People's Choice Awards

About a month ago Dave sent me an email from work that we'd been invited to the People's Choice Awards by a company that works for his company. He asked me if I wanted to go... uh, do I even need to reply to that question? So here we are yesterday on our way to the big event. It didn't seem real until I pulled the tickets out of the envelope. Even more exciting was that there was a pre-show celebration and an after party!

I love going to these TV show tapings because you get to see behind all the smoke and mirrors. For instance, the announcer comes on 10 minutes before the show is about to start and asks people to take their seats, after that two doors open on either side of the stage and a guy in a 'CASTING STAFF' t-shirt directs gussied-up 20-somethings to various seat that are not filled -- Seat Fillers! 

We were seated in the balcony and enjoyed a constant flow of very, very.... did I mentioned it was very good champagne? I think I got a little too excited about the champagne when I just had to look at the waitress and she brought me another glass. What can I say but this was my Big Night Out. So in the picture above Sandra Bullock and the dude she made The Proposal with... Ryan O'Neal are accepting their award (I forget what category). Here's the other trick they pull, the actors are not sitting in the audience until the commercial break right before their awards is given. During the break the stage managers move out the Seat Fillers and escort the actors to their seats, the winners of the award are called and they actors go on stage to accept. They know they are going to win before they ever arrive at the show! I think the Oscars and Grammys are different but I was so surprised! The actors accept their awards, walk off the stage and go home. Not bad for a night's work.

Here's a close up of Bullock and O'Neal. I wish I had a video of Mariah Carey when she accepted her award. Mariah was high on life if you know what I mean.

Here we are on the way to the after party which was just across the way from the Nokia Theater. I rushed to get out of the house and when we were halfway to downtown I realized I had forgotten my lipstick.

We had a great time at the Conga Room, they had dinner, drinks and a DJ. The place was filled with Proctor & Gamble folks who, if you watched the show, make the products that were plugged throughout.

And finally, my favorite pick. I like Kate Walsh and she arrived at the party as we were about to leave so I assumed she would be willing to take a photo and of course she was. How beautiful is she? Since we weren't actually able to see the red carpet from the pre-show area I was happy to get to at least see Kate up close.