How to Get the Karaoke Party Started (Even If Everyone’s Nervous)

The karaoke machine is on. The songs are queued. Everyone has said how much fun this is going to be. And now everyone is suddenly very interested in the snacks.

Who’s going first? Cue a room full of people avoiding eye contact. If your karaoke party needs a little nudge, here are a few ways to get your friends laughing, joining in and eventually refusing to hand the microphone back.

1. Start bad. It only goes up from here.

Find someone who is happy to go first, fully aware that their enthusiasm may considerably outweigh their singing ability. This is their moment.

Give them something gloriously ambitious: a long song, a ridiculously high chorus, a dramatic key change. A confident volunteer attempting Bohemian Rhapsody with absolutely no plan is a strong opening act.

Commit to the performance. The gestures. The imaginary wind machine. The note that was never going to happen. Once everyone is laughing together, the bar has been helpfully lowered. Someone will think, “Well, I can do better than that.” Someone else will already be singing along.

The important bit: your opening act is in on the joke. We’re celebrating someone being wonderfully game, and cheering them on accordingly.

2. Turn the lights down. Turn the atmosphere up.

Bright overhead lighting can make a lounge feel alarmingly like an audition room. Switch to lamps, fairy lights or colourful party lights and let everyone feel a little more anonymous.

Got a smoke machine and a venue happy for you to use it? This is its moment. Smoke machine on full… “Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be…”

You don’t need special effects to make this work. A softer-lit room, a familiar face beside you and a crowd singing along can be enough to make that first song feel much less daunting.

3. Follow the chaos with songs everyone knows.

Once your brave opening act has broken the ice, queue a few upbeat favourites with familiar choruses. Save the obscure album tracks and technically impressive solos for later. Right now, you want the people on the sofa joining in before they’ve even realised they’re doing it.

• Dancing Queen — ABBA
• Wannabe — Spice Girls
• Valerie — Amy Winehouse
• Any Disney song — bonus points if everyone knows all the characters’ parts
• I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) — The Proclaimers

Pick for your crowd: the songs you all grew up with, the road-trip favourites or that one chorus everyone knows. Hand someone the second microphone for a duet, or let the whole room take the first song together.

4. Build a mystery playlist.

Choose a theme and ask everyone to send the host one song privately. Keep who chose what a secret. Try “the first single I bought”, “my first gig”, “my all-time favourite” or, for maximum revelations, “my teenage obsession”.

1. The host builds the playlist without revealing who submitted each song.
2. Put the names of everyone who wants to sing into a hat.
3. Play the next song and draw a name to perform it. Duets, backup singers and a pass are all allowed.
4. After the performance, everyone guesses who originally chose the song.
5. Reveal the answer, hear the story and move on to the next mystery.

You might discover your quietest friend had a full boy-band era. Or that the supposedly cool one’s first single was something they’ve spent twenty years trying to forget. The stories between songs are half the fun.

5. Give it The Voice treatment.

Turn the audience’s chairs around, or have everyone face away from the singer. Let the host quietly choose a willing performer, then start the song without announcing their name.

Can everyone guess who’s singing? Is that your best friend putting on an entirely new voice? Has someone been hiding an impressive country accent? Make your guesses before turning around for the big reveal.

For anyone nervous about being watched, an audience facing the other way can make the first verse feel much easier. For everyone else, it’s an excellent excuse for some wildly overconfident guessing.

Leave room for the sofa singers.

Some people will grab the mic immediately. Others need three choruses, a duet partner and a very specific song. Let them find their own way in. No surprise nominations for someone who really doesn’t want a turn, and ask before filming or sharing anyone’s performance.

The best karaoke nights start with people feeling comfortable enough to be a little ridiculous together. Get one willing person singing, let the room join in and see where the playlist takes you.

Planning a night in Queenstown? One More Song delivers and sets up the Party Box, complete with two wireless microphones. You bring your favourite people. Questionable harmonies very much welcome.

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