It was “Glambs Galore” at the Oprah show!  Will the stars align for Jill and Olga’s trip to Chicago for an Adam encounter?  You’ll have to read Part I today (and Part II tomorrow!) to find out the complete adventure.  Enjoy!  Dana, Glamb #6

The Adventure, Part I:

Wednesday 1/13/2010 - The alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. after a semi-conscious 4 hour sleep…you know, the kind you get when you are leaving on vacation, afraid you’ll oversleep and miss your plane, feeling so much anticipation, the wonderful excitement of the “unknown”, OR something so unpredictable, that your tummy has those butterflies that are teasing, tantalizing, enticing, and tormenting all at once?! 

A week earlier, on our very own adam-lambert.org site, one of my fellow glambs posted an Oprah link calling out to all Adam Lambert fans.  I immediately went to the site to try to put in to words why I was his biggest fan and should be on the show.  I found it hard to articulate – so much was on the line, namely the opportunity to be in the audience for Adam’s Oprah show! I struggled but finally hit Submit just praying I would get a call!

Two days after the Adam link disappeared, Olga emailed the 3 of us that she had gone on to Oprah to see if she could get in to a “random” audience.  She ended up getting a call back for an episode called “Marriages Around the World” – which was taping on 1/13 Wed in the a.m…and lo and behold Adam was being taped in the p.m!?!?!  What a stroke of luck… maybe, just maybe we could get in the afternoon taping?!?!? Yes, totally a MAJOR LONG SHOT but just the thought of breathing the same air as Adam was at Harpo studios, or even just to steal a glimpse…

Neither Mary nor Jeanette could go, so Olga and I set off on our adventure.  We met at the Park & Ride at 5:15 a.m…both like giddy schoolgirls, embarking on this secret expedition – knowing our goal and praying that there was a remote chance the next 12 hours would be the most unforgettable of our lives.

Drum roll please:  Here is where the stars began to align on our journey.  1st– I reveal my shimmery blue black nails to Olga telling her I bought the polish on a whim this week just “in case” and had never done a color like this before but loved the name - ”midnight affair.”  She said, “me either”- flashed her hand and said, “midnight affair!!”  You have got to be kidding me?!  What are the chances?!  Our first “sign”!  LOL!!

On our speedy ride to the windy city of Chicago – just 90 minutes from Milwaukee, traffic was on our side – but Mapquest wasn’t!  When we exited we got lost for 10 minutes before Olga became my human GPS, and beautifully found our way there.  Hearts racing, we primped, jumped out, paid our $30 for parking, and headed for the doors.

Oprah runs her place like a well-oiled machine.  A hive of worker bees hummed around her and the next couple of hours went without a hitch.  We were herded in to coat check, security, and then a holding room. Olga and I were restless, in and out…asking questions how we could get in to the p.m. taping?

At one point I needed to get to my bag in security for some meds, (they confiscate everything – cameras, cell phones, etc.).  I had to ask for water to take the meds and one of the security guys asked me if I was ill, diabetic, did I need some sugar?  He handed me some juice, and moved on, although Olga nudged me and said I should have played the “sick card” to get back stage!  Silly me…

After almost two hours in the studio, our taping time was winding down.  Oprah thanked us, said her goodbyes, and then the “rah rah” gal of the show ran up and said “please take your seats.”  Olga and I squeezed hands and before she said “afternoon openings,” we jumped up and screamed like we had won the friggin lottery!

Our adrenaline pumping, she calmly said to go see Cheryl if we wanted to be on stand-by for the afternoon show.  Herein lies the “timing” of the day just falling magically in to place for us based on our “lost” episode…which ultimately gave us our number in line, which pretty much determined where we ended up seated in the morning, which gloriously ended up being about 10 feet from Cheryl!

Olga and I raced over screaming and practically tackled Cheryl, as we got our names as numbers 1 & 2 on standby for ADAM!!! Was this really happening?!  OMG – seriously…we were both in shock as she told us to take a lunch break & be back in an hour in the standby line.  Was this a guarantee?  Do we take a chance?

Heck no…we went right back in line where we had begun our day just 4 hours earlier to hopefully have this dream come true.  We were both in a kind of daze at this point – not wanting to get our hopes up too high.  We tried to just relax, calm down, unwind, and breathe.

Can you say LONGEST two hours of our lives?  As we sat in line with other diehard excited ADAM fans, we also learned there were people in line who hadn’t even heard of Adam.  WHAT?!  Susan Boyle fans were there too.  What a weird combination - like oil & water…but both passionate for who we were there for!

Cheryl came out a number of times deflating our hopes.  The standby line went from 16 to 4…she said it was not looking good, she might be able to get 1 person in. We still clung on…I told her that if 1 of us got in it should be her since she got us here.  Olga, so sweet, was torn - what an impossible situation to be in!

At 12:55, with 5 minutes to taping, Cheryl returned holding up 2 fingers. OMG!! Talk about being down to the wire!  Again we screamed, practically tackled her, thanked her, kissed her, and told her how much we loved her!  We ran through the security line since we knew the “drill” from the morning and headed directly to the studio.  Everyone was already seated, and we had to separate, but didn’t care.  WE WERE IN!

Never in a million years did we think this would happen.  As much as we “wished” it…maybe in our guts “felt” it …in a whirlwind of a few weeks, here it was happening!  After the AI concerts – I thought we’d never have an opportunity again to be this close to Adam.

…to be continued. 

Thanks Oprah! …not only for having Adam on for a 45 minute interview and performance, but for inviting Sue and her daughter to be his “best fans.” While Sue is working out the details of her firsthand account of the show and all the backstage juicy details (I’m sure she is dealing with enough confidentiality paperwork to sink a battleship - and we have to keep everything legal!), here’s an article and a few videos to hold us over. Dana, Glamb #6

Interview

Sue and Jessica Introducing “Whataya Want From Me”

After Show Performance of “If I Had You”

Backstage Interview

Oprah paid homage this afternoon to the quirky appeal of Susan Boyle and Adam Lambert (and, thus, to the massive power of Simon Cowell-judged televised talent contests). Despite Boyle’s absurd sales figures (8 million worldwide!), though, it was clear who the Oprah demo’s favorite was: Boyle was off the stage after about 15 minutes — a performance and a quick video package/interview about how she used to be regular and frumpy and now she’s famous — to make way for Adam to chat with Oprah and repeatedly visit a Los Angeles Whole Foods in video segments. And though there were no new revelations (he’s still gay!), he did manage to entertain, as usual. Among the things we learned:

1. At his favorite L.A. rocker store, Forgotten Saints, he could actually find a vinyl jacket with furry tufts that he felt went “too far.” (Sadly, it is not available on their website.)

2. He met Madonna for “five minutes” because his guitarist is her guitar teacher, and in those five minutes he told her he was intimidated because he loves her. Her rejoinder: “So love equals intimidation to you?” Can’t you just totally hear her saying that in her faux British accent thing?

3. “Adam is like energy.” That is how 15-year-old Jessica — who shares her Lambert love with mom Sue — explained her fandom just before oh my god being totally surprised when he showed up to give them both passes to his dress rehearsal! Honestly, at this point, how are people still surprised when their dreams come true on Oprah? If I ever get a call from anyone remotely connected to this show, I expect my life to change. And I will be very angry if it doesn’t happen.

And in honor of Jessica and Sue, he sang “Whataya Want from Me” — a very mom-friendly tune, as evidenced by his understated brown jacket, modest eyeliner, and all the ladies of a certain age singing along in the audience.

Article Source: http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/01/19/adam-lambert-on-oprah-he-shops-at-whole-foods-he-meets-madonna/