Monday, March 06, 2006

Conan O'Brien Debuts Finland Footage March 10


Can't Wait!!!!



Conan O'Brien Debuts Finland Footage March 10
Show Devotes Entire Hour To Air Footage of O'Brien's "State Visit" to Finland

NBC Universal – March 2, 2006

NEW YORK -- After making headlines worldwide for his February visit to Finland and his meeting with look-alike President Tarja Halonen, Conan O'Brien is devoting his entire March 10 episode to show his Finnish travelogue.

A studio audience will join O'Brien as he presents his coverage of his visit.

"Late Night," is wildly popular in the Nordic nation and became somewhat of a political player in the country's current presidential race, specifically due to O'Brien's striking resemblance to Finnish President Halonen. The show aired mock campaign ads endorsing her and has seen an increased number of Finns in the studio audience.

From landing at the Helsinki airport, O'Brien was greeted like a visiting head of state by hundreds of reporters and thousands of avid fans (some with banners reading "Tarja Is Our President But Conan Is Our King"). Over his four-day visit, O'Brien toured around Helsinki meeting fans, taking in the local custom (the sauna) and local culture - an underwear exhibit in the Helsinki's Tennis Palace Art Museum.

In addition, O'Brien and crew winged north to Lapland to take in the wintry splendor of Finland's Arctic Circle territory, visiting native Laplanders' reindeer farms (reindeer outnumber people in Lapland), dog sledding camps, and Santa Claus' reputed home.

In addition, O'Brien met with myriad Finnish media figures. From appearing with Arto Nyberg ("the Finnish Larry King"), to being followed by the Finnish tabloid press and sitting for an interview with two ten-year-old boys, every public appearance by Conan was covered in all its surreal detail by the "Late Night" crews. In addition, "Late Night" goes backstage at the Telvis Awards ("the Finnish Emmys") where O'Brien will receive a special award at the Telvis Awards in Helsinki - the Varipilkku Award - "for the most surprising and most entertaining TV personality in Finland."

Finally, the footage will showcase the main focus of the trip: O'Brien's private Valentine's Day meeting with at the Presidential Palace with his doppelganger, President Tarja

Halonen. The "Late Night" crew captures a new "Helsinki Accord," of sorts.

"Late Night with Conan O'Brien" is from NBC Studios in association with Broadway Video. Lorne Michaels and Jeff Ross are the executive producers. Mike Sweeney is head writer.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Conan O'Brien on NPR (old)

NPR : Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien

While looking for information on when the Finnish-Leader skits will air, I came across this 40+ minute interview with Conan on NPR. I enjoyed it.. I know you will too.

Fresh Air from WHYY, September 8, 2003 · Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien celebrates ten years on the air Sunday September 14, 2003, with a primetime special on NBC. In 1993, he moved into the Late Night host slot when David Letterman went to CBS. Prior to Late Night, O'Brien was a writer for Saturday Night Live and writer and producer for The Simpsons.