A CONVERSATION WITH ELLEN DEGENERES
When: Saturday at 6 p.m. Where: Scotiabank Saddledome
How Dave Kelly prepares to host Ellen DeGeneres, and 15,000 of her fans
“It should feel like the biggest living room anyone has ever been in.”
That’s Dave Kelly’s take on hosting one of the world’s most famous TV hosts at the Saddledome on Saturday, when 15,000 or so people will be on hand to witness him interview Ellen DeGeneres.
“We all get the opportunity to hang out and to talk with this amazingly successful person and beloved person and see what she is about,” he says.
Kelly was selected by Christian Darbyshire and Andy McCreath of Calgary’s tinePublic, who are presenting the event. They had watched Dave Kelly Live, his variety show that mixed music, comedy and guests. Clips were later sent to DeGeneres’ team to review, which ultimately won him the gig.
At the time of this interview, Kelly had not met nor spoken with DeGeneres. But he is an old hand at conducting interviews. For 12 years, he was a co-anchor of Citytv morning show Breakfast Television and interviewed more than 20,000 guests. He is also an actor, keynote speaker and author.
Kelly says he will likely talk to DeGeneres about her entire career on Saturday night, right up to her success with The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“Obviously with her, there are some key moments in her life that we all know,” he says. “Her stand-up life, getting on (Johnny) Carson, the first sitcom, coming out on that and the fallout from that and, eventually, getting this show,” he says. “Those are the big pillars and we developed some thoughts around that and we sent them over to her people.”
And, if asked, will he dance with her?
“I can’t out-Ellen Ellen,” he says. “So I’m going to let that part of the show go wherever she wants it to. If she asks me to dance, you bet. I’ll be all over it.”