American Bandstand 50th Anniversary

Donna received the call about a week before the show. We received VIP tickets to the show for KOP Fanatic members!! We were thrilled of course and quickly made the arrangements for our trip. The show was being taped in 6 different segments over a three day weekend. They would have two shows a day, one in the afternoon around 2 pm, the other in the evening beginning at 7pm. Even though we had VIP tickets we were told we still had to make sure we were there early to get a good seat. Michael was scheduled to perform on Saturday, April 24, 2002. My friends Sandy Stadler, and Jen Winnings, were flying into Phoenix that Thursday, while another friend flew in early Friday morning. We were all planning on driving to LA together however Sandy and Jen decided to leave Thursday so they could possibly catch Michael arriving. My friend and I arrived that Friday night.

Michael was already at the theater on Friday night, rehearsing so naturally many of the fans had gone to try and see or possibly meet him. :) Unfortunately, I didn't really know my way around Pasadena too well and ended up getting lost, arriving about 45 minutes AFTER Michael had already gone! grrr! Oh well, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the next day. As it is with most Michael appearences, everyone was up and ready very early even though the show wasn't until the afternoon. Sean and his friend, Shayna met us at the hotel and we were off! Once we arrived (after I got lost AGAIN. lol), I was surprised to find the place already pretty full even though the show wasn't scheduled to begin for another 3-4 hours!!

Lucikly the time went by pretty quickly. Michael arrived about an hour before the show began, as you can imagine the excitement level was pretty high by that point.

After some anxious waiting we were finally let into the auditorium! It was first come first serve, with each group (according to ticket level:ie-VIP, reserved, stand-by), were let in accordingly so basically you had to RUN to get a good seat! Luckily, Sean, Sarah (his sister) and her friend, myself, and my other friend (who shall remain nameless), got pretty good seats in about the 12th row, center stage. AFter some annoying segment tapings it was finally time for the performance to begin! I had never been to a taping before so it was pretty interesting to see how they piece it all together. Another thing that ammused me was how they direct the audience, "ok now we need conservative applause, now LOUD!" lol As we were watching a blank screen that would eventually have video clips to which Dick Clark was referring to. Neway, Cher was first to perform. I had never seen her in person so that was an experience. I'm not too fond of her latest songs tho, thank goodness she only performed one. hehe Finally the stage was being prepared for the King of Pop!!

Michael was performing "Dangerous" and was dressed in the same red shirt/jacket style from Munich. I had never seen it performed live so I didn't care if this routine had been performed numerous times already. We were instructed to remain quiet while Dick Clark recorded another segment. That was interesting, here Michael was standing right in front of us and we weren't allowed to applaud, yell, nothing. Finally the magic began! The performance was great, although not his best, but still very well received. Actually, so much so that Michael decided to perform it again for the much enthusiastic crowd! It was great because just like his Tribute concert in NYC, this audience was of all ages and everyone was going crazy! After just 15-20 minutes it was over. Michael thanked Dick Clark, gave him a hug and was gone. We had to sit for a bit longer for a few more segment tappings but after that it was finished.

Another wonderful experience, another great performance by Michael. I don't think I could ever get sick of seeing him perform. :) Thank you to Donna, and that special someone who provided the tickets for us!;) WE LOVE YOU!! Until next time...