Oscar Friends

You come to this town with a dream. To stand on that red carpet.  To feel like you belong.  To be in the mix with Hollywood's elite. That ride means nothing unless you are celebrating amongst friends.  This post is a tribute to all of my friends who joined me on that red carpet last Sunday.  I love that you were there with me......

Me and James Molnar of The Gold Knight.

Misty Kingma, fellow Red Carpet Report entertainment reporter, and me.

Me and Taryn Southern who was broadcasting for US Weekly.

Me and Dennis Pastorizo of Terra Networks.

The man behind the camera, JD Piche, thanks for all of your hard work last week!

My awesome pal, Jordan Carson, from WOTV-4, Grand Rapids.

Me and Blake Mitchell.

Riding on the Goodyear Blimp!

I fly all of the time for work, so I am accustomed to being "up in the air".  In fact, I've flown on United Airlines 22 times this year.  That doesn't include the additional flights I've taken with American, Southwest, Delta, Continental,  Spirit, and US Air this year.  So, as familiar as I am with the friendly skies, I was thrilled to try out a new form of transportation for a trip around LA, on The Spirit of America, the Goodyear Blimp.  We had the opportunity to fly in the airship as a part of our Behind the Scenes series with Mingle Media TV.  Captain Matt piloted us through the cloudy skies and I might have been a bit smitten with our "Captain Handsome".  (Yep, he had a nickname within the first 15 minutes of meeting him.)

  

The flight was pretty incredible despite a bit of marine layer and the blimp engines were a bit nosier than I expected.  Captain Matt even had a little fun with a us with a blimp trick or two that I managed to catch on video.  I will post our behind the scenes video early next week.  In the meantime, enjoy the photos up in the air and on the ground.  It truly was an opportunity of a lifetime....... 

Any chance to advertise Godspell is a good one.....even in a blimp!

 Love my hair sticking straight up while JD mugs for the camera.

Me and Captain Handsome post-flight.

A happy leap after a fun day.  Thanks, Goodyear!

Photos are property of Kristyn Burtt and Mingle Media TV.  

An Oscar Nerd's Dream

Me and Luz Pena, winner of the MTVu contest on the red carpet.

I feel like I am going to be showing you Oscar footage for weeks, kids.  There were so many incredible events to share with you, so we are going to kick it off with the MTVu Correspondent Contest.  College students around the country created broadcast submissions to win a spot on the red carpet, backstage in the pressroom, and at the Governor's Ball.  I was fortunate enough to befriend the winner before she and her partner won the entire contest.  Behind the Red Carpet on Mingle Media TV was there to catch all of the action. Congratulations, Luz and Phil!



The excitement continued as I interviewed one of the judges of the contest, Brooke Anderson, host of HLN's Showbiz Tonight.



And finally, my Oscar nerd dream come true:  I interview the accountants from PriceWaterhouseCoopers about how they count the ballots.  I don't think we have ever seen accountants so excited on camera before.  It is my favorite piece that we shot during Oscars Week. (You will also learn some great balloting secrets.)



If you missed my appearance on the Lori and Julia Show from 107.1 FM from Minneapolis, you can listen here:  Monday, February 28th, Hour 1  These gals are my favorite radio duo and I dished a lot about the red carpet foibles, fun, and fashion.

And as always, I leave you with a few more photos from Oscar Sunday:

 Me and my hairstylist, Ozlem Dalgic, post-hair, pre-makeup. (and a glimpse of my pal, Maria, in the mirror.)

 Next up, my makeup artist, Carolina Groppa, gets me all dolled up. The pink bow is holding back my bangs-nice look.  

The man behind all of the awesome footage we shot, JD Piche

My favorite annual post-Oscars date with fellow Oscar nerd, Matt Crabtree.