TBT: How I Turned 33 Cents Into Dinner With Tyler Florence And 80’s Pop Star Tiffany, And Won The Internet *Update*
by Bryan Coonrod ( 2014 )
Earlier in the week I saw a post on Facebook that 80’s pop star Tiffany would be performing at the Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville, Texas. My curiosity was quickly piqued as the first thing that popped in my head was the documentary “I Think We’re Alone Now” which details the day to day life of stalkers of said pop artist. Would these people show up in Lewisville? Would there be others? People watching would be quite the spectacle at this event, and I was in with a mission to try and meet Tiffany and take a goofy picture to get a rise from my friends and boy did I ever get one.
I had told a few friends of my plan and they had a chuckle not thinking I was really going to do it. I was able to find a friend and her son that were willing to go with me so that I myself would not look like one of those stalkers.
Now the post I saw online had no mention of why Tiffany was performing in Lewisville at a mall which was kind of odd in my book, but that would reveal itself later. I wondered if this would be a mad frenzy like it was in the 80s when Tiffany last performed in a mall as a teen idol. Regardless, I was going to see how this would unveil itself. I had some time to kill before meeting my friends so I stopped in a Half Price Books store by the mall to dig through some records as I am a huge vinyl hoarder. While digging through a stack of 45’s I came across a copy of Tiffany’s huge hit ” I Think We’re Alone Now” for the low, low price of 33 cents. This would be the key to Castle Grayskull.
Upon arriving at the mall 30 minutes before the show was to begin, there were just a handful of people near the stage, mostly moms bringing their kids out to share their teenage past with them. I did not figure it would be too insane since this was 3:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, which was another odd thing that made me wonder why this event was happening at a non peak time. Looking around I notice a film crew in the food court on the 2nd floor and what appears to be Tiffany instructing a small group of people how to dance or do some skit. It turns out it was Tiffany and that was a film crew she was with going over camera angles, this was all for an episode of Food Court Wars hosted by celebrity chef Tyler Florence on the Food Network.
3:30 had past and the small gathering of people had turned into several hundred fans of all walks of life trying to get a good spot to view the teen idol. And yes there were a couple of stalker types among the crowd acting like a prowler in search of a prey, trying to spot Tiffany before anyone else does. One guy had an armful of stuff he wanted signed and was frantically on the hunt for her. You could tell there was extra security there in plan clothes and that guy was stopped as he was trying to get in the backstage area. While we are waiting for her to take stage a Lewisville police officer comes up to me in the middle of the crowd and asks me if my name is Bryan. I tell him yes wondering how in the hell does this guy know who I am? He then tells me he needs to talk to me after the show. I was thinking did my car get broke into?
I figured somebody is pulling a joke on me, and yes I was correct. This is what happens when you check in at a place where a friend from high school has a husband that just happens to be the police on duty.She sent a photo of me and he spotted me in the crowd. Got to love my fun loving friends, though the person I was with must have thought I was some kind of outlaw being approached in a crowd by an officer like I was on an episode of America’s Most Wanted. After the show I went up to him and he says wife said to say hello. LOL. Finally a spokesperson comes out to address the crowd to let them know they would be filming this for the show, and as a special bonus they were looking for a few “enthusiastic” fans to appear in the episode. Now while I am nowhere near a hardcore fan as some of the people that were there but I did have a 45 in my hand from earlier that I raised in the air and was quickly chosen to be on the show. The fun can now begin.
Tiffany takes the stage, says her greetings to the crowds and goes into a country song called “Feel The Music”. Yes a country song. Tiffany started out as a country singer before she was molded into a pop singer. Of course the crowd just wanted to hear one song, but before that she performs her version of The Beatles ” I Saw Her Standing There” which really got the crowd going, and then finally everyone gets to sing along as she performs “I Think We’re Alone Now”. The whole show was maybe 30 minutes as this was for TV she sang the first song again to get a better video of the crowd and then everyone was able to meet and greet her. I must say this she is quite the people person.
My friends 10 year old son’s dog had passed away earlier in the day and he told her that when she asked how he was doing so she reached over and gave him not one but three hugs…., ok he asked for the other two; he is a smart kid. I got my hug too, as well as an autograph on that 33 cent 45 I purchased earlier. Now for everyone else the show was over, but for us with the VIP pass it had just begun.
We were sent upstairs to the food court and told briefly what is required of us (they had me at free food). If you are not familiar with Food Court Wars it is a show on Food Network that pits two aspiring teams of cooks against each other to win a spot in a food court of a mall for a year rent free and with startup money to get them going. We are told to hang out and wait for the food to be prepared and the filming will begin then.
As we are waiting I notice the host Tyler Florence is perusing the other offerings at the Food Court and actually sits and eats from Panda Express. I guess you can say he is a normal guy, I mean he could have chosen Sonic, but hey they can’t possibly compare to Beijing Beef.
We are now told food is ready and are asked to get the two offerings but I am not allowed to discuss this portion of the day due to a cease and desist order sent to me by the network when this article originally ran. However, neither were anything spectacular as far as foodie rankings go but once again luck falls our way and we are sat at the judges table with Tyler and Tiffany and her husband.
At this point a few hardcore fan were livid that we got to sit next to Tiffany and we got death stares and snickers the rest of the day. We ignored them and ate our food samples. This is where I give lots of respect to both Tiffany and Tyler. Yes, they did the song and dance for TV but it was their interaction with the fans that got me. My friend's son has a thing for Ferrari’s and asked Tyler if he had one. Most celebrities might blow off a kid like that, but not Tyler. He gave this kid advice to never stop dreaming about having a Ferrari. Kudos Mr. Florence. Watch the video I put on Youtube and you too will say wow to the pep talk he gave him.
Tyler Florence also could tell I knew where to get good BBQ, maybe my belly gave that away, and of course I sent him in the right direction. So I told him about Pecan Lodge and The Slow Bone and he did end up at Pecan Lodge that evening.
As for Tiffany she proved to be a down to earth person while she still records music, these days she is going back to her country roots. She now lives on farmland outside of Nashville with nine dogs, most of which were rescues, and a barn cat. She also has a clothing and jewelry boutique, and tries to repurpose products as much as possible.. After sitting and talking with her I didn’t feel this was a celebrity, I felt like this was a friend.
Now you might ask how did I win the internet? Well go ahead and post a few pics of you with Tiffany and eating dinner with her, and you pretty much will be the envy or the ridicule of your Facebook friends as some friends were blowing my phone up with images of Tiffany in Playboy magazine and others were just amused as to me being there and thought I lost my mind. The comments they left on my page are quite hilarious. Quite an interesting day it was. I came here on a goof and ended it with this story, and it started with a 33 cent record.
UPDATE: My friend and I met another fan there that also made it to the taping segment with us, very nice guy and a fan of 80’s music and we had a good chat and you could tell he was a big fan of Tiffany, I just did not realize to what extent until later, he had added us as friends on Facebook and then it dawned on me he may have been a low key stalker as is timeline was filled with Tiffany pictures and events that he had traveled all over the USA to see her at, it was a couple months later I get a Facebook message from this guys mother asking if I would like to share any memories at his funeral as he had committed suicide, such a sad ending to an interesting story that I wondered if I would see a stalker like in the documentary and one was right under my nose. I felt bad that I didn’t get to talk to this guy more as it seemed he really had no true friends as his mom knew nothing much of his personal friendships and I had to tell her I had only met him once and knew nothing more about him. Depression and loneliness are a bad combo, be sure to make friends you can talk to when you are down we all need them in this crazy world.
