Recruiting a permanent singer - is there a painless way?

[MitchT]

I'd like to team up with a singer/songwriter to do form a duo doing electro-pop-dance songs, but I'd like to avoid the chaos that ensued when I attempted this with a mate about 20 years ago. We wrote some tracks and tried to get a female singer. Our experience was a disaster consisting of the following farces:

• Advertised for a singer but got a load of people who couldn't sing for toffee and looked horrendous. Think early X-Factor auditions.
• Tracked down a local singer who wasn't famous, but we knew was good, but she had a whole diva thing going on and wanted a colossal amount of money to record one song. If we'd had the money she wanted we'd have got someone famous!
• Went to karaoke and found someone who sounded great, looked great and knew how to perform but, in a studio, couldn't seem to pick up our songs. She was great - but only at songs she already knew!

The arrangement I'd need is that we'd form a duo in which they'd write and perform the words and I'd write and perform the music. We'd be an equal partnership. Costs would be shared equally and income would be divided equally.

Any advice?

[audidoody]

Call Simon Cowell

[peterperkins]

Any amateur music festival competitions in your area?
Lots of towns run them as yearly events. I'm singing in one next week.

Get the prospectus and go along and listen to certain classes that might be appropriate.
Songs from the shows, Les Mis, Cats etc etc etc.

That way you don't have to announce your interest to the world,
and can discretely speak with those you like.

Try to avoid selecting the best looking/one you fancy, or you might get hooked on them later and chaos will ensue,
that's of course unless that's your game plan

Edited by peterperkins on Sunday 28th June 17:54

[MitchT]

Sounds like a good idea and, no, definitely not planning on hooking up with anyone. Firstly, the OH would have something to say about that and, secondly, I hope it'll be a decades-long partnership and this would be ruined if it became anything other than professional.