I think, as has been expressed many times in this and other threads, that anyone who wants to get up and sing/play owes it to themselves and the audience to do a reasonably decent job of it.

I personally go to (and perform at) a couple of clubs and singarounds and I will practice for hours to get the songs right. I hate it when I forget the words, sometimes to songs which I have known for years, due to nerves etc, but unfortunately this happens occasionally. I could, I suppose, use a crib sheet just as memory jogger but like many here I don't really like to see these used by others so it would be hypocritical for me to use one.

I find that there are many people who may not be classed as a 'good singer' or a 'great guitar player' who nonetheless give good performances at these kind of venues. It is people like these who are the backbone of the folk scene as I see it. What does annoy me though are those who simply cannot sing a note, or who have obviously not practised a song at all, or have simply not mastered their chosen instrument. These are the ones who need to be guided to improving and not just be allowed to continue without improvement.

I don't want to sound harsh but I would not dream of attempting to perform something which I was not reasonably confident of making a good job of, and I think really poor performers are one of the reasons why people stop going to clubs. Obviously this involves making a judgement about peoples' abilities on the organisers part, but I really believe there has to be some form of quality control otherwise it just becomes a laughing stock.

On a slightly different note, as a floor singer there is no way I would 'expect' to be given a spot on a guest night. To me a guest night is a completely different type of evening to the normal singaround night.