PULTEVENT
Karaoke host tips: 7 ways to keep a KJ night moving
A basement bar in Glasgow, a Wednesday, twenty to eleven. The rotation list on the clipboard has fourteen names on it, and the man at the top has sung the same eight-minute rock epic every week since the bar reopened. Two students by the door have been waiting forty minutes for their first go and are putting their coats back on. The KJ looks at the clipboard, looks at the door, and makes a decision that will either save the night or start a feud.
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Karaoke looks like the easiest gig in the trade: press play, hand over the mic, repeat. Anyone who has run a weekly night knows it's closer to air traffic control. You're balancing the regulars against the newcomers, the confident against the terrified, the song that fills the floor against the one that sends half the bar to the smoking area.
Most of what follows is about people and sound, and applies whatever you run the tracks on. The contest side (battles, votes, scores, the awards at the end) is where I use PULTEVENT: a console in a laptop browser, the vote and scoreboard on the bar's screen, and guests voting from their phones after scanning a QR code. No app, but the phones need internet, which in a basement bar is worth testing first.
7 habits and formats for a karaoke night
1 A fair rotation
First-time singers go ahead of repeat singers, one song per person per rotation, and the order is visible to everyone. Guests can send song requests from their phones straight to the built-in DJ deck.
How to run it. Announce the rule at the start of the night, so moving a newcomer up isn't personal.
The regulars will stay either way. The newcomers only stay if they get a turn in the first hour.
2 Open with a sure thing
The first song of the night sets the bar low and the energy high. Sing it yourself, or give it to a regular you trust to be fun rather than brilliant.
How to run it. Pick something under four minutes with a chorus the whole bar can join.
Nobody wants to be the first singer. Someone has to be, and it should be someone who can take it.
3 Table battles
Two tables each put up a singer, back to back, and the bar votes from their phones. The score builds on the screen over the night.
How to run it. Let the table choose its singer. The group pressure does the recruiting for you.
People who wouldn't sign up alone will stand up for their team, and their friends become the backing choir.
4 Fake karaoke
A volunteer sings along to a track while their voice is quietly recorded. Then the music drops out and the bar hears the vocal on its own.
How to run it. Only use volunteers who love the spotlight. Never a nervous first-timer.
One of the biggest laughs you can get in a bar, and it resets the room's energy.
5 Duet roulette
The guest wheel spins through the names of people who've already sung and picks two for a surprise duet.
How to run it. Only put names on the wheel of people who agreed to it when they signed up.
It mixes up groups who have been sitting apart all night, and duets are less scary than solos.
6 Performance of the night
Near the end, three or four standout performances go on the screen and the bar votes on their phones. Bars grow in real time.
How to run it. Include one brave newcomer in the shortlist, not just the best voices.
It gives people a reason to stay until the end and a reason to come back next week.
7 Awards and a closing number
The scoreboard runs an awards ceremony: fun awards first, then the top three with confetti on screen, then one last song the whole bar sings.
How to run it. Invent awards that fit the night: bravest key change, most committed air guitar.
Ending on a group song leaves everyone with the same last memory of the bar.
Rotation you can defend
Clear rules, visible order, no skipping the queue for friends.
Sound between every singer
Five seconds on the gain saves three minutes of feedback.
Contests for the quiet tables
Battles and phone votes bring in people who'd never sign up alone.
A finish, not a fade
Awards and a last group song beat the lights coming up mid-verse.
Sound, between every single singer
The most important thing a KJ does is invisible: adjusting the mic between singers. A quiet first-timer needs more gain; the regular who sings with the mic in his mouth needs less. Check it in the first line of the song, not the second verse. Keep the mic out of the path of the main speakers, and if you get feedback, pull the gain before you touch anything else.
Keep the backing track slightly lower than you think. Singers need to hear themselves, and a bar full of people talking needs to hear the singer over the music, not the other way round.
First-timers, mic hogs and the very drunk
Nervous first-timers: stand near them for the first verse, sing along quietly off-mic if they falter, and lead the applause at the end. That applause is what brings them back.
Mic hogs: the rotation rule is your friend. "One song each until everyone's had a go" said at the start of the night is much easier to enforce than a rule invented at midnight.
The very drunk: keep them in the rotation but steer them toward short, loud songs. And have a word with the bar staff early, not after something goes wrong.
"Can I do another one?"
"After the next four. You're on the list."
Songs that empty a room
Very long songs, very slow songs late at night, and anything nobody over thirty or under twenty knows. You can't ban them, but you can schedule them. Put the epic ballad early when people are still eating, not at midnight when the bar is peaking. Keep a short list of big-chorus songs to suggest to anyone who can't decide.
Weekly bar nights and private parties
At a weekly bar night, the job is building a habit. Same night, same start time, a season scoreboard for table battles, a small prize from the bar. The team scoreboard carries the points; add each week's result and hold a final after a month.
At a private party (a birthday, a hen do, an office Christmas do) the rotation is looser and the contests matter more. Teams by table or by friend group, a battle in the middle, fake karaoke with the birthday girl if she's up for it, awards at the end.
Screens and signal
Run your usual karaoke system for the tracks. PULTEVENT handles the contest around them: the vote, the scoreboard, the wheel, fake karaoke and the awards. Voting goes through phones, so guests need internet. Basements are notorious for poor signal, so put the Wi-Fi password on the screen next to the QR code and test it from the farthest table. If phones can't connect, fake karaoke and the DJ deck still run from the laptop, and votes can go back to cheers.
The free 3-day demo, no card needed, is enough to set up a battle and a vote and try them on a quiet night. The full version is a one-time license, no subscription; pricing is on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to set up a karaoke night with battles
- 1
Write your rotation rules and put them on the screen at the start of the night.
- 2
Soundcheck with the quietest and the loudest voice you can find among the staff.
- 3
Put the QR code and the Wi-Fi password on screen and test a vote from the back.
- 4
Open with a short big-chorus song, then run the rotation with newcomers first.
- 5
In the second hour, start table battles with phone voting and a running score.
- 6
Close with a performance-of-the-night vote, the awards and a group song.
FAQ
What does a karaoke host actually do?
Does PULTEVENT play karaoke tracks?
Do guests need an app to vote?
How do I handle someone who won't give the mic back?
Can guests request songs from their phones?
Is there a monthly fee?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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