November 15, 2010, the day I was part of The Today Show audience at Rockefeller Plaza, #30 on my 30 for 30 list. CHECK!
It's 5:30 a.m. and my cell phone alarm is going off ingratiatingly. In the dark, I stumble over an empty Kenneth Cole shoe box, a product of The Fella's shopping excursion at Macy's, as I cross the room to shut up the phone. Snooze. Then, as I make my way back to the bed, I stumble over it again, running into Viv's coffee table, swearing. !@&*%$! Who's stupid idea was it to go to The Today Show?!@&*%!!!
Oh, ya, mine.
Looking back to last Monday, I can now smile about it. A pretty cool experience was had as a result of waking at the ass crack of dawn to see the live show. Sometimes it's worth it. The Fella and I groggily made our way to 48th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues where the line forms to gain admittance to the Plaza. Even though we arrived around 6:30 a.m., fans had already lined the barricades, particularly crowded in the best spots where the Today Show anchors always come out to greet the audience. We were going to settle, but then saw prime spots open up right in front of the studio which we managed to nab! Sweet!
We saw Linny in the crowd. Linny is the guy in the picture below, wearing a leopard-print (?), hooded jumpsuit. According to my little bit of Internet research, he's a pseudo celebrity because he's a regular in The Today Show audience, day after day for the last 15 years. The Fella calls him the "creepy dude who just stares". And he's kinda right, Linny does just stare out, observing intently, not waving or smiling like all the tourists.
We had the privilege to be standing next to the Presidents and Members of Tom Felton's Official Fansite (Harry Potter's evil villain), in all their fabulous wizardry regalia. They taught me a chant (that I've now forgotten) to greet Harry Potter when he comes out onto the Plaza. They even gave me a business card. Yes, a business card.
At 7:30 a.m., the Ambush Makeover Team came out, looking for their next victims lucky ducks. Louis Licari, stylist to the stars, approached, intently staring at me. Like for a whole minute. That's a long time when you don't know why a perfect stranger is staring at you. Then he turns to one of his assistants in his entourage and whispers something to her, looking back at me. She looks at me, whispers back, half-smiling. The Fella swears he heard Louis say "Pretty." But I'm still a bit self-conscious about my new bangs, so I am imagining that he's saying something like, Wow, what is that girl thinking with those bangs?
At 8:00 a.m., the three hosts come out on the Plaza to greet the fans. We saw Al Roker, Meredith Vieira, and Matt Lauer up close and personal. It was like watching them as I get ready for work, ONLY LIVE and I didn't have to go to work!!! And not to sound like a stalkerish, over-adoring fan, but Meredith had awesome gams and I wanted to rip those glossy, nude platforms right off. I really, really mean this.
So, we managed to get on air three times, saw Lee DeWyze (American Idol) and Harry Potter breeze through the Plaza, heard Al's signature "Let's see what's going on in your neck of the woods!", but the coolest part by far was meeting Meredith! In 30 seconds, I managed to squeak out all about my 30 for 30 project and how this was #30.
You can catch a glimpse of The Fella in the Ambush Makeover video clip at 47-48secs, in the middle of the screen. I'm too short to see well, and the camera pans too quickly, but after several times of reviewing the clip, I could finally spot me!
All in all, this was a good reason to get up at 5:30 a.m. I just don't know how Linny does it 365 days a year!
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