"The Ellen Show" Experience!

(Warning: Long post...mostly as a journal entry to myself...but you can peek if you want.)

For quite some time now, my mom and I have had "Go see 'The Ellen Show'" on our bucket list. A few months ago my mom decided that it was time to check that off the list! So as a (super early) Christmas present to me, she took me down to Los Angeles for a quick 24-hour trip to see "Ellen." My Aunt Pam and cousin Candace joined us too....so we made it a fun "girl's trip" together.

Candace and Pam beat us to California by a day, so they already had a cute Mazda 3 for our rental car. As soon as we arrived we took off for Venice Beach! The beach itself was beautiful, but the homeless people, the sketchy pot-filled shops, and inappropriate t-shirt stands were not cute...AT ALL. So, let's focus on the beach.....

Gotta have me a selfie!!!

Ok, how about 2 selfies?

Three?

We found a lovely place on the boardwalk to eat lunch! By then, my feet were sore from all of that walking around so it was nice to sit and enjoy our yummy food together! After our time was up in Venice, we headed back to our hotel in Burbank to get ready for our adventure to see "Ellen."

When we got to the parking garage at the Warner Bros. Studios we found a large group of people waiting in line for the show. Luckily we had guaranteed tickets, that my mom had secured for us online, so we weren't worried about getting in. We did have a lot of time to just sit and wait for all of the pre-show stuff like checking in, showing ID, getting a ticket number, going through security, etc. While we waited we met some really fun people from all over the place. The nice lady who took this picture of the four of us (above) was even the one who turned in Pam's wallet that she lost for a very stressful 10 minutes or so! We were so grateful that the stranger lady found it and turned it in to the show staff!

Another nice lady that we met, who was looking for the "VIP" ticket line, told me about a young man who worked for the show that was going around to talk to the people waiting in line. He was kind of "scouting" for people to interview as possible participants on the show. About 5 seconds after she told me that, the guy she told me about came right up to our group to say "hi." I introduced myself right away (with much enthusiasm, of course!). He chatted with us for a brief moment and then made his way down the row. About 20 minutes later he made an announcement that if he had spoken to your group, he wanted to meet with you out in the back of the parking garage! So the four of us went with hi...and about 30 other ladies. 

Now "Ellen staff guy" had another helper, Abby, with him and they took turns talking to each of the groups asking questions like: "Where are you from?" "Are you Ellen's biggest fan?" and other cheesy topics. I, of course, was hamming it up in hopes of impressing them. Well, it worked, and they picked me (and 7 other ladies) to join them in a trailer that was in the parking lot. My mom, Pam, and Candace gave me the thumbs up and went back to wait in line. During my 20 minutes in the trailer, the 2 staffers asked us more about ourselves, had us "pretend" to be called up to dance with Ellen, had us sign papers saying we were ok to be on TV, etc. It was crazy! We were all special friends, instantly! The staffers told us that they pick a group of enthusiastic people for each show...sometimes all of them get a chance to participate on the show, sometimes a few, sometimes one, and sometimes none! They had no way of telling us at that point in time, so we all had to just keep our fingers crossed!!!

I went back to sit with my peeps, and we got called to go across the street to the actual studio where they film the show before all of the others. While we waited to be seated in the audience, we got to hang out in the "Riff Raff Room" which is basically the Ellen Store area too.

(Screen behind me says "#I'mAtEllen")

The producers spread out all of the "enthusiastic 8" across the audience seats so that we weren't close to each other. My mom, Pam, Candace, and I got seated on the left side of the audience near the DJ booth. Pam was the farthest one over and said she could see something set up backstage...but couldn't tell quite what it was! Once everyone was seated another "Ellen" producer man came out with a microphone and told everyone the rules and boring stuff...and then they turned on some music. Everyone got out of their seats and danced to "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift. There was so much fun energy! After the song the microphone man started another song to dance to and then called a name out to come down to the stage...it was one of the "Enthusiastic 8!" I was so excited for her! Then, all of sudden, microphone man called "Heather Cropper!" Say whaaaaaaaaa? I jumped out of my seat like a crazy woman and ran down to the stage!! I couldn't believe it! I had no idea what I was being called down for, but I didn't care!!! It was so surreal! The microphone man called down one more girl and the three of us hugged and danced together! Suddenly a producer took the three of us backstage. We walked past Fergie who was rehearsing for something on a big bed!?!? I thought..."whoa, I just walked past Fergie!" Crazy. Next we were taken back to sit in some director chairs near a mirror with lightbulbs all around...seriously, it was like that!....and they gave us the news that we were going to play a game called "Know or Go." It's one of Ellen's most favorite, and most popular, games....based on trivia questions. The contestants are standing up on a big platform, about 10 feet up, and if they guess an answer wrong they get dropped through a trap door! Scary right? Combine the fear of dropping down a hole with cameras, lights, an audience, and Ellen DeGeneres staring at you...it's downright frightening! I was up to the challenge! Oh, was I ever!!!

So, my co-contestants turned out to be Julie (a young 20-something from Pennsylvania who was living in the L.A. area and working as a traveling pediatric nurse) and Jazmine (another young 20-something from southern California who works at Disneyland as one of the Mickey/Minnie characters!). They were so fun to be on the show with! We were giggly with excitement and nerves as the producers told us about the game, got us all hooked up with a microphone (clipped to our shirt, with the battery pack in our back pockets), and gave us name badges to wear. Julie and Jazmine both had to take off their shoes (heels) and put on flip-flops instead. The biggest rule about playing the game was that we could NOT move our feet or legs while we were on the platform, or else it could trigger the trap door at the wrong time. Ok...sounds easier than it was! When the music is going the first thing you want to do is dance and bounce your legs....well, that was a no-go! The producers told us to have the "party all up here" (meaning above the waist) and "not down here" (below the waist)! Soon enough they lead us to the stage behind the curtain and there was the "Know or Go" game set up! (Pam was right...she DID see something set up....it was the game!) We climbed up some stairs and got ready for the excitement! By then, I was so nervous I thought I was going to die! I was literally praying out loud that I wouldn't pass out OR have a total mind blank when I was asked the questions! (I forgot that I had a microphone on at this point, so it is very possible that one of the sound techs could hear me!!!) Suddenly, Ellen appeared and walked towards us on the platform. I totally blurted out "Hi Ellen!" when I probably shouldn't have. She smiled at us with those super blue eyes and told us to have fun! Then we could hear the music start out in the audience, the crowd was cheering, the announcer man announced Ellen's name, and she went out to greet the audience and start her monologue. As part of her monologue she mentioned she hadn't played her favorite game in a while....and the curtains opened to show us up on the "Know or Go" platform!!!

I danced my little heart out, as best as I could without moving my lower half! I waved to my mom, Pam, and Candace. I took a deep breath....and we started the game. Ellen's questions were all about American traditions. We all got our first questions right...mine was pretty hard though: "Who is playing in the World Series?" (Luckily I had learned the answer to this question in two different ways just days prior. Matt told me 2 days prior, and then I saw something about the two teams on "The Ellen Show" just the day before!) Julie got out on her next question, although I must say I think it was so hard to hear Ellen that she just didn't hear her question right. My next question was: "Name two celebrity baby names." I pulled my answer out of my "Random Celebrity Knowledge" file in my brain and came up with "North" and "Apple." Yes!!! Jazmine almost got out on her next question, but Ellen helped her. My next question was: "What is Bruce Springstein's nickname?" Again, I pulled it off with my trusty "Celebrity" file in my brain and came up with "The Boss" Oh, yeah. Jazmine missed her next question and it was "bye-bye" for her:

This was when I realized that I had just won the game! I was the last one standing! I did a quick victory dance which included a small "robot" arm move (which I had promised Tyler I would do if I got to dance on Ellen's show!)!!!

Ellen still made me answer one more question though...."When were blue jeans invented?" Huh? Uh...I had no clue! My first guess was way off. Ellen gave me another try....again way off. We then did a little "Price Is Right"-type back and forth where I would guess a year and she would say "higher" or "lower." We did this so much that it actually got edited out of the final cut! Ellen eventually helped me get the right answer: 1873! Although I won....I still had to get dropped!!! 

If you listen close to the show at this point you can hear me scream like a crazy lady! Awesome!

Many people have asked me what is under that platform. Well, let me tell you. It was like a big, thick gymnastics mat that cushioned my fall...that is for sure. However, it happened so quick and I was so scared at the moment that I can't remember if I landed on my butt or my feet. What I do remember was there was a producer man under that platform who yelled, "Get down, Heather! Get down!" It was almost like I was getting shot at. But really he was just trying to save me from getting my head hit on the trap doors as they were raised it back up. Then they hurried me out of there and had me catch up to Julie and Jazmine who were already out on stage with Ellen. When I came galloping out to meet Ellen I felt like I was going in slow motion as I went to hug Ellen! (I remember to not squeeze her too hard...the producers told us that she has a bad back and we needed to be careful!) She  really does have such a loving, king, and genuine aura about her. After a quick hug she announced to all three of us that we had won a new TV! She each of us a 40' TCL Roku "Smart TV." Sweet!

After they cut to a commercial break (they film the show in real time), the three of us were rushed backstage again so that we could take off our microphones....oh, and plenty of squealing, hugging, and feelings of "did that just happen?" We were lead to the other side of the stage to go out back to the audience. When I walked out there I suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights! The lights were so bright, there was music blaring, there were cameras all over the place (and blocking my path back to my seat), and I was still jittery from all of the nerves! I carefully made my way through the maze of cameras and cords all over the floor and ran up the steps to give my mom a big hug! Little did I know, but one of the cameras was filming the entire thing! I was still on my "Ellen high" and things were still foggy....then Ellen started commenting on my post-victory celebration! This was all included on the show as the show came back from commercial break. How fun! 

I enjoyed the rest of the show with my mom, Pam, and Candace. Ellen had Fergie on as a guest (she didn't sing though), an actress named Casey Wilson, a little boy who could hip-hop dance with the best of them, and also did a "Mattress Firm" skit with Fergie and Casey. (That is why I had seen Fergie on a bed backstage earlier). It was fun to just sit and enjoy the show's taping, and of course some dancing during commercial breaks! When the show had ended I was asked to meet up with another "Ellen Show" staffer who had me, Julie, and Jazmine fill out some paperwork in order to receive the TV. I also had time to look around in the shop with my mom, Pam, and Candace. I decided to just get a rubber bracelet as my one and only souvenir. My mom got a cute hat, Candace got a shirt or two, and so did Pam. I also had some of the other audience members come up to me to congratulate me on my win. There were a few that asked if I was from Utah...and if I was a Mormon...I guess they could tell because they were Mormons from Utah too! That was fun.

When we finally left the show we decided to go to dinner at Claim Jumper....YUM! On the drive over, I called home to tell my family the news. Matt was putting the kids to bed but I was able to hear about their day before I told them the news! Tyler thought I was kidding and Matt kept repeating, "Really? Really?" It made me laugh. It felt good to share the news with them!!! Matt then asked permission to post on Facebook that I was going to be on "Ellen" the next day. During our dinner we saw a few more people that had been at the show (and another couple from Utah, who asked if I was Mormon). I also saw the "VIP lady" who was the one who told me to talk to the "Ellen Show" staffer while we waited. I thanked her profusely and we exchanged phone numbers. Her name is Sylvia and she is from El Salvador. Random! I also texted Robyn quickly while we waiting for our food. I just had to tell her!!!! When we got back to the hotel I sent a few more texts and then called it a night. I was EXHAUSTED!!!! 

The next morning my mom and I had to wake up at 4:00 am in order to catch a shuttle to the airport. We had the same fun shuttle driver that we had had the day before, so we told me stories about our experience at "The Ellen Show." During our flight home my mom and I had more time for great conversation that we don't normally have when the kids and extended family are around. I don't think I could ever run out of things to talk about with her! I had such an amazing time with my mom....winning a TV on "Ellen" was just an extra bonus! :)

Matt came home early from work that afternoon so that we could watch "Ellen" all together as a family. The kids thought it was super cool to see their mom on TV with Ellen. I had some really nice texts, emails, FB comments, and Instagram comments from people who saw the show. It was great to feel like a celebrity for 24 hours! 

My new TV showed up on my porch about a week later. They just mailed it to me instead of sending it with me on the airplane. It's not every day that a big TV shows up on your doorstep! 

And that's the end of my "Ellen" story.