John’s Blog - Coast To Coast

Yes, I just got back from the NBC Studios in Burbank, where the Tonight Show starring Jay Leno is taped. Leona Lewis performed an incredible rendition of “Bleeding Love” just before the taping ended at 5 pm PT. I got incredibly lucky with my seating location as I was randomly seated to left of the stage in the 4th row, about as close to Leona as I could have ever have wished to be - only about 12 feet away!!!

My day started very early today as I got out of bed around 5:20 am… left home at 6:20 am to beat the horrible traffic, and managed to be there by 7 am! 40 minutes! I even quickly found a parking spot… I then got in line while sipping on my morning coffee. At 8am sharp, the doors to the ticket office opened. I was 8th in line. I then decided to go on the NBC Studios Tour and that was pretty cool as we got to see several sets including the set which Johnny Carson used when he did the show, along with getting a pre-view from inside the studio where Jay’s show is filmed. We were in there from around 9:40-9:50 this morning, and I listened intently as they keeping playing Leona’s “Bleeding Love” so that the band would be totally familiar with the song when it came time for taping… I was hoping that Leona herself would come out and do some warm-ups, but I think it was too early for that. For you soap opera fans, we also got to see one of the “Days Of Our Lives” sets. The tour lasted about an hour and 15 minutes.

After grabbing some lunch, I got in the actual line for the show and found out that I was the 10th person. While in line, I quickly acquainted myself with one of Jay’s biggest fans, Glozell Green. GloZell is a blogger who has a site completely devoted to Jay called GloZell Loves Jay Leno, where you can find several pictures that she took… that’s her with me (below), and I’m also in two pictures on her site. GloZell knows all of the in’s and out’s of going to the Tonight Show. For instance, did you know that if you’re amongst the first 30 people in line, you’re guaranteed a seat for that day’s taping? If you’re any later than that, there is the possibility you won’t get in. It was a lot of fun getting to know GloZell and all of the other great people who came to see the show! For the record, GloZell’s been to 336 tapings of Jay’s show since 2006! You go girl!

As for the show itself, I of course came to see Leona perform… Since it was a Monday, Jay of course did his usual “Headlines” skit… which was very good as always. The funniest part though may have been a parody that was done of Tiger Woods’ latest Nike commercial where John Melendez loses a few teeth… If you’ve seen the commerical, you’ll soon understand. Actor Peter O’Toole and Comedian Katt Williams provided some comic relief. Peter was his usual funny self, and Katt (outside of one unnecessary comment) was also very funny. Overall, they were both pretty enjoyable.

Leona then took the stage a little before 5pm in a stunning black and white dress. I had no idea when they opened the stage door that she would be right at the edge of it, only 12 or so feet away from where I was perched… Those four minutes of her performing “Bleeding Love” were simply AMAZING! She hit so many high notes, and people in the audience gave her a rousing ovation afterwards!!! I’m pretty sure she saw me as I was the closest one to her to stand first… Even Jay was VERY impressed, talking to Leona for several minutes after the taping was done. Leona then went off to the backstage area… and with that I hit the road about 5:15, being very thankful that things went so perfectly well!

Note: pics are screencaps from Tonight Show airing on NBC.

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