Karaoke Forums

It seems in the last year or so the place to have your birthday party is my venue.

It occured to me that making birthdays special makes people want to celebrate at the bar. I started doing it because I felt obligated to make it special being I'm the host. I really don't do a whole lot, that's what's so amazing. I basically make sure everyone knows it's so & so's birthday, have the bar sing to them while they are on stage and give them a tiara or crown for the night. We also, depending on the person, play a game. Everytime someone says Happy Birthday on the mic they have to drink. This works tremendously well. Now I have people coming in to celebrate their birthday when they don't even sing.

Birthday parties have saved me during the slow season. People will come out just for the person's birthday, so one birthday can fill the bar. I wanted to share my good fortune with you all. It's is an unexpected benefit with little effort. I'm sure a lot of you do this already. I just noticed lately how without these birthday parties I'd be hurting. The back to school season usually always leaves me with a low crowd.

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Babs,

I try to do the same kind of thing you mention. That is acknowledge several times who's birthday it is, sing happy birthday karaoke most of the time...but I've never thought of the happy birthday/drink option. Thanks for the tip! Birthday parties are a big deal and there are alot of them. They can make or break you some nights for sure. It's funny how you talk about the back to school, then slowing down. Up in the great white north here (a measly few hundred miles away).....many of the owners are gearing for the busier time of the year..hahahahhaha! Keep up the good work.

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
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Great idea on the drinks, Babs. I have always fussed over birthday celebrants, get one or more of their friends come up to sing, have them stand up to acknowledge that they are the celebrant. We do have a lot of birthdays, too, and I think it's time to really capitalize on that. If you think of more birthday ideas, please post them!

That's a GREAT idea! We do lots of different things for folks birthdays, but why we didn't think to make a DRINKING GAME out of it as a BAR is beyond me! Since everyone alerts me ahead of time about birthdays I can spring it on the first few without the birthday person knowing it! Matter of fact, we have one coming up next week.....OOOOOOOO I Can't Wait!!!!!

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All work and no play make Homer something something

Great ideas Babs! So far I have done it pretty much the way Karen described. think I'll make more of a deal about it.

Business-wise, we've been gradually revving up since August. It was that way last year too. Spring and fall have been the busiest times for my home room.

Babs,
I know what you mean about the B-days! Last weekend we had FIVE different B-days going all at once. The friends just kept showing up until there wasn't any standing room next to the standing room!

I bring a bag full of fabric leis for the B-day folks...that way at least they get lei'd that night! We sing a b-day song on karaoke (I think it's DK). Usually I grab someone from their table to sing it. The waiter brings over some flan with a candle in it (unless they have a cake).

If they have a song in the rotation, I bump it up so they can sing right after the B-day song. I make it a point to go over to the table and say hello to everyone. Most of the time they tell me that they came in last year for their b-day and wanted to come back, sometimes they tell me they had a friend that celebrated a b-day here. I used to videotape them and give them a DVD before they left, but it became too much work.

I haven't tried the drinking game yet; that sounds like fun! I'll be saying "Happy Birthday" after every singer!!

Here is my take on people using the bar to celebrate their birthdays. All fine and good and the bar owner does appreciate the extra ching in the till. What frosts me is sometimes the birthday person thinks the KJ is there for him or her only and thinks they can just interject themselves into a rotation when they want. Of course I am speaking about an existing scheduled Karaoke show and the birthday people just come in or choose that night because you are there. They didn't hire you, the bar did, but they think it's their right to take command.

I've never run into that problem.
There are some that are like that normally, not just on their birthday.
They think the worl should bow down to them. I can think of one semi-regular girl right of the top of my head.
She thinks I should worship her and bump her up because she's "wonderful" and so should the rest of the bar worship her.
She (and anyone else stupid enough to try and behave like that) learn real quick that neither I, nor the other patrons appreciate it.
She gets NO special treatment from me and the patrons cheer a little less for her and I KNOW it's solely because of her attitude.
She's toned it down some and quit demanding I bump her up, but her overbearing personality (" pay attention to ME!" "Look at ME") remains.
She has a real "diva" thing going on.
When all is said and done, I try to treat everyone equally, or at least appear to, even when I want to treat them very UN-equally and bump them to the end of the rotation cause they p**s me off so bad.
I hope that makes sense

We store tea bags in the case, so we can give anyone a free drink at anytime. We also use the mini champagne bubbles (about 25p from a junk shop) and say....

fornication.... for an occassion like this we'd like to give you a bottle of champagne.

2 things to add We reserve a table fir them..


At the V we used to have a signup shett for all the days for the month Then have a night for all of them.

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I really like the "lei" idea. I don't like the crowns I've been using for the guys. I think that would go over better. The girls really love the tiaras, but I think they deserve a lei too.

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