‘Blairing Out’ on the Web

Jennifer Kho

Eric Blair, host of the “Blairing Out with Eric Blair Show,” is

expanding his audience from Newport-Mesa viewers to viewers worldwide.

A number of Blair’s celebrity interview shows, which have aired on

cable since 1996 -- beginning with Comcast, now AT&T; Broadband, in Costa

Mesa and expanding to Adelphia in Newport Beach -- have been added this

month to the C-iNET.com Web site at o7

https://www.c-inet.com/ericbshow.htmf7 .

“The advantages of being on the Web is that the whole world has access

to my show now,” he said. “Right now the site is kind of in its beginning

stages and we’re still getting the bugs out, but at least people can

access the site and see the interviews. Before, people would ask me if

they can see the show and I’d say it depends on where they live. Now

anybody can see it at any time.”

C-iNET.com is an interactive Internet television company that delivers

TV programming directly from its Web site.

Among the celebrity interviews available on the Web are John Travolta,

Chris Rock and Tara Reid, and Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson of

“Josie and the Pussycats.”

Blair, a Costa Mesa resident, has also interviewed Gwyneth Paltrow,

Francis Ford Coppola and Julia Stiles, and is hoping to get an interview

with Angelina Jolie in the near future.

Josh Freese, a session drummer who is a member of A Perfect Circle and

the Vandals and has played on the upcoming Guns ‘N Roses album, said he

enjoyed his interview with Blair.

“He made me feel really comfortable,” he said. “I do a lot of

interviews, but his was great.”

Blair, also a makeup artist, said his ability to be himself among

celebrities was what got him to start the show in the first place.

“I’ve been in the entertainment business since I was 18, and I’ve

always been around celebrities, so I talk to them like I talk to everyone

else,” he said. “And everywhere I go, I seem to run into celebrities. One

night, I saw an ad about starting your own show, I called and decided to

start a public-access show just interviewing people. I started with local

bands and the next thing I know, I was interviewing people with careers.”

His favorite interviews are the sit-down interviews, rather than the

red carpet interviews, Blair said.

The best part of the job is interacting with the celebrities, and the

worst part is the producing and editing work, he said.

“When I’m interviewing somebody -- doing the red carpet or sitting

down with somebody I love -- that’s when I’m really living. Often, time

is marked by what happened in the entertainment business. When people

hear a song, they remember, ‘That was when I was 15 and this happened.’

It helps mark time and it’s like I get to be part of that history, that

moment. The hardest part is just making it happen. Each show is a

miracle.”

Blair said he hopes the future holds success, either in his television

or his makeup career.

“I want to get paid to do this, and I want to have my own show or be a

part of another show on a major network,” he said. “Or, if someone famous

wanted me to be their personal makeup artist, I would do that. Makeup

would probably lead back to the show, anyway. Once you’re in the

entertainment business, if you get a reputation, you can probably switch

around.”

Dave James, owner of Noise Noise Noise, a music shop in Costa Mesa,

said he’s one of Blair’s biggest fans.

Although he’s happy to hear that Blair’s show will be available to

Internet users worldwide, James, who has neither cable nor Internet

access, said he will be watching the same way as always -- via videotape.

Blair “keeps it real,” he said. “You know he’s not being fake. He even

brings me his shows on videotape so I can watch them. He was all excited

when he told me I could get his shows on the Internet, but I told him he

was going to have to keep bringing them to me on tape. He said he would.

That’s the type of guy he is. I really enjoy his shows. He kept me alive

when Melrose Place went off the air.”