Marybeth Heyd: What it's Like to Attend an Idol Taping

What a fun night! First of all, I feel so lucky that I got to see such a great theme week with AMAZING music. It could have been so much worse, and I really think that the performances were good - and some were downright incredible. So awesome awesome week to get to go, and 11 singers too - I definitely hit the jackpot. Just to give a little background, I taught a girl named Ava last year, and wound up tutoring her all summer. Also, all summer, her dad Jonathan was off doing Survivor in the Cook Islands. I know that was so last fall's reality TV, but if you didn't watch, her dad did a great job and I think was in the top 6? 5? I can't remember. Anyway her lparents have a million connections in town - which is why this was Ava's FOURTH taping of AI. She's been to 2 regular tapings and a finale, and the Survivor finale (which she attended) was on the same soundstage as AI, so let's be clear - she took me to the show Tuesday night, and not the other way around. She knew her way around like the back of her hand, and was so poised and articulate when she met the contestants (in marked contrast to a certain other young person who got, in my opinion, just a smidge too much camera time last night....anyway I digress). So that is the scoop on how I got the tickets. Jonathan was not with us, otherwise I'm sure that a) we would have had better seats and b) we would have been on screen a LOT more!

We got there about an hour early, checked in to get our VIP lanyards, and headed to the VIP lounge which was just a curtained off area with some TVs and tables and chairs and a bunch of food and drinks and, well, VIPs. Basically lots of old people (I have to assume they were entertainment bigwigs of some form or another) with their grandchildren, and lots of people with British accents (Peter Noone was in there but did I know who he was? Of course not!) and the girl who I will heretofore refer to as "Waterbags" and her entourage. I know in the studio she was just sitting with one other girl, but in the lounge she was with 4 girls and 2 moms. I would love to see the rock-paper-scissors game that determined that the one girl who got to sit with her, let's call her "Becky", was the winner....the remaining girls and moms got to stay in the VIP lounge and eat the congealed potato skins left behind by the actual VIPs (I'm talking about Peter Noone here, not me) and...watch the show on TV?!?! Thanks for flying in from middle America, Waterbags, Becky and friends - friends, have fun doing what you normally do in your living room on Tuesday nights - enjoy the folding chairs and NO Tivo! Woo hoo! So clearly in addition to looking like an ass on national TV over and over, Waterbags is NOT going to have an easy time in 9th grade, courtesy of the friends who she left behind. These friends seemed utterly unconcerned that this girl would literally cry at ANYTHING - Sanjaya's mom (Momjaya - I am guessing that she is around late 30s tops and I have to say, I know we hate him and whatnot, but she was incredibly sweet and looked very very good for having a 17-year-old or however old he is) and sister (again, so pretty and sweet, I felt bad hating him as much as I do) came in and WB was wailing, and hugging them all like they were at Sanjaya's funeral...I have to admit I was mesmerized. I just had the worst thought....what if she won some Make-A-Wish contest? Oh no. I bet that's it. I'm so going to hell.

We got in about 30 minutes ahead of showtime and met Cory, the annoying warmup guy who basically had to talk to us throughout every excruciating commercial break. You know the kind of guy I'm talking about? The, you know, that guy. I kept wanting to call him a fluffer, but you get the basic idea. Chit chat, let me see your signs, I need big applause, where are you from, that kind of stuff. Ava promptly spotted David Ian, one of the judges from Grease:You're the One That I Want.See all the reality TV overlap here? It's kooky I tell you.

Also in the house were a bunch of people from this show (I haven't watched last night's show yet but I'm assuming they did their little Fox shameless plug thing?) and this chickwho was more or less naked. You thought Haley was scantilly clad? Please. Simon and Randy were LOVING Miss Alaina and all of her....skin. I'm not ready to make nice either, honey.


Once the show started, it was very much what you see on TV - honestly. The performances were amazing and the only bummer is that the band is pretty darn loud, so I'm excited to watch the performances at home tonight and (find myself in my green hat and) really listen to the quality of their voices. It's a pretty small soundstage, so even though we were kind of further back, we could still hear and see absolutely everything. I was a little blinded by the lights during Gina's set, and I got a little dizzy during Lakisha's disco ball number.

For the most part everyone in the audience is real well behaved - for example not one cell phone went off for 2 hours, which in LA basically means there has been an earthquake, or you're at something really REALLY important. Seriously, that blew my mind. The fluffer guy Cory asks all kinds of dumb questions during the excruciatingly long commercial breaks, which made them go by even slower. And man, did I learn that I have Tivo-ADD. Big time. I could barely function, having to wait the 4 minutes or whatever it is...and I was AT the show! Yikes, time to bring that up with my school psychologist.

ANYway, lots of fun, great great performances, I totally agreed with the judges on everyone but Lakisha who got a GIANT standing O, and I really dug her song. I was struck by Ryan's shortness, the visibility of his facial makeup, and the fact that at every single break, the judges dashed out of their seats and went off somewhere until the stage manager was literally counting down "3...2...1..." before they rushed back to their seats - where do you think they go? I am dying of curiosity - mainly because in my mind they park in those seats for 2 solid hours and they don't go anywhere, and they chitchat about the performances while we suffer through Cory (in the studio) or Coke/Ford/AT&T commercials (at home). That was really the most surprising thing. Oh, and that Simon seemed completely into Paula - lots of touching and arm around her chair, that sort of thing. And Ryan was biffing out with the 3 of them too - maybe they made up after the last few weeks of bickering? I don't know but it really did seem like one big happy family. Sigh.

The biggest treat of all was yet to come - getting to meet the contestants as they departed CBS studios. This is what VIP status got us - and it was so cool! There were only about 15-20 other people waiting at the exit for them, and clearly the contestants must have been told "these people have been waiting for 45 minutes, and it's drizzling, and they know someone relatively important (in our case Brian Grazer - you may know him from...well, from any of these got the tickets for Ava's parents) so be nice, be friendly"...and they were!

The Chrises (is that the plural form of Chris?) came out first and Chris S is Ava's fave, so that was a big deal. Both signed autographs for us, but I will just say that to compare and contrast immediately, Sligh seemed a little bigger for his britches...and that is not a weight comment. He just seemed slightly more comfortable coming out to a crowd and signing autographs...and I think at this point, Richardson's obvious lingering discomfort with this endeared him to me a little more. Plus the fact that he hugged his dad when he got out for, I kid you not, a full 2.5 minutes. Adorable. And he had a skateboard with him, so the high schooler in me was swooning. Sigh, again.

Haley walked right on by us, which I have to say, was pretty much fine with me.

Next was Blake, so charming and so cute, we loved him. Bouncy and adorable, love love him.

Phil came over and just wanted to shake our hands (?) and thank us for coming, and was not so into signing autographs. His wife and the daughter who wasn't just born on national TV were standing with us and were just lovely.


I think Jordin was next, and she was literally like "Hi guys!" on her way over to Ava and me, and was chatting us up, telling us that 3 years ago she was just like us, waiting to get autographs from the contestants (I hope that was a nod to Ava making her singing dreams come true and not me because I am officially too old to be an Idol, but maybe I love her a little more for thinking that I'm not? hmm) and introduced us to her brother DJ, who had a big poster, which he asked her to sign (hmm? really DJ? that's the way it is in the Sparks house?), and she also was just lovely. I really mean it. And so composed, and quite tall, and at the same time - 17. It's a winning combo.

Sanjaya came out and wrote "Stay Pretty" on Ava's ticket (Stay Pretty, Ava? Or I'm Sanjaya and I can't sing but I sure can Stay Pretty? not sure), and signed his name rather uncomfortably, and was just mumbly and un-charming and maybe had a headache from screaming? I'm not sure but I am sure that if I hadn't met his lovely mom and sister earlier in the evening, I would have been a lot less kind - I did mutter a "nice job" or something to that effect, but he was reading me loud and clear because he sort of shuffle-mumbled away without signing my ticket, which, again, I'm ok with.

I should have had my pool top 12 typed up and asked them to sign next to their name...which of course means he would have, but Phil and Haley wouldn't have - hey, wait a minute! Anyhow, Sanjaya is just uncomfortable in his own skin, and it shows.

Stephanie was next, all bubbly and with the most butta-ful nails I have ever seen - we chatted about how they were maybe too long and she wasn't real happy with them, and she swears she's seen Ava before at previous taping, which Ava loves. So I heart Stephanie, and yes as I write this maybe just maybe she's getting voted off, but I don't care. I really liked her song and I liked her. There.

Melinda and Lakisha came out at the same time, and Melinda, I kid you not, made a beeline for us like we were her best friends. And she is every inch as humble, unassuming, gracious, and perfect as she appears on TV. Maybe more so because being able to be all those things in the presence of an 8 year old is a pretty huge test, and man did she pass with flying colors. I adore her. She signed our tickets and was patient and made us feel like we were the only people there - it really is remarkable.


We hunted a little for Lakisha, who was on her cell phone and about to get in a car when Ava called out to her, and she promptly told the person she was talking to that she'd call them back, and proceeded to visit with us, try to sign our tickets (at this point it was pretty much full on raining) and then when that didn't appear to work, she fished through her bag to get us Idol trading cards with her picture on them, and signed those for us. She was amazing too - and Ava told her that she disagreed with Simon's judgment of her this week, which was adorable, and Lakisha said "Thank you!" and put her hand up for Ava to high-five, but in a totally attitude-less way...I mean it's kind of ridiculous how picture perfect these people are in their responses and in their interactions with the crowd. It was genuinely very fun to meet them and see them in this still early stage of stardom.

Just when we thought our night was over, we were waiting to be seated for dinner at a restaurant not far from the studios when in walked Melinda and her mom. She once again made a beeline for us and said "Hey! How are you two?" as if we were there meeting her for dinner. She chatted with us before we were all seated, and we kept checking over her way during our meal - a few people approached her but for the most part she and her mom ate quietly at the bar. Now I know this is LA and people don't generally approach celebs as part of the whole etiquette thing, but we were in a place that was mainly tourists, and people know the show is taped there...I just think that if you don't watch the show, you'd have no reason to know who she was. I firmly believe she's going to win the whole thing, so it was sort of neat just to be in the presence of that future greatness. We actually broke ranks with the LA etiquette set at the end of the meal and went up to HER this time, and wished her luck, and Ava gave her a lucky penny that we had found on the floor on the way over to her, and told her once again how amazing she was. I think I actually said "You have a beautiful voice and a beautiful spirit" and I sincerely meant it, as fake as it sounds. She just makes you happy, doesn't she?

Sigh.

In a nutshell (too late!) it was super fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It's 8:19 pm in LA on Weds, which means I have 41 minutes to go watch last night's show on Tivo before tuning in to see who's out....if the studio audience reaction was any indication, it'll be Sanjaya...but who are we kidding, Waterbags sealed that deal for another week at least. Sadly, following that, I may have to go with Stephanie, but I'd be happy for Phil or Haley to go home - and not just because neither one of them is in my top 12!

XXOO
MB