In a way, it's the same problem if you get a lot of floor singers turning up at a guest night. Time has to be allocated to the paid guest(s) and therefore you can only fit so many floor singers in. Most club MCs/organisers will do their best to give each floor singer a turn but it may just not be possible. In which case, there have to be some criteria for not picking people - and this will vary from club to club. In some cases, it may be ability.

If I go to a "strange" club, i.e. one out of my usual range, to see a guest act, I never assume I'll get a guest spot - even if the club website assures me that visitors are welcome - and always email to see if a spot is acceptable. I have to report that these clubs have been very accommodating - like the Ram Club last week where residents and local regulars weren't able to play because Alan and I were one of only three floor spot performers. We very much appreciated this, and I would assume/hope that those locals or regulars who didn't get a spot that night understood the decisions.

If a club has a regular community of singers and local performers, then it's not impossible to arrange a showcase night to everyone's satisfaction. I think, if I were in the position of organising such evenings and a local 'beginner' asked for a long showcase spot, I think there would have to be some tactful conversation about readiness to perform, etc. Not an easy job, I grant you - but the lure of such a spot in the future might energise and inspire the fledgling performer on to greater efforts. I've certainly seen some new performers at the Willows (for example) come on in leaps and bounds in a few months by being given short floor spots.

In the 60s and 70s, the clubs I went to were all place where you could cut your performance teeth in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere - and I also recall that most of the organisers would give very direct and honest feedback if they thought you could do better. I remember playing a rather poor attempt at "Angi" at Leeds University Folk Club around 1965. At the end of the evening, the organiser remarked to me with a slight smile, "Well, you got away with that one, didn't you?" I felt both chastened and determined to do better! Of course it was also my misfortune to be playing on the same night as another floor singer called Stefan Sobell...