A review of Rick Springfield's taping of "Don't Forget the Lyrics"
By Laurie Bennett
I was able to connect with another Rick fan, and so we drove to Hollywood in morning Los Angeles traffic for the taping. We got there about an hour early, and saw 3 other fans already in line waiting. I've only been to a few tapings, and it can be quite a long and tiring process, but this was handled well and was only about 4-1/2 hours. Today was supposed to be quite warm, and I was hoping we'd get to wait inside, rather than out in the sun. After about 15 minutes, security took us to a "holding" area, after each of us walking through security gates like they have at airports. We had to hand over our cell phones, cameras, iPods, and any other electronic equipment (to pick up again when we were done.). Then we sat on benches outside the studio (looking at a huge picture of the original Price is Right Host painted on the wall). All of a sudden, there were a hundred or more people waiting with us. Shortly after we were led into the well air-conditioned studio and we were told to sit in the 2nd row (when the show airs, look for the group of us sitting in front of the screen that shows the lyrics). Sometimes the audience "wrangles" group people by their looks or color of clothing, but we ended up getting to all sit together.
The stage was round, about 6-8 feet in diameter, and the audience was situated around the stage in 4 sections; the house band was to the right of the stage. There were huge LED scrolling banners all around the room, with "Don't Forget the Lyrics" scrolling by. I noticed behind us a TV with the words "cheat prompter" on it (which ended up to be the teleprompter for Wayne Brady, the host). Next the screen started scrolling the words "Rick Springfield", then "Jesse's Girl", then "What's Victoria's Secret", and repeat. Notice the misspelling of the name Jessie! one fan, who is a professional editor, noticed the mistake, and pointed it out to us, a little too loudly, oops! But thank goodness she did, because the next time the words scrolled across - it was corrected! Whew!
We noticed that Buzz, roadie George, Matty and Bucky (Ronnie Grinnell) were all there already. My traveling partner said hi to Ronnie, who promptly turned around and shushed her, saying "it's supposed to be a secret." Huh - WHAT is supposed to be a secret? Then one usher told us Rick was going to be a contestant, but that turned out to be incorrect. (Imagine the horror/humor - Rick has been known to forget his own lyrics at times - would he know the lyrics of other people's music???)
Next thing we know, Rick is standing on stage, talking to people in the crew. For the warm up session, he was wearing a white t-shirt with "Peace is my religion" on the front and a peace sign on the back, dark blue cargo style pants, and black sneakers (maybe his normal Simple Shoes? Can't remember). As he was walking towards the band, we noticed he was looking around at the audience to see who was there. Then in the middle of a conversation with the crew, he noticed the group of us sitting in front of him. He was so cute - his eyes got really big and he smiled, then mouthed the words: either "Oh Wow!" or "My Crowd!" Either way, he was obviously very happy to see fans in place. Then he looked at us and asked "How did you find out about this?" Um, Rick, it was posted on the home page of your message board....? No one replied, except I did put my finger to my lips as in "shhh, it's a secret" LOL Then I held up my copy of VIO (of course I had one in my purse, along with a sharpie...you never know!) He got excited again, and then walked over to me and requested "Hold it up high for the cameras!" Well of course - Rick's wish is my command! Little did Rick know that 4 of the 5 of us had our copies with us, and since I brought an extra, the 5th in our row got a copy too.
Then Rick and the house band practiced Jessie's girl, and, the band not getting the end correct on the first try, Rick (the perfectionist) asks them to repeat. He lost his earpiece at one point, and, not realizing his microphone was on, said "oh Shit" - oopsie! Then Rick was center stage to rehearse WVS, and he saw that his lyrics were on the cheat prompter. He replied "oh good, the lyrics are there, in case I forget them; if you can see them, feel free to sing along!" While singing, he was teasing and frowning at the people in the section in front of him who were visibly not getting into the party. After telling the band a few things, Rick announced "One more time, whether you want it or not" and did WVS again. We found out what the secret was (SPOILER) - Rick's appearance on the show was a secret from the contestant/audience. The crew asked a girl in the front row to be a place holder on stage so Rick could rehearse entering into the venue from backstage, singing JG directly to the contestant, and even putting the guitar on her a la IGE moves. Well unfortunately this place holder probably didn't know who he was, maybe had never heard the song JG, or was a typical teenage girl (no offense) but she was NOT enjoying the special individual performance. Too bad!!! I know hundreds of women who gladly would have been a spot holder instead!!!
Finally, the taping is ready to start. We are told to spit out the gum, push sweaters, bags and purses under the seats, and no you can't leave the venue to use the bathroom until we're done with taping. Then all the lights come on, we're being told to clap and shout really loudly - BE HIGH ENERGY PEOPLE - and cameras were rolling. Wayne Brady comes out, and introduces the contestant (I think her name was Shannon, but I could be wrong. Sorry Shannon!). She was FULL of energy and excitement, and a huge fan of the 80's. She did several songs (the show is a type of Karaoke for money - the contestant has to fill in missing words from the song and win$ if it's correct). At one point, she was rather stuck, and Wayne said something like "You need a burst of energy, of confidence. You need some 80's music power. You need the music of an 80's Rock GOD to help you along... How about lyrics to this song:......." And, from where we were seated, we could see Rick standing back stage, playing the first familiar chords of Jessie's Girl (the contestant had her back to him, and only heard the music). She right away yells "Jessie's Girl", and it takes a bit before she notices the audience is screaming and Rick is walking out towards her. He's wearing a white collared (?) shirt, with a vest on top, jeans (?) and his brown boots. He looked GREAT. Playing the guitar and singing the lyrics he gets closer to her, singing only to her (sigh) and then puts the mic to her to sing "And I want to make her mine" from the first verse, perfectly. Then he does the IGE stance (her between him and his guitar)" and finishes the song. She was excited, acted cute and was fairly happy about the whole surprise. Rick shook Wayne's hand, and it was obvious that Wayne was glad to see him again (he had Rick on as a guest when he did his own talk show; he's a big fan). Then Rick was seated next to the girl's mom and roommate, for moral support. By now, Rick's fidgeting, looking a little out of his element, and a bit lonely over where he was. So cute. The girl is still having trouble with her lyrics, and remarked "I wish it were Jessie's Girl. I KNOW those words!" and Rick piped up (probably off camera) "I do too!"
During a commercial break, Rick came out to the audience, gave us a hug, and signed an autograph or two as well. Unfortunately, the majority of the 300 person audience were high school age, probably sophomore/juniors. In addition to the 5 of us, I saw two other fans I knew, and at least 3-4 people who had the VIO CD. I truly think Rick was quite happy to see and be supported by his fans. :)
After the contestant had finished her game, Rick came on (at the end, after commercial), was quickly introduced, and then sang WVS. Everyone rose to their feet but it was odd for me to see no one mouthing along with the words. And he did a great job, his voice sounded wonderful, and I was happy for him. Then the show ended. Rick started walking backstage, but before he got there, he turned around and waved to us. Bye Rick - see you soon!
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