Now, I'm a longtime fan of Ryan's. I've been listening to him on local radio since he started in the market. I enjoy his light-hearted, vain, metrosexual, silly persona. I was happy for him when he got the American Idol gig and happy to see him move on to other projects - from filling in for Larry King (which I watched) to taking over Casey Kasem's Top 40 syndicated radio show. I was even happy he got his own syndicated TV show, though I wasn't sure he had enough gravitas or gimmick (and you need one or the other to be a talk show host) to carry it off. I was particularly happy he was taping the show in town as I figured that sooner or later, someone I liked would be a guest and I'd go see a taping in person.

A week or so before the show started on air (or about two weeks ago), I received an e-mail solicitation from a TV ticket company to get priority tickets to see Ryan's show live. Presumably they got that e-mail address from the time I went to see American Idol in its first season. I kept the e-mail knowing I'd use it sooner or later. Two days ago, I heard through the grapevine that Clay Aiken would be a guest on today's show. I went back to the solicitation e-mail and used the link provided to order a ticket, which I then printed out. I was excited because if you've read my American Idol page, you'll know I'm a big fan of Clay's.

I was thrilled at the possibility of seeing Clay in person again and yesterday called the ticket company to confirm the best arrival time. The ticket I had printed out said the show was at 10:30a.m. I knew I'd need to arrive earlier than that (you always do with TV tickets because unless they're arranged directly through a 'source' at the studio or production company, they are NEVER guaranteed admittance, though you usually find out soon enough after that printed ticket time whether you're likely to get into the studio or not). The ticket company rep suggested arriving about 45 minutes early. Knowing rabid Clay fans, I decided to double that time estimate and arrived at the location at 9 a.m. this morning.

First I was greeted by conflicting information. Security sent me to the end of the line, but at the end of the line was a sign saying first you had to go check in at the ticket booth, show your ticket and i.d. and they would validate parking (so it only cost $2 instead of $10) and give you a wristband to get in. After going back and forth a few times, I was told I couldn't line up at the ticket booth (where other people had already formed a line), but I had to just go wait at the end of the line downstairs. Okay, a little chaos is to be expected at any show. So I stood on the steps of the complex and waited.

Now part of the fun of any event like this is to talk about the guests you're going to see. As I mentioned, Clay fans are rabid and legion and 95% of the people were there to see Clay, not the other previously announced guests, Mandy Moore and Trista & Ryan of The Bachelorette. So as we stood there, I wound up talking to several nice girls about the magic that is Clay Aiken and we had a grand time discussing him, his album, his performances, as Clay fans are wont to do. Time passed, and though the line didn't really move forward, it did grow behind us and curled around the block. At times, production crew would grab people from different parts of the line (both in front of and behind me) and take them either into the studio or, as we learned, to one of the outside venues where the show was also taped. No one stopped to give us information, though a couple of times I tried to ask people what was going on. Generally at a taping, you get to a time point where you can tell the potential audience who haven't gotten in that they can go home. But all I got in response were blank looks and 'I don't knows' and 'that's what I'm trying to find out!' comments. Okay, fine, I know better than to bother pages and production assistants and other crew too often, but they did a spectacularly bad job of dealing with the audience while we waited. The only information they gave us was that if we tried to bring cameras to the taping, they would be confiscated and not returned, so all cameras and cam-cellphones had to be returned to our cars. This caused a problem for people who'd taken taxis to get to the location. I'd read the ticket ahead of time which had said 'no cameras allowed', so I hadn't brought one.

Eventually, word trickled through the line that the studio was filled and that it only had a 100 seat capacity. Well, why hadn't they told us that and let us go? Oh no, we were assured, only part of the show takes place inside. The rest takes place outside, with interviews and performances. But Clay wasn't scheduled to perform. Still, we were promised, he'll be out here doing an interview and the fans will get near him. Promise enough to make me stay, though I'd been standing on concrete steps for over an hour at that point. Finally after 10:30, which I'd thought was showtime, but apparently wasn't - 'oh, no,' they belatedly informed us after we questioned them, 'the show tapes from noon to one p.m.'. My feet and the rest of those of us in line protested, but again, they promised us, we would be able to see him outside, he ABSOLUTELY, DEFINITELY would come out here and we'd get to see him. They herded some people, again, from both behind me and in front of me in line to a special outdoor area where we were told the intro and last part of the show would be taped. We weren't allowed in that area unless we were hand-picked apparently, which I found offensive. I'm not unattractive and neither were the girls I was standing with and I thought it obnoxious that only trashy girls in tube tops and low-slung pants and teenagers and grandmothers with "I Love Clay" signs were brought over there. Instead, the rest of us were herded around another enclosure and told multiple times (and I asked multiple times, because I had no reason to waste my time on this whole event if I wasn't going to get to see Clay, my only purpose in attending) that ABSOLUTELY Clay would DEFINITELY be coming here and doing an interview segment in this enclosure and we'd all be standing less than six feet away from him. Fine. So I continued to stand there, going on two hours at that point, but if I saw Clay up close, it was all worth it.

Time continued to pass slowly, and we continued to be reassured that ALL the guests of the show would be coming out to where we stood and we'd see them all. But again, word trickled through the crowd (though no one on the show told us) that guests Mandy Moore and Trista & Ryan had all cancelled. Not a good sign. Instead, some comedian was going to be on the show, who supposedly was in a movie and a WB sitcom. Whatever. I was there to see Clay. Though I would have liked to have seen the originally scheduled guests, too. Eventually we were told that since we were outside the studios, cameras WOULD be allowed. This caused a stir as people tried to figure out if there was enough time to get back to their cars to get the cameras they'd been told to put away. I was frustrated because I'd followed what they'd said on the ticket about not being allowed to bring a camera, but I figured I'd tape the show and that would have to be record enough, since I wouldn't have nice closeup photos of my favorite singer.

Did I mention that as we stood and stood and waited and waited, right before the show taping, a random crowd (without tickets) had been allowed to form around the area? Oh, and they were allowed to take seats at the nearby restaurants and coffee-house (with better views of the procedures than where we, the 'ticket-holders' stood)? That was lovely to discover - we hadn't needed to wait at all if we wanted to just show up right before the taping and sit down a few feet away with an unobstructed view.

Production crew set up and rehearsed around us. They repeatedly asked us to make noise if we were Clay fans and we obliged though Clay was nowhere around. This is actually pretty common practice to warm up a TV audience, so I didn't mind. Finally, after three hours of standing there waiting, the show started. There was a nearby display set up so we could see what was happening inside the studio. I didn't really care as I could have watched the in-studio stuff just as easily at home from the comfort of my living room couch. I was there, standing, waiting, because we were told Clay was coming to be interviewed WHERE WE WERE STANDING. So we waited some more. The first segment had Clay in-studio and was charming (as Clay always is), but as we stood watching what was going on inside the studio, we wondered, since we'd been told via crowd rumor that Clay wasn't performing, what he'd be doing out with the crowd since his entire interview was clearly done in the studio. But we'd been told that Clay was going to be right where we were, so we waited some more. Plus, they held over our heads the parking validation. The ticket I'd printed out (which they never bothered to check despite what their signs said nor did they give me a wristband in exchange for it) had said that parking would be validated by the show - a cost factor in attending. But after we'd stood in line for about two hours waiting for our wristbands and parking validation, after questioning the production people, we were told that we couldn't have our parking slips validated until after the show. That afterwards, we could form in another line and get our parking validated. Oh joy. The way parking there was set up, if the line took a few minutes, it would cost us more to park beyond what they were validating for! Still, the chance to see Clay in person, was worth the extra buck or two. So we waited.

The segments dragged on and other fill-in guests such as the comedian and actress Shannon Elizabeth. Who? Yeah, I wondered the same thing. No, actually, I didn't care, I was waiting to see Clay as we'd been promised. Shannon talked about being Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend. Or playing Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend. Or being Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend. - I really couldn't pay that close attention because just prior (or during?) her segment, Clay was ushered out to greet the crowd. The other crowd. Yes, the one at the other side where people had been hand-picked to stand and sit (that area had some seating). Now, from my vantage point, I couldn't see Clay, though I may have seen the top of his hair once -- he's tall, but we were quite far away. Judging by the squeals, he was signing autographs and giving hugs. We were excited because we knew our turn must be next. But after his meet and greet with the other area, Clay was ushered back inside, waving to us as we called out to him to get his attention. Though disappointed, we'd been assured that Clay would be coming over to our area for an interview segment or somesuch and so we waited.

Are you getting the picture here?

The clock was ticking and the segments moved on (uninterestingly). And we waited. Finally, someone in our immediate area noticed that in the adjacent building, behind the slightly tinted windows of the second floor, Clay was being interviewed! A roar went up from our side of the crowd who could see him. People waved and gesticulated for him to come down to see us. He waved at us a couple of times and smiled, but clearly was in the middle of an interview. That interview lasted a bit of time, during which I tried to ignore the monitor and instead watch what was going on behind the tinted glass. I had a pretty decent view if I stretched my neck of Clay's profile as he animatedly responded to the questions being asked (which we of course, at such a distance and outside vs. inside, couldn't hear). The clock ticked towards one and we in the crowd began to worry. Finally the cameras came over towards our area. I looked up again at the window and saw Clay finish his interview and move off. Good, I thought, it'll be a short segment, but we'll still get to see him and it'll have still been worth the going-on-four-hours I'd been standing there waiting, constantly assured by the audience coordinators and production folks that we'd be seeing Clay up close and in person.

So finally the production people and camera crew parted as they quickly let through Ryan Seacrest and... the comedian. Where was Clay, we asked? We'd been promised Clay would be coming over here. But Ryan ignored us. As did all the production people. They did a 30 second spot and moved off and then they showed a clip on the big display and the show just ended. And we stood there waiting. Still. Where was Clay? After a few moments more of standing and waiting, the crew started to break down the enclosures and we knew it was definitely over. They'd lied to us, kept us standing for four hours with promises they didn't intend to keep. To say I was annoyed is an understatement. To say I felt used and abused by these people is an understatement. But to accurately represent my feelings would take language I don't care to employ.

People quickly started forming a line for parking validations and in order to not have to pay even more money for parking, I joined the line. But when I got to the front of it, I told the production people I was very upset they'd promised us something, knowing it wasn't going to happen. One person just shrugged. He clearly didn't care. Another woman just gave me an attitude and said 'I didn't promise YOU anything.'

So you're probably asking 'why didn't I see this coming?' If I've been to so many tapings before, why didn't I know I wouldn't be seeing Clay? Simple answer: I've never been lied to before. I've been to tapings where you might have a poor view or you might not get in (I was turned away from the first American Idol taping I had tickets for, but got in the second time). But never, either as an audience member or audience coordinator have I encountered such a bald-faced lie as the likes of that we, that audience, were subjected to today. They KNEW what segments were taping where. They rehearsed using production people as stand-ins (saying 'okay, and Ryan'll be here, the guest'll be there, we'll shoot from this angle' etc.). They knew we were ONLY there to see Clay and they lied to us to get an audience to stand there where they needed us. I think that's just vile.

The result? A show, a host, a production company and a ticket company who have all lost my faith, my respect and my support and purchase of their 'products'. I would use this forum amongst others to loudly encourage people NOT to watch this show, given the way they treat their audience, but judging by the ratings numbers the show is getting, people are already NOT watching. So my work here is done. Ryan, maybe you shouldn't have given up that day job...

As for my feelings about Clay Aiken? As warm as ever. It's the show's responsibility to handle and inform the guests and audience and I blame this fiasco squarely on their shoulders. I adore Clay and would happily have just stayed home and watched the show, if I'd known my only view of Clay would be seeing his profile through a tinted glass window of a nearby building.