Saturday, Oct. 24 sent the Jayhawk Twittersphere abuzz with news that Ellen Degeneres would be filming on KU campus Monday. Royals and Ellen fans alike joined together and prepared their best game faces to celebrate Kansas City’s return to the World Series on national television.
Initial confusion left students struggling to figure out what time it was important to be on campus to catch Ellen herself, despite the news releases that only correspondents would be present. The Ellen Show asked fans if they would be free around noon, but around 11:20 a.m. Monday a tweet went around asking students to gather at the hill in front of the Campanile at 3 p.m. Upon arrival at three, the crowd was told to bring their best Royal-ty getup to be considered as finalists for the contest. Finalists would be chosen starting around 3:45 p.m. and filming would begin at 5 p.m.
Photo credit: @KUalumni
A camera crew was busy setting up as correspondent Jeannie Klisiewicz snapped some selfies with fans and roamed the area looking for appropriate contestants for the game, which would be revealed later by Ellen herself via a TV monitor set-up. Drones flew overhead to catch images of the crowd waving and rooting for the Boys in Blue. Excitement was palpable as live footage in the studio was broadcast on the screen, allowing the audience to view the show in full as it unfolded.
Photo credit: @julia_stremme
Eventually, the lucky Jayhawks chosen were given instructions to the game, the winner of which would receive tickets to the World Series. Many fought for the crown, but only two contestants won the prize. Afterward, other prizes were rewarded to members of the audience for sticking around all day.
The episode will be aired Tuesday, Oct. 27, but in the meantime check out KU Campus’ Snapchat story for an inside look at the excitement or check out some of the photos below!
Photo credit: @wolfemads
Photo credit: Nick Krug
Photo credit: @fundamismpaul
Photo credit: @chrismdorsey