At the Steven and Chris taping!

When my friend contacted me last week about an invitation to be a part of the studio audience at a television talk show called “Steven & Chris“, I was intrigued.  I had not seen any of their episodes (Sorry, Steven and Chris, if you’re reading this!), but since I am always up for brand new experiences, I was in.  

I signed up for a free ticket on the CBC website using the user-friendly form, and within a couple of days, I received an e-mail invitation that I was invited to be part of the audience!  It was pretty cool and I was very excited. 🙂

I met up with my friend Linda just a little before 9:30 a.m. today since we were required to be at the CBC studio by 9:45 a.m. in order to get settled in and seated.  I’d never been inside the CBC area before, so it was kind of cool for me.  I definitely brought my camera and took pictures like a tourist. 🙂

We lined up while Alexis, one of the production (?) coordinators, very enthusiastically welcomed us and reminded everyone to use the restrooms and to spit out any gum before entering the studio.  Soon enough, by 9:45 a.m., she and her intern led everyone in batches on an elevator to the sixth floor where Studio 65 was.  Her energy was infectious and she really made us feel excited to start cheering and clapping as a crucial part of the show.  As Mike, another coordinator, told us, we were the background and soundtrack of the show.  Without us, the show wouldn’t be as energy-driven and fun to film! 😉

Linda and I got the perfect seats in the third row.  It wasn’t the first row and we weren’t at the back either.  I loved sitting there and watching them get ready for the taping.  I also really loved the playlist of songs that blew over the speakerphone since they were all pop songs!  I heard Lady Gaga’s “Fame”, Beyoncé’s “Love on Top”, Spice Girls, more!  I really, really jived to them in my seat.  Pop songs are my thing. 😀

Emily, one of the crew, had us practice clapping four times:  one was a golf clap (slow and measured), normal applause, big applause, and crazy-jump-out-of-your-seat-applause.  It was fun.  We also did a few shots where we looked into various cameras and just smiled.  Alexis and Mike stood at the back and made funny faces and did funny things for us to laugh at.  They’re so much fun and good at what they do.

They shot a couple of segments for the episode that will air next Tuesday, February 4.  There was one called “Grain Power” based on a book by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming that is all about using ancient grains and super foods to make healthy recipes at home.  We all got to take the book home as a gift too!

My favourite segment was the celebrity fashion one called “Who Wore It Best?” Since the Grammys just occurred this past weekend, it was a great time to look at various celebrities’ outfits and pit the ones who are wearing the same ones against each other for some fun and light-hearted celebrity fashion talk.  I rarely watch TV these days and I don’t catch up with celebrity news on the Internet, so this was fun to watch.  It reminded me of the days where I used to tune in obsessively to Perez Hilton and other celebrity news shows to catch up all on this stuff.

Lastly, they filmed a segment called “Red Carpet Cocktail” — again, with the award season theme.   Steven and Chris made a blood red-coloured cocktail with Simon Ho right on the spot.  Lots of us in the audience wished that we were able to try the concoction they made.  It would have made the audience experience even better.

Before long, we were all done.  Despite telling us that we were going to be there for 3.5 hours, we only ended up filming for 2 hours.  It actually only felt like being there for 1 hour!  It was just so much fun and the time just flew by.

Other tidbits about being the studio audience was that in between segments while the crew was setting up, they held prize draws for everyone in the audience.  We sat on chairs that denoted numbers.  Mike used a random number generator to call out numbers and whoever was called would win a specific prize.  Some of the prizes were books from previous guests on the show, $50 spa gift certificate, dish soap, gourmet jelly doughnut gift certificate (I wanted this one!), the memorable fake eyeliner(!), and more.  Also, in between the segments, they also arranged enough time for all the audience members to have a chance to take a picture with Steven and Chris!  I thought this was very smart and cool for everyone to actually get a chance to meet with Steve and Chris (if only for a moment) to encapsulate a moment in time.  I look SO tiny next to the two tall men!

We all left with the Grain Power book which actually retails for $30!  Not bad.  It was a really fun and cool experience.  This was my first time being part of a studio audience for a talk show.  Previously, I’ve sat in the live audience at MuchONDemand back when MuchMusic used to have that feature at 5 p.m.  However, this was different since it was a taped show and I was able to see more of the behind-the-scenes work.  Also, I liked the level of audience interaction and how entertaining the experience was at Steven and Chris.  Hopefully I’ll be able to tune in next Tuesday to see if I see myself on TV… =)