Packing the bags...(Cat McKenzie)

Packing up to go home.  Well it’s all over now.  When I look out my hotel room window, I can see the remnants of the tents and the red carpet.  If you were up this morning watching Eyewitness News you probably noticed how much commotion was going on behind Sandy as he did his reports and the crew was busy getting Hollywood Ave back open to the public.

We’ve been up for almost 24 hours straight but it’s been exciting.  Sunday morning was a different feel this year.  Because of the late start on the show the normal final security sweep that is done Saturday night was done Sunday morning right before our 9am live shot and it was done in pouring rain.  Picture the three of us – gear in hand standing in the rain literally counting the seconds down until we could get back on the red carpet it was not a pretty sight.

Normally by end of our morning live shot the “bleacher creatures” have begun to arrive, but because of the rain the Academy was keeping them inside a bit longer than usual so there was no reason for us to stay on the red carpet and chat with fans. After our morning shot the three of us separated to prepare for what lied ahead.  For Mike our cameraman it meant taking apart his whole editing system and bringing it down to our satellite truck.  For Sandy it meant heading back to the room and writing some dummy scripts so our night would go smooth.  For me it meant going back to the room getting our satellite times booked and grabbing any file video that we might need for our final story of the night, and of course getting my dress on.

When we all reconvened, it was down on the red carpet a carpet that was now filled with reporters, cameramen and academy officials all of us in formal dress.  It’s a pretty awesome site and you can feel the energy as stars start arriving on the red carpet.

Biggest Cheer? George Clooney by a mile.

Biggest Surprise? It’s a tie between Kristen Chenoweth being soooo tiny and P.Diddy walking the carpet alone.

Best Greeting? Seeing the director of the IMPACT choir making eye contact and mouthing the words “good luck” and getting a head nod that was cool.

Strange Observation? EVERYBODY has some type of camera now – so much so that when stars walked the carpet you’d first hear this big cheer – then silence as everybody as if on cue picked up their cameras, camera phones, iphones, blackberry’s ect and starting snapping then loud cheers again.

The show itself , I watched from our satellite truck.  In an attempt to get ahead we actually started editing out 11pm piece soon after they gave the award for Best Actress.  No matter it still was a scramble in the end to get the piece done and include the winners for the big five categories.

Favorite part of the show? For me it was when Jon Stewart brought the female winner for best song back out so she could make an acceptance speech. I just thought that was the neatest thing ever.

Final observations?
Great trip – I never get tired of seeing and talking to people as they are on the verge of fulfilling one of their life long dreams.  Whether they've been nominated for an award, are performing on the big show, working backstage on the big show or just going to the big show...it's very cool to see people live out theire dreams. Even though the weather this week in Los Angeles was cold and rainy the city was a gracious host (as was our LA Affliate KABC) and this year I not only got camearaman Mike his In-and-Out burger TWICE,  I remembered to get MY favorite treat  out here – Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles…best ever!!

Hope you enjoyed our Oscar Observations. I’ll be back next time the boss sends me out on the road. Thanks for reading.

Catherine “Cat” McKenzie, Producer Eyewitness News