|
Cindy Rhodes first
appeared on Sidewalks in 1993 and has stayed with the show since then
The former Central Illinois resident has the honor of interviewing
most of the celebrities that appeared on the show.
Some of the people she has talked to include: NBA's Shaquille O'Neal; singers Josh Groban, The Judds, Donny and Marie Osmond,
Phil Collins, Chris Isaak, Alessandro Safina, Sara Evans,
Natalie Imbruglia, Montell Jordan, Sandi
Patty, James Brown, Neil Finn, James Darren, John Hiatt; actresses
Debbie Reynolds, Gloria Stuart
("Titanic"), Catherine Bell (JAG), Kathy Najimy
("Sister Act"), Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now), Connie
Sellecca, Emma Samms (General
Hospital), Donna Mills, Tia and Tamera Mowry (Sister Sister); actors
Bill Paxton, Bob Saget, Rob Schneider, Shaun Cassidy, Bruce Greenwood;
supermodels Claudia Schiffer, Molly Sims; newswoman
Maria Shriver (Dateline NBC); TV host Robin Leach, Meredith Vieria
and Joy Behar (The View); musician John Tesh, and authors Jackie Collins, Sandra Brown, Sidney
Sheldon, and Judith Krantz. And the list continues.
"I think that celebrity interviews are the heart and soul of
Sidewalks," says Cindy. "We have been fortunate in speaking to some really great people. What I work hard to do is to uncover the person underneath the celebrity image. Once they start talking about their upbringing or their early influential years, it seems to strip away the barriers and we become "friends" just chatting about our lives. This communication has made for really in-depth and rewarding
interviews."
Cindy is proud of her interviews and how her TV
show has approached interviewing celebrities than
the late night talk shows and entertainment
magazine series. "We need a show like Sidewalks
to counter the many tabloid, guerilla style
entertainment shows which seem to disrespect the
very people their shows are built
around."
According
to executive producer and Cindy's co-host Richard R. Lee, "If there's a celebrity
interview on the show, Cindy is usually the one with the microphone. She can handle
all-types of interviews. When Cindy hosted our Bay Area Music Award
Special, she showed she can interview a blues singer one minute and
a heavy metal rock band the next. Not many hosts have the ability to control
and handle diverse interviews as well as Cindy can. We are very lucky to
have her."
Besides being the show's longest personality, Cindy is
also one of the producers and co-owner of the Sidewalks project.
Outside of the show, she has hosted Bay Area Journal: Earth Day,
Cinco de Mayo '98 and '99, Festival by the Bay Highlights 2000,
and The Multicultural Festival for
station KCRT-TV. In May of 1999, Cindy (along with Richard) was a host
for "Sister Cities," a celebration for the cities of Richmond
and El Cerrito.
|
|
