photo diary: capital pride 2014

FINALLY... I popped my Pride cherry!

For whatever reason, I've never been able to witness one in real life, but I got the special treatment for my cherry popping ceremony! I joined a coworker on stage to help host the festival on Sunday. We introduced some acts, danced on stage, and mingled with all the fabulous guests backstage. While I'm a little sad I didn't get much time to just scope out the people beyond the stage, everything looked amazing from the front.

[Some people were all "OMG THAT SHIRT IS SOOOO NOT OKAY." Um, have you checked out FCKH8.com?!]

I'm new to the Betty Who fandom, but she was awesome. Super nice, super talented, super fun, and super fresh.

[Bonus!: She came into the studio on Tuesday for a performance and very quick Truth or Dare... video to follow soon hopefully.]

Ever since she released her "American Girl" song, I've been waiting for Bonnie McKee to really pop. Hopefully her time is soon... in the meantime, I'll admire her awesome hair. 

I was really pumped to see Karmin again. This is now the 4th or 5th time I've been able to talk to them, so it's exciting to have my first artists that actually remember me just by seeing my face. I didn't get any pictures, but it was fun to talk about their new home projects and other things they've been up to. 

Also, they put on the best show I've ever seen them do. Nick got so into it, they sounded awesome, it was just really good. 

Let me tell you how adorable Rita Ora is in real life. Actually, I don't know how to properly do that... but she was even prettier than I thought! And even though she was running extremely late on time, she stopped to take selfies with fans through the fence and sign some things. 

DJ Cassidy- also super nice. Dude knows how to dress and rock some turn tables, too! I've never seen a DJ get up and perform in a concert setting like this. It was certainly interesting, but he had the crowd going the entire time! 

People working the event kept thanking me for being there, but that seemed a little weird. Truth is, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I was thankful they allowed me to work the stage and be in front of so many beautiful people! It's true what all the artists say- it really is one of the most fun crowds you'll ever come across.

Until next year!

love,

elizabethany

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interview: eight questions with my bff's of karmin

Seeing as Amy and Nick from Karmin have been my favorite artists to hang with in the past [well, besides Trey Songz, of course.... yum.], I was SUPER pumped to get to talk to them again! Except this time was the first time I was actually sitting down with them and just chatting... not playing a game or doing a music video with them.

We didn't get to do it on camera, but I brought some spiffy audio equipment from 2002, we got real close, and talked about some fun things.

Some highlights: 

• I asked what color my maid of honor dress needed to be.. turns out they've already had to cancel one wedding, and another one is not even being planned yet. 
• They're in the middle of fixing up a house they bought from the inside out, thanks to their addiction to HGTV that I can totally relate to. 
• Paul McCartney once "pimp slapped" Nick, and Brandy made Amy cry.
• The moment they knew they were a thing was while joking about cheese at a college party.

Amy also told me my outfit was impeccable... which.. WOAH! Coming from her is pretty neat. Guess I'll need to post that soon.

I'm not sure why I keep doing boring smiles with these artists I interview... I need to quit that. Luckily I got a second chance with them.

I'm really excited that I'm going to be having more interview opportunities again. Most of them will be over the phone, but as you may know- my favorite part about my job is just interviewing people and asking questions.. whether they're famous or not. I still have a lot of practicing to do [and laughing to calm down with..], so I'm hoping the regular drop-by's and calls and co-hosts will put me on Ellen's level in no time! [or... a couple year's time...]

love,

elizabethany

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watch/see: everything from our merry hot mess fest show

Some radio stations may call their holiday shows "Jingle Ball," but we like to get a little more fun [and real/ironic] with ours... we put on the Merry HOT Mess Fest!
The Ready Set [who performed at the MTV TJ finale!], Cody Simpson [15 year old Australian Biebs], and Karmin [from YouTube "Look At Me Now" fame, duh] all came to Norfolk to perform!

I've met/hung out with Cody and the Karmin duo before, and they were all awesome, so I was beyond excited to have them back! Karmin immediately commented on our awesome music video to their song and asked us to play a cover song game again. They're also really good at remembering fans they've met and making every fan feel special. I'm impressed.

I also asked Amy why she doesn't do her suicide roll hair anymore, and whewwww, that set her off. She said she feels like an Indie hair stylist because everyone stole her 'do, so Rolling Stone asked her not to do it for the cover! Since then she's been trying to come up with something new to do!

When I saw Cody, I decided it was time to give his fans a new name to talk about other than mine. [They're STILL retweeting him talking about my name, and they say they're gonna name their kids Elizabethany! That just can't happen.] We tried.. and well... we need more help.



The entire show was just a lot of fun and totally enjoyable. Even though I was running around like a madwoman in 4 inch heels, I still had a great time [and fell in love with a new song I can't stop listening to- Karmin's "Comin Up Strong." Nick sings it!]! You can hear it and see all of what went down in the video I put together: [Make sure you have it in HD mode so it's better, duh!]


I also can't complain about listeners coming up and asking for a bajillion pictures between performances. It may have been my favorite part.

Every day I still think it's crazy that I'm getting to do a job I truly love, but days/nights like that one... Pretty unbelievable that I get to do this.

love,
elizabethany

PS: To see more pics, click here!
PPS: To know more about my dress that I'm obsessed with, click here!

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watch: a merry hotmess music video from us and karmin!

I am SO excited to finally have this video done and able to share with you all! This week I've been all over Hampton Roads with my coworkers shooting this music video to get ready for our holiday show, Merry Hot Mess Fest, on Monday night!

We got silly, played with Santa, completely took over McDonald Garden Center, and even got Karmin to make an appearance in the video! [They sing the song we used and are headlining our show, after all...]


Can we talk about how lost Corey is throughout the whole video? The poor guy's awkwardly hilarious and he doesn't even mean to be!

I've been trying to make a fun group video like this for a while now, so I'm very glad we could make it happen for the holidays! Hopefully it was as fun and ridiculous to watch as it was to make!

love,
elizabethany

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watch: karmin in studio- we played "guess that song!"

Amy and Nick, AKA Karmin, came in the HOT studio yesterday morning promoting their upcoming album! In an attempt to always stay memorable and different from other radio stations, I came up with the idea of playing a charades style game where they play covers of songs and we guess what it is!

It was SO fun, intense, and awesome to hear them play so many songs! They also played their own songs and their version of "Look At Me Now." Watch!




How fun is that/are they?! Gah. I love them. They were exactly as I'd imagined and hoped. VERY humble, thankful, fun, and hella talented. Her voice is incredible. I hope they let her keep her swagger in the album and don't "popify" it too much!

Here are some quick pictures, too... We TOTALLY Legbombed it! [The Angelina inspired pose, duh!] Nick was SO INTENSE WITH IT.

We have someone else real exciting coming into the studio within two weeks. Can't wait to share the news and have it happen! EEP!

love,
elizabethany

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