Dancing With The Stars

Monday I had a super fun, playing hookie kind of day. A friend of mine got tickets and invited me to the taping of Dancing With The Stars which is a show I enjoy. A group of 4 of us left Newport Beach, CA around noon for Los Angeles where it is taped. We sat in line on the sidewalk outside of CBS Studios for a few hours before we were led into the studio. While waiting in line the American Idol contestants pulled out of the studio lot in a van and waved at us which was kind of fun! Inside, the set is almost as pretty in person as it is on TV. Everyone is dressed up so it made us feel like we were at a special event. The stage seemed smaller than on TV but not by a lot. All of the 500 seats on the floor are VIP seats, so guests like us were seated in the balcony. We were right above the judges. We spent the preshow scanning the room for celebrities. We spotted Jon Cryer Brooke Burke, Dave the creepy neighbor on Desperate Housewives, Steve Wozniak, and Jewel was apparently below us but we couldn't see her. The hosts were classy and elegant, the orchestra was great, and the dancing was spectacular. I also loved the dancer's attire. It was fun to watch the reactions of the families of the dancers, all of which were right across from us. At one time, Melissa came out from backstage right before going on camera to bring her boyfriend a plate of food which was cute. I have been to several TV tapings over the years (including The Price is Right where I was a contestant at age 18)....this was probably the best. While Giles is a hotty, as a Bachelor fan, my vote is for Melissa.

me and some of my tall friends