Jim, I agree with you an excellent post. a good MC knows his stronger singers or what kind of songs his singers tend to sing and arranges the running order in a precise way.
even if people are singing from crib sheets, presEntation is important, be prepared, have options of songs sorted in your mind, have the songs readily accessible, and if you are going to use crib sheets practise with them, practise PERFORMING., IT IS POSSIBLE WITH LOTS OF PRACTICE TO PERFORM WELL WITH CRIB SHEETS,I think it is often a barrier between an audience and performer.
here I am with some other bods using music a in 1985, of course this music is very complicated and would be difficult to play without musichttp://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/5148