Clean Slate-errr
So, Larry, Drew, and I headed over to CBS Television City this afternoon to catch "American Idol" live. It was quite the experience. Not since the Evan and Jaron concert, have I felt so "old." Throngs of teenybopper girls with "I Love You Justin" signs were waiting outside the studio along with a myriad of other youthful, good-looking LA types. After going through security and checking in we waited off to the side with other people on the guest list. Amidst the chatting and waiting, we see a familiar figure dressed in a pink shirt walk up the ramp to the entrance of Stage 36. As the figure passed by the crowd, a wave of squeals emanate from the young girls. It was Mario Lopez! I don't know who he knows on the show, but he was there with what appeared to be his younger brother. We wait a bit more and Drew spots somebody whom he said looks like Sara Gilbert.
I bump into some co-workers there as well as my old supervisor from my CBS page days. Around a quarter to five, we're escorted into the studio and taken to our seats. The set is pretty impressive up close and personal. We got some good seats. Around 5:30, Nigel Lythgoe (one of the exec producers) of the show walks out and preps the audience a bit. We're then treated to a stand-up set by one of the hosts Brian Dunkleman. Apparently, he was testing material for his upcoming appearance on the Tonight Show. Afterwards, Ryan Seacrest was introduced and finally all the judges. There was even a "We Love Simon" fanbase in the audience.
As 6:00 got closer (9:00 eastern time), the A.D. counted down the minutes and later seconds over the P.A. It was pretty cool seeing how this was all going out live. And because it's live, there were no stopdowns and all the breaks are in real-time. So, what we saw is pretty much what you saw during the broadcast. A little interesting tidbit...During the break after RJ's performance, RJ's mom handed Simon a bumper sticker that said "BITE ME." Yeeesh...And Ryan Seacrest has got quite the tan nowadays. And the signs...So many signs! Where's M. Night Shamalayan when you need him? We kinda got a bit startled when we saw this one camera come charging up towards us only to realized that he was getting a shot of the girls with the "We Love Kelly" sign a few rows behind us. Fun, fun stuff...Kinda cool to be in the middle of the whole "phenomenon"
After the taping, we headed back to the house and picked up Ted and then went over to Olive Garden for dinner. Had a minor freakout when I stepped out of the car and Ted kept driving as I exited the car. What a poo-head. Worse yet...it was in front of EVERYBODY waiting out in the front of Olive Garden. It provided the greeter at the door with much amusement. Blarg...We then introduced Drew to the wonders of UNO Blitzo after dinner. As Larry and I were last night when we first played it, Drew seemed a bit shell-shocked during the whole thing. :-)
So, Larry, Drew, and I headed over to CBS Television City this afternoon to catch "American Idol" live. It was quite the experience. Not since the Evan and Jaron concert, have I felt so "old." Throngs of teenybopper girls with "I Love You Justin" signs were waiting outside the studio along with a myriad of other youthful, good-looking LA types. After going through security and checking in we waited off to the side with other people on the guest list. Amidst the chatting and waiting, we see a familiar figure dressed in a pink shirt walk up the ramp to the entrance of Stage 36. As the figure passed by the crowd, a wave of squeals emanate from the young girls. It was Mario Lopez! I don't know who he knows on the show, but he was there with what appeared to be his younger brother. We wait a bit more and Drew spots somebody whom he said looks like Sara Gilbert.
I bump into some co-workers there as well as my old supervisor from my CBS page days. Around a quarter to five, we're escorted into the studio and taken to our seats. The set is pretty impressive up close and personal. We got some good seats. Around 5:30, Nigel Lythgoe (one of the exec producers) of the show walks out and preps the audience a bit. We're then treated to a stand-up set by one of the hosts Brian Dunkleman. Apparently, he was testing material for his upcoming appearance on the Tonight Show. Afterwards, Ryan Seacrest was introduced and finally all the judges. There was even a "We Love Simon" fanbase in the audience.
As 6:00 got closer (9:00 eastern time), the A.D. counted down the minutes and later seconds over the P.A. It was pretty cool seeing how this was all going out live. And because it's live, there were no stopdowns and all the breaks are in real-time. So, what we saw is pretty much what you saw during the broadcast. A little interesting tidbit...During the break after RJ's performance, RJ's mom handed Simon a bumper sticker that said "BITE ME." Yeeesh...And Ryan Seacrest has got quite the tan nowadays. And the signs...So many signs! Where's M. Night Shamalayan when you need him? We kinda got a bit startled when we saw this one camera come charging up towards us only to realized that he was getting a shot of the girls with the "We Love Kelly" sign a few rows behind us. Fun, fun stuff...Kinda cool to be in the middle of the whole "phenomenon"
After the taping, we headed back to the house and picked up Ted and then went over to Olive Garden for dinner. Had a minor freakout when I stepped out of the car and Ted kept driving as I exited the car. What a poo-head. Worse yet...it was in front of EVERYBODY waiting out in the front of Olive Garden. It provided the greeter at the door with much amusement. Blarg...We then introduced Drew to the wonders of UNO Blitzo after dinner. As Larry and I were last night when we first played it, Drew seemed a bit shell-shocked during the whole thing. :-)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home