beutifulstrangr
May 8th, 2003, 03:26 PM
Yesterday I had the unusual experience of spending the day backstage at American Idol. I’m sure it's quite a scene on a regular day, but yesterday was off the scale because Oprah Winfrey arrived with an entourage so she could tape an episode of her show after Idol's taping.
I was not there because I work for Fox News. Idol is on Fox network TV.
No, American Idol tapes at CBS studios in Los Angeles, right next to The Wayne Brady Show. Literally, more like right on top of Wayne Brady. Their soundstages are side-by-side and they share a long narrow hallway full of dressing and make-up rooms.
It was there, waiting to watch a taping of Wayne's fun show, that I got to see a slice of Idol. At one point, all the men of the show — Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson — were all in makeup chairs getting more attention than most women I know. There was a lot of primping for these popular guys.
In the hallways were the finalists for Idol 2, including Clay Aiken, a spike-haired red-headed young guy who was practicing his vocalizing as he paced. Of course, I was a little surprised when I looked him up on the Fox Web site to discover that he started the show with much darker hair and eyebrows.
"Where are you from?" I asked him.
"New York," he shot back in a Southern accent. "No, really, North Carolina." But I think "Hollywood" is the answer now.
Meanwhile, I spotted nearly all the participants who'd been voted off the show in recent weeks. They mill about with the still-active players and the hosts, all chatty and very friendly.
As you may know, Josh Gracin was the latest victim of elimination last night. That leaves Clay, Ruben Studdard, and Kimberly Locke.
Oprah's arrival added to the frenzy going on in the cramped space that Idol occupies backstage. The talk-show queen is a knockout in person, and even though she has a staff, there's none of the security nonsense that often accompanies big stars.
Instead, Oprah's staff was courteous and undemanding. The funniest part of this was the CBS studio staffers, who kept telling everyone, "Oprah is coming. You'll have to clear the hallway. You can just have a peek."
Hilarious. When she arrived, just the opposite was true. Oprah stopped and chatted with everyone, full of charm. When she ran into famed singer Isaac "Shaft" Hayes in the hallway, Oprah traded recipes for barbecued ribs.
"Don't even ask her about ribs," Hayes said when they parted. (He owns his own restaurant in Memphis anchoring Peabody Place.) "She's serious about it."
Winfrey did tell me she'll be reviving her book club shortly, which will be a relief to the ailing publishing industry. Her taped show with the Idol audience will air next week in syndication.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,86324,00.html
I was not there because I work for Fox News. Idol is on Fox network TV.
No, American Idol tapes at CBS studios in Los Angeles, right next to The Wayne Brady Show. Literally, more like right on top of Wayne Brady. Their soundstages are side-by-side and they share a long narrow hallway full of dressing and make-up rooms.
It was there, waiting to watch a taping of Wayne's fun show, that I got to see a slice of Idol. At one point, all the men of the show — Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson — were all in makeup chairs getting more attention than most women I know. There was a lot of primping for these popular guys.
In the hallways were the finalists for Idol 2, including Clay Aiken, a spike-haired red-headed young guy who was practicing his vocalizing as he paced. Of course, I was a little surprised when I looked him up on the Fox Web site to discover that he started the show with much darker hair and eyebrows.
"Where are you from?" I asked him.
"New York," he shot back in a Southern accent. "No, really, North Carolina." But I think "Hollywood" is the answer now.
Meanwhile, I spotted nearly all the participants who'd been voted off the show in recent weeks. They mill about with the still-active players and the hosts, all chatty and very friendly.
As you may know, Josh Gracin was the latest victim of elimination last night. That leaves Clay, Ruben Studdard, and Kimberly Locke.
Oprah's arrival added to the frenzy going on in the cramped space that Idol occupies backstage. The talk-show queen is a knockout in person, and even though she has a staff, there's none of the security nonsense that often accompanies big stars.
Instead, Oprah's staff was courteous and undemanding. The funniest part of this was the CBS studio staffers, who kept telling everyone, "Oprah is coming. You'll have to clear the hallway. You can just have a peek."
Hilarious. When she arrived, just the opposite was true. Oprah stopped and chatted with everyone, full of charm. When she ran into famed singer Isaac "Shaft" Hayes in the hallway, Oprah traded recipes for barbecued ribs.
"Don't even ask her about ribs," Hayes said when they parted. (He owns his own restaurant in Memphis anchoring Peabody Place.) "She's serious about it."
Winfrey did tell me she'll be reviving her book club shortly, which will be a relief to the ailing publishing industry. Her taped show with the Idol audience will air next week in syndication.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,86324,00.html