Our voice is one of life's little gifts; the gift that keeps on giving - in the shower, in the bath, whilst driving alone!



One evening last summer Sally, my fiancée, gave me a call on the way home from work. She left a voicemail, however, not quite being used to using a hands free kit, failed to hang up. She then proceeded to leave me with a very dramatic rendition of 'I will survive' by Gloria Gaynor. It made for a highly entertaining and embarrassing CD which I play from time to time in my car and at family gatherings.

Sally won't sing in public unless plied with alcohol, but when alone she clearly lets rip and turns her car in the Albert Hall.

I think this is true for most of us, but not many people would consider standing in front of an audience on a regular basis, singing their hearts out and taking money for it...Or would they?!

• Who are the professional singers and who are the money minded impostors?

• How can you spot a true professional?

• What is the role of the Wedding singer?

Sally and I are currently organising our own wedding (surprisingly enough Sally didn't throw me out after the whole Gloria Gaynor CD thing!) As we both work in the business, we know exactly what we want and how to spend from our music budget. We are both very particular about singers, bands and DJ's because we know how many clowns there are out there (And not the funny kind!). For our reception we have decided to completely eliminate the DJ and hire an old style Juke box.

This just leaves the singer. Having seen a few we find that our discussions on the subject seem to throw out the same conclusive truths. You'll probably find that you too do the same thing, for example when watching programs like X-Factor. After seeing so many acts you literally become an expert (or at least an expert on what you like).

The following should help you in determining what the role of a professional singer is (Particularly for weddings) and what qualities you should look out for before making your choice.

THE VOICE:

This is completely up to you. Everyone's voice is different and therefore it is sometimes difficult to compare one persons singing voice to another. Although I believe that a singer should have a great voice, there are many different sounds and styles to choose from. One thing I cannot stand though on a personal level is the singer who has no style or sound of their own and so imitates the sounds and styles of others (unless they are purposefully doing so for a tribute show). Watch out for this.

A singer should have good demo tracks no matter what. If they sound flat on the demo (After possibly numerous takes in the studio) then God help them when they are live! Try to suss out what type of singer YOU like, and then focus on that when continuing your research.

DRESS STYLE:

The professional wedding singer should always look smart. Jeans are for pub singers or very rich and famous celebrities who don't have to make an effort any more. Really, the singer should be slightly overdressed in comparison to the guests, but not so much so that they look like a cabaret reject.

EQUIPMENT:

Although they say “A bad workman always blames his tools” If they have bad sound equipment they WILL sound bad even if they are a great singer! A professional singer should keep up to date with the latest technologies; after all it is their job to sound pleasing.

Wow, this is a tough one! Sometimes you get people who are great but charge insanely low fees, then you can also get the ones who charge a fortune but who are awful.

I always get put off when I see that a fee is low; I think we all do it with certain products. We think “Well hang on, why is it so cheap? There must be something wrong with it”. Although this isn't always the case I still find myself sticking to that old rule, but if you're curious just dig deeper and find out more about the singer (Demo's, repertoire, etc) until you are completely satisfied.

I think that with wedding singing being such a specialist service, people can literally charge whatever they want, which is why you tend to get agencies and managers piling on large commission fees.

PACKAGES/ SERVICES:

A wedding singer should be as accommodating as possible. Their packages should fit to your day and they should be flexible, committing the whole day to you.

Beware of those who say “yeah, I'll be your DJ as well if you want”. Being a professional DJ is a completely different job and skill, to being a professional singer (you wouldn't hire a plumber to fix the television would you?).

From my experience certain singers tend to do this so they can cash in on the full day. They just leave a play list running on their laptop and pray that people don't ask for many requests.

IN CONCLUSION:

If you look in the right places, in the right way and for the right qualities you will find many good professional wedding singers out there. They will look stylish, sound magnificent and treat you and your guests to a 5 star performance that will be talked about for years to come.

Now go on! Pull up your Simon Cowell pants and let the judging commence!!