Our Dancing with the Stars experience!

OK- Dancing with the Stars is my favorite show and Tuesday night Benjy and I sat in the front row of the audience and got to watch the taping.  It was such an awesome experience.  I signed up on line on the abc website about 6 months ago and just got an email last Saturday.  Benjy and I dropped Gavin off in Oceanside with my parents and headed for Hollywood.  We weren't sure exactly what to expect.  They say to be there no later than 3:00 but we were sure that people line up earlier so we got there at 12:00 and were numbers 8 and 9 in line!!!  We were all dressed up-Benjy in a shirt and tie and me in a very nice dress and heels.  We stood on the sidewalk in line for 4 hours and didn't even read our books.  It was so fun to talk to the people in line around us since we automatically had this crazy experience in common already.  As we waited we saw Ryan Seacrest and Simon from American Idol pull in to the studio in their convertibles and waving and smiling at fans.  At 4:00 they told us there would be a pretaping and then they'd go live at 6:00 on the east coast.  Once we got in the studio it was magical I was like a kid in a candy store!  It was so sparkley!  I couldn't believe how SMALL the dance floor was!  It looks so much bigger on camera.  Anyway, once we got inside they start placing people where they want them in the audience.  They started to send people up to the back rows.  When they got to us the lady said, "OK-let me have you two step over here"  I was so excited and thinking, "Oh, I hope they put us in the front b/c we are all dressed up" (some people who were in line in front of us weren't dressed up as much and got stuck in the back.  

Then the girl walked us right behind the judges booth and sat us right down behind Carrie Ann's seat.  I was so giddy!  A lady behind us told us we wouldn't see the dancing b/c the  judges were going to be in front of us but I didn't care what she said, I was so excited to be on the front row and right behind the judges. 

They got us all pumped up with cheering and then Big Bad Voodoo Daddy came out with some of the pro dancers.  My favorite, Julianne caught my eye and we smiled at each other!  Bruno came out and winked at us!  Len Goodman told us we weren't going to be able to see anything.  I still didn't care-it was so much fun!  During the dance w/ Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the pro dancers (Julianne, Derrick, Marc, Lacy, Tony, Cheryl etc.) had to run behind the judges and wait to go back on the floor right in front of us!  Then the girls kept playing to the judges and sitting on their table so we got the best view of that!  They did that performance two times. 

If you heard about what happened on The Bachelor-we got to see Melissa (the girl who got dumped after he proposed to her) and her new boyfriend-she looked so happy!  Chris Harrison, the host of the Bachelor was there and we watched after the show as he came up to say Hi to Melissa and you could tell it was a little awkward for her, then she proudly introduced him to her new boyfriend.  I know it's shameful to be this involved but I was so starstruck.  Jewel performed as well and they did a really pretty dance to that and we could still see a lot of it even if we were blocked by the judges a bit.

We were only 2 out of like 8 people in the front row who were NOT VIP so we sat across the floor from Mickey Rooney and Wynona Judd.  Benjy sat next to a former Playmate who was there to support Holly Madison (Girls Next Door) and this girl Amber is now on Kendra's new show.  Again...it is shameful I know all of this but if you watch The Soup you see how I know all of this.  We talked to her a lot about what it's like to film a reality TV show like that with cameras in your apartment.  That was kind of interesting.

Our row was dismissed last at the end so we got to linger and enjoy watching what happens afterwards, families mingling, dancers saying Hi to their friends etc.  Then we went out to the Grove for dinner and Derrick and Marc's band played-Maxim and Tony were there to watch so we saw them again.  

It was so much fun and even though Benjy laughed during the guy's dance numbers (he'll never adapt to the high, tight pants and hip shaking) he had a great time too, just getting to see what the behind the scenes was like.

If you watch it, or have it on your DVR, you can totally see me behind Carrie Ann every time she talks.  You can see Benjy too but not as much.

While we were there waiting in line, people were there lined up for American Idol as well.  One girl got to see the dress rehearsal and said it was so incredible to hear them in person because they sound so good!  So...that's my next conquest!

We couldn't take cameras or cell phones so sorry, no pics!