For me, singarounds aren't about ego, or the number of songs you personally get to sing or lead in a session (whether that be a local singers' club or a festival 'sing'. They're about the sharing of songs (or possibly any other kind of performance) with each other. Yes, of course there are frustrations with some people singing the same songs time after time or not being quite ready when it's their turn, but there are ways and means of dealing with things like that if you've got the right person running it.

There is a difference, too, between a straight 'singaround' and a 'big sing', the former in my view being pretty well straight round the room, although the MC should have some discretion, and the latter picking and choosing, probably from a large number of people, to ensure the best balance for the session. That doesn't mean leaving people out, but knowing enough people to be aware of strengths and weaknesses, and then slotting unknowns in between the stronger ones.

Whittlebury Song & Ale, for instance, has theme sessions which are run as singarounds, where people don't know before the weekend what the themes will be, and that produces some really unusual and satisfying songs often out of the usual run of things. Usually, there are less people at these sessions, and it's often the most dedicated singers who attend them (or that's how it seems to me, but I wouldn't swear to it), others preferring to take time out from the singing to have a good natter, especially if the weather's good! It also has 'big sings' which are intended to be for chorus songs so that everyone is involved all the time, even if they're not leading a song. If you're lucky, you get to lead a maximum of seven songs
during the whole weekend, and if that isn't enough for you, then you probably won't go to the event again, and you probably won't be missed! Because, as was said above, that's not what it's about. And I'm sure that's true of any of the large singing events. Some Scot once said, 'The sang's the thing', and that's very true for me in a singaround or big sing situation.

Barbara