July is family visit month, Part 1: Adam

When my visiting teacher Chalee (cute girl in picture below) found out that my brother works for the show "So You Think You Can Dance," her first question was, "Can he get us tickets??" Because she can fly free and get me a buddy pass. So I asked, and sure enough, he could. So Chalee and I hopped on a plane and spent the day in LA with my bro. (If you look close in the picture above, you can see the Hollywood sign on the hill behind us.) Oh, and the shirt Adam's wearing is left over from Adam Lambert's wardrobe on American Idol. The boy has connections. :)

We didn't need to be at the show until 5:30, so we did checked out the Chinese theater and walk of fame (avoiding the crowd at Michael Jackson's star). Adam needed to pick up his credentials for the ESPN awards at the Nokia theater, where he was going to work coordinating the seat-fillers the next day, so we got a backstage tour and got to check out the stage and dress rehearsals. Not that any of us cares about sports or ESPN, but it was still pretty cool.

When we got to the CBS studios, we met up with Adam's partner, Thaddeus, who was working (they both work for SYTYCD, but Adam had the day off). We got to meet their friends and bypass the line and metal detectors, and they took us to our seats. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but Chalee got a shot of the stage before they told us to turn off our cell phones. (The people around us wondered why they hadn't been confiscated like everyone else's.)

The stage and studio look a lot bigger on TV, which shouldn't be surprising but still is somehow. But that means we had great seats, even though we were toward the back of the bleachers. The bleachers don't get on camera very often, but it was a heckuva lot more comfortable than being in the "mosh pit," where you have to stand the whole time. Backstage info: the cute girls in front of the judges' table and along the edges of the stage and up on the platforms above the stage come from an agency. They probably don't get paid, but they get to be on camera. And they have to be sure they're really into the show and cheering a lot, or they get talked to about it.

Speaking of cheering, we did a lot of it. The show isn't live, and it took about three hours to tape. So before any of the "talent" came out, they took all the audience shots: clapping and cheering, clapping without cheering, cheering while people held up signs, etc. I was almost tired of cheering before the show even started. But the show didn't disappoint, and I was thrilled to be watching it in person. (I won't bore you with details of the show; if you're a fan, you watched it, and you know it was great.)

After the show Thaddeus joined us and we went out to dinner at their favorite Thai place. We were also celebrating Adam's birthday a day early. The food was great, and Thaddeus filled us in on all the backstage gossip: Mary's high-maintenance but loves Thaddeus; Nigel is friendly and low-key and gets his own food; Kupono's a diva with special food requests (Thaddeus does all the grocery shopping for the contestants); Jason and Janean are dating (no surprise after their steamy dance together). The stress level among the contestants dropped when it came down to the top 10, because if you're in the top 10, you're in the tour, which means you'll get $100K and have a steady gig for a year. So even if you get eliminated, you're set. So don't feel too bad for anyone who gets eliminated anymore.

After dinner we hung out at their apartment for a bit, but then Chalee and I had to get back to our hotel and sleep, because we had to be up at 4:30 to try to catch the 7:15 flight home. Here's a family picture of Adam, Thaddeus, and the kitties (Simon didn't want to cooperate).

So while I wouldn't call this trip relaxing, we had a great time. It was fun to see the show, but even more fun to hang out with my brother and Thaddeus again. They plan to work for the show for season 6, so maybe we'll get to do it again. :)