Laurie Sandell

Continuing my weekend domination of VH-1

Yesterday I appeared, ever so briefly, on a Behind the Music about Christina Aguilera. In fact, my appearance is so brief I will spare you the trouble of watching the entire two-hour special, and instead direct you to my speed-of-light nano-appearance which can be found here, at  3:03. Enjoy!

Filmed a Behind the Music

Got a call from a producer at MTV asking me to talk about Christina Aguilera for a new Behind the Music. It’s official: I have become a de facto Christina Aguilera expert. This is my third time doing television about her. So last week I drove to Hollywood and sat in a studio, talking about the two sit-down interviews I did with her for Glamour. It was a small operation: One camera, one director, one sound guy. No hair or makeup, so I won’t be sporting my usual Kabuki dancer look. What usually happens is that I do these things, forget all about them, and then three months later, I’ll be cooking dinner and hear my voice coming out of the television in the living room. And I can’t help myself, I have to watch, and it’s usually painful, because I feel the need to slip into my “television voice.” I won’t try to describe what that voice is, but it’s accompanied by a stiff smile and the occasional pun.

Stars…they’re just like us!

They pump gas! They sip coffee! They go on hikes through Runyon Canyon, complaining the entire way! My close friend Paul came to LA to visit me for my birthday, and he couldn’t have been nicer: Treating me to breakfast, helping me prepare for a little party I had. But he wasn’t so into my efforts to show him the “other” side of LA. We took a lovely hike through Runyon Canyon (Paul: “First and last time I’m doing this”), strolled along Venice Beach (Paul: “Dirty and gross”), and visited Equator Books (OK,  so now I know it’s out of business). He was more interested in visiting Fred Segal and Confederacy (expensive clothing stores), and seeing The Blind Side to prepare for his Oscar viewing party (let’s just say I was blindsided by how bad it was.) We’re very different, but he’s still one of my favorite people in the world.

In other news, here’s a link to my appearance on FOX News, where I talked about sleeping pill addiction.

Meet the world’s leading expert on Ambien addiction

After I wrote about my Ambien addiction for Glamour, the letters from readers poured in and I was asked to appear on The Today Show. Let’s not talk about what my bangs looked like–I cut them myself right before the show–or how tired I looked (nerves!) Now, any time a network does a piece on sleeping pill addiction, who gets a call? Yours truly! That’s right: I have officially segued from “published author” and “celebrity interviewer” into “camera-ready junkie.” A month ago I appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, and yesterday Fox News in Boston called me into a satellite studio here in LA to tape a segment about the same issue. Of course, this was a far cry from The Dr. Oz Show; there was no green room this time, just me, alone in a room, sitting in a chair with a mike in my ear. It’ll air Monday night at 10:00 PM on FOX News in Boston, and I’ll post a link to the segment once it airs, if it’s not too embarrassing.

Wednesday night I’ll be featured on Brian Lehrer Live

Last year, I did an episode of  web show called Stacked Up–here’s a description of it:

A mashup of MTV’s Cribs, Oprah’s Book Club and The Paris Review, each five-minute Stacked Up episode will feature one of your favorite writers giving an insider’s tour of his or her library. We’ve found the best way to know writers is by the books they keep.

So today I got a call from Jill, co-creator of Stacked Up, to let me know that Brian Lehrer would be featuring the show–and a clip with me in it–on his live, hour-long TV show on CUNY TV. I won’t be watching since I’m in LA, but if you do happen to catch it, please tell me he aired the part about my love of Philip Roth and not the part about The Secret.

I’ll be appearing on The Dr. Oz Show today

If you’re in New York, you’ve already missed it–sorry! If you’re in LA, it’s airing this afternoon on Fox 11 at 5:00 PM PST. Just got the heads up, which is why I’m posting about this now. I’ll be watching with Carole because it’s too painful to watch these things alone. For the record, I’m on the segment about Ambien addiction, which I believe is in the second half of the show–not the segment called, “When Sex is Painful.” Ahem.

I had my Dr. Oz closeup

I taped The Dr. Oz Show yesterday; it should air in about two weeks. The topic was sleeping pill addiction, and I was brought onto the show as an example of someone who overcame it. The guy who did my hair was from Texas, and said he was giving me “big Texas hair.” He was hilarious. I really did like the way it looked, but it was such a snarled mess of hairspray and knots this morning, I worried it was going to break off at the roots. During the segment, I was seated in the front row as if I just happened to be in the audience. Dr. Oz interviewed a woman who was hopelessly addicted to Ambien, then turned to me and said, “There’s actually someone here who’s been through the same experience…” And because I’ve done so much TV, this media-light clicked on in my head, I broke into a blinding smile and said, “Shay–I could be listening to myself three years ago.” When the segment ended, we cut to commercial and a warm-up comedian bounded out onto the stage and said, “Give it up for Dr. Oz! For Shay! For Laurie Sandell!” as the audience wildly applauded. Then I was escorted backstage to the green room, which is when this shot was taken.

I’m wearing my coat because I decided not to stay for the entire show, since they didn’t follow my Artist Dressing Room Rider. I’d specifically requested the following: white room, white flowers, white tablecloths, white Diptyque candles, white couches, mango, green seedless grapes, chocolate chip cookies, Hostess Sno-Balls, circus peanuts, Iced-Tea Snapple, VCR & CD player with a mix of Rhianna, Jay-Z and Mariah Carey, and room temperature Evian water for the plants. And I swear, the only thing they followed was Evian water for the plants. But other guests of the show were drinking it, because they had no choice! That’s the last time I do TV without my publicist in tow.

I’m taping the Dr. Oz show today

I got a call from a producer the other day, asking if I’d like to participate in a Dr. Oz show about…drum roll, please…Ambien addiction! A few years ago, I wrote about my insomnia and subsequent Ambien addiction for Glamour, and it got a huge response from readers–I was even invited to appear on The Today Show. Every once in a while, someone will contact me through my website to share their own harrowing tale of Ambien addiction, and to ask how I got off the stuff. In my case, the answer was rehab plus yoga plus meditation plus quitting drinking. I know that’s not the answer for everyone, but I can’t tell you how difficult it was to quit–and how close I came to killing myself (inadvertently) as a result of that drug. One guy who contacted me told me that a well-regarded rehab center on the West Coast told him he wasn’t taking “enough” Ambien to qualify for help, and he should “embellish his story” if he wanted to get admitted. He said that was an exact quote! Meanwhile, Tiger Woods was admitted to the hospital as an Ambien overdose on the night of his car crash. Heath Ledger had Ambien in his system the night he died. Ambien addiction sent Eminem to rehab. And there are millions of anonymous Americans abusing the drug. So I am really happy that Dr. Oz is dealing with this particular subject. I’ll keep you posted on the exact air date.