Got up early this morning to try and be part of the smiling, happy, people in the background of any morning show. Good Morning America didn't have anything going on outside so we wandered down to the Today show near Rockefeller Plaza.
Sure enough, throngs of people with dumb shirts and dumber signs, struggling to get their 15 seconds of fame. So...we jumped right in and burrowed our way to the front. About that time I realize the high percentage of teeny-bopper girls and their under-dressed teeny-bopper moms. This can only mean one thing...some boy-band is playing a concert outside the studio.
Yep...turns out it is Maroon 5, and lots of swooning is going on. We were able to find a gap near where the hosts would later come out to broadcast the weather from and introduce the band.
It was interesting to watch and figure out how the cameramen "choose" who in the crowd to film. When their camera was not on, they'd point the camera at most obnoxious people and then ENCOURAGE even more obnoxious behavior, promising they'd be on TV. So when the producer was choosing what camera to choose for the next cut, he had a plethora of obnoxious swooning behavior to choose from.
Fran and I were surrounded by such behavior and so they filmed the people on the left and then on the right, but passed right by us. We both laughed at how silly people would act in order to get on TV. Sorry mom and dad, I won't be a TV star today! We got close though.
During and off camera shot, the cameraman pointed his camera at one of the previously mentioned under-dressed and hyperactive teeny-bopper moms standing right next to Fran and asked the mom if she could dance. That was all this woman needed....she let loose with some embarrassing dance moves instantly and shrieked at Fran to start dancing too.
Fran immediately knew she was in a bad position by the time the desperate woman shrieked a second time at her, as if her life depended on Fran's dancing. Fran hesitantly started with some subdued movements, but she must have been able to sense the "I will abandon you on the spot" look I was giving her, which was actually tough for me, b/c I knew I was about 2 inches from being on national TV. I am sure that the shrieking flailing teeny bopper mom was on TV b/c the red light came on, but no one has reported seeing anyone that looked like me scowling on national TV.
So close to being a star...and yet so far!
