Behind-the-scenes tonight and MY SIDE of the Elizabeth Taylor story!
December 19, 2006
Hey, blog buddies!
This is my 2nd blog entry of the day (scroll down to see today's earlier entry). On days when I'm on The Tonight Show, I like to try to give ya'll a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes action that is rarely seen by the public.
If you're new to the blog, I just have one question for you: "WHERE IN THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!?"
This blog is SO much fun! Every day I write stories and post pictures of my daily life - from the mundane to the marvelous, almost everything is documented and shared with YOU! (Well, almost everything... :))
Click HERE for my official MySpace page.
But, before I begin with the behind-the-scenes stuff, let me give MY side of the Elizabeth Taylor story.
Wow oh wow... if you just saw tonight's episode of The Tonight Show, you saw me make a TOTALL ASS of myself in front of Oscar winning living legend Dame Elizabeth Taylor. I'm so so so embarrassed. Rarely do I get nervous like that, but it's also very rare for me to ever meet a living legend like 'E-Tay' (as I like to call her). That being said, I just totally malfunctioned. I mean, like totally absolutely screwed up.
Here's how it happened...
When I got to the fashion show, I had no idea 'E-Tay' was going to be there. It wasn't until after we interviewed the models backstage that our crew found out that she'd be there and was willing to let us interview her. Instantly I was nervous. I always get nervous around living legends. Example? One time I got so nervous that I talked to Bill Cosby about adult diapers.
But I was totally trying to pull myself together when one of her "people" prepped me. He said something like, "Ms. Taylor is wonderful. But there's something you should know - she likes to be referred to as 'Dame Elizabeth', okay?"
"Sure!" I said.
Then I thought to myself, "Remember to call her 'Dame'. Dame dame dame. Oh, like Dame Edna!"
And then it hit me. I know myself way too well.
"Oh no. Oh no no no no no. Oh no, Ross," I thought, "Don't say 'Dame Edna'. No no no. Don't say 'Dame Edna'. Don't say 'Dame Edna'. Don't say 'Dame Edna'. Don't say 'Dame Edna'. No no no. Don't say 'Dame Edna'..."
And then, of course, I walked into Dame Elizabeth Taylor's trailer and said, "Hello, Dame Edn---Elizabeth...!"
And it just went down hill from there.
Oh well! I'm still a HUGE 'E-Tay' fan and I always will be. :)
Okay, let's get to the behind-the-scenes pictures!
Here I am walking into my dressing room and discovering a Christmas present for me from The Tonight Show producers! How nice, right?!?

Here I am on the couch in my dressing room studying the script.

Here's Robert putting on my makeup. I hate wearing makeup on television because it feels like I have pancakes on my face. But I like chatting with Robert, so it all works out!

Here I am in the Tonight Show hallway with some NBC paiges.

Here I am with Anthony (left) and Scott (right) - two Tonight Show staff members who travel with me and work on all my segments.

Here I am with John Melendez right before the show started taping.

And, finally, here's a photo I snapped from the walkway where all the guests walk out onto the Tonight Show stage. I had to turn the flash off because I took this picture as Jay was introducing John and I (that's why it's a little bit blurry. Sorry! But I wanted to capture the "moment").

Fun, right?!?!?
Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see what my SUPER-SECRET HOLIDAY SURPRISE GIFT for all of you is!!!
Until tomorrow, gang!
Ross