Yuma Locals Attend Live Oscars Taping With Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos
David Loncarich had never seen anything like it — and he rode a Fun Bus for hours from Yuma to make sure he did.
More than 30 Yuma and Imperial Valley residents packed onto a Fun Bus and made the hours-long drive to Hollywood last Sunday morning to sit in the audience for "Live with Kelly and Mark: After the Oscars," taped at the Dolby Theatre the morning after the 98th Academy Awards.
David Loncarich, a Fun Bus contest winner who earned his seat through a KYMA giveaway, summed up the mood before the cameras rolled. "Oh I'm really excited. This is the first time for me. I've never been to anything like this before," he said.
The annual special, hosted by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, brought the group face-to-face with a lineup that included comedian Nikki Glaser and performers Lil Jon and Steve Aoki. Glaser had just come off a high-profile Oscars season, making the booking a draw beyond the novelty of the Ripa-Consuelos format itself.
The Dolby Theatre, which hosts the Academy Awards ceremony each year, served as the backdrop for the taping, giving the Yuma contingent a rare look inside one of Hollywood's most recognizable venues less than 24 hours after the industry's biggest night.
The trip was organized around KYMA's Fun Bus program, which offered local viewers a chance to win seats on the ride. Loncarich was among those who secured a spot through the contest, though the full roster of the 30-plus attendees who made the journey from Yuma and the Imperial Valley was not released.
KYMA reporter Danyelle Burke North covered the trip and filed the story from Hollywood.
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