An All-Star evening! (sroaudiences.com)

Member Name: AmyAmy

Product:	sroaudiences.com
Date:	04/05/09 (139 review reads)
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Advantages: layout, navigation, attraction, contacts, experience

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Last night I sat down to watch the new series of All Star Mr and Mrs. I've always watched it, right from the first series through to this, and was looking forward to this episode more than ever! Although this was the first time it had aired on TV, I was lucky enough to have already seen it...

All Star Mr & Mrs is an ITV game show in which three celebrities and their spouse have to answer questions on each other, such as "Who is more likely to do the washing up?", or "What is (your partners) full name?". The questions may seem simple enough, but while they are being asked, one of the two are in the booth, which is a little glass room, with headphones and funky glasses on. When they come out they need to match the answers their other half gave. There is also a round where the couples have to stand in a little section which has been separated so they cannot see each other. They each have two paddles: a pink paddle and a blue paddle. Questions are asked such as, "Who uses the most beauty products?". If they think it is the wife, they show the pink paddle, and the blue for the husband. The more matches they have in both rounds, the more money they raise. This money is not for them though, but is for charity. The couple with the most points at the end get to carry on further and try and double the money by matching yet more answers! It's quite an intense game, but incredibly worth it, and I am sure over the years they have helped out many a worthy charity!

If you watch the show, you will know that there is an audience in each recording. From a young age I had often wondered where these TV audiences came from. Were they picked up off the street, or do they come from some sort of organisation or group? It never occurred to me that you could get tickets for the shows until a few years ago. Even when I did find out, it never really occurred to me to try and get some tickets, as most shows are recorded a good distance away from me. However, when I made plans to go to London for a week in April, I managed to get myself some priority Loose Women tickets. After that success, I went and got priority tickets for the Paul O'Grady show! It was amazing to know I was going to see these shows, and I loved that feeling of excitement so I searched around to see what other websites were offering free tickets! That's when I stumbled across SRO Audiences!

SRO Audiences (Standing Room Only Audiences) is a website which has been offering tickets for shows for over seventeen years now. They've provided many audiences over the years for shows such as Vicar of Dibley, Birds of a Feather, Mock the Week, and Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Take Away. When I found the site, I hadn't heard of it, but happened to come across it via another website. When I first clicked the link, I was greeted by a very attractive homepage. The centre of it is a gorgeous sky blue shade with a rich red border to draw you in. Down the left hand side there are various tabs for you to explore. One of these is 'Scrapbook'. This shows you images and information of the shows they have supported quite recently. It was a surprise when I discovered that there was an audience for After You've Gone! I adore that show and would have loved to have seen it live!

A tab down from this, you have About Us. Clicking on this will reveal a little page of information about the company. There is not screeds and screeds of writing so you do not feel like it is a task to sift through it. There is just a few paragraphs with a nice size text, making it easy to read and giving you a clear understanding of what the company does!

Current Shows is another clickable. This brings up a list, along with pictures, of all the shows they are currently providing audiences for. There's usually around ten to fifteen in the list, which I think is a good selection (compared to Clappers Ltd which provide for Loose Women only!). The current shows range from Countdown and Golden Balls, to Most Haunted Live and Mock the Week. There is a wide selection to choose from to suit everybody's tastes, as well as for different ages. For example Graham Norton;s show starts at age 12, whereas Big Brother is aged 18 and over. The majority of the shows are filmed at either BBC TV Centre or ITV Studios in London, but Countdown for example is filmed in Leeds, so there is something for everybody!

I think a website is rated a lot higher than others if it has a very good Contact section. I've seen some sites where they give out just a telephone number, or perhaps only a postal address. Thankfully SRO gives us a wide range of contact points. We can contact them for various reasons, such as to book tickets or enquire about a show that isn't on their list. We can also subscribe to their mailing list, which I have done and received a number of emails when new shows have become available! There is also a phone number to in which we can use to contact the team in case of a ticket related emergency! In all I'd say they're quite useful in terms of their contacts!

The first time I browsed the shows there was not a lot that appealed to me. There were shows I would have liked to have seen, but they were either not filming when I was in London, or I was not quite old enough. So I subscribed to the mailing list and left it at that. Off I went to London, happy with my two show tickets. Yes I would have liked a third or maybe even a fourth but we can't get too greedy now, can we?

I was in London from the 13th to the 19th of April, six night and seven days. I had it all planned, and everything seemed to be pretty perfect! I met loads of my idols and everything lived up to its expectations! And then, something else came along and decided to make the trip even more magical! In the evening of the 16th I received an email saying that tickets had become available for All Star Mr and Mrs. I checked the dates, and they were booking for the 17th! I didn't expect to get them in the space of 24 hours, but I filled out the little application form anyway. This was quite weird. As well as the usual Name, Age, Address, Telephone information, you were also asked for details such as Favourite Comedian, Preferred Newspaper and Chat Show. I thought this was all a bit strange but filled them out anyway. The application was sent off and that was that.

The next evening I arrived back in my hotel room at around five o' clock after a day down at Elstree (I'd met Jo Joyner that day - I was already overwhelmed as it was!). I logged on to the stressful hotel wireless and realised there was one from SRO. Turned out that my name had been put on the reservation list for priority tickets for the show that evening! I had to be there by seven, and it was already going onto half five! Okay so an hour and a half may seem like a long time, but it's recommended that you arrive at least a half hour beforehand, which gave me an hour maximum to get to...where? I hadn't even bothered to check where it was I was going to ! Thankfully, it turned out it was the ITV Studios in Waterloo, exactly where Loose Women and The Paul O'Grady Show were both filmed earlier that week! It took me roughly half an hour to get there from the tube station, which seemed to give me plenty of time. I quickly packed the laptop away safely and grabbed my back, dashing down the stairs, handing in my key at the reception and practically skipping to the tube station which was no more than ten minutes away from the hotel.

At around twenty past six I arrived outside the ITV Studios and joined the little queue that was there, after receiving my green little wristband to show I was priority, or course! Before long many others began to arrive and before I knew it I couldn't even see the end of the queue! I was thrilled I was priority or my chances of a guaranteed seat were limited! I at first wondered how there were so many people, even for priority. But then I remembered - All Star Mr and Mrs have a double audience (!), with seats behind and in front of the camera! I wondered what side I would be at...

Before long the security guards began to do the usual routine checking of hand bags I had now experienced three times that week, and we were told to go to the toilet if we needed. Time somehow passed by rather quickly (possibly because it was glorious sunshine so my spirits were high!), and soon we were being herded into the building. I wasn't sure which studio we were going to, but on the way to it I passed the Loose Women set and the Paul O' Grady studios...I was delving deeper into the studios than ever before! Myself and those around me were taken to the seating which was facing the front, so we were behind the cameras and facing the set. Although I was seated quite near the back, I was quite high up and was at an aisle seat so had plenty of room and could see well. There was something special about this set. Loose Women was in my heart, and the Paul O' Grady studio was more compact, but this one was a lot more glamorous than anything I had seen. Everywhere was sparkling: bright and shiny. It felt like I was watching an awards ceremony rather than a game show! It made the whole experience all the more exciting!

As if out of nowhere, a woman came on with a dog, a Great Dane to be precise. She started making him do tricks, which was very entertaining for us to watch! Then, the warm-up man (sorry, I cannot remember your name!) came on and signalled for us to applaud the dog every time he did well, so as to get him used to the audience. Bless him, he was adorable (the dog, not the warm-up!). Now I'd seen some very good warm up guys that week, but this one was something else! He began dancing for us, disco style, which was incredibly entertaining! And then...then he had us do it! The entire audience were up on their feet, 'shopping at tesco' and 'towelling the back'. Ah, it was hysterical!

And then I saw her. Out of the corner of my eye. Getting adjustments to her mic. It was Fern! Being at the side of the audience certainly had its advantages - I could see the stars before most others! If you have never watched All Star Mr and Mrs, I'll have to make it clear to you that its two presenters are undoubtedly the greatest double act ever to roam this earth! Yes, it's Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton! I've always admired the pair, but especially after reading Fern's autobiography, 'My Story', earlier this year, I feel I have grown to understand and respect her a lot more. She is an inspiration to me, an amazing woman and one worth the admiration! I couldn't believe she was but a few meters of me! And before I had a chance to fully absorb it all, the warm up man introduced us to Phil and Fern, and out they came! They were dressed so wonderfully, a rich suit for Phil and a glamorous dark dress for Fern, and her shoes...wow! I've never seen a pair so dazzling! They talked to the audience for a bit, and Phil began to rattle on about Twitter...I added him since coming back and it turns out he tweets constantly (as I have now grown to do!), and does so in between filming too (!).

The presenters were just getting their final preening and the music began. As we cheered it suddenly occurred to me - who were the celebrity couples? I had been so wrapped up in seeing Phil and Fern that I had forgotten all about the couples! It could have been anybody, anyone I admired! Coleen and Ray Fensome? Jo and Neil Madden? As they were being introduced my heart was racing...Keith Duffy and his wife Lisa...Brigitte Nielsen and her husband Mattia...Peter Shilton and his wife Sue! I took a moment to think them over as Phil explained the show to the 'viewers at home'. Brigitte and Peter I had never heard of, but Keith Duffy made up for that! He was amazing in Coronation Street, and as a singer in Boyzone, you're heart just melts for him! I could not have been happier with that! Brigitte Neilsen is a Danish actress, and Peter Shilton is a well known, well respected ex England Goalkeeper (who I now realise I did know of!). It all seemed to be so wonderfully perfect, it just couldn't be any more perfect!

The rounds began, and the celebrity couples were put to their paces. There were a lot of questions asked among the three couples throughout the hour long show, but there were a few that did stand out! One of them was asked to Lisa, and it was what she thought was Keith;s favourite Boyzone song. She had given an answer, to which Keith replied when he found out, "I hate that feckin' song!". Unfortunately for me, the word "feckin'" had been edited out of the aired version, but I don't know why as its not an offensive word or anything (don't worry, I checked!). It was just Phil's face when Keith said that - I could have died laughing! Another was asked to Peter, and it was "What is your favourite kiss of the day?". To which he answered "The morning kiss. Start the day off on the right foot!". Phil then turns round and said "You kiss her feet?!". If that was not hilarious enough, Shilton then replied, "Start at the bottom and work your way up!". The audience was nearly on the floor!

One thing I enjoy in particular about going to see shows being recorded, other than seeing the celebrities, is getting to watch what happens during the breaks. During the second break, something happened that remains with me till this day and is something I think about all the time (!). Just beforehand, Phil had asked Mattia and Brigitte, "Who picks up the doggy dos?". In the break just after, Phil randomly comes out with, "Always pick up the doggy dos!", his words long and droned. Well, that was it for Fern! She was doubled over laughing, which set off the audience, and me especially. It's things like that which put the magazines to shame when they say that Phil and Fern's relationship looks weak, pointing the finger at the 'real' reason why Fern is quitting This Morning (don't do it, Fern!). It was wonderful to see, and still hysterical! It's such a shame that the viewers at home did not get to enjoy that too!

Before I knew it, the filming was over and it was time to leave. I had wanted to see if Fern would stop outside the studios (I am sure she would have done if she wasn't in a hurry!), but by the time the massive audience finally trekked out of the building, she would have been long gone. So off I went back to the hotel. All I could do now was wait for that episode to air! I had no idea when it was due to, but found out the week before that it was going to be on TV on the 3rd May 2009, just a few weeks after recording! So last night I watched it, and all the memories from that fantastic London trip came flooding back to me! It was magical! The only thing that annoyed me? On the screen above me during recording I could see the camera panned to my side at the end of the show, but on TV they cut at the end of the credits before it reached us! But I don't mind - I got to see Fern and Phil in the flesh, nothing else matters now!

I owe this fantastic experience all to SRO Audiences! If it was not for them, then this would not have been possible! It was their attractive website, an easily navigated layout, that drew me in, and their amazingly quick booking confirmation that allowed me to get there with just a days notice (imagine getting there if I had been back in Aberdeen at 5 o' clock!). If you are visiting London, or live in or near, then I would strongly encourage you to have a look at this site and see if there is anything you fancy. The tickets are completely free (minus travel costs, of course), and is definitely well worth it! I learned a lot from it which will help me in my future career as a TV Presenter, and had a utterly fantastic time - an experience to be treasured forever!

© Amy 2009

www.sroaudiences.com

- If you wish to watch 'All Star Mr and Mrs', aired 3/5/2009, you can do so at www.itv.com/ITVPlayer until 2nd June 2009.

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