A DIFFERENT KARAOKE COMP : UPDATE

Thanks again for all your input.

I have managed to “talk” 11 people into it – well, “talk” is a mild description, I played all my cards and ambushed them from all angles, but mainly what got them was me calling them “cheap” and labelling them “chicken-sh*t” … LOL !!

What I find most difficult, is to get people to think outside the square – first I ask them to tell me what they think or what they know about karaoke comps / talent quests – then I ask them to throw all those thoughts and preconceptions out, as this “comp” is completely different!

This is one comp where 50 people pay $250 each (all-comers, no exclusions) to perform over 50 nights of “Heats” and then a “Final Night”, one performer each night performing cabaret style the same 5 songs, all 50 have a hand in choosing those 5 songs from a shortlist, they all have a hand in fine-tuning the judging criteria to be adopted, and they will be judged by 3 of their own hand-picked judges – with the Final 3 performing 2 songs of their choice as a decider for the $5000 / $3000 / $1000 cash prizes.

The ball is now squarely in my court – do I want to spend $500 to $1000 to advertise for “expressions of interests”, to test the waters, to see if I can get the other 40 contestants?? 40 other people willing to pit themselves against one another with an investment of $250 to win $1000 / $3000 / $5000 … and have some fun along the way …. with a 6-course dinner thrown in at the start when all contestants and judges meet to make a few decisions, a complimentary dinner for 2 plus drinks on the night of their individual performances, and a chance to hold centre-stage for 30 minutes performing cabaret-style … It is NOT a crowd-puller for my venue, it is NOT the 'spotlight event' at my venue ... it is almost like a 'private contest' among 50 purists ... !!

Like all things in life, it is all relative isn’t it? $250 will seem a lot to most people, but to some it is just nothing more than a REASONABLE Saturday night out for 2 people, or just the cost of one hand at the Blackjack table, or what someone would pay for the flip of a card at a friendly poker game ….

Then again … preaching the Gospel according to KEV and ROB DEAL … “why bother??”

Yes indeed … I would not have bothered if it is going to be another run-off-the-mill comp … I held a Karaoke Comp 2 years ago at my venue (as part of a National Comp, and I might add that my venue produced the Victorian representative for the National Finals) … and here are the SAD statistics:
- 97.5% of the contestants were comp chasers
- 97.5% of those contestants have not been to my venue previously, nor have they been back since (the only time they visited was during their “Heats” and also the “Final” for those who made it through!)
- 90.0% of those contestants brought their entourage, and 85.0% of them and their entourage are SWDs and they also demanded “good seats” at the venue but not wanting to pay a red cent for anything!

SAMMO

PS: I have also in the works another 'comp', one which is designed to keep all 'outsiders' at bay, one which will 'reward' my patrons only, and one which will make money for me as the venue operator. I will post some details on this comp in due course.

Submitted by SAMMO aka ERIC on 02-10-2006

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