On Set With the “American Idol” Contestants

IMG_0008

This past Sunday, while doing some stalking in Downtown L.A., my fiancé and I happened upon the current American Idol contestants filming a Ford commercial on the corner of South Hope Street and Wilshire Boulevard.  And even though I have yet to watch even one episode of the series this season, I begged my fiancé to pull the car over so that we could watch a bit of the filming.  And, wow, what a mistake that turned out to be!  As we made our way over to the set, camera in hand, an incredibly rude crew member walked up to us and said – and I am quoting here! – “If you take a picture of this, we will sue you!”   Being that we were standing on a public sidewalk in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles and that the Idol set was an open one (i.e. not closed to the public), I didn’t see how we were committing an act that was sue-worthy.  Furthermore, I’m pretty sure that you need to know who someone is before you can actually sue them.  Was the guy planning on serving a summons to “the blond girl in the white jacket who was standing on the corner watching American Idol film in Downtown L.A. on Sunday, April 13th at approximately 11 a.m.?”  Don’t think that would really fly in court of law.  😉  My fiancé pretty much told the guy to stick it, to which the crew member said, “O.K., then I am going to have to call the police!”  I am not kidding here!  He actually said that he was going to call the police and have us arrested!  For a second there, I thought we were being Punk’d!  It was at that point that I noticed a group of three paparazzi standing a few feet away from us, chatting with the two policemen who were on duty manning the set.  Being that the photogs not only weren’t being arrested, but seemed to be having a very amicable conversation with the cops, I figured we were safe.  🙂  I’m telling you, though, not once in my ten years of living in Los Angeles have I ever experienced the type of rudeness I encountered on the Idol set.  Sure, some crews are not very friendly, some are even rude, but this one was in a whole different realm!  One of the crew members even went so far as to shove a paparazzi at one point!  Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it!   Oh well, at the very least, it was entertaining to watch!  🙂

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-43

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-13

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-17

Now, I should explain here that if you tell the Grim Cheaper not to do something, he becomes pretty hell bent upon doing it.  So, even though neither one of us cared much about watching the Idols film their commercial or about taking photographs of them, the next thirty minutes of our day were spent doing exactly that.  My fiancé took as many pictures as he possibly could and, for once, it was me dragging him off a set instead of the other way around.  I was ready to leave after about five minutes of being there, actually, because there just wasn’t a whole lot going on and because I didn’t recognize any of the contestants.  In fact, I had a very hard time distinguishing who was a crewmember and who was an Idol, as did my fiancé, and he actually watches the show!

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-42

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-46

The Idol shoot basically consisted of four of the contestants (Michael Lynche, Lee Dewyze, Tim Urban, and Siobhan Magnus) watering a patch of dirt in the middle of a Downtown L.A. street.

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-45

Then something happens – something that I am guessing is going to be added in digitally during post-production – causing them to all look upward.  And that was pretty much it.

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-33

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-49

After doing about four takes of the above sequence, the Idols joined together in front of a Ford car to shoot some publicity stills for Fox.  And, let me tell you, the crew REALLY did not want anyone getting pictures of that!  Which begs the question, why didn’t the producers just close the set?  Sure, it’s more expensive permit-wise, but geez, it’s a better way to go about things than getting your panties all in a twist and almost punching out a paparazzi!

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-50

[ad]

IMG_0004

Oddly enough, only eight of the nine remaining Idols were on set on Sunday, including Casey James, Katie Stevens, Michael Lynche, Siobhan Magnus, Tim Urban, Aaron Kelly, Lee Dewyze, and Andrew Garcia.  For whatever reason, Crystal Bowersox was not in attendance.  Or, if she was, we didn’t stick around long enough to see her.

IMG_0002

[ad]

IMG_0003

What struck me as odd about the whole thing was that the Idol contestants are virtual unknowns – relative newbies trying to make a name for themselves in the music industry.  You’d think that the studio would want to drum up as much publicity for them as possible, not steer free publicity away!  Ironically enough, one of the paparazzi told me that the only reason the photogs were there in the first place was because Ben Affleck was supposed to have been shooting a movie a block away.  When that shoot got cancelled due to early morning rain, the paps figured they might as well take some Idol pics since they were already in the area.  They said the pics were worthless now, but when the final winner is announced in a few weeks, they might bring in some money.  Oh, if those Idols only knew!

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-47

The one highlight of my time on the Idol set was hanging out with the paparazzi who were SO incredibly nice I almost couldn’t believe it.  It has been my experience in L.A. that photogs are typically not very friendly people.  Most are downright despicable, actually. But the three who were on the Idol set were total sweethearts!   We had great conversations about which stars are nice, which aren’t, our experiences living in L.A., and even the Michael Buble concert that I had just been to two nights prior.  🙂  The guy pictured above even let my fiancé, who has become very interested in photography as of late, test out his ultra-expensive camera.  The whole thing was a very pleasant surprise.

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-84

Americal-Idol-Ford-Commercial-51

It’s very sad to me that the Idol crew ruined something that is usually such a positive experience.  If that had been my first time stalking a film set, I might never have gone back.   So, to all of my fellow stalkers out there I say this – if you ever encounter a crew like this one, please, please don’t let it deter you from visiting other film sets!  99.9% of the crews out there are very friendly and know that what they do is pretty darn special and that us so-called normal people, who aren’t in the industry, are often fascinated by it and want to see it all firsthand and take pictures to show our friends back home.   As the saying goes, “Mean people suck”, but I am very, very happy to report that in L.A. the number of nice crews far outweighs the mean ones!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Idols filmed their Ford commercial at the intersection of South Hope Street and Wilshire Boulevard in Downtown Los Angeles.

Kristin Cavallari’s Beach House from “The Hills”

 IMG_5848

Just down the street from Jennifer Aniston’s former beach house, which I blogged about on Friday, is the residence that Kristin Cavallari called home during this past season of fave reality show The Hills.  So, since we were already in the area a couple of weeks ago, I just had to drag fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA – who I am sad to say is not at all a fan of the MTV show – over to stalk the place.  I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Virginie who posted Kristin’s former address in the comments section of my site way back in October of last year and it’s been high up on my “To-Stalk” list ever since.  Thank you, Virginie!  Unfortunately, though, since I so rarely get out to the ‘Bu, I had yet to stalk the residence.  And while I realize that The Hills ended its current season over two and a half months ago and that I am just slightly late to the game on this one, as I always say, it’s far better to be late than never.  🙂

IMG_5844

IMG_5847

IMG_5846

The four bedroom, four bath beach house pictured above, which was built in 1969 and measures 2,972 square feet, first showed up when Kristin Cavallari joined the cast of The Hills in the Season Five episode entitled “It’s On Bitch”.  But she didn’t stay there long.  The Laguna Beach  alum moved out of this location just ten episodes later, on the show’s season finale which was entitled “Boys of the Summer”.  I am fairly certain that Kristin never actually rented this house, though, and quite possibly never even truly lived there, but that the property was leased by MTV solely for filming purposes.   

ScreenShot3694

ScreenShot3691

ScreenShot3700

And quite a bit of filming did actually take place on location at the residence.  In fact, the house showed up in all ten episodes which featured Kristin during Season Five.  The back side of the property was the area most often featured on the show . . . 

    ScreenShot3697    

       ScreenShot3698      

[ad]

ScreenShot3696

ScreenShot3693

. . . and was the site of Kristin’s many beach parties and get-togethers.  Oh, how I wish I had stalked this place back when The Hills  was still filming so that I could have seen her little tiki bar and patio furniture in person.  Sadly, all of the outdoor decor that appeared on the show has long since been removed.

ScreenShot3703

ScreenShot3702

ScreenShot3701

IMG_5850

And, of course, I just had to get a picture of the house’s back stairwell, which appeared numerous times on the show.  I so wanted to pose for a picture while standing on the stairs, too, but being that someone was inside the property while we were stalking the place, I didn’t think that would be a very smart move.  😉

ScreenShot3692

ScreenShot3695

ScreenShot3699

The inside of the home was also featured numerous times on the show and while I have to say that the residence’s interior is absolutely GORGEOUS, it doesn’t, in my opinion at least, really match up to the exterior, which seems to be a bit dated and weathered.

ScreenShot3705

IMG_5832

 IMG_5833

For whatever reason, the front entrance to the house was only ever shown once on The Hills, at the very beginning of the “It’s On Bitch” episode, in the scene in which Kristin is shown getting into her car and driving off on Pacific Coast Highway on her way to make an appearance at Spencer and Heidi’s “Welcome Home” party. 

IMG_5849 

Amazingly enough, while doing research for this post I discovered that appearing on The Hills  isn’t the home’s only claim to fame.  The property actually has a long and storied Hollywood history.  According to this article, in the early ‘80s the beach pad belonged to music executive Jerry Goldstein.   In the ‘90s, it was purchased by another music man, record promoter and Giant Records president Charlie Minor.  Sadly, on March 19, 1995, Minor, who had worked with both Sting and Janet Jackson during the course of his highly successful career, was murdered in the house by a former girlfriend named Suzette McClure who shot him nine times after catching him in bed with another woman.  But the house’s notoriety doesn’t end there, for it was also used as one of the locations of the Silver Spoon Beach House – the notorious party pad where throngs of young Hollywood stars would hang out during the summer months.  Just a few of the celebs who were seen there include Lindsay Lohan, Ali Landry, The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Slade Smiley (Ugh, gag me!) and Gretchen Rossi, Brody Jenner, and ironically enough, even Kristin Cavallari, who not only partied at the house, but also once did a photo shoot there.

A big THANK YOU to Virginie for finding this location!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Kristin Cavallari’s beach house from The Hills is located at 22058 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.   Jennifer Aniston’s former Malibu home is located just a few houses east of Kristin’s at 22164 Pacific Coast Highway.

Brenda and Dylan’s Palm Springs Hotel from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

IMG_5582

Another Beverly Hills, 90210 location that I stalked recently was the Hyatt Westlake Plaza which stood in for both Brenda’s hotel – the Desert Palm Mirage – and Dylan’s hotel – the Desert Mirage – in the Season One episode entitled “A Fling in Palm Springs” (aka “Palm Springs Weekend”).  Why that particular episode has two different names I’m not entirely sure, but I digress.  I found this location thanks to Geoff over at 90210 Locations who posted the address a few weeks back.  The “Palm Springs Weekend” episode has always been one of my favorites (mostly due to the charades game played at the end during which Dylan points to Brenda to convey the movie Pretty Woman to the rest of the gang – SO CUTE!), so when I saw that Geoff had tracked down the hotel featured in it, I just about started screaming.  I had literally wanted to stalk that location for as long as I can remember.  So, I  immediately dragged my fiancé right out to the Valley to do some long overdue “Palm Springs” stalking, Beverly Hills, 90210-style

ScreenShot3441

IMG_5580

And while the exterior of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza looks EXACTLY the same today as it did when 90210 was filmed there over 18 years ago,

    IMG_5588     

IMG_5585

sadly the interior has been extensively remodeled in recent years and looks quite a bit different today.

ScreenShot3432

IMG_5734

IMG_5735

In the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode, Kelly and Donna mistakenly drop Brenda off at the Desert Palm Mirage hotel to meet Dylan for a romantic rendezvous, but as fate would have it Dylan is actually staying at the similarly named Desert Mirage hotel.  And because Brenda has misplaced her wallet and can’t get ahold of Kelly or Dylan (how did people ever survive without cell phones???), she is forced to spend the night on a cot in the hotel’s broom closet.  God, I miss 90210!  The areas used in the episode include the main entrance;

ScreenShot3433

IMG_5586

IMG_5587

the front desk,

ScreenShot3435

IMG_5732

IMG_5733

and the pay phone station, which is now an Enterprise Rent-A-Car office.  As you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, the interior of the hotel is virtually unrecognizable from the episode.  🙁

ScreenShot3434

ScreenShot3433

ScreenShot3431

But I did manage to dig up a few old pictures of the hotel from the Here Comes the Guide website (YAY!) and as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the former front desk matches the one that appeared on 90210 exactly. 

Hyatt pic

    Hyatt pic 2   

Another thing I noticed while looking at old photographs of the hotel was that up until the recent remodel, a piece of furniture seen in the background of the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode was still on display in the Hyatt’s lobby.  So cool!  If only I had stalked this place two years ago!  UGH!  🙁  You can take a virtual tour of the former lobby area here.

ScreenShot3438

IMG_5595

Later on in the episode, Brenda shows up at Dylan’s hotel only to find him hanging out with a random girl named Janie.  The Hyatt Westlake Plaza also stood in for Dylan’s hotel in the episode.

ScreenShot3440

IMG_5729

ScreenShot3439 

IMG_5730

After catching him with Janie, Brenda has a minor meltdown (during which she actually screams “Bogus!” LOL) in front of the Hyatt’s elevators, which I am happy to report look EXACTLY the same today as they did on 90210.  🙂  So darn cool!

ScreenShot3424

 ScreenShot3425 

 ScreenShot3426

And while I didn’t recognize much of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza from the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode of 90210, what I did recognize it from – pretty much immediately upon entering – was another television series – ABC’s The Bachelor!   As it turns out, the Hyatt Westlake Plaza is the very hotel where the contestants are put up for a few days pre-show before they move into the mansion.  And, in this particular season’s opener, quite a bit of filming was done on location at the Hyatt.  The areas used in that episode include the inside of several of the girls’ hotel rooms;

ScreenShot3418

ScreenShot3420

ScreenShot3419

   ScreenShot3421  

the lobby;

ScreenShot3423

ScreenShot3422

and the main entrance.  And according to the February 1st issue of US Magazine, part of the alleged affair between booted contestant Rozlyn Papa and former Bachelor producer Ryan Callahan took place at the hotel where the girls were staying pre-show – which we now know is the Hyatt Westlake Plaza.  🙂 The Bachelor is FABULOUS this season, by the way, and as always I am ABSOLUTELY addicted to Reality Steve’s coverage of it.  🙂  If you’re not watching, you really should be! 

[ad]

Big THANK YOU to Geoff over at 90210 locations for finding this location.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Hyatt Westlake Plaza is located at 880 South Westlake Boulevard in Westlake Village.  You can visit their website here.

Speidi on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!

NUP_135040_0002

For those of you like me out there, for whom one day a week is just not enough to satisfy your Spencer and Heidi fix, I have good news!!  Everyone’s favorite reality TV duo will be starring in the upcoming season of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here,  which premieres on June 1st.   For those of you who have never watched the Get Me Out Of Here  reality series, it is basically a celebrity version of Survivor.  In the season opener, seven celebs (including Speidi) will be dropped off in a remote Costa Rican jungle without make-up artists, publicists, or even personal assistants to keep them company!  The celeb contestants will be forced to sleep outdoors in hammocks and eat meals consisting of rice, water, and even bugs!!  The stars will also participate in challenges to raise money for their particular charities.  Each week, viewers will have a chance to vote off a different contestant, until one is eventually crowned King or Queen of the Jungle.  This show sounds like it’s right up my alley and I absolutely cannot wait to watch it!!!!  🙂 

swamp

bridge

What’s even more exciting is that one of the executives from I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here  was kind enough to send me some location pics from the show so that I could share them with all of you!!!!  So cool!!!!!  🙂  Pictured above are a swamp and a bridge that will be used in the filming.  🙂  Love it!!

[ad]

NUP_135040_1207

You can watch a super cute interview with Speidi about their upcoming jungle adventure here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The new season of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here  premieres Monday, June 1st at 8 p.m. on NBC.  You can visit the show’s official website here.

The “Biggest Loser” Ranch

img_6465-800

This past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend out to Calabasas to stalk the King Gillette Ranch, otherwise known as The Biggest Loser  Ranch.  I found this location thanks to the couple we met while stalking the Adamson House a few weeks back.   Our new friends, who just recently got engaged, have been traipsing all over the Los Angeles area touring wedding locales.   Many of those locales also happen to be filming locations!  I swear, if my boyfriend ever gets off his butt and proposes, a whole new stalking world is going to open up for me.  🙂  Anyway, our friends recently toured King Gillette Ranch and immediately called me up to let me know that it is where The Biggest Loser  is filmed.  And even though I’ve never watched the show, I just had to run right out and stalk it!  🙂  THANKS Nancy and Eric!  🙂

  Actually, I did see one brief segment of  The Biggest Loser  on Talk Soup  a few months back when Joel McHale showed the above clip of trainer Bob Harper absolutely FREAKING OUT at a contestant.  LOVE IT!  LOL LOL LOL  I think I need to hire that guy to be my trainer!!!  🙂

img_6449-800

img_6493-800

King Gillette Ranch was originally built by King Camp Gillette (yes, that’s an actual name), the founder of the Gillette Safety Razor Company.  King purchased the 588 acre property in 1926 and commissioned famed architect Wallace Neff – who designed Brad and Jen’s famous former home– to built a 26,000 square foot Mediterranean style mansion on the site.  When Gillette died in 1932, his widow sold the extensive property to movie director Clarence Brown.   Clarence threw so many elaborate Hollywood parties in the mansion that he ended up building his own private airstrip so that his famous guests could land directly on the property !  LOL  In 1952, the Ranch was sold to Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, who donated the entire 588 acres to the Claretian Order of the Catholic Church.  They used the property as a seminary for the next 25 years, until eventually selling it to New Age leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet.  Elizabeth planned to use the property as the headquarters for her religious movement, the Church Universal and Triumphant, but faced much government opposition and ended up selling it to Soku University of America in 1986.   The Ranch was finally collaboratively purchased by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, California State Parks, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and National Park Service, who opened the property to the public on June 30, 2007.   It is currently a nature and wildlife reserve featuring numerous hiking trails, a former Chumash Indian settlement, walking paths, a man-made lake, and picnic grounds. 

img_6495-800

img_6468-800

And, of course, it’s also a filming location!  For the past two years, beginning with Season 4, King Gillette Ranch has been used as the location where contestants vie to become The Biggest Loser.  While we were stalking the place, we had the good fortune of  running into one of the Biggest Loser  crew members who was busy setting up for Season 8, which begins filming in a few weeks.  He was INCREDIBLY nice and pointed out all of the areas featured on the show, including the gym, which, as you can see in the above photograph (which was taken through a closed window!  LOL ) was empty at the time;  

img_6479-800

the pool –

img_6508-800

img_6509-800

which was flanked by fake flowers!!!  LOL;img_6451-800

img_6454-800

img_6455-800

the production offices;

img_6485-800

img_6486-800

the “dormitories” where the contestants sleep – which is actually just a section of the main house;

img_6480-800

the patio area;

img_6489-800

and the Administration Building –

img_6499-800

img_6501-800

which is used for the filming of the elimination ceremonies.  Again, the above photographs were taken through a closed window, so they aren’t the greatest. 

img_6504-800

Evidence of the filming of The Biggest Loser could be found all over the Ranch, which I, of course, LOVED seeing!    There was a leftover tape marker that was stuck on the ground outside of the elimination room; 

img_6505-800

img_6481-800

wire cords were strung up on all of the buildings;

img_6513-800

and those yellow signs that I so love were posted at the entrance gates. 🙂

img_6497-800

img_6459-800

King Gillette Ranch is a truly beautiful place.  It is the perfect spot to spend an afternoon outdoors, go for a long hike,  take a bike ride, or just sit back and nature watch.  

img_6476-800

 Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: King Gillette Ranch is located at 26800 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas.  The park is open daily to the public from 8 a.m. to sunset.  Dogs are not allowed.  Parking costs $5 per day.  The Ranch is also available as a wedding or event location.