Show Blog: A Day At Access (May 11, 2006)

#1 (6:40 AM) — Usually, the ?American Idol? talk around the office can wait until Thursday morning to really get going, but Chris Daughtry getting sent packing last night was just too powerful a moment for the Access staff to hold their emotion and tongues for 8 more hours. In fact, things started to pop off even before my fellow LA based co-workers had a chance to watch the show – thanks to the fact that ?Idol? goes out live to the East Coast. When 9 o’clock New York time rolls around – three hours before ?Idol? airs here in The Land Of Eternal Sunshine and In-N-Out Burger – we’ve got people monitoring that feed, along with people inside the show to get a jump on things. Which is why last night, when the instant the odds-on favorite had his plug pulled, Access producer Celeste sent out an urgent e-mail bulletin entitled “Eliminated From Idol Tonight,” revealing the horrific shocker.Now you’d think that giving an email in a title like that would be warning enough not to open the e-mail it if you didn’t want to know the show’s result, right? Well, apparently, some people at the show don’t actually read email subject lines anymore and thus, there was much exasperation – none of it really that serious – by people who had their ?Idol? appointments ruined. (I’m looking at you Nancy O’Dell and Executive Producer Rob Silverstein – who actually, and probably gleefully, passed along the early information to his children, who in turn became very upset).In the spirit of honesty, I should probably admit that I spoiled it for my wife, too… but only after she demanded to know.OK, moving on to this morning…Another screening meeting, another strong Prom Week piece to preview. And you’re hearing it here first — Carmen Electra and her massive modified beehive hairdo will be one of tonight’s highlights — along with new footage from the set of  “Grey’s Anatomy.”#2 (8:00 AM) — So I leave my seat here in the nerve-center for one minute and I miss the morning’s big news… we’re getting Ryan Seacrest this morning to talk about last night’s ?Idol.? And Nancy will have plenty to ask him. Mostly because right now it looks like Chris Daughtry will get a little balm for his chapped ego by announcing on Seacrest’s show that he is joining an already established band. I happen to know – through one of my own rare sources (you don’t make many sources chained to a keyboard all day) that he met with the band Fuel a week or so ago. Everyone involved was actually not too happy about the fact that Chris appeared to be on his way to a victory – which would prevent him from joining the band. After last night, this would not appear to be a problem anymore.#3 (9:30 AM) — You really would not believe the frenzy that Chris Daughtry’s “big” announcement initally inspired here in our offices. The emails were flying, speculation was rampant, tempers were stretched to the brink. Although as time has passed, it is becoming more and more apparent to just about everyone that, while what will ultimately happen is going to be news, it’s not really “big” news. Especially considering that any band which is desperate enough to hire an ?American Idol? castoff as their frontman probably isn’t nearly as popular as Chris is today… and he just got booted from the show.– Mat Baxt