7 Tips to Help you Win your Next Karaoke Competition

Have you got a big karaoke competition coming up that you really want to win? Well, you’ve come to the right place! We have put together this list of the 7 best tips to help you win your next karaoke contest!

7 Tips for Winning a Karaoke Competition

1. Have great vocals

2. Choose the perfect song

3. Be a performer

4. Practice makes perfect

5. Dress to impress

6. Follow the rules
7. Preparation is Key

Let’s go through each tip in detail to make sure you nail your singing performance, wow the audience and judges and win the competition!

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1. Have Great Vocals

Okay so some people are naturally good singers and don’t need that much practice to sound great. But unfortunately, most people aren’t blessed with natural singing talent. So if you fall into the second category, how can you still have great vocals so you can win a karaoke competition?

Warm Up Properly

A proper vocal warm up doesn’t have to be anything silly or embarrassing. Here are a few warm up ideas that’ll help you sound better at karaoke.

Practice deep breathing for 5 minutes.
Try humming a song or tune through a straw.
Take a deep breath and then exhale by letting the air move through your lips allowing them to vibrate. This helps to relax your mouth.
Do some tongue twisters to stop you getting caught up on your words.
Massage your jaw with your hands to relax your jaw and mouth.

Have Good Breathing Technique

One of the main causes of a poor vocal performance, is that the singer is singing from their throat and not breathing deeply enough. The best way to fix this is by practicing deep breathing regularly. Take around 10-15 minutes a day to really focus on your breathing, using a technique called belly breathing. This involves breathing using your mouth and nose to inhale as much as possible to fill your belly up. You then need to exhale slowly and deeply.

Also, when you’re actually singing, be conscious of singing from your throat and try and breath deeply and produce the sound from lower down. It takes a bit of practice, but it’s one of the best ways to be a better karaoke singer!

Stand Properly

The best vocal performances come from people who are stood up and definitely not sat down. You should be standing with your feet shoulder width apart and the weight of your body slightly resting on the balls of your feet.

You also need to have good posture to sing as well as possible. This means shoulders and neck back and your hips in a neutral position. Test this by standing with your back to the wall with your ankles, rear, upper back and neck all touching the wall. Then lift your arms up and have that back of your palms touching the wall near your head. If this feels uncomfortable, then keep working on it to become a better singer.

Take a look at our 5 ways to improve your singing today!

2. Choose the Perfect Song

The next thing you need to do to nail your karaoke performance and win the competition, is to pick the perfect song. There’s a lot that goes into picking a showstopping song that’ll wow the judges.

Pick one you enjoy

It’s really important to enjoy the song you’re singing because if otherwise, you won’t look as into your performance as you can be. This is something that the audience and the judges will definitely pick up on. So get together a list of 10-20 of your favourite songs and go from there.

Cater to the audience and judges

You need to make sure you keep the audience and judges in mind when picking your karaoke song. It’s important that you enjoy the song, but it’s even more important that the judges do. Think about the age group of the audience and the type of venue you’re in. 80’s songs are always a popular category to choose from if you’re not sure what the audience and judges will enjoy.

Pick something popular but original

You want to pick something that the is popular enough for everyone to know most of the words, but not too popular that it’s cliched. Try and think outside the box. The most individual performances will be the ones that the judges remember. When you tell people what song you’re singing, you want the reaction to be something like “I remember that song, it’s really underrated!”.

Match it to your vocal ability

You also need to be realistic about what kind of song you are capable of singing. Think about your vocal range and what suits it best. Also consider if there are any really difficult sections of the song that you might not be able to handle properly. You don’t want to pick something so easy that it’s not impressive, but you also don’t want to have a weak performance with a difficult song.

Need more help choosing a song? Take a look at these posts.

3. Be a Performer

In addition to singing well, you also need to make sure you put in a great performance too. Karaoke isn’t just about singing, it’s about making sure that the audience have a great time too. Sometimes a great performer will score higher than a better singer if the judged are impressed with the show you put on. Here are some of the best ways to be a great karaoke performer and win the competition.

Dance

If you’ve chosen an upbeat song then it’s good to have a bit of a dance as well to entertain your audience. It doesn’t have to be anything scripted, but make sure you move around the stage and don’t stay glued to one spot with your arms by your sides. Don’t overdo it though, you don’t want to be too cringeworthy or it’ll put the judges off!

Smile

Unless you’re singing a very emotional or serious song, then make sure you smile. And even if you have chosen a sad song, make sure you smile to the judges and audience after your performance! It’s one of the best ways to show that you’re confident and stops you looking nervous even if you feel it!

Don’t Look at the Screen

You should always aim to look at the audience and judges when you’re singing your karaoke song. You should’ve chosen a song you know really well so this shouldn’t be too hard. Looking at the screen makes you look nervous and unprepared which won’t do your final score any favours.

Enjoy yourself

One of the most simple but best pieces of advice for any karaoke performance, is to make sure you enjoy yourself. If you look nervous then it’s hard for the audience and judges to relax and enjoy your performance. But if they can tell you’re having fun, then they’ll be a lot more likely to have a great time too!

Be Confident

Make sure you’re relaxed and confident for your performance. Remember that you’ve got this and to believe in yourself! Make sure that you’re confident and not cocky though. It’s a fine line to tread, but coming across cocky will really hurt your likeability and may lead to the judges giving you a lower score.

4. Practice makes Perfect

The old saying is true, practice makes perfect. Singing is to some a extent a talent, but it’s also a skill that can be developed. You need to make sure that you practice both your vocals and performance to make sure you give yourself the best chance of winning a karaoke competition.

Use an instrumental

You should always aim to practice your karaoke singing with an instrumental track and not the original track. This way you’re able to properly self-assess and hear your voice so you can decide what to work on.

Quality not quantity

It’s also important to practice properly. It’s a lot better to practice for shorter periods of time with maximum effort, than to spend hours cementing poor technique. So aim to practice for at least 20 minutes a day, but stop if you feel like your technique is slipping.

Practice in mirror

This might sound like weird advice, but it’s actually a really helpful tip. Practicing in the mirror allows you to analyse your body language to make sure you come across well to the audience. It’s also great for reducing your nerves.

Get feedback

It’s crucial to get as much feedback on your performance as possible to help you make improvements. You can get feedback from friends and family, from people at karaoke bars and also online by uploading videos of you singing to YouTube, Facebook or Instagram.

5. Dress to Impress

Some karaoke competitions have specific themes. The best way to stand out is to dress to impress and wear an outfit that really fits the theme. Sometimes dressing like the singer who’s song you’re performing is a great idea, particularly if it’s an iconic outfit. But if you want to be a bit more unique and put your own spin on the performance, then you can choose different fancy dress for example from the era of the song.

Fun.com is a online huge party supply store that has loads of great costumes to choose from!

If the karaoke contest is more serious, then don’t go for fancy dress. Instead wear something that suits the venue. If it’s a formal venue, then wear a shirt and tie or a black dress. If it’s more casual then you can be a bit more relaxed. Remember to wear something that you can easily move around in and that you feel comfortable performing in so you can move around the stage freely.

6. Follow the Rules

Some karaoke competitions are pretty laidback, but others have strict rules. You should always check these rules before planning your song and preparing for the contest. The worst possible thing that could happen at a karaoke competition is for you to lose on a technicality, so make sure this doesn’t happen. Make sure you check what time you need to arrive and if there are any restrictions on the songs you can choose.

7. Preparation is Key

So it’s not long now until your karaoke competition. But what can you actually do in the days and hours leading up to your performance to make the most of your voice?

REST YOUR VOICE

It’s a good idea to try and rest your voice as much as possible a few days before your karaoke performance. You can still practice a little if you think you need it, but aim to keep it under 5 to 10 minutes at a time to avoid wearing your voice out.

HYDRATION IS KEY

We all know that hydration is super important for your health, but did you know that drinking water is key for optimal singing performance? You need to make sure you’re fully hydrated to prevent your throat getting dry and experiencing the dreaded voice crack. So make sure you get your 2 litres of water in on the day of the performance but also in the days leading up to it.

WARM UP PROPERLY

Make sure you properly warm up your voice to get the most out of it. Here are some of our favourite vocal warm up exercises.

So that’s it! Those are the 7 best tips for winning a karaoke competition! Remember to relax, be confident and smash your performance! Take a look at these other posts for more advice.