‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ Kicks Off NYC Run With Salute to Doormen & Women
It’s an early Wednesday morning in New York City and excitement fills the air along with Kelly Clarkson‘s vocals as attendees for her newly relocated series, The Kelly Clarkson Show prepares to tape its Season 5 premiere episode from Rockefeller Center.
As audience members trickle into the Peacock Lounge, they’re greeted by Clarkson’s familiar voice singing pop hits over an intercom before everyone is transported by elevator to Studio 6A where the syndicated daytime hit is now filmed. TV Insider was on site for the taping of Season 5’s first episode which airs across various syndicated stations Monday, October 16.
But this wasn’t just any episode, The Kelly Clarkson Show kicked off its season with a touching salute to New York City’s Doormen and Doorwomen as they filled the audience stands in uniform. “We wanted this to be a welcome home because it was like we moved to a new home and we just wanted to celebrate that for one show,” showrunner Alex Duda tells us. “Opening the doors to people who open our doors — because there’s Doormen everywhere in businesses, in apartment buildings, in museums, everywhere — it just felt like right.”
(Credit: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)
Welcoming them with a soaring rendition of her own tune, “I Won’t Give Up,” Clarkson greeted the audience with excitement worthy of the occasion before she was joined by several NBCUniversal friends. While Bravo‘s Andy Cohen made a quick appearance to introduce Clarkson, she was later joined by Seth Meyers on the couch.
Together, they chatted about their kids, and Meyers even got candid about his own experience with the birth of his second child which occurred in his apartment lobby, putting his own Doormen into action. Joining the party, Today‘s Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager brought out some chips and queso to make Kelly feel even more welcome in her new East Coast home.
Rounding out the celebrity appearances was Jane Krakowski who came on to host the game, “Hoda Da Door,” which pitted Clarkson and Meyers against Kotb and Bush Hager as they had to identify doors and clues tied to various pop culture. The event brought out the competitive side of Clarkson and friends.
(Credit: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)
“It was just nice to have everybody here,” Duda says of the lineup, which is just the beginning of a star-studded guest list for the season that includes Billy Porter, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bowen Yang, and more. Additional guests include Paul Shaffer and Alanis Morissette, both of whom will participate in fun music moments with Clarkson, according to music director Jason Halbert, who has been with the talk show host since her American Idol days.
“He’s been my hero,” Halbert gushed of Shaffer who returns to the studio that previously housed the Late Show with David Letterman. “We have him coming on to sit in with the band for the full episode, and I can’t wait for that. That’s been a dream for a long time. We do have some exciting duets coming up Halbert adds, but stays mum on details.
Featuring Clarkson’s biggest talk show audience to date, the studio space was transformed quickly to appear as close to the original stage where the show was filmed in California. While the appearance hasn’t changed much for viewers at home, the eventful premiere boasted big surprises for the Doormen and Doorwomen in the audience.
(Credit: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)
Along with highlighting their stories, Clarkson and the show’s team gifted them each with a trip to St. Lucia along with pre-paid flights, giving these hardworking individuals a shot at some much-deserved time off. “Courtney Jackson, who is our trade-outs producer, did that,” Duda says. While they wanted to do something special, it isn’t always a sure bet. In this instance, Duda says, “It just came together.”
Among the individuals celebrated during the episode were Rockefeller’s own celebrity Doorman, CJ (in the top image), who is beloved by all the guests on Kelly’s couch, as well as plaza goers. Clarkson also took time to shine a light on Noel Maguire, a longtime Doorman who has been giving back to the community with his non-profit, The Ellen Maguire Foundation.
With his organization, Maguire organizes weekly dinners, providing hot meals for the homeless, handing out clothes for those most in need, and providing other helpful services. “We want to bring the city onto the couch and the building onto the couch because there’s so much history here, Duda says of the show’s aim now that it’s in New York.
“We still want it to be polished and pretty and fun, but it’s going to feel a little bit more spontaneous,” she continues. “We want to do something like city seat where there’s a seat out on the plaza and people can just walk in and there’s a monitor where you could talk to Kelly. We want to send an audience member to a Broadway show and then have them come back the next day to tell us what they thought. The band is going out and going to find so many buskers,” she adds.
“We’re surrounded by great music,” Halbert notes. “We have the Roots across the hall, SNL, I mean, there’s so much. So we’re hoping to incorporate some of that into our music and try to get some other guys to play with us and do some things like that. In addition, what we’re really excited about is that New York has so many great street musicians and buskers,” he adds. According to Halbert, he and the show’s guitar player Jocko are “going to go out and try to find some musicians from the streets that might be willing to come join us for some of the Kellyokes.”
Sounds like music to our ears! Don’t miss more from The Kelly Clarkson Show as Season 5 continues, and let us know what you thought about the return episode in the comments section, below.
The Kelly Clarkson Show, Weekdays, Check your local listings
