Believe it or not, this is a section that is unfortunately needed.
It will explain how to make your karaoke experience
more enjoyable for everybody involved.

For Newbies: For those of you who have never sang karaoke here are a few thoughts. We firmly believe that anybody, and we do mean anybody, can sing. We have seen plenty of people come in to tell us "I couldn't carry a tune in a bag". This may be true the first time you sing, but after you get used to hearing yourself in the monitors, everybody starts adjusting their voice to the proper pitch, tempo, etc. Just take our advice and pick a song that you are at least 75% sure that you know. We have seen people, who have never done it before, get up and sing a little (maybe a lot) less than perfect. Then after they have come out a few times, they get used to the crowd, they get used to hearing themselves in the monitors, and they relax and just sing. The best recommendation we can make is to pick a song that, when you are in your car and nobody is watching or listening, that you belt out like there is no tomorrow. This is the type of song that you should start with. Forget the crowd, nobody expects you to be perfect, that is why it is karaoke and not try-outs for a band. Relax, have fun, and enjoy yourself. You will be surprised how much fun it is.

The Pecking Order: In order to keep it fun for everyone, we would like to explain how we run the order of the slips given to us. We do run it a bit different than other KJs, and here's how it goes. . .

• We are here for the establishment first. This means that we will cater more to the folks that come early and stay late. These would be called the "regulars" and I hope this makes sense. We don't believe in making people wait two hours to sing their next song, so if a person has a few slips up, they will be slid in every once in a while to those who only have one slip up. If you feel cheated because someone has gotten up a couple of times more than another, this is because this person was probably there for a good portion of the night and came out with the specific intention to patronize the club. Unfortunately, if you end up coming in the club a half hour before it closes, chances are, you will not get a chance to sing.
• The Waiters and Waitresses: We do have an exception to just about every rule put on here. The waitresses/bartenders make money on tips, simple fact. If you are desperate to sing a song and are very impatient, we have a "tip fund". If you want your song moved up in position, it is possible by putting tips in the "tip jar". These tips do not go to Cris and Rich, these tips are given to the bartenders/waitresses at the end of the night. The amount of the tip will be determined on the amount of songs up on the table. Fair enough?
• Newcomers: If there are a lot of slips on the table of people who already sang and a newcomer puts a slip up, this person will most likely sing next, or fairly close to next. An exception would be if there is a "regular" who hasn't been up in a while, then chances are, the newcomer will be positioned after the regular, provided it isn't more than a 15 minute wait.
• Playing Music: We run karaoke, and that is what people come out for. We don't believe in getting one person to sing, then play a dance tune, and then get the next person to sing. We see many KJs who do this and I see clientele get pretty angry about this. If there are a lot of slips on the table, we will call singers up back to back, so please be ready to sing if you have a slip up. This ensures that everyone will get to sing, and the odds will be a lot better of you getting up to sing as many songs as you would like. On a busy night, we can get 60 to 70 songs in if everyone stays on top of the announcements. Please be considerate. If we have to call more than twice, we will throw the slip out and you will be placed at the back of the order. Also, we believe that you came to sing, not to watch us sing. We also don't believe in KJs who need to show their singing talent. We are not there to perform for you and will only sing if there are a limited number of slips up to keep the karaoke going and to spread redundant singers out. We have seen a lot of KJs who, even if they have a long list of slips, insist on taking up your time to by singing themselves.
• Putting Friends Up: If your friends don't want to sing, please do not put a slip in for them. Nine chances out of ten, that person will not sing anyway and it only slows everybody else down.
• Bugging Us: We don't mean to make this sound rude, and we love to entertain and socialize with people but please, do not consistently bug us to move the slips up (see Waiters and Waitresses). If you feel the urge to move slips while we are not looking, to try to move your song up, we will remove it from the rotation completely.
• Drinks on the table: The equipment, and especially the music, is very expensive. Please do not place drinks on the operating table. If you do, we will discard it. And please, do not spin the microphones around or flip them when there is a break in the music. We do not buy cheap microphones, so please, do not drop them.
• Saying Goodbye: Again, Not to be rude, but If you ask us to put a song up because you are leaving, and we do, by all means, leave! Imagine how idiotic we feel if we make an exception to move you up, and you end up staying all night. Also, if you have slips on the table, and decide to leave the room or venue, please come and say goodbye. We would like to know you had a good time and we also need to know that we have to remove the slips from the order.
• Bringing your own music: Karaoke uses a special CD, called a CD+G (CD with Graphics). For the avid karaoke fans, if you have your own disks, you are more than welcome to bring them. We can play CD+G and DVD/CD+G disks, but please, bring the disk in a case so that it is protected. Although we will treat it as our own, we are not responsible for any damage that may come to your disks. For those of you that have select songs that you always like to sing and would like to build your own CD+G, there is a place online that you can order your own custom CD+G that you can actually pick and choose the songs you want on. How great would it be to just hand us a disk and say "play any song off this disk"? At this website, you can order 10 to 15 songs on a disk at only $5 per song. Click here to go to the site and pick your music, we recommend selecting "Sound Choice" music as they are truest to the originals. They also ship quickly. Most disks arrive at your door within 72 hours.
• Giving us your music: We do not own, nor will we ever play, pirated CD+Gs, so don't bother giving them to us to play for you. There are no exceptions to this rule. I don't care how much you try to convince us that it is a copy of your own original. We know the major companies and we can tell if it is a pirated label and disc.
• Singing with others: If someone is singing a song and you feel the desire to grab another mic, make sure you know the person or at least have their permission. It is their song, and if they want to do it alone, please, let them do it alone.
• A partner for duets: Cris and Rich will be more than happy to accompany you in a song if you do not have a partner for a duet, however, this is only if we know the song. Please don't ask us to "wing it". We do know a large selection of music, but there are just some songs we were not meant to sing.
• Courtesy to others: The last point we would like to make is to be courteous to others. When someone is done singing, applaud. Everyone is up there doing the best they can, so give them the same respect as you would expect to receive.