Okay, so I promised I'd give some more insight and details of my up close and personal AI experience, so here we go:
As with virtually every other major event in my life (I say "major" only because it was my TV debut), this whole thing was a total fluke. I've been on the wait-list for AI tickets for three years and never gotten called. Around 11 pm on Monday night I went over to idolforums.com to look for song spoilers and just happened to come across a post where someone had three extra tickets to the dress rehearsal the next day. There were three comments, and so I thought I'd just missed the opportunity, but decided to check just in case. Well it turned out that all three commenters were merely saying that they wished they lived in LA so that they could come, and the tickets were still up for grabs. I frantically e-mailed the poster and tried to get in touch with my friends/family who might be interested in going with (none of them were able to go because it was so last minute). Kat, the poster, was in the same boat which is why she had extra tickets. I could tell by her profile that she was totally cool and that we were like-minded in terms of the contestants, so I had no worries about going with a stranger. She had been to lots of tapings before and was able to give me advice. I was scheduled to work that day, but Tuesday just happens to be my most flexible day.
Even though AI is a FOX production, it's filmed at CBS studios, which is on Beverly in Hollywood. I arrived at noon (the call was at 12:30) because I decided I should make an appearance at work first. Kat had been in line since 11 and they had already numbered her, so I had to go to the end of the line but it wasn't very long and she graciously saved me a seat in the holding area. There is a dress code (no T-shirts, no flip-flops, no white tops, dark clothing preferred, no logos, dress like you're going to a nice dinner), but they didn't seem to enforce it for the dress rehearsal audience (not sure about for the taping as I didn't have to go through the line again nor did I particularly pay much attention to the new people who were ushered in unless they were sitting in the contestants' family section).
No cameras are allowed (which sucks because I could have gotten some really great shots), and they confiscated our cell phones and made us walk through metal detectors. We did not, however, have to sign a confidentiality contract as I had thought, so I was all ready to race home and post spoilers after the rehearsal. There are benches in the holding area which is nice because it was the only time we were able to sit during the seven hours I was there. I was told that "bench one" is typically reserved for cute girls who are dressed nice so that they can be ushered in first and placed up front for the cameras. We were on bench one.
Walking into the studio was a rush because we knew we were the first group to see the new stage. At first we were going to be right in front of the stairs on stage right (near the chat stools) but after a few minutes they moved us down the line until we were dead center. We were literally balancing on the pile of cable cords that runs down the center of the floor (thank God I decided against heels, because it was uncomfortable and challenging enough in flats). Debbie the stage manager was on stage calling the shots and informed us that Ryan hadn't even seen the new set yet. The judging table was no more than six feet behind me and they left the space between us empty so that the camera men could get through easily, which meant that aside from the cable cord thing, we really did have the best spot in the house. We were asked to place our purses on the floor and given instructions to clap with fast songs and do the hand-wave to slow songs and really show the contestants love because it was their first time on the new stage.
Ryan came out in a NYPD baseball cap, jeans and a fleece hoodie along with his infamous Blackberry. Surprisingly, he was EXTREMELY cool. He joked around with everyone, familiarized himself with the stage and came off as a laid-back and crowd-friendly. He joked that he wanted to put the old set in his backyard because it would be great for birthday parties. At one point he pretended like he was going to kick me in the head (don't remember what that was about, but I didn't take it personally). Even though it's a dress rehearsal, he doesn't change because he's not on camera at any point during it.
They actually have look-a-like sit-ins for the judges during the rehearsal, because that's when the re-cap is filmed and you see the backs of their heads. The fake Paula wore a wig haphazardly, and Ryan made a joke about it. I had been told that there would be fake judges, but I wasn't expecting them to actually talk. In order to help estimate the time, the fake judges are consulted after each performance and actually try to talk like Randy ("Yo Dawg, what up") and Paula ("You look so beautiful tonight"). The Simon guy sucks at his job because he doesn't say anything Simon would say (I'm sure he's not allowed to be critical, lest he discourage the contestants, who actually have to stand there and take the fake critique).
They didn't start the actual rehearsal until around 1:20, and were a little stressed about having to go live at 5 when they were running behind schedule and still adjusting to the new set and all. Ryan ran through his whole intro, but he did it in such an off-the-cuff way that I didn't realize he was reciting his real lines until the live taping. The new credits were not shown on the screen, but the Beatles video and all of the contestants' videos were. We were instructed NOT to cheer/applaud for "This. is. American. Idol!" but to wait for the part about the new set which was weird.
When the screen parted and the top 12 walked out it was sensory overload, like opening all of your Christmas presents at once. I thought the sign-wielding Archuleta Army might have a collective heart attack. As the contestants were being shuffled off stage, the girl next to me joined in all of the screaming for Wonderboy and he shyly turned around to wave. Then another girl in the "mosh pit" yelled out "David COOK!" to which he responded, "Finally! One person!" As they made their way backstage, D-Cook politely ushered everyone with the hand-on-the-back gesture so that they walked front of him. Then they made them come out and do it all again, and it wasn't nearly as exciting.
At the end of the rehearsal, Kat and I (as well as maybe 8-10 others) were invited back to the live taping, and asked to go to the holding area. We weren't sure if they were going to put us in the same spot or not, but they did. I found it extremely ironic that they would choose me for a number of reasons. Not only do I have a snarky blog that I'm just waiting to be harassed about taking down, but I am a single mom who is older than all but one of the contestants, I do not care for The Chosen One and am completely against the hand-wave. I also think that after already having to stand for two hours (not to mention the time in line), they'd want people on camera who are fresh and have more energy. The girl next to me could be the poster child of AI audience members--teenage, tall, blonde, Archuleta-loving, overenthusiastic--but I look younger than I am and dressed the part, so I got in. Kat is as equally cute yet cynical as I, and wanted to be the only person shown on camera frowning and clapping half-heartedly for Archuleta.
Anyway, rather than go through the whole rehearsal piece by piece and then do the same thing for the live taping, I'm just going to combine things. I've already mentioned some stuff in this post so I will try not to repeat myself too much, and I promise not to point out EVERY time I'm shown on TV lest I come off as being more obnoxious than I am already.
Between the time the rehearsal ended and the live taping started, we got to see some of the contestant's family members arrive (D-Cook's brother Andrew, Jason's brother Michael, and Brooke's husband). Once we were ushered back into the studio I spent the majority of the 45 minutes or so before it started debating whether or not I should approach any of them. I decided against it, for fear of losing my spot and/or appearing tacky. Same goes for the judges. They were RIGHT THERE and we weren't told that we couldn't talk to them, but what the heck was I supposed to say? What if merely approaching their table pissed off security and I got thrown out? The judges did go in and out during the commercial breaks, and Paula (who was extremely glassy-eyed BTW), tripped up the stairs on one return and then turned to Randy embarrassed and told him what had happened. At one point I turned around and it looked like Simon might have been talking about me--he made eye contact, stopped talking abruptly, and then looked away as though he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Nigel came out and welcomed the "real" audience and mentioned that the contestants had a short list of songs to choose from. There was a guy in charge of warming up the crowd and keeping up our energy during commercial breaks, and he was passing out iTunes gift cards worth 10 free downloads and Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul books to the best audience members. Sorry buddy, but it takes more than $10 worth of merch to get me to roll over and beg (or in this case, clap and hand-wave like there's no tomorrow). Predictably, my hyperactive blonde neighbor got a giftcard (and even though she kept trying to edge me out and block my face with her ridiculously long arms, girl deserved it).
I was glad to hear that Syesha (formerly known as Smirkado) was up first because I didn't like her personality and we all know that going first is the kiss of death. I was prepared to scowl at her if she was as annoying as usual, and surprised to find that she was completely different in person. A little nervous, definitely, but not smug and actually somewhat likeable. She actually made me laugh during the fake judging because she was camping it up with her reactions. It was at this point I began to worry that my up close experience with the contestants would take the snark out of my sails forever...
Chikezie had a perma-grin and seemed a little embarrassed about being interviewed. All of the interviews in rehearsal are not the real ones shown on TV. Because the musicians set up on the stairs our row got pushed down a bit. We honestly didn't know what to think of Chikezie's performance in rehearsal, since it was so different. The fact that he was going second and was such an underdog for the top 12 lead us to believe that it wasn't going to be well-received. So during the actual thing when he amped up his energy level and the judges praised him to the sky it was a surprise, as was the Cuba Gooding, Jr.-eque victory lap and Seacrest flicking Chikezie's sweat on us. Also, I didn't see that his mom was in the audience until I saw it on TV, and I wish I had.
I was so happy to see that Ramiele dressed up, and I liked her backwards-stair entrance. She is just like a little doll, and had black toenail polish to match her dress. After her performance in rehearsal, Nigel took her aside and gave her what appeared to be a pretty stern (and quite long) tongue-lashing. Therefore, we expected things to be a little different the second time around, but Ramiele lullabied exactly the same way.
Kat and I were both most excited to see Jason. In rehearsal he did a bit of voice warm ups while tuning his guitar and for a second he looked scared as though he had forgotten the chords/lyrics. When the contestants were waiting in the wings for the live show to start, Jason appeared to be the most excited/energetic because he kept peeking out, and at one point he waved at us. Then when they were counting down to his video I thought, "Oh no, he's going to think they're cueing him to play" and he did! He sort of half-started and then said, "Oops! Not yet." And I might have been the only person to notice this due to my position, but boy had serious case of moose knuckle while seated.
We were annoyed because out of all of the contestants, Jason was the only one they made us back up two feet for so that they could swoop the camera around him--both times. The swooping however did result in us being on camera more though. One of my co-workers was laughing at the parts where it looks like I'm standing there mesmerized by him (about 0:19 and 0:40 in the vid), but in actuality I think I was just waiting for them to give me the go-ahead to move back up the two feet and wondering how some people could actually mistake "If I Fell" for a song they should clap on.
Carly totally nailed her performance in rehearsals, and while I felt she did equally good the second time around, when I watched back on TV it didn't feel as if it translated quite as well. It really was smokin' hot in person, although she was in serious need of a pedicure. Again, I'm probably the only person who saw this, but underneath her black tights and open-toed shoes lay some very gnarly toenails. Nigel went up on stage to congratulate her afterwards (or perhaps just to further fuel the conspiracy theories--for all I know they were talking about toe jam football).
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