Chad Michaels was amazing. UStream…not so much!

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Yesterday, we were ALL excited, every one of us. It was our second ‘He Said / sHe Said Live With…‘ webcast and we were going to be interviewing the guest of guests, the incomparable Chad Michaels. Chad is an icon, one almost as legendary as those he impersonates, or as I like to say, honors. Truly, when I think of Cher, Celine Dion, Marilyn Manson and many others, the first thing that comes to my mind is Chad Michaels.

Chad and Adam, who had just celebrated their 7th anniversary together, arrived early and were ready to get the show on the road. The set was up, lighting was prepped and fans were blowing. We sat in our chairs, did our sound check and everything was good to go. We went LIVE. Viewers were logged in, watching and already had questions ready for Chad.

The interview was superb. We talked with Chad for close to an hour and a half and learned everything there was to know about him, how he got started, what he’s done throughout his career and what his plans are for the future. We got the inside details about Dreamgirls, its start, where it’s at today and what some of its more recognizable personalities are doing on TV, on tour and online.

We couldn’t have asked for a better interview. It was effortless, like talking with a lifelong friend. And Chad was really an open book. The dialogue was candid, the topics were interesting, engaging, informative and, of course, funny as hell. We wrapped up, said our thank yous, did our sign off and we were done.

Then BAM! WTF? No save option…no tags…no fucking video, anywhere. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. What in gay hell??

After hours of searching data file after video file after source file, and numerous emails and phone calls back and forth with UStream (our show’s streaming service provider) technical gurus, we simply had to accept defeat. Our amazing He Said / sHe Said LIVE With Chad Michaels episode was forever lost in the depths of cyber space, never to be seen again.

I wish I could express just how fantastic our chat with Chad was. But, for now, all I can do is say “shit happens.” We did everything we were suppose to do, the same way we do every week for every other episode. Sure, we’ve had our technical issues with UStream in the past, but nothing as drastic as losing an entire episode…to nowhere. So, on behalf of the HSSS crew, I say to Chad and all of you, our viewers and fans, I’m sorry.

The good news coming from this debacle is we finalized a new live streaming format and will be utilizing our own brand new servers. This means, we’ll be moving away from UStream by the end of the month and operating completely from our own video platform. The only bad news is, if something goes wrong in the future, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves (uh oh!)

Trust that we’ll ask Chad back to HSSS in the coming weeks for another wonderfully candid chat. We can only hope he’ll be happy to return. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some of the photos we took together after the webcast aired.

Thanks again, Chad, you were amazing!