Pure Derek Hough

Yes, this is Part II of Angie’s story. I have to share this with you guys – Angie is cracking me up right now. I’m almost afraid to post this because she’s revised this four times – are you SURE you’re ready for me to post it Angie?? And yes, as you can see, she took pictures. Or her partner in crime, Kelly, did. When Angie gets her courage up, she REALLY gets her courage up – this site even gets a mention (I didn’t ask her to do that, I swear). But Derek, I don’t know NEARLY enough about what’s going on in your life. Email me, hon. No, seriously.

Hi Heidi,

Got caught up here at work and got a chance to tell you about last night. I was sooo upset that I chickened out and didn’t talk to Derek on Friday night that I let the angry, resentful thoughts swirl around my head all day Saturday. When will I ever get to see Derek again? Will I ever get another chance to tell him how he touched me? How could I let something so ridiculous intimidate me? I skydive and have traveled Europe alone. I deal with serious life or death issues like cancer (I’m a registered nurse) all the time; I’m no wussie. My pride started to kick in. I have a chance to redeem myself, DeVience is playing tonight again at The Viper Room and Derek will be there. Wait a second…I work a 12 hr shift tomorrow and I start at 7am. How can I drive up to LA and see their show at 10:45 and get enough sleep to work tomorrow? I don’t feel good as is and I definitely am still recovering from last night. Kelly is down to go again with me tonight because she is as upset as I am that we didn’t talk to Derek on Friday. But I have to leave early, does she want to stay late in LA? I debate and debate all day till evening. Finally I got a sign I was meant to be up there. I jokingly posted a tweet directed at the band DeVience saying “Hey, saw you guys last night and you’re fabulous. Shall I grab a girlfriend and drive back up there from the OC to see you tonight?” To my surprise, the band responded with a resounding “Yes, come back up here. The show will be sick tonight.” Decision done. I’m going to watch a cool band tonight and I absolutely, positively have to talk to Derek tonight or I won’t be able to look myself in the mirror ever again.

We arrive at the The Viper Room 5 minutes before the band is to go on. The next band to go on is not DeVience…Oh hell no, don’t tell me I drove all the way here to miss the band! Come to find out that the bands are really behind and that DeVience wont go on till midnight. Well, there goes any chance I have of getting any rest tonight. The Viper Room is another famous LA band venue and like the Whiskey A Go Go, many famous bands have come through there. It’s a 2 story enclosed venue full of dark black hallways and the band stage is upstairs in a dark room that can fit about 50 ppl. I saw Derek slip into the room looking fabulous in a black leather jacket, basic blue jeans, and dark tennis shoes. He walks fast and crosses the room so quickly that when I blink, he’s gone again. I kept thinking…”You have to do this, get this over with. Do it now before his band goes on and he doesn’t want to be bothered. Just do it.” I figure he is outside so I casually walk to the door, camera in hand. I chat up the door bouncer for a minute or so and devise a plan in my head. Right before I walk outside, I pull out my phone and pretend to talk to someone so it looks like I stepped outside to use my phone rather than stalk Derek Hough. Yeah…I’m smooth, I know. I walk outside and casually make random conversation with myself. I hang up my phone and realize 3 band members of DeVience are standing between Derek and I. Here’s a good time to meet the band so I walk up to them and start chatting them up. In this totally adorable British accent, Sawyer, the guitarist asks me “Are you Angie from the OC? Thanks for coming.” Ahhhhhh, melt my heart why don’t you? Ten minutes later, the other 2 band members walk over and introduce themselves to me and I find out that four of them have never been to the US. “Why don’t you come down the OC and visit me? I’ll take you out.” The other guitarist (who is amazing on the guitar by the way) said, “I would like that. We need to get your number after the show.” Sweet. In my head I’m thinking, “Do any of you need a green card cause I’ll marry you.” Anyways, during this conversation Derek has vanished back into the Viper Room. The guys start to set up and I walk back into the room. I check in with Kelly who is at the front of the dance floor saving our spots. I turn around and see Derek sitting alone at a booth checking text messages on his phone. It’s now or never, Angie. Just do it.

I walk straight over to him and get his attention. In a calm and confident voice I say “Derek, I’m such a big fan and it is such a pleasure to meet you. Your dancing amazes me and I was wondering if you would take some pictures with me. I need these for your fansite.” In warm tone of voice, he smiled and said “Thank you so much. Thanks for coming. Yeah, that website purederekhough.com is great. Anytime I need to know what’s going on in my life I go to that website and it’s sitting right there. I’d love to take a picture with you.” And with that he jumped out of the booth and was by side with his hand around my waist in a snap. I was so ecstatic my smile ran off my face it was so big…just check the pic. I told Kelly to take another picture of us and I just couldn’t help myself. I wrapped both of my arms tightly around his waist and laid my head on his chest for the next pic. I could die now and be perfectly happy I’ve lived a full life. I took a pic of Kelly with him. Kelly mentioned to Derek after taking the pics of us that he had a little piece of hair sticking out alfafa style from the top of his head. I didn’t hesitate a second and I said “Let me fix that.” as I gently brushed his hair back in place. His hair is sooo soft, blonde and beautiful. So in heaven right now. I also gave him a sincere thank you card I wrote him and he slipped it in his jacket and told me he would definitely read it later. We chatted another few minutes or so and then it was time for the band to come on.

If its possible, the band sounded even better than last night. I stood in the front and rocked out with Kelly on my right and Derek on my left. That haunting voice of Giovanni was so dreamy at times and I ended up snapping several pictures of the band during the set. DeVience finished their set and I proceeded to say goodbye to all of them but alas! All their equipment is behind my car blocking my way out. So I chatted with them and Derek a little longer. When it was time to leave, Derek had walked away about 20 feet away from me and I yelled out “Bye Derek! It was nice meeting you, don’t know when I will see you again but take care!” He turned around, jogged over to me, and gave me a big, warm hug. Wow he is such a nice guy. I got home about 2 am and got up this morning at 5:30 to work but my total fatigue right now is a small price to pay for getting my dignity back and having a dream come true. There were many other little things that went on such as me getting free drinks from the hot bartender and my conversing the bouncer about DWTS and Derek (this hot bouncer actually had watched the show and took swing lessons). But nothing else really mattered because this, by far, was the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had. Much thanks goes out to Derek and DeVience.

DFFL (Derek fan for life),
Angie from the OC

ETA: deVience’s MySpace

Angie told me about her night at the Whiskey and told me I could post it so the rest of us could live vicariously through her. Don’t feel too sorry for her for being “chicken” to talk to Derek – there is a part II to this story that will be coming later today sometime. The writing is all hers, with the exception of a spelling error that I fixed for her.

God Heidi…I’ve lived in the OC my whole life. Meeting celebrities is part of life here in cali and I’ve met some of my favorite actors but I’ve NEVER EVER EVER been a groupie until Derek. I’ve met Kevin Spacey, John Stamos, and a few others but I’ve always kept a chill calm aura about me. When it comes to Derek, I’ve been dying to see him in person dancing or singing but I never get tickets to DWTS and always find out a little too late about any appearances he may make. I joined twitter just to follow him. It’s actually pretty retarded really; I’ve lost all my dignity watching those fabulous hips of Derek move across a dance floor. Anyways, I had to see him so I worked my 12 hr shift yesterday (I’m a RN) and dragged my sick, energy drink laden ass out to LA last night (about 45 minute drive north). Whiskey A Go Go is a great place to see bands; it’s renowned in LA as the ultimate band venue and its been around forever. Any great band has played there including Doors, Avril LaVinge, Blink 182, and the list goes on and on. It’s a 2 story small venue that has a giant stage that you can see from every place in the joint; the place can fit about 150-200 ppl. The second story has a balcony that wraps around the stage and gives a great view of any bands. The place is old, dingy, and punk rockerish; it smells like rotting wood and beer but its a great place.

I got off work at 7:45 and left the OC at 8:30ish. I arrived at the place 10 minutes before DeVience went on and got myself a drink. My friend Kelly (also a DWTS fan) was with me and I glanced over her shoulder and saw him sitting at a nearby booth! I smiled and almost had a heart attack as I started to feel palpitations in my chest. He was a wearing a tight gray preppy sweater, light blue jeans and some sweet white tennis shoes and every time I stole a glance at him I swear I stopped breathing. Yes I know..pathetic huh? Remember, this behavior seems so ridiculous to me cause I’m 30 yrs old! I’ve always imagined what I would say to him or what fan letter I would write to him if I ever saw him and I all could do was stare completely dumfounded at his beautiful blonde hair. Kelly and I stepped out onto the dance floor in front of the stage. The place was not packed at all, I was surprised not more people were there considering Derek advertised this on twitter. I looked around and thought “Am I the only crazy Derek groupie here?” Guess so. These fabulous talented British Boys DeVience started to play their rock ballads and they were definitely an attractive, talented bunch. Some loud crazy dude cheered really loud on my right and I had another mini-heart attack when I saw the gray sweater standing on the right side of Kelly who was standing to the right of me. There he was…cheering loudly, waving his hands in the air, and bobbing his head to the music. He has a tremendous energy and you could tell he was so supportive and close to his friends. He circled us on the dance floor talking to multiple people and all I kept thinking was “Dammit! Talk to him!” but he looked too happy to be hanging with his friends.. At one point he yelled so loud right behind Kelly and I that Kelly got a bit irritated and almost turned around and said something. Ten minutes into the show I see him talking to this girl for a long time that looks like she’s 18 years old. She’s wearing black boots, black leggings a big loose button down plaid men’s top and a black painters hat covering that long platinum blonde hair. She turned around and Kelly and I instantly recognized Julianne. She is soooo little. No wonder everyone can toss around her around; my left thigh probably weighs more than her whole body. Got to say though…that is one adorable family.

Anyways, Derek circled in front of me and I finally got a chance to look at his whole back silhouette without him knowing it. Wow…he’s a lot more skinnier than I imagined but that unmistakable ass still bubbled out from under that long, lean body. Fabulous. I turned to Kelly and said “I feel like s**t but I’m so happy I’m here tonight.” Surprisingly, the more the booze sunk in, the more anxious I got to approach him. I also started to get raptured up in the music and really started to enjoy DeVience’s lead singer’s haunting voice. I wanted to buy their CD but they weren’t selling it. The more immersed I got into the music, the more oblivious I became of my surroundings and Derek disappeared for awhile. It was time for another drink so I walked to the bar and completely froze like a deer in headlights when I stepped up right behind him and he turned around and quickly glanced right at me. Maybe he was expecting his sister to be right behind him? Who knows. He was wearing a black leather jacket now so I hadn’t recognized him right off the bat. He stood at the front of the bar texting someone and waiting for a drink. “Come on Angie, just talk to him,” I thought to myself. He got his drink and walked away. Disappointed, I sauntered back onto the dance floor and listened as DeVience finished an amazing set.

I glanced upstairs and realized I had forgotten what the second floor looked like so I told Kelly I’d be right back. After scufflling up the stairs to check out the set up, I see a lot of empty chairs, tables, and a practically empty bar. Nice. I am so coming up here to get my next drink. Some mysterious door opened to the right of the bar and Derek quickly came out of the door right at me, gave me another expressionless glance, and breezed by me down the stairs to join his party. Another opportunity missed. At this point, I’m emotionally miserable and angry at myself that I don’t have the balls to go talk to this dude. After all, he’s just a guy. What is wrong with me?

I went downstairs and casually glanced over at his party while watching him smile and laugh the night away with a group of people. As badly as I wanted to talk to him, I couldn’t bring myself to disturb this guy having a night out with his friends. It’s never been my dealio to put celebrities on pedestals, much less this young, vibrant dancer. I also reminded myself that technically, this night was more about DeVience and not my obsession with Derek Hough. I also reasoned that if I was a member of a band I would hope that someone would take the time to appreciate my music, not my celebrity friends. Midway through the next band’s set, Derek and his crew vanished. I glanced outside through a door and saw Julianne talking to Giovanni, the lead singer of DeVience. Shortly after that, they all vanished but I stayed till the last band finished up so I could sober up, drink some water, and drive Kelly and I home. The bands that followed DeVience were absolutely fabulous as well. At least not all was lost, I did get to hear some great music. Tonight DeVience is playing at the Viper Room in LA at 10:00pm. I want to go but have to work tomorrow am at 7am for 12 hrs. Don’t know how that would work but Kelly is down for going up there tonight if I want to go. Derek will probably be there I’m sure but I’m ambivalent at what to do. If I saw him, I absolutely, positively would have to talk to him just to prove to myself that I got some courage still in me. Plus I would just have to get picture to give to you, wouldn’t I? I also wouldn’t mind seeing DeVience again, what a great band. Even if I don’t go I will meet him soon cause I’ve got a lot to say to Derek. I want to thank him for a very special thing he did for me and I hope I get the chance to tell him about it sometime. Maybe I’ll tell you about it another time.

Well, from what I’ve seen, the reaction to the Parachute video has been resoundingly positive. Even people who are NOT fans of Cheryl Cole seem to really like the video. Lots of flattering adjectives applied to Derek’s person, too. Of course – I expect nothing less. Here’s a sampling:

From Idolator:

Cheryl Cole Opens Up Her “Parachute” With ‘DWTS’ Pro Derek Hough
But it all worked out pretty decent. “Parachute” is now scheduled to be the third single, and Cheryl snagged Dancing With The Stars heartthrob Derek Hough to cut a rug with her in the music video. You can catch the full clip below—and hopefully Cheryl can finally get some sleep at night.

From Popbytes:

good morning everyone! here’s the brand new cheryl cole video for her latest single parachute – the third release off her debut album 3 words which i really like (it even got an honorable mention in my top albums of 2009) plus the video stars mega cutie derek hough from dancing with the stars – i just love him – i hope he comes back next season! popbytes over & out for now … xoxo

From the Mail Online:

She’s gearing up to head over to Los Angeles to make a real go of her solo career, and her new video will cement her break away from Girls Aloud.

Cheryl Cole looks every bit the solo star in the promo for her latest single Parachute.

The singer, 26, is put through her paces by Dancing With The Stars U.S. star Derek Hough, 24, as they perform a high-energy dance routine.

Intimate: Cheryl Cole and Derek Hough get up close and personal for the racy dance routine in her new video for the single Parachute

Heat: The Latin routine involves a lot of smouldering, close up positions

She first performed the Parachute on stage for her Night In show on ITV1 in December last year, where she was joined on stage by Hough for a Latin style dance routine.

Backed by a troupe of Latin dancers in black and red, Cheryl showed off her petite figure in a hot pink tiered skirt and asymmetrical sequinned body as she worked the dancefloor.

With her dark hair swept back into a tight bun and cherry lipstick, Cheryl looked every inch the Spanish Senorita as she performed the sexy sequence.

Derek Hough is a former world champion in Latin dance and would no doubt have had a strong influence over the racy choreography for both the video and their previous stage performance.

Uh, yeah.

I just had to give this post that title after the ribbing I gave DancingforDerek and CurlsforDerek in the comments. Many thanks to DfD for this blog – I wanted to know about Derek falling into the audience and she tried to tell me what I wanted to know, although she neglected to say if he was wearing PANTS.

YES being front row was beyond AMAZING! I was dead center (the other 4 girls were to my left) and after Shannon told me Derek would fall into the front row and someones lap…YES of course we were all wishing it would be us He fell off to my right (and of course it was choreographed so Derek wouldn’t get hurt)…so yes he landed on the lady 2 over from me. As far as how she reacted, I don’t think she was a huge Derek fan or anything…infact she was older and I was worried it may have scared her LOL. He did reach over and grab my hand which I did enjoy but no I didn’t squeel LOL just enjoyed it… but I’m sure the girl to my right was probably realizing by all of our screams every time Derek came out that WE would have LOVED if he fell a little more to the left LOL Derek wasn’t sweating like some of the guys…I thought for sure we were going to get wet LOL. BUT of course he shook his FUN stuff many times in front of us, which made me have some hot flashes LOL. Shannon also told me she would tell him we would be front row and I think he def. knew because when he first came out he looked over and smiled and winked. Which of course made all of us EXCITED! Also, Aimee got Derek & Kym roses and asked me to help her hand them to them. We did after the curtain call and Derek really seem to appreciate it. He was so funny and stuck it in his mouth and down his shirt and then sweetly looked at us and said quietly “Thanks so much guys!” The curtain closed and me & Aimee were yelling Wahoo Derek Hough! LOL and someone was wahooing back from behind the curtain (don’t know if it was him) but it was FUN!

I saw the show the previous weekend with Maks in it. My husband got me tix for Christmas and we sat front row but on the side. Maks is great, but Derek really shined. I am not saying this only because I am a HUGE Derek fan, but because like other fans have blogged about, Derek really interacts with the audience and stands out. Not knowing Derek would be there the following weekend all I kept saying to my husband was…it was an AMAZING show BUT imagine Derek in it?…especially the I Burn For You song…brought tears to my eyes. My husband understands my passion for Dance and is really supportive of my love for DWTS and Derek It was so nice to have my dream of Derek in it come true! We had waited outside after the show for Maks for 45 min in the freezing cold and I couldn’t take it anymore, so we left… BUT I did joke with the security guard saying that if it was Derek I was waiting for, I’d wait all night! (not knowing I would be there the following week). Anyway, it was meant to be and after the tix were bought by friends (Derek’s #1’s too) and he ended up covering for Maks and being there….it was PERFECT and meant to be!! Not only did I get to finally meet Curls who I felt like I knew forever already…but I got to see Kathy & Aimee again and share in our Love of Derek and DWTS! It was a FUN girl’s night out. Now as far as the after….Derek was so gracious to his fans waiting in the freezing cold and only took about 15 mins to come out. He was so FUN and tried to take as many pics and sign stuff for fans. Of course I wanted to talk to Derek forever…but I was waiting my turn and trying to be fair. LOL Considering how many fans were there trying to capture his attention I think us few girls got a lot of it…not going to complain. Not only did we all get our stuff signed and pics w/ him BUT Kathy had the wonderful idea of playing his song “Move” and he LOVED it and started dancin’ around and then we got that short video with him. It was longer..but my camera was acting up…he said something like let’s go clubbin’ and you know we all would of went LOL. I gave him a hat with Stewie on it (ya know how he loves hats and Family guy) couldn’t resist it when I saw it. He was signing so much and everyone was sticking stuff infornt of him. When I pulled out the hat to give him he went to sign it LOL but realized what it was and got EXCITED and said “wait is this for me?..I LOVE it!” and put it right in his backpack! I told him it would be so cute if we saw him wearing it on the show (during rehearsals) and he seemed to like the idea…so we will see… if you see a black ski cap with Stewie on it and it says “Obey Me” LOL that’s from me! I was telling him his new partner should “obey him” LOL One really cute thing that happened was when he first came out was a little girl was back in the crowd and she called out and said “Derek I’m here!” and he was so cute and said in a sweet voice…”where are ya honey I can’t see ya” It was also someones B-day and he gave her a kiss on the cheek as he dipped her! Now I have to say I was JEALOUS of that…I keep saying I’ll get that dip one day from him, but I didn’t want to be greedy and ask LOL. He posed by a pole and walked off into the street….and YES of course we all wanted to follow him, we even saw what restaurant he went into BUT we knew we wanted to respect his privacy and let him go on with his night…so we went on with ours. Having had a AMAZING time FUN girl’s night out! No stalkers here! LOL Ok, so hope I didn’t forget anything BUT now that I got all the details out I promise I won’t brag anymore UNTIL my next Derek adventure! LOL
Always Dancing For Derek (Mommyof3BoysD):)

Here are a few pictures that curlsforderek and Aimee (the partners in crime ) took that night – I believe I posted DfD’s pictures in a previous post.

Many thanks to Jennifer for the pictures she contributed and, now, this great blog! Love it!

I purchased my tickets after I heard Derek would be dancing the final four performances. The excitement built in the days leading up to the show and I admit to wondering if the reality could live up to the anticipation.

Once the curtain went up, the energy of the audience magnified. The dancers on the stage were incredible. I was so focused on not missing the show on the stage that I almost fell out of my seat when a spotlight lit up the area where I was sitting and there were dancers, dancing in the aisle, next to me. Talk about being close enough to touch. Reality blew the doors off anticipation!

The stamina and energy of the dancers, the synchronized movement and the way, at times, the large number of dancers occupied the seemingly small stage was unbelievable. The musicians and singers were equally impressive.

When Derek took the stage for the first time, the screams from the mezzanine and balcony as well as around me in the orchestra felt like they shook the building. The screams continued each time he appeared. Derek’s moves were focused and precise. He was simply amazing. I never gave much thought to Derek and Kym dancing but they complimented each other quite well.

The show was fast moving and while I enjoyed each number, I found myself waiting for the times Derek would dance. Suddenly it was already intermission and I had a chance to reflect on the first act. Being able to see Derek in person showed me that what I’d seen on the television did not do justice to Derek as a dancer. He is electric in person and felt larger than life.

If the first act went by fast, the second act went by even more quickly. The second act was where I felt Derek really came into being comfortable on the stage. I’d imagine he was a bit nervous, coming into an established show with very little time to both learn and rehearse the show. I thought he performed wonderfully and in my opinion, flawlessly in the first act. It was in the second act his personality, or what I believe to be his personality based on what I’ve seen on TV, came through. That’s what made the second act different and in some cases better for me. A wink, a grin, or a smile that the rest of the dancers didn’t offer became a welcome occurrence. He began to play with the audience when he could and his flirtatious nature was much more evident.

During the final two numbers he let loose and looked like he was having the time of his life. There were impromptu and obviously just slightly outside of the choreographed dance moves that showed a playful side of Derek doing something different and standing out from everyone else on the stage. He took his jacket off when the rest of the male dancers didn’t, teasing the crowd by pretending to throw it out to them. When his choreography called for him to hop off the stage he said hi to someone he knew in the audience as he made his way back onto the stage. One of the funniest things I saw was Derek dancing around during the curtain calls with a rose in his mouth that someone in the audience passed on to him.

It was the final song, Turn the Beat Around, that brought the audience to their feet and kept them there until the house lights came on. The energy, the excitement and the dancing, both onstage and in the audience, made it feel like everyone wanted the show to be just beginning rather than ending.

All good things must come to an end and while the evening’s performance had ended, the fun was just beginning outside the theater at the stage door. Everyone filed out of the theater and began waiting on both sides of the crowd control barricades. It was a bitterly cold night and somewhat windy in NYC and the crowd felt it as soon as they hit the night air. Shivering, shaking and with teeth chattering, we persevered through it and were rewarded. As he came out, Derek took video on his phone of all of us screaming for him, waving at the camera and just being excited to be that close to him!

It was a bit chaotic while Kim was signing playbills and taking photos with the fans. The chaos ramped up to near pandemonium when Derek began signing and taking photos. Derek was so gracious, trying to sign playbills and take photos with everyone. For so many different reasons, it was a night to remember.

Mucho thanks to Kristina and Katie for their blogs about Dizzy Feet. I’ve only put some excerpts that pertain to Derek here – you can find Katie’s in it’s entirety at PureSYTYCD. Kristina’s (aka Koolerbeans – she of the fanTASTIC BHB videos from the Grove last spring) can be found at her personal blog.

Katie’s Dizzy Feet Blog, excerpt:

What an amazing night tonight was!!!!!! It was filled with high energy, great music, dances and well deserved awards to some inspiring people to continue to give back to this world what it mostly needs; the gift of art and all its creativity through dance!

From memorable dances from the So You think You Can Dance seasons, to the all so entertaining routines from Dancing With The Stars, a collective group of people came together today to celebrate its first Dizzy Feet Foundation gala.

My friend and I were privileged enough to see the works of some brilliant choreographers tonight!! And the seats were amazing! I think you couldn’t go wrong with sitting anywhere really. The structure of the place is done so thoughtfully that wherever you were, you would have a great view!

Derek and Cheryl from DWTS danced a great Cha Cha Cha, getting the audience excited with a great opening number, and making the audience want more. Derek and Cheryl definitely seemed like they were enjoying their night; however later we found out that the dance was put together earlier this morning. I say fantastic job for a time crunch. You wouldn’t have even thought for a second otherwise.
Lacey Schwimmer and Lance Bass also graced the dance floor tonight. Being such huge fans of both Dancing With The Stars, as well as So You Think You Can Dance, we were thrilled to bits when a Travis Wall routine was picked for the night. Jason and Jeanine’s Necklace routine had the room applauding, it was an exact replica of the performance piece shown on the show only a billion times better watching it live.

The previously posted Ballas Hough Video was taken by Katie. Thanks, Katie!! Kristina’s blog has lots of pictures with it – be sure to visit her site to look at them! Excerpts of Kristina’s blog:

So, I found out a few days ago that Katie got tickets for the Dizzy Feet Gala (thanks Dona and Dee), and I could barely contain myself mainly because that meant we’d be seeing Derek Hough. Also, it meant that I didn’t have to go to that other concert next week because I can write my paper on this gala.

We arrived at Hollywood & Highland with about 30 minutes to spare. So we hurried on up to the Kodak Theater. They were doing the red carpet on the 1st level so we got a peek at some of the people arriving like Glee’s Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester), SYTYCD Judge Mary Murphy, and DWTS’ Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts. Sadly enough I couldn’t get my camera out quick enough before the guards made us leave. So we went into the Kodak Theater, and to our seats. Our seats were REALLY good – 4th row, balcony and on the left side. It was definitely a full house at the Kodak Theater, which by the way is ridiculously beautiful.

The show started and Derek Hough and Cheryl Burke were like the second performance. I wasn’t ready for it, no camera or anything (they were really strict about cameras, btw). They were amazing! I found out later that he and Cheryl just came up with it this morning. I never realized how great of a pair those two made till tonight. They definitely do the facials to Latin dances that I love to see. Hands down, a smoking hot performance. It’s a shame that it probably lasted a minute and half, 2 minutes to top.

Steph (Curls) is a big Derek fan who was fortunate enough to go to DWTS last week. Unfortunately, Derek was sick last week, but she still saw him briefly and had a fun experience to boot!!

<blockquote>Steph and Keith’s DWTS Adventure

Keith and I had never been to L.A. before so we were really excited to go there. The whole reason for the trip was to see DWTS live, thanks to” DWTSClaire” who gave me her tickets that she couldn’t use and Donamadrina who also wasn’t able to go. Thanks again girls cause it was an AWESOME experience and I wish we could’ve all gone! We decided to go a few days early and make it a mini vacation for us so we got to L.A. on Friday evening. I won’t bore you with all the touristy stuff we did but I will tell you that Malibu is absolutely gorgeous and if you visit there you should definitely drive on the Pacific Coast Highway and go to the beach there! We went to a place called Paradise Cafe which I would recommend as well.

We stayed at the Elan Hotel which is a few blocks down from CBS Studios. Really nice hotel for a reasonable price but the rooms are not big. Great location though and seemed like a good area. So aside from seeing the usual Hollywood sites, we went to The Grove several times since it was so close and ate there and did some shopping. Very cool outside mall! We did see a few celebrities but not the all important one! LOL Yes, I mean Derek! But, as you all know he was extremely sick and I didn’t expect to see him out and about. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t HUGELY disappointed when I realized Derek would NOT be dancing on Monday…..so I ate an enormous chocolate peanut butter brownie to make me feel better LOL and reminded myself that I have seen him dance live twice before and sing/dance 3 times as well as meet him so I shouldn’t be so greedy!

On Monday our check-in time at the gate was 3:30. We were going to go to Rodeo Drive before but ended up sleeping later and then I got on Twitter (no surprise, right?) and sent Joanna a tweet telling her I would be in the audience that night and was excited to see her dance. To my surprise she tweeted me back and said I should come say Hi to her before the show! Holy Crap!! So we tweeted back and forth and got it all figured out and she put our names on the list so we could see her in her trailer. We just needed to figure out where the trailers were! LOL Now we were even more excited about the show! Now, you aren’t supposed to bring a cell phone or camera to the show but I was like, I’m not going to go visit Joanna and NOT bring a camera so I talked with another fan who had been there before and she said they just put your stuff aside and you pick it up later. So off we went to Gate C6. Didn’t know where we would be sitting and they didn’t tell you either. So once we got in the gate you went to where you had to go through security. We then asked about where the trailers were because once you go through security you can’t leave the area. They told us the trailers were on the other side of the building but if we weren’t in our seats by 4:30 they would give them away. I don’t think they wanted us to go there but we were like this isn’t exactly gonna happen ever again so we are going! LOL So, we went to find the trailers and after asking a few more people finally figured out where to go.

Now I realize there has been no Derek in this story until this point but here it comes! LOL It is very brief though! We walk up to the check-in table and we are telling this girl who we are and that we are supposed to visit Joanna. As we are talking to the girl who is making sure we are supposed to be there, Derek walked up and heard us say we were looking for Joanna and said “Joanna”. Now, the last thing I expected was to see Delicious Derek standing on the other side of the table in front of me so I was quite shocked and just sort of looked at him and said “Hi”. Lame, right?! We were still trying to check in as well and she was giving us wristbands so I was thinking I would talk to him after we got checked in. Unfortunately, he had walked away by the time we got the wristbands and was talking to someone and although it wasn’t real far away it was far enough that I felt like it would be stalkerish (is that a word?) and rude to go up and interrupt him so we just went to Joanna’s trailer and I didn’t see him anymore. Of course I’ve gone over that scenario a million times and thought of a million different ways I should’ve handled that situation, but not much I can do about it now. Bummer, but still saw him and I must say he was looking gorgeous as ever even feeling sick!!

Joanna was still in make-up when we got to her trailer but they told us to go on in and wait for her. I felt bad just walking in but we did and she came shortly after. While we were waiting for her, Keith saw Michael Irvin and said Hi to him. Joanna came and was soo sweet to us! She was like sit down, you want something to drink etc. The poor thing was supposed to be eating so I felt bad! Her PA had brought her some food and she said she was starving. She was still in her robe, (they all have robes with their names on them) and she had to still go to hair. I asked her if it was really different to switch from Derek to Maks and she said that it was because of their physical difference. Maks is taller and bigger build but she said Maks was great and their rehearsal went really well and she felt confident she knew the steps but she was nervous. We chatted for a little longer and we said we had to be back at the security check by 4:25 but she said she would have her PA just take us backstage to our seats. Cool! Then she had to go into hair so we got a couple quick pics and then she said I could leave my camera and cell phone in her trailer and just come get it after the show which was sooo nice of her to do! So her PA then took us to find our seats. As we were leaving, Donny and Kym walked past us and we said Hi. That was cool cause I loved Donny and Marie when I was little!

We went backstage to get to the set which was really cool but didn’t see anyone else. We then had to find our seats so we actually got to walk on the dance floor and found out we were sitting behind the judges about 4 rows back. Those were good seats especially for being on camera which our kids found totally AWESOME!! But, they actually weren’t so great for actually seeing the dancing because the judges table is in the way. So we had to sit and wait for a bit until showtime. Really interesting and cool to see what goes on behind the scenes and how it all comes together! Shortly after we sat down, a producer was talking to the people two rows ahead of us and telling them they would have to switch seats because the guy in the middle was too tall and needed to be on the end. They were OK with moving but the little old lady who needed to move in was totally NOT OK with it! They spent a long time trying to convince her to move and she was getting really pissy so they finally ended up taking people from another section and bringing them over and it was all fixed then. It was quite entertaining and I couldn’t really hear the lady’s argument but she wasn’t about to be moved for anything! LOL It was very interesting to see how they have to make sure that everything will look good on camera and be prepared to totally switch things around if they don’t.

The actual set is a lot smaller than it seems on TV. There is a guy who talks to the audience before the show and during commercials and tells us when to clap throughout the show. He stood in the audience and would give us a cue to keep clapping and you don’t stop until he stops. During commercial breaks he talks to some of the people in the audience and it happened to be the 16th B-day of one girl and DWTS tickets was her present so he was also giving away DWTS t-shirts and gave her one and decided to have the judges sign the shirt for her. He gave them a gold marker pen to use and before Bruno signed it, he shook the pen and gold sprayed all over him! There wasn’t much time until we came back from commercial so they were scrambling to get the gold off of him as much as they could! Make-up and hair people came out and cleaned him up as best they could and then Carrie Anne went over while Tom was talking and finished getting some off of his face! Very funny! Bruno is sooo spastic! In person he is just like he is on TV and I don’t think it’s an act! They also did a couple of pre-taped segments while we were there too. One shot was for the beginning of The Hustle and another was for Maks and Joanna to walk across the dance floor. The Maks and Joanna piece they used for Tues. night’s show. We also had to move out of our seats a couple times during commercial break so they could hang some lights for Donny and Kym’s dance. They didn’t want to risk the lights falling and hitting anyone.

When the actual show started it was very surreal to see all the people you watch on TV be right there in front of you! It’s really loud and you have to clap all the time so you miss what Tom is saying a lot of the time but just being there and feeling all the excitement is totally AWESOME! It really is hard to describe! It was very cool to see them dancing up close and you can definitely see the connection (if there is one) between the dancers more than on TV. I was so nervous for Joanna and I couldn’t see her stumble just could tell she had so I felt sooo awful for her because it was such a GREAT dance!! When I watched it later on TV, it wasn’t that bad at all but again where I was sitting I couldn’t see. Then it was time for the group dance. That was so much fun and great to see live! After that it was time to leave. We did have to wait for them to bring in the set pieces for Tues. show which I realized later were for the MJ Tribute. I still needed to get my camera and phone from Joanna’s trailer though so we made our way back there. When we got to her trailer her family was there outside and we chatted with them briefly but Joanna was going to be doing press for about an hour and I didn’t want to intrude on her anymore especially since she had the stumble cause I knew she was probably upset about it so we got my stuff and left. I hope that all made sense! LOL I must say if you have a chance to go to a live show definitely do it because it is such an AWESOME opportunity!! Now, of course I wish Derek had danced because it was NOT the same without him but it was still a really great experience and meeting Joanna was definitely cool! I want to say thanks to Jo again for being so sweet and taking time to meet with us when she had such a stressful week and going out of her way for us! You ROCK Joanna!!

I guess that about wraps it up! Hopefully it made sense! LOL We had a great time and I would definitely go again in a heart beat!! ABC needs to have a better way of giving tickets to people, especially those that don’t live in CA! We were still in town on Tues. and I would’ve LOVED to have been there for the MJ Tribute but didn’t know how to get tickets so we just watched it on TV.

Now, everyone needs to VOTE like CRAZY for TEAM DJ today!!!! Joanna deserves to be there and in the finals!! She is such a hard worker and a really good dancer and I don’t think people realize what it took for her to be able to pull that Tango off w/Maks in only a day and a half!! GO TEAM DJ!!!

Stephanie (Curls)</blockquote>