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- First
of all: SUPRISE!! You're
interviewing Madeline! The night before I
find out I'm conducting the interview.
I guess they all assumed I would
assume... who knows. But I was
shocked and excited to say the least.
I got to feel all "anchorish" and my
only concern was that kids can tend to be
difficult interviews...
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- Madeline
was of course, adorable and BEEMED "happy"
every moment I was around her. While
we stood there waiting I kept pokin'
her arm and smilin' at her as if to
say: "This is pretty cool huh?". I
feel so much like a kid these days anyway,
that I had zero problem relating to
her. I think that showed in the
interview.
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- This is the last
time I'll mention it, because it's getting old - but I
was as calm as it seemed on
TV. It
absolutely feels like I'm right at home and now when
I look at the footage I'm conentrating on the
little things: "Oh I should have my eyes
open a bit more there..." or "My feet in that position
look a bit more comfortable". Now of course it's like
a drug addiction...I want more and more time.
That competitive thing comes out and you start to feel
aggressive - kinda fun on this level actually. Who am
I kidding, it's unbelieveable. It is
amazing how quickly your career can shift.
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- Hangin' out in the
green room with Madeline and her family was a trip.
Though I've fully accepted that no one really watched
The Egos bits, the friends and families of the
contestants most certainly did and it was fun to feel
the awkwardness of everyone when I walked in.
Madeline's grandmother was on the phone with someone
when she said: "Should I tell you I'm sitting
next to Adam Kontras right now?" LOL.
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- I love the above
pic though. Grandma's like: "I'm not so sure
about this one..." Ha. That or: "What is UP with
that haircut?" :-)
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- For my father of
course, it was just a celebration. I mean it was
for me as well, but he was taking in every moment the
same way I did last September and it just tripled
the enjoyment for me. Happiness is contagious and
everyone involved in Living Room Live was just so
happy to see the result of 3 months of work. It's
unfortunate anyone had to lose, but I guess
that's the nice part about being on the inside - ya
get to celebrate either way.
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Of course
Madeline turned the "celebration" into an
absolute crowning of a new star. The
graphic on-screen while she sang read "A Star
is Born" and it isn't even close to being in
doubt. The juxtaposition of her talking voice
to her singing voice is so jaw-droppingly
striking the entire studio was beside
themselves. I stood off to the side with
tears in my eyes watching this little girl
literally change her entire life in one
moment. It was like watching someone making
the game winning shot. Soooo wonderful to be
a part of that and feel the energy in that
room as she nailed that song.
Congratulations Madeline.
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- As they did last
time, they brought the fmaily on to end the show and
pops took a page out of the "Ballsy Adam" book by
seizing the opportunity. Ha. Love it. National
television debut! :-)
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- Now it occured to
me the day before that there would be a grand piano on
the set and that it just wouldn't hurt to ask if they
could post-tape (after the show) me recording a song.
Luckily the guy making that call just happened to be
Tony. Tony was the guy I dubbed "Bob" in the
"Bordering on Britney" entry. He was so
apologetic for the goof-ups with the cameras and was
just happy to help me out. So they lifted the grand
piano onto a different part of the set, lit it, mic'd
it - set it all up for me to run through "Saying
When".
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- How
incredible is this to have? They
did a full 3 camera shoot, edited it all
together - I'll throw on the graphics and
overlays: voila. I'm performing live
on The Early Show. As I said with
"The Price is Right" bit - it adds
sooooooo much credibility to what I'm
doing. It wouldn't suprise me that in the
midst of all that's going on, I find
a way to rev up some music industry
interest.
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- So
funny how that works. The second it looks
like someone else is showing interest,
everyone opens their ears and their eyes.
But I'm old enough now to know that's
true...and I'm just POUNCING on every
opening I can find. Good things don't
come to those who wait. They come to those
who make opportunities every way possible.
It was audacious to ask the crew of The
Early Show to set all this up for no other
reason than I asked...
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- ...but you ask
anyway. There's a certain audacity to all of this, so
don't overthink it. Just go with it.
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- Afterwards, Dad
and I walked to the CBS offices to get dubs of
the song, the show and another bit for the "Up &
Adam" funding pitch coming up. Got to sit down one
more time with Steve and he reiterated the "I want to
be remembered for discovering you Adam, not for news".
This from the guy who turned The Today Show into what
it is today with the hiring of Katie Couric back in
the 80s, created Dateline NBC...whew. It's just one of
those comments that hits you at your core. All of the
little things I could worry about concerning
getting the show off the ground tend to dissolve when
you realize that he and Vinnie truly do want to help
me...and they will. They're both as excited about this
upcoming project as I am and they know they've
got someone that will work his ass off to make it
revolutionary. And to have him say that in front of my
father...
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- ...will there
better moments? Yeah, there probably will be. But this
is the best one to date.
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- Adam
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- PS - a
HUGE thanks to Chad who got his butt up quite
early to come down and take these pics. They're
gorgeous as usual and are ridiculously precious to me.
Keep fighting the fight man, you know your excellence
shines through - you're gonna look up one day and have
so many projects that you'll be turning them down. It
happens at the drop of a hat. Be there to catch the
hat.
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