| American Idol Dress Rehearsal April 4, 2006 |
| On Friday night (March 31st) I found an email in my �bulk� folder titled American Idol Tickets. At first I was going to delete it because I thought it was spam, but on second thought I opened the email just in case it was legit and found that it was actually from On Camera Audiences! *squeal* My name had come up on the AI ticket waiting list again (it has come up 3 times in previous seasons, but I�ve never gone) and I was offered 2 tickets to Tuesday�s dress rehearsal, Tuesday�s live performance, or Wednesday�s results show. After momentarily freaking out, I checked the availability of the tickets. Unfortunately my first choice � the live performance show on Tuesday � was already full, but the dress rehearsal and results show still had tickets available. I frantically tried to get in touch with Debi while I mentally planned how I could possibly get out of work Tuesday or Wednesday. Luckily I had my lessons planned (for a change lol), and I realized that I just might be able to make this happen. When I finally got a hold of Debi, it didn�t take us long to convince ourselves to go. (we�re such a bad influence on each other lol) We decided on the dress rehearsal because (a) it would be longer, (b) we�d get to see everyone perform, and (c) it wouldn�t be sad like the results show. Soon we had our AI tickets reserved, a hotel room booked, and plans made for yet another last-minute trip to LA. Monday afternoon Debi managed to get off work early and I had my prep periods at the end of the day, so we were able to get on the road around 2 pm. Thank goodness! The weather was AWFUL (especially in the middle of Hwy 5) and we were lucky to get through most of our drive in the daylight hours. Surprisingly we made it to LA in our usual 5 and a half hours, and the rain had stopped by the time we got there. Yay! After checking in at the hotel, we headed to CBS studios (where AI is taped) to check out the parking situation in preparation for the next day. Everything was as we remembered from the American Juniors taping we attended a few years ago: only 1 hour metered parking on the street. We sufficiently scoped out the area and ended the evening by spending a little time at The Grove (our favorite place in LA), which just happens to be on the same block as CBS studios. Nice coincidence! lol Celeb sighting for the night: Rebecca Gayhart and Eric Dane leaving the movie theatre together. We ALWAYS see celebs at The Grove! Even though we had tickets for the 1:15 pm dress rehearsal on Tuesday, the tickets do not guarantee admission, so we decided to get up at the crack of dawn the next morning to line up. We hauled ourselves out of bed and managed to be the first people in line at 7:15 am. Unfortunately it was pouring rain, so we bundled ourselves up, settled in to our chairs, and covered ourselves with umbrellas and a tarp. There we sat for the next 5 hours� watching traffic drive by� in the pouring rain. NOT FUN. Because of the parking situation, I had to move the car every hour. Between 9 and 9:30 am I also made a coffee run and bought a new umbrella (ours had started to leak, figures). In the car I made a quick phone call to Ryan�s radio station. (I love making up excuses to call any time I�m in the area lol) I told the intern that I had a question for Ryan and she asked me what it was. I said, �My friend and I are sitting in the rain waiting to get in to American Idol. Can Ryan pick up some coffee for us and drop it off on his way over?� lol She thought that was funny, but she still didn�t let me talk to him. Oh well, it was worth a shot! During that time while I was gone, Debi had a cool sighting. She said she saw a black Ford SUV pull up to turn left into the CBS parking lot. Someone in the back seat rolled down the window and started waving, but Debi figured it was just some idiot making fun of her for sitting in the AI line in the rain, so she didn�t respond and looked away. A few seconds later Debi looked back and the people in the car started waving again. Debi waved out of courtesy, and then the SUV turned into the lot. That�s when it dawned on her that the people waving from the car were KATHARINE and ACE!!! Someone else was in the back seat too, possibly Chris. She didn�t even realize it was them until they were gone! lol A few minutes later, a couple of other people joined Debi in line (it was just the two of us for the first two hours), and then another black Ford SUV pulled up and the same situation happened all over again. This time it was Kellie Pickler who rolled down the window and waved, and there were other unidentified Idols with her, possibly Mandisa. The guys who had just joined Debi in line shouted out, �Where�s Katharine?� and Kellie shouted back, �She�s not here!� Debi said Kellie was saying some other things to them too, but with the noise of the rain and the traffic, no one could hear her. Just after the Idol sightings, I returned from the coffee/umbrella run. I�m so bummed that I missed it! Around 11:30 am more people finally started joining us in line � they were the smart ones to not sit in the rain all morning � and I moved my car to a more permanent parking place at The Grove. (of course lol) Then around 12:15/12:30 the OCA people started checking us in, which is a tedious process. First we were moved to holding area #1, which thankfully was covered so we were out of the rain. Yay! Unfortunately that�s where we also learned that even though we were the first people in line and had waited in the rain for 5 hours, there were MANY others who would be seated in the audience before we got in. Talk about being pissed! We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were lucky to have the opportunity to be there at all, but still, we felt pretty gypped. The people who were allowed in ahead of us were 30-40 �priority� ticket holders, who had gotten that status by attending a game show taping, and 3 special groups (military, birthday party, etc.) of about 10 people each, who had obtained their tickets through knowing someone who worked for OCA or AI. So adding up all of that, we were about the 60th/70th people allowed into the studio. Kind of disheartening after all we had been through to get there and be first in line. Oh well, it�s water under the bridge now. From holding area #1 we were taken through the security check point (metal detectors, purse search � no cameras or cell phones allowed) and moved to holding area #2, which was basically the same set up just on the other side of the building, right near the Idol Tonight filming area. (we saw the IT cameras and lights being set up) After waiting there for a little while, we were finally moved into the studio around 1:30 pm. From attending other tv show tapings in the past, I knew two things: the studio would be cold and it would look much smaller than on tv. Maybe I psyched myself up too much for those two �facts� because neither turned out to be true. lol It was such a relief to just be INSIDE that I stripped off all my wet layers of clothing � gloves, jacket, sweater � and sat through the entire rehearsal in my short sleeved shirt. I guess the stage lights kept me warm. lol The studio itself didn�t seem very small either. Because I was expecting it to look so much smaller than on tv (like On Air and The Tonight Show), it ended up looking bigger than I had imagined. When we walked into the studio, those 60-70 people had already been seated in the side sections in front of the stage and the first two rows behind the judges, so we were put in row 3 on the aisle right behind Simon�s chair. Funny coincidence: one of the OCA people who was seating us looked familiar to me, so I asked her if she used to work at On Air. She laughed and said, �Yeah, I follow Seacrest,� and I responded, �I do too!� lol Eventually all of the people behind us in line were seated (the audience was only � full), and there we waited for another 30-40 minutes for the rehearsal to start. We watched the band and back up singers get ready. We watched them test the lighting and LCD screens on the stage. We checked out the signs around us. (yes, even at dress rehearsal people bring signs) Two things I noticed in the studio that I had never noticed on tv: (1) there are several mini-screens above the band on each side of the stage that show graphics/colors like the big screen in the middle and (2) the background behind the stage is black with white lights that look like stars. I don�t know why I never paid attention to those things before, but now I�ll be looking for them! Finally around 2:10 pm it was time for the dress rehearsal to start. Simon, Paula, and Randy do not participate in the rehearsal (this way their reactions can be spontaneous on the live show), so the stand-in judges took their seats. I found it funny that the stand-in judges generally look like the real judges (bald black man, white woman with long hair, middle-aged white man with short hair). If they�re just stand-ins and this is just rehearsal, why do they need to resemble the real judges??? *shrug* Anyway, the stage manager warned the audience that they film the entire dress rehearsal and use clips during Tuesday night�s show, so we were supposed to act as if this were the real performance (cheer, stand, etc). For that reason we were also instructed not to put our jackets on the backs of our chairs just in case they were shown on camera. Odd request, but whatever. The stage manager then told the audience that when Ryan walked out, we should greet him by saying, �Hi Ry Ry!� because he hates being called that. lol Before we knew it, Ryan was standing in the middle aisle of the audience. It was like he just appeared out of nowhere! He was dressed a little more casual than he has been on AI lately, which was a pleasant surprise. (I miss casual Ryan! Bring back the t-shirts!) He was wearing black pinstripe pants, a white button down shirt that was untucked and open at the collar, and a light gray suit coat. HOT! Like a true gentleman, he greeted the people around him, shook some hands, signed some autographs, and then headed to the back of the studio to rehearse the show intro. From where we were seated we could read his teleprompter along with him, and while he did read the words that were in front of him, he read them in a very goofy way, extending the words so that he just sounded silly. �Thiiiiiiiisssssss iiiiiiiiiiiiisssssss Ameeeeeeeeeeeeeeericaaaaaaaaaannnn Idoooooolllllllll.� lol It�s such a shame that most viewers don�t understand how entertaining Ryan truly is. On screen he comes across as nothing more than a hired mouth-piece who just reads lines and occasionally tries to pick fights with Simon. However, in person (and on the radio) he is sharp, playful, and funny as hell. I�ve really missed seeing that side of him since On Air was cancelled, but I�m glad silly Ryan was out in full force during the dress rehearsal. After Ryan did the show intro from the back of the audience, the theme music started playing and he had to literally RUN onto the stage to get behind the open LCD screen so they could close it and then open it again at the end of the song. You�d think they�d have a simpler way of doing that! Once Ryan had walked out onto the middle of the stage, he did his usual greeting just like you see on tv, except he introduced the stand-in judges as �fake Randy, fake Paula, and fake Simon.� Then he introduced the contestants, who proceeded to walk on stage in a line and, it turns out, were wearing the same outfits that they wore for the live performance that night. That�s when we got our first glimpse of Ace. *sigh* Honestly, I have very little recollection about any of the other contestants. Between Ace and Ryan, I was completely distracted and entertained. It was like there was no one else in the room! If you can believe it, Ace looks even better in person than he does on tv. His eyes sparkled and his smile totally glowed. His outfit was fantastic too: black button down shirt, black jeans, and sparkly scorpion belt buckle. (I noticed the belt buckle first, is that odd? lol) I have to add that Katharine McPhee looked gorgeous as well. She�s beautiful on television, but in person she is STUNNING. Kellie was wearing a great top that day too. It made her body look amazing. As for the other contestants, I guess they just looked how I expected them to look, same as on tv. The contestants stood in line on stage for a few minutes. They were filmed from various camera angles, and some of the footage may have been used for the broadcast on Tuesday night. While they were standing there, various people in the audience were shouting things to their favorites like, �You�re hot!� and �I love you!� (this actually continued throughout the entire rehearsal) From our section of the audience, Ace, Kellie, and Chris got the most attention. The Idols seemed amused and flattered, waving and smiling for their fans. Then they were escorted off stage and the rehearsal continued. They ran through the show pretty much like you see it on tv. All of the lighting and camera cues had been rehearsed already, and the contestants obviously knew everything that was going on around them (where to stand, walk, look, etc.). The only changes were to the conversation elements, like Ryan�s banter with the contestants or the judges giving their feedback. They still included those aspects of the show, but the discussions were much more lighthearted and silly than they would be on the real broadcast. For example, when Ryan was chatting with Chris, the topic of their facial hair came up (can�t remember who started it). Ryan said something about having to tweeze his ingrown hairs, and Chris commented that he stopped doing that when he was 14. lol Then Ryan, in a sarcastic/mock-insulted way, froze and fell to the floor on his hands and knees with a look of shock. Pretty damn funny. When Ryan was talking with Kellie, he asked her about the rainy weather but then wouldn�t let her answer because he kept rambling about how they�re not used to so much rain in California and that when it rains there, houses slide down hills. lol Just the way he said it in this fast-forward kind of tone was funny. (I pretty much think everything Ryan says and does is amusing though lol) While he was talking with Paris, a group of fans yelled, �We love you Ryan!� He was kind of startled and said, �I thought you were going to say �Paris�, but thank you!� lol It was cute. Ryan also wasn�t reading his scripted lines. (he did the same thing during On Air too) He might say a few things off the teleprompter, but then he�d say something totally goofy and random, such as introducing the show as America�s Most Wanted after a commercial break. I thought that was HYSTERICAL but no one else in the audience laughed. lol Another funny Ryan moment was when Elliott was listening to the �judges� comments. For some unknown reason, Ryan decided to literally run back and forth across the stage behind Elliott. Then after all the running, Ryan put his hands on his sides and bent over like he had over-exerted himself and was out of breath. lol He�s such a goofball! I love it! The fake judges were pretty entertaining too. After each performance they were asked to give criticism just like the real judges, and the stand-ins were actually commenting like Randy, Paula, and Simon would. (although fake Simon was much nicer than the real Simon) Fake Randy would say things like, �You�re keeping it real dawg,� and fake Paula would compliment the contestants on their clothes. lol It was funny to see them mock their alter-egos. A few personal highlights of the dress rehearsal� At one point Ryan came down our aisle to introduce one of the performers. While the cameras were getting situated, he signed a few autographs and shook people�s hands. Debi and I held out our hands as he got our row, and when Ryan saw us, his facial expression TOTALLY changed. (in a good way, not like he was scared of us lol) His eyes got really big, he raised his eyebrows, and he said, �Hey! What�s going on?!� I immediately hit Debi in the leg and looked at her like, �OMG did you see that?! He recognized us!� Now, he has recognized us in the past from our previous encounters, but we hadn�t seen him in almost a year so we were honestly SHOCKED that he seemed to remember us again this time. Yay! As if that wasn�t good enough, Ryan hung out near our row for a while. For some reason, I can�t control myself around him. I blurt out the most random things that, if I were thinking clearly, would never come out of my mouth. Maybe it�s because I�ve watched him on tv so much that I talk to him in person as if he were still inside my tv set and can�t hear me�. but he can! lol (did that make sense? I sound like I�ve totally lost my mind) Anyway, Ryan was standing near us signing autographs for other people and I just kept babbling away. I asked him what happened to his t-shirts, and he responded, �They�re at Nordstrom.� lol DUH, I knew that! That�s not what I meant! So I said, �Yeah, I know, I bought some, but why aren�t YOU wearing them?� Then he caught my meaning and said, �Yeah, I�ve been dressing up more this season. My mom likes it that way.� I told him that I miss the t-shirts anyway. Then the sound guy (I think) was fixing Ryan�s microphones on his jacket, and Ryan said, �He�s fondling my lapel.� (which in itself is a funny statement, fondling lol) Without thinking I blurted out, �Can I have his job?� *slapping myself in the head* Why do I say these things??? Ryan looked at me and said, �My job?� and I said, �No, HIS job!� and he finally figured out what I meant and smiled. At one point I also complimented Ryan on his E! red carpet coverage, and he thanked me. (I should have told him to fire Isaac Mizrahi!) My other favorite moments involve hottie Ace. You know how before a commercial break Ryan will say, �Coming up�.� and introduce the next performers? Well they did that during the rehearsal too. For the Ace/Paris intro, they were standing on our side of the stage. Of course most of the women around us were practically drooling because Ace was so close and looked so amazing. One woman across the aisle had a sign that said �Mrs. Young�, which seemed to amuse him. After he looked away from the woman�s sign, he seemed to be looking in our direction, so I waved, and he waved back! *squeal* Ace looked at me! ACK! I�m such a 12 year old sometimes. lol At one point he �caught� a blown kiss from someone too. Cuteness! Then right after that intro, Ace and Paris started walking towards the main part of the stage. Ace stopped to shake hands and talk with Ryan, and they stayed there chatting for a while, longer than I remember Ryan talking with any of the other contestants. I cannot even tell you how exciting it was for me to watch Ace and Ryan interact. Every time they touched � hand shake, pat on the shoulder, whatever � I was absolutely giddy. They were standing so close and looking at each other so intensely that I even blurted out to Debi � I can�t believe I�m admitting this � �They should make out!� lmao I know, I�m so so bad. As soon as I said it I slapped my hand over my mouth and thought, �Was that out loud?� lol Anyway, I tried to yell, �Ace, you�re hot!� but I guess I wasn�t loud enough because he and Ryan just kept talking. (I didn�t really want to interrupt them anyway) Then the other people around us liked the idea, so a group all yelled at the same time, �Ace is hot!� THAT got a reaction. Ace turned away from Ryan and looked at all of us with his huge, gorgeous smile. Unfortunately that also put an end to the Ace/Ryan conversation. I felt bad so I yelled, �Ryan, you�re hot too!� to which he kind of laughed, looked at me, and said �Thank you.� You�re very welcome Ry. ;-) A few minutes later when Ace was performing, I SWEAR he was looking in our direction. I felt like he was totally making eye contact with me, but it�s probably just wishful thinking. Regardless, I was definitely staring at him as intensely as possible and making sure that IF he was looking at me, he knew that I was LOVING it. lol Debi and I discussed all of the rehearsal performances quite a bit. We definitely agreed on our favorite and least favorite performers of the day, and our middle rankings were similar too. Based purely on the dress rehearsal, this is what I thought of country week� When the performances were done, they ended the show with the contestants and Ryan on stage together. Ace was standing next to Ryan on the right and Kellie was on Ryan�s left. Kellie was doing bunny ears behind Ryan�s head while he was closing the show, and then Ace joined in too. lol After the rehearsal was over, Ryan thanked us all, said goodbye, and left. *sad* However, all of the contestants were brought out on stage again � I really don�t know why. Maybe more group shots to use later? *shrug* Fans were trying to get Ace and Katharine (and maybe some of the others) to come into the audience for autographs, and they genuinely seemed to want to, but for some reason the Idol staff wouldn�t allow it. Eventually all of the contestants waved goodbye and exited the stage except Paris, who had to do her song again, as I mentioned before. After that, everything was over. The stage was clear and everyone was gone by 3:30 pm. The OCA staff told everyone that they could wait in the stand-by line to possibly get in for the actual show, but they also said that NO ONE has ever gotten in from the stand-by line. lol Not real encouraging! Since we had a long drive ahead of us and it was STILL raining (yes, all freakin day!), we knew that we shouldn�t stay. After exiting the building and the CBS property, we had a long, wet walk back to The Grove to get the car. We decided to eat (hadn�t eaten all day!), dry off, and thaw out at our favorite restaurant there, Marmalade. Then it was back on the road for a semi-rainy 6+ hour drive home. Of course we were going to be missing AI that night, but we already knew the order of the performers and hence their phone numbers. As soon as the clock hit 9 pm, we started dialing! It�s probably not the best idea to try to drive in the rain at night AND call to vote for American Idol at the same time lol, but I did it anyway. We got lots of dropped calls or �circuits are busy� messages, but considering that we were in the middle of nowhere, I�m surprised we could get any signal at all. Between the two of us, Debi and I managed to get in 300-400 votes! When I finally arrived home around 11:15 pm, I should have gone straight to bed. However, I�m insane so I watched my tape of that night�s AI broadcast instead. lol It was so strange seeing virtually the same thing all over again. Talk about d�j� vu! As I said before, I was much more impressed with the rehearsal performances than with what I saw on tv. Maybe I was so excited to be there in person that I just thought everything in the rehearsal was great. Maybe what Simon says is true, that it sounds different in the studio than it does on tv. Or maybe the rehearsal performances really were better than the live broadcast performances. Who knows! I�m just so glad that I was finally able to be there and experience it for myself. Despite the horrible weather and all of the driving, I still had a great time and I wish I could do it all over again! |
| 1. Paris � FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC! They had her sing it twice because there was some sort of technical problem. The first time she hit a few bad notes at the end, but the second time (when the tech problem was fixed), she was dead-on perfect, 287438 times better than on the broadcast later that night. I was so disappointed watching it on tv. 2. Mandisa � She was SO much better during the rehearsal! I was amazed at how awkward she sounded during the performance on tv. She was NOT like that during the rehearsal, I swear. 3. Ace � He looked at me while he was singing, so I might be a bit biased lol, but he really did sound amazing. Like Paris and Mandisa, far better live than on tv, much more confident and comfortable during rehearsal. Watching the broadcast later I thought, �What happened? You�re so nervous now!� 4. Elliott � great song, sang it well, same on tv as during rehearsal 5. Chris � nice to see him NOT rocking out for a change, a few rough spots though, same on tv as during rehearsal 6. Kellie � she looked FANTASTIC, good song choice for her, rough on the low notes though; and she really IS like that, it's not an act for tv, the whole �ditzy� thing definitely came across during the rehearsal too 7. Katharine � not a good song choice to show off her voice, kinda fun though, same on tv as during rehearsal 8. Bucky � expected him to do a lot better, horrible song choice, boring live and on tv 9. Taylor � completely boring, kinda painful to watch actually, he seemed really uncomfortable, didn�t do well on tv either |