[Patti]

Ellen Degeneres was taping her show in Chicago yesterday and I won VIP tickets to see her show. I am not sure what VIP stood for but we stood in line with our tickets for 5 hours in the rain, cold and wind then we got seated (we did get third row) and sat there for another hour then our great Mayor of Chicago introduced her as Helen Degeneres,lol. She looked like she was freezing and didn't want to be there. After the cameras stopped each time for breaks she stood on stage and never interacted with the audience and never smiled. Robin Williams was the guest and he was crazy but funny and was great with the audience. Then Carly Smitson and Michael Johns the Americam Idol cast offs were the musical guests. They sang a song and then Ellen said they would sing again later in the show, then they sang another song right away. I swear they didn't tape a whole shows worth. after 1 1/2 hours they started to pass out free Pizza from Oprah and it started to pour so Ellen says we're going to let you go and that was it. Very different than I expected. She played one game that no one knows how the couple was picked and they won a car! I wonder if she is like that with her studio audiences?? But it was an experience! The show airs Tuesday 5/6. Will be interesting to see how it is edited.