Live show was season premiere
Sloane Stephens Cox
Pensacola News Journal (Pensacola, FL) September 18, 2002

Laura Balters, a 31-year-old mother of two, is a closet "American Idol'' groupie. Even her close friends were unaware of her obsession.

That is, until Fox's "American Idol'' finalist Justin Guarini paid her and five teenage fans a surprise visit on the live season premiere of "The Oprah Winfrey Show'' on Monday. He sang, participated in an interview with Oprah and gave each of the fans two tickets to an upcoming "American Idol'' concert, where they will travel in limousines.

"We were just falling-down excited. I've been watching ('American Idol') since day one,'' said Balters of Pensacola. She had been tricked by producers into thinking she was there to be taped for possible inclusion in a future show about pop culture.

Balters recently had logged on to the Oprah Web site, hoping to get show tickets for her and a girlfriend. She stumbled upon a request for parents of teenagers obsessed with "American Idol" to e-mail the show. Although her children are only 5 - Christian - and 5 months - Patrick - Balters decided to write, explaining that young people aren't the only fans of the show.

Liking her answer, the producers called her the next day and invited her to Chicago.

She said she had no idea until she saw Oprah and the audience that she was part of a live broadcast for a show called "Good News,'' which is full of surprises such as visits to the spa, food and other gifts.

Also, Oprah invited all the guests and audience members to come back for Oprah's popular "Favorite Things,'' a show in November when she will give away even more free gifts.

"I got so sick of all the bad news (this past year), so I said, 'I don't want to start out talking about bad news,' " Oprah said during the show. "So to celebrate our 17th year, I wanted to start off the season with some good news."

Monday's show aired in the morning in Chicago, where it was filmed. But, because the syndicated program does not come on until the afternoon in Pensacola, Balters had time to call her friends at home to tell them to tune in.

"What a great experience,'' she said. "At the end (of the show), Justin came over to me and gave me a huge hug. Everything he said, the whole thing, was like a blur. And then someone on the plane in Atlanta even recognized me from TV."

Balters husband, Matt, was one of the only people who knew she watched "American Idol."

"She'd kick everyone out of the house so she could watch it,'' he said.

She didn't want anyone to know because she was embarrassed when someone told her, "That's for teenagers. Why would someone your age want to watch that?''

Her answer: "It's really nice to see these talented young people audition. You get to see the interaction with the judges and follow the competitors through the elimination process. Once you start that, it entices you to watch and find out who the winner will be.

"I don't watch much television. But, when you find something you really like, you find a way to schedule your life around it."