This thread has covered quite a range of topics.

To pick up on the point about using crib sheets: I suppose that the line is drawn in different places in different circumstances. A classical orchestra would not be expected to play its entire repertoire from memory, but a soloist in a concerto probably would be. Jazz musicians often read from scores, even if they go off into improvisations. A singer who read from a score might look a bit naff- abit like those pub singers who go out with their backing tracks and all their songs and chord charts stuck on a music stand infront of them, but if you have a singer who's accompanied by a brass section or a string quartet, I think that it's acceptable for the musicians to read. I saw Bellowhead a while ago and, if I remember correctly, some of them were reading from scores- not surprising as they have some quite intricate arrangements.

Regarding performance standards; I have enjoyed many a singers' night and singaround, though I've also been to some that have been pretty dire.

I've only walked out once- this guy sand a self-written song that consisted of seven minutes of rambling lyrics over disjointed guitar chords. He then launched into a second song, stopped after thirty seconds, said "sorry, I f*cked that up" then started again. By this time I couldn't take any more, so I went out of the room until he'd finished.

A friend of mine only goes to clubs when they have a guest that he likes. If a bad floor singer comes on he walks out. His view is that he hasn't paid his hard-earned,over-taxed money to have his time wasted.

So it's a question of where you set your tolerance level.

Some clubs have a policy of running singers' nights that are open to all, and only having invited floor singers on the guest nights. This seems to work- certainly in my experience, these are the clubs that can more easily afford to pay guests, as they attract the largest audiences when they have one.

On a slightly frivolous note, there is a fine line between "bad" and "so bad it's good". In the latter genre, I've thoroughly enjoyed the guy who sat at the piano in the corner of the roomand bashed out "Off to California" in the style of Les Dawson, then followed that with "Deck of Cards". (Yes, he was serious!) Then there was the bloke who performed "Another Brick in the Wall", accompanying himself on a mandolin. (By "accompanying" I mean playing more-or-less in unison with his singing.) I'd have paid to listen to these two all night.