America’s Got Talent! Why did it not ever occur to me to sign up for tickets to watch the taping of a live show? 

The networks are looking for people to be part of their live studio audience on a continual basis. Once you sign up for one show, odds are they will be contacting you with offers to attend more shows!

My husband surprised us with free tickets to America’s Got Talent he had signed up for online. We decided to make a day trip out of it, so we headed out at 10AM from Orange County and headed to Pasadena. By the time we got there, it was already time to line up and wait for our tickets to be handed out to us, but I got distracted by a Kia equipped with all kinds of camera equipment and knew something was up. Sure enough, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara were in the car being filmed, so I waved- and Sofia was kind enough to wave back, which oddly made me feel like a teenager again! So, we snapped a few pics, then out popped the REAL paparazzi! If you do not live in LA and are not used to seeing this type of thing, it can be a real treat; a different experience seeing those 2-D characters we see on TV in real life, working and being followed around by fans and photographers!

Next, the ticket people assigned us our seats and told us to come back at 4:00PM to wait in line for the show. Naturally, this was the perfect time to grab a drink and lunch at a nearby restaurant. In our case, we chose the Yard House. You can’t go wrong with a beer a yard long, can you?

When it was time to head back to “the line” it went quicker than we expected. We headed straight into the beautiful Pasadena Civic Auditorium where we were randomly seated in a pretty great spot. The judges; Howie, Simon, Heidi and Sofia, all made a gracious entrance and the host, Terry Cruise brought down the house with his energy and talent! Then the acts started; 8 of them for about 2 ½ hours straight and the time flew by. The judges interacted with the crowd. I have to say, we have a newfound respect for the hard work the judges, the host and the crew of AGT put in.

When the show ended, we headed home, stopped at Taco Bell, and kept the party going with great conversation and jokes about the very different day we all just shared. If you want to experience something different, I recommend making a day trip to LA to see one of your favorite shows! A day trip is what you make it