I was the Karaoke director and judge. Please let me say that this was by far the toughest job I had at the con. I know it sounds completely generic, but everyone did so well, I thought everyone deserved a first. (Good thing there were four judges. Equally wowed judges, I might add.) It really stank to have to choose, though the winners were most certainly deserving.
Things I didn't like -
-having only one hour to judge the auditions. We were super rushed.
-Having the contests lasts only one hour. Did people prefer the short contests? The feedback was that people liked to short separate contests.
-Being up against the dance and the tail end of cosplay for Idol.
-Being upstairs without proper signage.
-Having to be judgemental over people I know. I have been to four cons now, and I make friends at each one. I knew most of the people who were competeing, and had to be constantly aware of my personal bias when judging. (This was not a factor in the final scores. Scores were all over the board between the judges, each of us having different favorites. That's why there were four of us, and judges choice awards)
-Having to leave directly from Idol, running madly to run a discussion on the opposite end of the hotel. I didn't get any open mic time.
I LOVED Karaoke Kaizokudan. They made the contest run so smoothly. I regret that I did not have more time to hang out with them. If I have a say, they will be back next year.
Please note that all of these frustrations can be remedied. The biggest help is volunteer staff. So if you want to help karaoke become even more fabulous, please, volunteer.
