Whether you’re looking to be “discovered,” hoping to win cool prizes, or just seeking some recognition of your awesome vocal talents, karaoke contests are a great way to test yourself. While these competitions offer a chance to see some great performers (and some not-so-great ones, too), and have an outrageously good time, they’re even more fun if you win. How do you do it? Read on, and go ahead and imagine a little ball jumping over the words as you do. Steps 1. Practice singing. No matter what else you do, it’s important to be able to carry a tune and sing on pitch. While you need not be the "best" singer at the competition, and you certainly don’t need to be professionally trained, those things won’t hurt you. Karaoke contests are usually judged on some combination of vocal ability, audience response, and stage presence, but if you can nail the singing part, the judges may give you some leeway on other aspects of your performance. The best way to practice karaoke is to sing karaoke. 2. Learn your songs by heart. Most all karaoke contests allow you to pick your own songs, and if you’re going to win, you should have practiced these time and time again. Yes, the words are right there on the screen, but if you know the words and have perfect timing, you don’t even have to look at the screen. Not only will your overall performance be more masterful, you may impress the judges and audience with your knowledge of the songs. An elimination round in a contest is a bad time to find out that you can't pull off a particular song. 3. Understand the format of the contest. Karaoke contests are usually either judged by a panel of judges or by the audience. In some of the latter, the audience will actually formally vote, while in most a judge or judges will try to gauge the audience's reaction to a song. You also want to know how you're being judged. Most contests are based on overall performance, but some look strictly at how well you impersonate the artist (or how original you are), or other factors. Finally, know how many songs you'll be expected to sing so you'll have enough prepared in advance. 4. Follow the rules. Some contests require that you sing a particular kind of music (80s rock only, for example), or that you appear in costume. Make sure to follow the rules or you probably won't win even if you give the best performance. 5. Extend courtesy to other performers. Yes, other performers are your competition, but don't try to malign them or mock them, even if someone really can't sing. Be polite, and unless the rules dictate otherwise, applaud everybody. Remember you will very likely be judged on your audience's reaction to your songs, and many of your competitors are part of the audience. They won't treat a heckler kindly. 6. Cater to the audience (or the judges). Above all, sing to the audience, not to the karaoke screen. Beyond that, know your audience. Understanding your audience will help you choose songs that most appeal to them. If you haven't been to a venue before, you might want to visit it in advance to check out the crowd and see what they're playing on the jukebox. On the night of the competition, try to gauge the judges' or audience's reaction to songs and see if you can spot trends (maybe they hate love songs), and choose your songs accordingly if you still can. 7. Sing a song to showcase your range and talents. There are a lot of songs that just about anybody can sing passably, but if you've got an exceptional vocal range or if you can rap just like Snoop (rap is notoriously difficult to karaoke) choose songs that reflect that. If you want to awe the audience--and you do--you need a great performance of a difficult song. 8. Develop stage presence. People come to karaoke (or to concerts) to see a performance, not just to hear one. Don't just stand there and sing, and don't act like you don't know what to do during an instrumental interlude. Convey the emotions of the song with your facial gestures and body movements, and by all means dance if appropriate. Get some ideas by watching concert videos of professional performers. If you can find a video of the original artist performing the song you're going to sing, all the better. 9. Dress the part. Your attire can help the judges remember you, especially if you go to a themed competition or if you're only singing certain kinds of songs. If you're going to sing glam rock, dress like a glam rocker, or maybe dress like a country singer to add a bit of humor to your performance. 10. Be true to the original. Even if it's subconscious, most people judge a karaoke performance by how close it sounds to the original. It's amazing when someone gets up to sing a Garth Brooks song and you could swear they were just lip-synching to a CD of Garth himself. While you need not be a professional voice impersonator, try to fit the mood and style of the song (i.e. add a bit of twang to a country song). 11. Add your own twist. Musicians who cover a song can alter it all they want. You don't have that luxury because the karaoke music is designed to sound just like the original version. That said, there's a little room for creativity. For example, try inserting the name of a local landmark in place of one mentioned in the song. This can have a humorous effect and is likely to get a rise out of the audience. 12. Try to go close to last in the rotation. You may not want to actually go last, because people tend to lose focus a bit in anticipation of the results or the next round. However, if you can position yourself near the end, the judges will have your performance fresh in their minds. 13. Relax and have a good time. If you have a problem with stage fright, you've got to learn to suppress it. There are a number of ways to do this, but probably the best is to fight it by singing a lot of karaoke. Don't take yourself too seriously up there, and even if you're nervous, show the audience that there's nothing you'd rather be doing. 14. Be a good winner (or loser). If you win, congratulations! Now be gracious. If you don't win, don't mope, don't make excuses, and don't get mad about how "the contest was fixed." You'll likely see these people again if you continue to compete in karaoke contests, and you want to leave them with a good impression of you. Tips * Nothing beats actually going out to karaoke nights for practice, but you can also practice at home on your own karaoke equipment, or you can find lyrics and karaoke MIDI files on the Internet. * When you're practicing, have a friend or two go with you to karaoke and honestly critique your performances. You can't always judge your performance accurately, and unless you're in a competition, it's tough to get a good idea of how well you're really doing. * Get hydrated well in advance. Drink plenty of water before the competition, and maintain your hydration throughout. Nothing can sabotage your singing like a dry mouth. * Choose songs that most everybody knows. People generally get into a song that they recognize and like. Obscure songs aren't off limits, but only choose one if you have a good reason (i.e. if you can yodel well, you might want to choose a less well-known song with an amazing yodelling part. Warnings * Don't sing a long song or one that repeats itself a lot. If your performance leaves something to be desired, a long song will really wear on the audience. Even if you have a great performance, though, people tend to get bored with a song that's too long or that's just the same thing over and over. * Be careful about alcohol. "Liquid courage" is the very fuel that keeps most karoake nights running, and the performances in these venues generally reflect that. In a competition, you'll find that many people, maybe most, don't drink at all. If you do want to loosen up with a couple drinks, don't go overboard. * Don't sing a song that somebody else has already sung. This invites a direct comparison with somebody else, and you'd better be sure that all aspects of your performance will beat theirs hands down before attempting it. * Don't choose a song that's overdone. While you want a song that's familiar to people, you don't necessarily want to sing one of those songs that you are almost guaranteed to hear at any karaoke night you visit. People tend to tire of the same old song and dance. * It's not so much a warning per se. If you are doing a theme where you are singing songs by the same artist, and they have a HUGE selection, it is great that you know a song others don't but you do run the risk of alienating people. But then again, if your performance is great, you may get away with it. After all, most of the best songs on the CD's never made it onto the radio.

Every aspiring singer should know that just standing and singing well on stage will rarely keep your audience engaged and interested in your performance. Here are some tips to help you play a great show. Steps 1. Love the songs you sing. It's common sense, but if you do not have your heart and soul in a song you will come off as fake and/or cheesy. Even if it's a cover, try to relate to the lyrics and the feeling as much as possible. 2. Smile as much as you can. Moodiness does not come over well to the audience. Let them see you are having a great time, and the effect will rub off on them. 3. Move around! Come on, don't just stand there looking awkward! If you constantly move, even just a little bit, your motion will attract the audience's eyes. Good examples of singers who move around a lot: Axl Rose, Bruce Dickinson, Michael Jackson, Bono, Gerard Way, etc... 4. Steal moves from the big guys. Go ahead, no one is going to fault you if you take some pointers from well-known singers. Axl Rose was renowned for his stage presence, by fans and critics alike. Don't copy one person, and don't copy their whole routine. Take the bits that you enjoy the most and make them your own. 5. Learn to use facial expressions and poses to go with the emotions. Be careful not to tighten your throat or do other actions that would inhibit good vocal technique! Watch Geoff Tate for someone who correctly vocalizes while dramatically expressing emotions. 6. Learn when NOT to grab attention. Sometimes you have to let other band members steal some spotlight. Otherwise you'll become an egomaniac in others' eyes! Think of David Lee Roth! 7. Talk to your audience. If you involve the audience, they will be forced to pay attention. Freddie Mercury used to sing a line, then make the audience sing it back. Get the audience in on the songs. Ask them questions ("How we all doin' out there? All right? I said, 'Are we doin' all right!?'" etc...), make them shout out, tell them you want to see a mosh pit and things like that, depending on your style of music. Tips * Take some acting classes if you feel you have trouble with your expressions or emoting. * When you jam, practice as if you're in front of an audience. This will prepare you mentally for acting and moving in front of them. * Be sure to thank your audience! They gave you time to perform for them! * Avoid becoming a "rock and roll cliche" which includes asking the crowd "How's everybody doing tonight," or "Come everybody, make some noise." * Make a personal connection with the audience through storytelling or providing background about your songs, your band or yourself. * Do not overdo it. Experience will help develop your style. Let it be unique and not a parody. * Let go. Once you have practiced and strained to get things smooth, the only way they will start to work perfectly is when you do not bother thinking about them and are just running on autopilot. Warnings * Do not overdo the moving around, remember you are a singer foremost, hitting the right notes and staying in key is more important. * Do not forget to warm up your vocals before hitting that stage! * Keep water on the stage to prevent you from dehydrating and passing out on stage! * Try not to be too messed up on substances or you will just run into trouble! * Do not complain! Unless it is something major, let it go. Do not ever talk bad about your band members, the songs, or the venue. You will run into trouble and you'll look petty.

Correct breathing can help you to be the best singer you can be. Not only will it help you sing, but breathing correctly will help you relax for those tense moments when the spotlight's on you! Steps 1. The most important part about learning to breath freely is to practice noticing how it is that you breathe. The more you know about your own habits, the easier it will be to release tensions and achieve free-flow while breathing. 2. Breathe in so that your torso expands in all directions (downwards into your bowels, forward in your stomach and ribcage, backward in your lower back and ribcage and up into your shoulders [be sure not to raise your shoulders, however]). Remember not to hold anything in place, meaning, let the body do what it does. Allow your breath to touch the very bottom of your torso, breathe as deeply as possible. As you get more into the technique, your back and sides will move with your breathing. 3. Do not force your breath out. When you place your finger in front of your mouth, your breath should feel warm and sensuous. It should fall out of you, rather than being pushed. It should also be silent. The more noise made while breathing, the more tension there is. 4. Practice noticing the breath with everything you do, singing (or playing any other instrument), talking, exercising, or doing nothing in particular. Notice what happens to the breath while doing different activities. 5. Do breathing exercises to increase the amount of control you have with your diaphragm. To help build stamina and strength, breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, then breathe out for four seconds. After you have mastered this, move to 6-6-6, then 8-8-8, all the way to 20-20-20, but do not go past 20. 6. Try not to think in terms of mastering breath. The best way to approach it, is to be a continual student. The moment you think you have mastered something, you stop learning. Tips * Have good posture. Get your shoulders back (not way back, but not way forward), back straight, feet on the floor, shoulders relaxed. * When breathing in, pretend you are smelling a rose. * When breathing out, pretend there is a lit candle right in front of you, and you need to avoid blowing it out. * Pretend your diaphragm area is a balloon, getting bigger when air is put in, and getting smaller when you breathe out. * In this way, you are controlling duration through varied 'compression of the bellows' instead of 'restriction of the throat', an all too common problem.

We all get scared if we are performing in a play, standing up on stage or doing a monologue in front of tons of people. Singing on stage (or even trying out for American Idol!) is no different, except that you need to steady your breathing even more to ensure that you can hit those notes perfectly without sounding strained or tense. Here are some suggestions to help you. Steps 1. Make sure there are people you know out in the crowd. Look at them the whole time - they are your support team. 2. Focus on a fixed point. If you don't have a support team, or you can't bear to look at anyone at all, choose a point just above the audience's heads and focus on it. There may be a clock, a piece of ceiling ornament or a colored hanging - anything that is in a fixed spot that is roughly in the middle of the audience will help you to focus and still make it appear that you are looking out into the audience. 3. Take deep breaths before you sing. Don't shortchange yourself on breathing; always follow the breathing exercises that you have been taught in singing lessons. Make sure that your breathing comes from deep down in your diaphragm. 4. Calm yourself. Use visualisation techniques or counting backwards to calm down. Examples include: * Try saying the alphabet backwards in your head - this takes so much concentration effort, that you forget your nerves. * Close your eyes and pretend you are in the shower. * If you start swinging your arms, or other distracting body movement, wiggle your toes in your shoes. No one can see it! 5. Block everyone out of your mind. Just concentrate on your part and the words and enjoy the flow of the music through you. 6. Enjoy the occasion. You have worked hard to get this far and now it's time to show what you are capable of doing. Tips * If you totally mess up, just remember to act like it didn't even happen! Or, use humor to defuse the situation and make a joke about your nerves or the glare of the light. To pull this off well though, it pays to look up little humorous lines on comedy sites before you're up there on stage so that you have some good lines ready at hand should anything go amiss. And you can always promise people a second song to make up for it... * Put your heart into your singing; your feelings and expressions will flow through. Trying to feel the emotion of the words of the song is also a good method to move yourself away from any nervousness and self-doubt that you may be experiencing. * Some people use "substances" to help them relax, that works or sometimes it helps to just have a really relaxing day before the show. Warnings * Practice makes perfect; don't expect to stand up and sing on stage successfully without it. Singing is hard work and 99% of singing success comes from off-stage preparation. If you cut corners in the preparation, it will show on stage. * Be realistic about your vocal range. Don't try to push it into ranges where it doesn't go; it sounds dreadful very quickly and your audience will react negatively. Everyone can sing; it is just a case of finding the range and sticking with it. And some people are destined to be back-up vocalists rather than the lead. If this is you, accept it with grace and realize that without back-up vocalists, lead singers would never sound as brilliant as they do.