Jordan was fired up and looking sharp in his watermelon covered shirt for his Portland Bar Mitzvah party held on Saturday, August 25, 2018 at Hotel Eastlund in SE Portland, Oregon.
 
His friends seemed to match his energy and it wasn’t long before most were participating in the games I had planned including Coke & Pepsi and the Limbo, as well as Basketball vs. Lacrosse (Jordan’s two favorite sports).
 
The kids sat at one long table and following the games, were served dinner around 6:30pm while the adults enjoyed cocktails and conversation until they were seated for dinner about 15 minutes later. Background music for dinner featured artists: OneRepublic, Marvin Gaye and a request for Rod Stewart’s “You’re In My Heart” from Jordan’s parents.
 


 
As dinner was winding down, our guest of honor’s dad, Bob welcomed guests visiting from all over the U.S. before starting a slideshow that ended with Jordan on video singing Justin Beiber’s “Baby” at a Hillsboro Hops baseball game recently. Bob wanted to re-create this live, so as soon as the video ended, I started the song and handed off microphones to Jordan and his friends.
 
Next up was an appearance by Portland Trailblazers mascot “Blaze” who danced with the kids to a recording of Blazers’ star Damian Lillard’s hit song “Run It Up.” I then invited all of the adults out for “The Hora” and chair raising.
 


 
Guests had a great time dancing to everything from “Stayin’ Alive” and Jordan’s family requests for “Dancing Queen” and “PYT” to “Uptown Funk”, “September” and more.
 


 
Mazel Tov Jordan and thank you mom Anna and dad Bob for choosing PRO DJs.
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Rich did a great job at my son’s Bar Mitzvah. He kept the energy at the right level throughout the evening. He kept the kids entertained during cocktail hour with games, which allowed the adults to mingle without a lot of distraction. Then, when it was time to focus on dancing, he played a great mix of music that had young and old alike dancing. We requested a couple slow dances and those were added in at just the right time. Great, memorable evening.” -Anna Winthrop

• Event Date: Saturday, August 25, 2018
• Event Type: Bar Mitzvah
• Event Location: Hotel Eastlund, Portland
• Event Staff: Rich Ellis
• Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
• Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
• Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
• Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
• Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
• Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
• Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
• Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
• System Appearance: Excellent
• Sound Quality: Excellent
• Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
• Music Selection: Excellent
• Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
• Lighting Effects: Excellent
• Equipment Appearance: Excellent
• Overall Customer Service: Excellent
• Planning Assistance: Excellent
• Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
• Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
• Would you recommend this service to others? Yes

 
Portland DJ Rich Ellis performed at Josh’s Bar Mitzvah party on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at Celebrate Catering Events Conference Center in Lake Oswego, Oregon. In addition to my normal sound system setup in the main ballroom, I also brought a separate media player that could be connected to the house system so there would be background music for the 150 guests in the adjacent bar.
 
After about 20 minutes most of Josh’s friends had arrived so I had the kids make their way to the main ballroom for some games and boy did we have some fun with “Name That Tune,” Soccer vs. Basketball (Josh loves both sports), Coke and Pepsi and a wild time with “Running Tic Tac Toe” that brought down one of the decorative graffiti backdrops. Fortunately, the kids were helpful getting it put back up before any of the adults took notice 🙂 and we finished with the limbo before the adults entered the room for dinner.
 
After everyone found their seats, I introduced Josh and he came into the room to “From Now On” off “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack. I then segued to “Live It Up” by Nicky Jam w/ Will Smith and Era Istrefi, the theme from this year’s World Cup (Josh is a huge soccer fan) and his friends joined him on the dance floor.
 
This was followed by a special dance for Josh and his mom to “You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins and “Son of Man” also by Phil Collins for him and his dad. Josh’s dad then welcomed everyone before the buffet opened for dinner around 7:30.
 
A slideshow was planned for after dinner, but before that, Josh requested a Snowball dance and with all the kids surrounding him on the dance floor, Josh picked a partner to slow dance with. After about a minute, those two picked two more kids to dance with and by the end of the last song, all the kids were slow dancing. Of course, the parents also appreciate a good slow dance, so I played two more love songs for everyone before the slide show.
 

 
Next, the dance floor was officially opened to everyone and as soon as the familiar opening to “The Hora” began playing, most everyone was instantly on the move, circling up and lifting Josh up high in the chair. The Israeli dance music was such a hit, I kept it going a little longer as guests, chained hand-in-hand, danced their way around the entire room.
 

 
A variety of fun hit music followed… Everything from “Celebration” and “Happy” to “Stayin’ Alive,” “Uptown Funk” and more, it was a non-stop, energetic, fun time on the dance floor.
 


 
Josh’s dad requested some 70’s funk and “Give Up the Funk” from Parliament was well-received. Josh picked more recent hits, such as “Party Rock Anthem” and “I Gotta Feeling.”
 


 
This party went to 11pm and the dance floor was packed for much of the time. When it was over, Josh’s dad told me multiple times “how much fun he had.” I’m glad you enjoyed it.
 
Mazel Tov Josh and thank you dad Rob for choosing PRO DJs.