BIRTHDAYS

 IN THIS ISSUE:

Happy June everyone!

Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?
Better find out soon 'coz father's day is coming up Sunday the 18th and the first day of summer is officially the 21st of June.

And don't forget "Take Your Dog to Work Day on the 20th".

This Monday is the last day to qualify at Swizzles for the Canadian National Karaoke Championships. The semi-finals begin the following week. There are only 3 weeks left to qualify at O'Brien's. More prizes have been added including a 2nd recording package worth $10,000.

The Thirsty Toad Wednesday karaoke night kicked off last week to a great turnout and a fabulous paw party!

The online library was updated last month. You can see all libraries at a glance or see each specific library listed by artist or title as well as french song library and children's songs.

Check out the message forum. With over 270 registered members, it's a great way to get to know many of the people you see at the various d&p shows.

The forum is also the 1st place to learn about special events, parties, newest songs and what's happening in the community often the same day we do. We post the newest songs to the forum the day they arrive (although it may take several more days to get the information on the website or printed in the new additions songbooks).

We've added 100's of new songs to all libraries last month (and pretty much every single month). This month we added a bunch of new French songs as well. [see latest additions here]

***ONLINE LIBRARY Updated May, 2006 ***
View all the libraries at a glance.
or
Find Your Favorite Library:
Library #42 in use at: LookOut, O'Brien's, Swizzles & Royal Britannia
Library #9¾ in use at: Swizzles, Thirsty Toad,
Library #33.3 in use at: Swizzles

Join our message board to keep up on the latest news, weather & sports...uh...songs, shows & events.

The Do's and Don’ts Of A Vocal Performing Competition
Courtesy of The Canadian National Karaoke Coalition (CNKC)

We've fielded questions from singers wondering what they could or should have done to improve their score in a competative environment. It's often not enough to sing well. Remember that a singer is a performer. It is imperative you appeal to your audience. This can be accomplished many ways. You might be a singer that emotes strong feelings and draws the audience into the song with you. You may be a singer that gets an audience on their feet, feeling good and having fun. You may have a unique look, sound or style but no matter what your strength, you, like all entertainers, must find a way to combine your vocal talent with stage appeal.

Here are a few simple guidelines to help you do well.

Song choice is very important!
- Choose a song that holds meaning for you, that you can relate to and are able to convey its meaning to your audience.
- Choose a song that is reasonably well known over an obscure selection.
- Avoid choosing a song that is too popular otherwise you risk boring your audience.
- Choose a song with some variation such as tempo, range, or key to keep your audience interested.
- Avoid choosing songs that are too long.
- Avoid choosing songs that are too slow. A fun, upbeat song is often more memorable than a heartfelt ballad.
- If you have more than one song choice, mix them up a bit to show your range and versatility.

Vocal Performance:
-Show your versatility.
-Use pitch, intonation, tonal control and dynamic range (from soft to loud) to showcase your abilities and to add some variety to your performance.
-Sometimes, less is more. If you have the ability to hit a note so high only a dog could hear or are able to fill a room with sound without a microphone remember, it is far more impressive to show a dynamic shift from soft to loud or low to high rather than maintaining a single sound throughout your performance. Give your audience variety.
-Highlight your strengths and downplay your weaknesses. Modify the song and melody to your advantage. If you can not hit a particular note without sounding shrill or flat, it is best to arrange the song to avoid that note.

Stage Presence:
- Release your inner entertainer. It is seldom enough to simply stand in one place and sing. Try swaying to the music if you can not dance or train yourself to walk about the stage while you sing.
- Use body language to help convey the song's meaning but avoid clichés like pointing to your eyes or your heart.
- Consider props and costumes to enhance your performance appeal.
- Sing to your audience. Make eye contact whenever possible.
- While glancing is fine, avoid singing to the monitor(s).
- Have fun with your performance and the audience will too.

Competition Ettiquette :
- Be respectful to your fellow competitiors
- Do not distract competitiors by speaking loudly during their performances
- Whether you win or lose, be graceful.

Best of luck to you and remember to have fun!

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