<p>

Just like doing nails, being a KJ — a karaoke DJ — is having fun and getting paid for it,” says Gina Cella, a CND education ambassador who has a regular Wednesday night KJ gig at a bar called the Square in Akron, Ohio. “Surprisingly, I nurtured my love for karaoke as a CND education ambassador. We had many events where we would karaoke,” says Cella. Add to that the fact that she loves to sing and holds a degree in music and this part-time career is a natural for her.

As a KJ, she runs the show. “I emcee, announce the singers, and give them a boost of confidence if they need it. When they are done singing, I get the audience involved in acknowledging their performance,” she says. “I also run the computer to play the songs and organize the singers so there is a rotation. I decide what music gets played in between each singer — filler songs if you will. It’s also my job to make sure that the singer sounds good, so I run the sound and the equalizer.”

There’s a performance aspect as well, she notes. “I sing to show people how fun it is. I go out in the audience to meet people and encourage them to sing, or I dance with them.”

Any drawbacks are minor. “Sure the drunks get a little crazy sometimes, but that’s just part of it!” she says. Then there’s the occasional equipment failure. “Mind you this doesn’t happen a lot, but when it does, I will break out in a cold sweat.”

Still, she never loses sight of the main objective: to have fun. “Who cares if you don’t sound like an American Idol? Are you having fun? Then you get what karaoke is all about. It brings people together.”  

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.