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Tell me about "The Voice of The Ocean"

Scougs

By Scougs,
in Princess Cruises

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Scougs

Scougs

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I'm going on my first ever ocean-going cruise in January - Panama Canal full transit on the Coral Princess.  I've started reading up about what's on offer on the ship, and The Voice of The Ocean caught my eye.  I'm an amateur singer and love a Karaoke, and really want to enter.  Can anyone tell me about how it all works?  How many people enter the Karaoke tryouts? How many get through to the show? What's the standard like? 

 

Any info from personal experience greatly appreciated.

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skynight

skynight

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37 minutes ago, Scougs said:

I'm going on my first ever ocean-going cruise in January - Panama Canal full transit on the Coral Princess.  I've started reading up about what's on offer on the ship, and The Voice of The Ocean caught my eye.  I'm an amateur singer and love a Karaoke, and really want to enter.  Can anyone tell me about how it all works?  How many people enter the Karaoke tryouts? How many get through to the show? What's the standard like? 

 

Any info from personal experience greatly appreciated.

 

There are special try out karaoke sessions where you sing a song from the karaoke songs available in the Princess library. From each of those sessions the audience selects their favorites. Usually there are two sessions, maybe three. Up to 8 people are selected.

The selected then have two rehearsals with the live Princess Orchestra, and then a final show. Show songs are selected from a list of around 150 songs, roughly half keyed for female and half for male. Of course you can select any song you like from the list. All songs are shortened to around 90 seconds.

On show night each person sings their song and in the end a winner is selected by the audience. I have done this a number of times. The best thing is to treat the experience as a show and not as a competition.

Of course regular karaoke is held mostly every evening.

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Cruiserkenn

Cruiserkenn

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7 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

You asked about the standard of the participants. The times I have watched the Voice of the Ocean, most of the contestants have been OK - not cringe-worthy but not great. There has usually been one more outstanding contestant.

One time, I saw a lady give her very best performance at regular karaoke, the night before the final "Voice" show.  Her smashing rendition of Black Velvet was just jaw dropping.  Her performance the next night at the final Voice show wasn't quite as good, so she didn't win.  It was something to see, though, and it was all very exciting.   For sure, get there early😌

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skynight

skynight

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5 hours ago, Cruiserkenn said:

One time, I saw a lady give her very best performance at regular karaoke, the night before the final "Voice" show.  Her smashing rendition of Black Velvet was just jaw dropping.  Her performance the next night at the final Voice show wasn't quite as good, so she didn't win.  It was something to see, though, and it was all very exciting.   For sure, get there early😌

First hand experience. Some participants have difficulty adjusting to things like the live orchestra, lack of karaoke lyrics, shortened songs. Others are very nervous back stage. This could be some reasons performance quality was not up to standard.

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capriccio

capriccio

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3 hours ago, Scougs said:

Get there early?  I'm really, really hoping to be in it.......!

Good luck!  Our adult daughter was in it on our Alaska cruise. She had a blast and was very impressed with the musical ability of her fellow singers and all the musicians.  I think everyone - and their families - had a great time.  No one has mentioned that after the show, they have an 'after' party for all the singers and their families which was lots of fun.

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capriccio

capriccio

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8 minutes ago, skynight said:

First hand experience. Some participants have difficulty adjusting to things like the live orchestra, lack of karaoke lyrics, shortened songs. Others are very nervous back stage. This could be some reasons performance quality was not up to standard.

 

All good points.  The performance is in a theater that holds hundreds of people and is frequently full.  On our cruise the music director and cruise director worked hard to calm any nerves and the judges were very kind.  It also definitely helps if you have experience singing with a live band. 

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Scougs

Scougs

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Sounds like it would be an amazing buzz.  I have sung with a live band, but I do get quite nervous!  I'm travelling solo so this would be a great way to mingle and meet people.

 

Wish me luck........

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capriccio

capriccio

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1 minute ago, voljeep said:

what is the total time commitment for the signup, rehearsals, and shows ? - seems like a lot of your cruise will be devoted to this singular activity...

In our daughter's case, it was spread out across sea days and the show itself was only an hour long or so.  The 'longest' commitment was the dress rehearsal and show on the last day (1+ hour rehearsal, followed by some down time, followed by the performance).  On our cruise that was the afternoon at sea en route to Victoria, BC.  And if you love to sing and perform, it is a fantastic activity.

 

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hop2it

hop2it

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We thoroughly enjoyed the finale of this event on an Alaska cruise last August. The singers were quite good and the judges (including a comedian named Scott and an Italian chef) were far more likable and wittier than the ones on the TV show (in our opinion.)

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Scougs

Scougs

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1 hour ago, voljeep said:

what is the total time commitment for the signup, rehearsals, and shows ? - seems like a lot of your cruise will be devoted to this singular activity...

 

Spending time on sea days doing something I love sounds great to me!

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skynight

skynight

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1 hour ago, voljeep said:

what is the total time commitment for the signup, rehearsals, and shows ? - seems like a lot of your cruise will be devoted to this singular activity...

One or two karaoke evening sessions for the tryouts, about an hour each.

1st rehearsal about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depends on if you are the 1st or last to rehearse, and if you want to stay or leave after doing your number.

2nd rehearsal and walk through on stage a few hours before the show, about an hour, again depends where you are in the performance order and if you stay or leave.

Showtime, 90 mins, no leaving as all are on stage in the end, plus small optional after party. 

All rehearsals are during sea time.

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Torence

Torence

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It's a great time!  I was able to perform on "Voice of the Ocean" twice and I loved every minute of it.  It's pretty much what other posters have already described, but I will add my 2 cents.

 

I too, like to sing karaoke and depending upon the song, I can do it fairly well.  However, there is a big difference between karaoke and a live band.  In karaoke the words light up as you are supposed to sing them, but not so with the live band.  Yes, you have a screen with the lyrics, but they don't light up (its not a karaoke machine) and I found my timing was a bit off.  I was excited/nervous which cause me to sing faster than I should have.

 

The rehearsals were of immense value, as I could feel myself get a bit better each time.  Everyone involved, the music director, cruise director, musicians etc... they all did a great deal to clam everyone's nerves. 

 

But far and away the best part was being able to meet and perform with other singers.  While everyone was trying to do their best, it didn't seem like a competition.  We were all happy just being there and getting the opportunity to sing with a live band in front of a large audience. 

 

It was great and I can't wait to do it again! 

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Scougs

Scougs

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What kind of material do they do - or, what kind of material goes down well?

 

My thing is normally to do rock songs normally sung by male singers - Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love", Queen "Don't Stop Me Now", Rainbow "Since You've Been Gone", that sort of thing.  But the rest of my repertoire ranges from "It's Raining Men" to "Maybe This Time".  I normally avoid ballads at a Karaoke because folk want to have a good time - singing along to "Livin' on a Prayer", for example - but this is a whole different thing!  My favourite ballad to sing is probably Stevie Wonder's "Lately" - how would that go down?

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skynight

skynight

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3 hours ago, Scougs said:

What kind of material do they do - or, what kind of material goes down well?

 

My thing is normally to do rock songs normally sung by male singers - Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love", Queen "Don't Stop Me Now", Rainbow "Since You've Been Gone", that sort of thing.  But the rest of my repertoire ranges from "It's Raining Men" to "Maybe This Time".  I normally avoid ballads at a Karaoke because folk want to have a good time - singing along to "Livin' on a Prayer", for example - but this is a whole different thing!  My favourite ballad to sing is probably Stevie Wonder's "Lately" - how would that go down?

It's Raining Men and Livin' on a Prayer are on the list. The other songs you mention are not. The songs may not be in your key. The band normally can't change keys like you can with karaoke tracks.

A lot of the winners sing crooner songs. My Way is a big one.

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