There is no question that Thursday September 16 is a day that I will remember for a long time.
First let me give you a little history. I have never missed an episode of Survivor in my entire life. I am a recording-fiend and have every episode in my library.
Now the dilemma.
CTV again gave Inside Pulse the opportunity to cover the event from the media room.
What was I to do? Miss Survivor?! Noooooo! While I initially said that it was not even a viable option to consider, I soon softened to the notion.
This was the grand finale of the show. There were four million Canadians watching the program every week. More than 3 million votes are cast for the contestants in the competition. In addition, I wanted to give the American Pulse readers a sense of what happened on our version. I made the decision. I was going to Idol.
I made my way over to the Convention Centre. I actually thought about renting a room there (considering how much time I have spent inside the walls of the John Bassett theatre). For all of the hundreds of people that were in attendance, I knew that there would only be more for the final night.
It was nearly impossible to enter through the front door. It was completely blocked because apparently the fans that were in line for the rush tickets were advised that the Top 8 would be making a brief appearance to film a limo spot that would run at the beginning of the show. As a result, everyone’s digital cameras were buzzing with excitement (and while this didn’t bother me… the massive girth of these people blocking the door certainly did).
I eventually slid my way past the barricade and went over to the will-call desk to pick up my media credentials.
I was led to the media room where I was one of the first reporters that had made it inside. There was a bevy of catered food that was available, but I preferred to stay inconspicuous. I walked over to one of the chairs that were set-up for the media and made myself as comfortable as I could get.
While I waved to some friends, I generally just got my notepad ready to go.
This is when the first ‘incident’ of the evening took place.
One of the CTV (network that broadcasts Idol to all of Canada) guys wearing an intimidating headset started asking people in the room if they were “Murtz Jaffer of InsidePulse.” My initial feeling was to stay silent because I thought it could only be bad news. I guess I am a pessimist. In any event, I finally decided that I should raise my hand. I was told that I was being paged at the front desk and the helpful guy led me down the hall. I told the guy that I felt like I was being called to the principal’s office and he laughed. There’s that Canadian art of schmoozing for you.
Anyway, I got back to the will-call desk and was given a ticket to the show. I was excited. While the thought of covering the event from the media room was exciting, I wanted to be where the action was. It was the theatre.
I took my seat and was sitting between a Kalan fan and a Theresa fan (which was strangely ironic) considering the magnitude of the event. There were many celebrities around me including:
– Kurt Browning (Canadian Figure Skater)
– Billy Klippert (Canadian Idol 1)
– Gary Beals (Canadian Idol 1)
– Richie Wilcox (Canadian Idol 1)
– Toya Alexis (Canadian Idol 1)
– Daniel Nestor (Tennis player)
– Ralph Goodale (Canadian Finance Minister)
and others.
The show began and while I will detail the songs that were performed later, it is clear that my feelings remained the same and that they wouldn’t change.
I wanted Theresa to win.
When Ben Mulroney finally got the big envelope and drew it out for as long as possible, I knew what was written inside. Kalan’s name was announced and the rest is proverbial history. As the confetti started to fly around the arena, I quickly made my exit and headed back over the media room for the press conference.
In attendance were Ben Mulroney, Theresa Sokyrka, Kalan Porter and John Brunton among others.
Stay tuned for my recap of the conference as well as my coverage of the media conference call.
