begin with, if you only have one song prepared, and you find out the venue doesn’t have your song in their catalog, you’re toast!  Second of all, if you go to the same venue every Friday, with the same group of friends, and sing the same song every time, they’ll see you as a one-trick pony.  The thrill you got from the cheers and applause the first time they saw you sing that song will become a let down when you discover that nowadays they’re chatting the whole time you’re in the spotlight.  

• Pick songs you LOVE to sing.  Be sure to not only pick ballads (slow songs).  Pick at least one or two that are crowd pleasers - songs that other people love to sing along to, too I.e. “What’s Up” by Four Non Blondes (Side note: wow, the music video has nearly TWO BILLION views!), “Sweet Caroline,” or a classic like “My Way,” or “Pretty Woman.”  It’s a great feeling when the crowd is singing along with you, and takes a little of the pressure off, too! (Here are two lists of some well-loved karaoke songs to consider adding to your own list - Billboard, TimeOut)

• Keep a list of your prepared songs on your phone, so that you can remember them when you’re presented with the book at the venue - the lists can be overwhelming.

2. It’s not sexy, but it really works: Practice, practice, practice!  

While the nice thing with karaoke is that you won’t need to memorize the songs, your voice will thank you for the muscle memory it can rely upon when you’re singing the songs it knows how to navigate.  

• Practice with the original recording or a cover version that inspires you to begin with, and let the vocal on the recording be your guide vocal, until you feel really solid singing along.  But the work has only just begun!  

• Next, find karaoke versions of your song on YouTube, and practice with them.  Some versions are much better than others, try to find one that sounds like the real track.  However, working with several different karaoke versions will only strengthen your prep for your karaoke night performance.  The tracks at the venue will very likely be slightly different from the ones you’ve practiced with, so the more comfortable you are, being confident in the melody and the vocal entrances, regardless of what the track sounds like, you’ll be in a much stronger position to nail it!  

• When you practice, pay special attention to tricky notes, problem areas, and vocal entrances you’re unsure of - whether it’s the rhythm or the note you’re supposed to come in on.  Count your entrances so you know when to come in, practice that wobbly high note until it’s consistently solid, etc.  

• Did you think you were done?  No, no, if you’re serious about karaoke-ing with confidence, the next step is to practice PERFORMING the song.  What are your facial expressions?  Are you using your. hands at all?  How are you selling the song?  How are you conveying feeling?  Film yourself performing the song to an imaginary audience and watch it back with critical eyes - were you fun to watch, or were you boring?  Did you LOOK confident, or did you look like you wanted to die?  Keep practicing until you see some energy from your performance that you like.

3. Make the song your own.

There are several ways you can stand out (in a good way!) when you karaoke.  

• You can be a great singer.  

• You can be really entertaining to watch (in other words, a great performer).

• You can “switch genders” - sing a male singer’s song if you’re a female and vice versa.  There are other ways to be unexpected, too, for example, if you have a naturally light, breathy voice, an obvious choice would be a Billie Eilish song….but what if you sang a Metallica song instead?  It might just turn out to be really cool!

• But here’s what I’m talking about in terms of making the song your own: You can go “off script” by not singing the song exactly like the original, note for note, but by changing it up a bit.  Maybe you sing a different melody in the second verse, maybe you add a little scat section during the instrumental moment, or mimic the electric guitar solo with your voice.  Maybe you add some runs and riffs to the melody (people LOVE this!).  Maybe you add a big, belted note, or a really high note that isn’t part of the original song.  Maybe you add some ad libs.  This is how you “make the song your own.”  TV shows are BUILT around this skill (i.e The Voice and American Idol), study them. Search the name of your song and the word “cover” on youtube to get inspired.  

4. And finally, PLEASE, just have fun!

Yes, I just told you to practice like crazy, but it’s kind of a buzzkill when a karaoke performer seems like they’re trying too hard.  The whole point is to have fun, and that’s really what karaoke is all about!  When they call your name and you head to the stage, let go of fear, let go of expectation, and just surrender to the moment.  What is the moment?  It’s simply you singing a song you love!  You celebrating music.  You fellowshipping with friends and kindred souls.  It doesn’t matter if the song goes great or is a disaster - the audience is entertained and supportive, either way (unless they’re *$%holes, and who cares about them)! 

I’ve made the mistake of putting pressure on myself because everyone knows I’m a professional singer, and I imagine that everyone is expecting me to be really good!  I’ve learned that really, no one cares as much as you do.  So when YOU release yourself from caring so much, and allow yourself to JUST HAVE FUN, that’s exactly what will happen, and that’s all that really matters.      

PS If you’re looking for a karaoke machine to practice with at home, check out my review of Vangoa which you can buy on Amazon. I always joke that singers become kids in the candy store when a mic is put in front of them. Watching this back now, that’s exactly what happened to me. I think I was having a little too much fun in this one-person karaoke party with my dogs!