Author: djpearl

Well… here we are at another New Year’s Eve! Wow, time goes so fast. This New Year’s Eve we were very glad to be asked back to DJ at the Holiday Inn in Itasca for the second year in a row. We really enjoy it there. The staff is very friendly and it’s always a very nice crowd that attends the celebration. Oh, and they love to dance and have a great time also which always helps!

When we got there we saw some familiar faces from last year. It looks like this is a yearly event for some of the guests. As soon as we got set up and played the first song some of them were already dancing. As they began filling onto the dance floor we could tell that this was one crowd that wouldn’t need extra encouragement to get out there and dance! It was a nice mix of adults and kids, with whole families out there on the dance floor having fun!

Of course I would like to think we were asked back to DJ because of my musical talent! And while that may be partly true, I have to give credit where credit is due. Last year my two sons performed a Michael Jackson dance for the crowd at Holiday Inn. Everybody loved it so much that they called the hotel and asked to have them perform again this year (see bottom of this post for this year’s Michael Jackson dance). The boys were thrilled that they had so many fans! Continue reading “New Year’s Eve 2011”

This summer I tried out for the new ABC Karaoke Reality Show, "Karaoke Battle USA"! I competed and won a spot in our local karaoke contest held in Lisle Illinois to get a shot to compete in the State Finals and try out for the "Karaoke Battle USA" show.

The Illinois contest was held at The House of Blues in Chicago. It was very exciting, but also nerve racking as well, as there was talent from all over the state competing for a spot on the TV show. One of the judges for the State Finals was Jim Peterik, from the band Survivor (who sang "Eye of the Tiger" for the Rocky 3 movie). It was also broadcast live by WLS DJ Dick Biondi. In this contest we had to sing with a live band. I warmed up backstage and then Continue reading “Karaoke Battle USA”

We were at the Senior Center this morning in Yorkville Illinois! The theme for this party was Hawaiian and everyone came dressed to celebrate.

After a great Hawaiian themed lunch I performed a couple of Hawaiian and Tahitian dance numbers to warm the crowd up and get them in the mood to party! Continue reading “Senior Citizens Go Hawaiian”

Well it’s that time of year again. Yes that’s right, it’s Christopher Walken’s birthday. The reason I know this is because my friend from the WGN Studio, Jeff Hoover, contacted me and asked me if I could supply some Walken music for him. That is, songs with the word “walking” in them. Jeff was going to do a parody of Christopher Walken singing songs with the word walking in them in honor of his birthday. How crazy is that? Of course I said yes!

Well I supplied Jeff with a list of songs and he selected his favorites. I showed up at WGN to set up my equipment and waited for Jeff to get ready for his show. Now I’ve worked with Jeff before and I know to expect anything at anytime. Sometimes I’m not even sure if Jeff knows exactly what he is going to do until he does it. So believe me, I was ready for anything.

When Jeff was ready he went through his costume changes and sang his “Walken” songs. Of course it was hilarious! Afterwards he gave me a video of the show which I’m going to share with you. I hope you enjoy it. Happy birthday Christopher!

A couple of years ago I was approached by Jeff Hoover, from WGN Channel Nine news, to DJ for a Welcoming Party for Ana Belaval, the “Around Town” reporter for the WGN Morning Show. Well, that sounded like it would be very exciting, so I jumped at the chance. There was singing and dancing, and there were a lot of impersonators on hand.

In case you haven’t heard of Jeff, he’s the Segment Producer of the WGN Morning News. He produces, and stars in, those comedy sketches you’ll see during the morning broadcast. Continue reading “Karaoke in WGN Studio!”

I Just did a party at Reza’s restaurant, 5255 N Clark St in Chicago. It was a small party of 80 guests from Accucare Home Health. They were welcoming the new Director of Nursing as well as celebrating a combined employees Birthday party. I set up my equipment in a back room that they have for this type of occasion.

After eating at the wonderful buffet, it was time to work off some of those calories. They were a little shy to dance in the restaurant at first Continue reading “Party at Reza’s”