Spoiler Warning: Max's review of the taping of Billy's
Classic Christmas TV Special for TNN includes detailed information about
the show. If you don't want the special "spoiled" and want to see it with
out knowing any details do NOT read this review.
Billy Gilman's taping of his Classic Christmas special, November 8, 2000.
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.
by Max
It was announced several times during the show that the special would air on
December 5 on TNN.
Ok, if you do not want to know anything about the TV special before it airs,
then don't read this.
Taping started at 7pm as advertised, and ended at around 11pm.
The audience was comprised of many families with small children, many
adults, and also many older folks. There were some in the crowd from
Nashville's elite, including some TNN folks and guests.
The first thing the taping crew did was record the "sweeteners" that they
use as filler for when they need crowd shots. These sweeteners will be
edited in when they need shots of the crowd laughing, clapping, enjoying
rocking songs or more solemn songs. They moved people around within the
crowd and one of the directors told the cameramen who to shoot. The BEST
part of this was when they wanted to do the sweeteners for the rocking song,
the band played "E-mail Santa" while the dancers were performing on stage,
doing the dance they would later do when Billy performed the song. The
dancers, boys and girls in their young teens, were fabulous! They were very
handsome and cute and danced very well. The boy dancers reminded me of the
GAP boys!!! One lady in the crowd who was sitting next to me said that some
of the boys DID appear in the GAP boys commercial, but after the show I had
a chance to talk to some of the boy dancers and confirmed that in fact none
of the boys were in the GAP boys commercial, although any of them could have
been.
When Billy finally came out, he was dressed in a black double-breasted suit,
white shirt, red tie, and black dress shoes. He was so cute and animated.
They had the dancers and other kid extras standing at stageside and they
taped Billy's entrance as he came and greeted all the kids, shaking their
hands and high-fiving them. When instructed by the crew to do stuff, he
responded to directions with thumbs-ups and "That's a big 10-4" and cute
stuff like that. One of the makeup ladies came out to adjust Billy's hair
and he said to her "Where have you been all my life". All these little
off-camera comments had the crowd laughing and endeared the audience to
Billy more so than many already were. As they prepared to start shooting,
Billy was all aglow and smiling and said enthusiastically, "This is gonna be
cool!"
The first song they shot was "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and they
did 2 takes. In fact for most songs they did at least 2 takes, just so they
will have enough in the can in case of any unforeseen bloopers on the first
take.
Next they had Michael W. Smith, Jessica Andrews, Ray Benson, and Charlotte
Church all join Billy for "White Christmas", which I think is what they will
use to close the show. They shot this 2 different ways, one with the other
singers waiting on stage but in the background, and another take where the
rest of the folks came out from backstage. After the 2nd take, Billy was
making some comments and suddenly said "Hey, I'm talking in my Rhode Island
accent! I'm gonna go pahk the cah in the yahd!" As you'd imagine, it was
way cute and the crowd loved Billy.
Next was "Jingle Bell Rock" with all 5 singers and then Billy and Ray sat
together for some chat about old time Christmases.
Up next, Jessica Andrews sang "Please Come Home for Christmas" and then they
did a set change. By now it was about 8:45pm.
After the set change, Charlotte started singing "Dream a Dream" and was
joined by Billy for the second verse and his part in the duet. They were
wonderful! Then Charlotte did "What Child Is This", and then they did
another take of "Dream a Dream".
For the next segment, Michael W. Smith sat at the grand piano and he and
Billy talked. They had to do several takes of this conversational skit
because Billy was having a hard time following the teleprompter.
As a side note, it became obvious that none (or very little) of this show
had been previously rehearsed. Billy was reading much of the stuff off the
teleprompter apparently for the first time. This caused the taping to drag
on through seemingly endless retakes, as Billy often spoke too fast while
reading and flubbed his words. He kept apologizing to the fans, and often
asked them if they were getting bored. Each time the crowd replied "NO" (I
yelled this out a lot!). But as time ticked, the crowd thinned and several
times the director had to move people in the audience so that there were no
obvious gaps in the crowd that would be seen by the cameras. Through all
this, Billy remained very excited and upbeat, doing his best to keep the
crowd energized.
When Billy and Michael W. Smith finished their skit, Smith went into singing
and playing "Silent Night", which was beautiful. Smith then played a medley
on the piano which included "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" and I forget what other
songs (sorry, forgot to write that down).
Billy then did a spot where he talked about the e-mails he got from his
website where people shared their favorite Christmas traditions. He read
and commented on the e-mails and it was just darling.
By now the night was getting long and you could tell that some in the crowd
were getting tired. But Billy was like a nuclear-powered kid, never getting
tired, never getting discouraged during the numerous mistakes and retakes,
and always staying cheery and trying to keep the audience energized. He
also took time out to recognize the crowd, the band, the cameramen, and all
those in the crew who were working for HIS special!
After reading the e-mails about Christmas traditions Billy talked about his
new single, "Warm and Fuzzy", and how he hoped it would become a new
traditional Christmas song for others. Of course, he sang it. Twice.
The next segment had Ray sitting surrounded by some very cute little kids
(extras, not from the crowd) and he read a story "The Texas Night Before
Christmas". It was a heartwarming story and I trust you'll enjoy it.
They took a break and Billy changed onto tan corduroy pants, white
turtleneck and a navy-blue sweater for the last number, which was Ray Benson
and Billy singing "I'm Gonna E-mail Santa". At one point, little Billy was
standing next to BIG Ray (I am told Ray is 6'9"), and Billy made some
amusing comments about their disparity in size, which drew some chuckles
from the crowd at an apparent double-entendre which I am sure Billy did not
anticipate but recovered from very well. This song will not close the TV
special but was left to the last part of taping, probably since this was the
only number in which Billy wore different clothes. This was also, IMHO, the
best part of the show because it had all those adorable dancers! (There was
another sing that used the dancers, but I did not write it down, probably
"Jingle Bell Rock"). When they were almost finished with "E-mail Santa"
they realized that the teleprompter was not correct and Billy and Ray
flubbed the end of the song. They ended up doing about 5 takes of this, and
those poor dancers were getting exhausted! The GOOD part was that I got to
see them dance for all that time. By the time they got to the last take,
Billy and Ray were dancing along at the end.
When the taping finally ended, Billy came to the front of the stage and
greeted fans. I got his autograph on one of the photos I shot at the Glen
Burnie performance. I chatted with the star for a short while and then had
a chance to talk with the dancers, all very nice kids.
It was now about 11pm, and that's all folks!
Max (www.maxgalleries.com)
© 2000 Max, All Rights Reserved (11/10/00)
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