Karaoke - Qualification Round 1

My second karaoke judging experience is under way. Just like before, I can tell it's going to be a blast. We have three judges, my brother Ron, my friend Jenean, and myself. My brother's playing Randy, Jenean's playing Paula, and I once again am playing Simon. And let me tell you, I had some patently Simonesque opportunities this evening.

First though, let me go over the rules. This time around we are having five weeks of qualification and five weeks of elimination. During qualification, if the singer is good enough, we give them the thumbs up signal and they are in the contest. If they didn't do so hot, we tell them what they need to improve and they can try again during one of the other qualification weeks.

All those who qualify go onto the elimination rounds. That's where the real judging happens. Depending on how many survive qualification, we may be having to get rid of two, three, four, or more contestants each week. We will have pared it down to five for the final night.

Tonight was the first qualification round and also the first time we judges had worked together so we're still getting a feel for things, but overall it went very well. Of the eleven who participated eight were given the go ahead and three were asked to try again.

One of the three was simply too drunk to sing. It was funny and fun to watch, but it didn't have any musical merit at all. The second person eliminated was tone deaf. And I'm not sure she realized it. She really seemed to think she had done a great job, but she sang the entire song with the same note. When it came time to critique her, being that I was playing Simon, I asked her if that was her best song. When she told me it was, I simply reminded her that the American Legion has bingo as well and that maybe she'd be better suited for it. She took it well.

The final lady who was eliminated had a good voice but chose a song that she couldn't sing. We gave her some suggestions for songs that were more in her range and encouraged her to try again next week.

Mark, Deb, and Kelly, the staff from BAM Karaoke, did a wonderful job running the contest. All in all, I can tell that just like my first judging experience, this is going to be something that stays with me for the rest of my life.