-This is an idea
you've had for a long time
to do this collection of songs
-Yeah.
You know what I did is,
I keep writing just like y'all
You know, I keep writing dow
songs I want to sing.
And I didn't -- It was
a year-and-a-half pregnanc
with this --
with this album.
I just thought
it would never get born.
And I kept changing the titles
and what I wanted to sing.
And this concert -- this liv
concert gives me an opportunit
to not just do the songs
that are on the record,
and tip my hat to Peggy Lee,
Dinah Washington,
because my grandpa
listened to Dinah Washington
And my mom loved
the "Tapestry" record.
She wore Carole King out.
But also just, you know,
to do some of the songs
that didn't make the cut..
-Uh-huh.
-...which is -- which is cool.
-Oh, that's really great.
Yeah, to give them
a second life.
-Yeah, like Karen Carpente
didn't make it.
Can you believe
there's a world where, you know,
one of the best pop voices on --
And I didn't get her on there,
but I'm gonna do her live.
-You did have a lot of peopl
that you collaborated with
and got to sing duets with
Ariana...
-Ariana.
-...Jennifer Hudson, Reba...
Dolly Parton.
-I know.
-How was the Dolly Parton
experience?
-I can't believe
they all said yes.
-Yeah!
[ Laughter ]
I mean,
it's a very impressive list.
-I know!
I wanted to do a trio
with J-Hud and Reb's
because I took a note from Dolly
many years ago.
Remember when she did --
Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris
and her did two records.
-Yes, of course.
-Very successful.
But they're all
very different voices, right
And I wanted to do,
"I'm a Woman,"
but I wanted to take it back
to the original source,
which is Peggy Lee,
but I wanted J-Hud
to sing her face off,
and I wanted Reba
to sing her face off.
So three very different voices
doing that song,
and they said yes.
I mean, my hair extensions fel
out of my head when they -
[ Laughter ]
I still can't believe it.
-Your pants went on.
[ Laughter and applause ]
-Yes.
I wore my pants.
[ Laughter ]
So, yeah.
So, then I asked
my queen, Dolly.
And I said, "I have an ide
that we might sing...
♪♪ Here you come again ♪♪
She goes, "Well,
if I'm gonna sing with her
I want to do one that I wrote.
And she gives me -- us,
"I Will Always Love You."
And I thought, "No way."
-Yeah.
-Again, whatever was left on
my head -- more pants came off
[ Laughter ]
And then, you know,
Ariana singing
Lesley Gore's
"You Don't Know Me" with me.
God, I've known her
since she was 10.
-Yeah.
So, this is amazing.
Explain -- Tell the story
of how you met Ariana Grande
when she was 10 years old.
-So, her grandma, her nona
brought her backstage
to say hello during "Wicked.
And she said, "Well,
this is my granddaughter Ari
and she also likes to sing."
And I said, "Oh.
That's so sweet."
[ Laughter ]
-Of course, as you would.
-I mean, she was like 10.
And she goes, "Sing somethin
for her, Ariana. Sing."
So Ariana
sang a little something.
And I was like, "Holy crap
She's really good."
-Yeah.
-So I had these little wands
I gave her a wand,
and I said,
"Just remember
to follow your passion.
Do what you love."
And we stayed close,
and skip to
she's the biggest star
on the planet.
-Yeah!
Have you checked in
with the other people
you gave those wands to?
[ Laughter ]
I mean, there could be --
-No, but that's a good --
-Yeah.
-Next time I'm back,
I'm gonna have that information.
-Yeah, please.
Or at the very least,
bring a wand.
[ Laughter ]
What does a brother
have to do to get a wand?
-I brought my wand.
-There you go.
[ Laughter ]
And then, you met --
You were young
when you met Reba, right?
-I was -- Okay, I was 19.
I was working at Opryland USA,
back when this was a real
live, band --
musician, not a hotel.
-Yeah.
-AS full-on amusement park
And they said, "Kristy --"
I was doing eight shows a day.
I had a show called
"Way Out West."
-Eight shows a day?
-Yeah.
-Wow.
-Eight shows a day.
-Half-hour shows?
-45 minutes.
-Forty--
Oh, my goodness.
-I was 19.
-Yeah.
-I didn't even know.
I was like, "Next show."
I was so young.
-Of course, yeah.
-So, they said,
"Do you want to meet Reba?
We're honoring her tonight,"
and she was just hitting it.
And I said, "Well, yes."
They said, well you have t
wear this little costume,
pillbox girl, and offer candy.
But you will get to meet her."
So I thought, "Okay."
Now, you can probably see
I've never been one
to search for words,
but it came the moment
where there was Reba,
there was Kristin,
and the guy goes,
"Kristin, I'm gonna bring you up
to meet Reba,"
and I got real shy.
I said, "No, no, no.
I don't want to bother her
No, no, no."
And there I was with the pillbox
and the candy,
and there she was.
She goes, "Well, hi, there, hi."
And I go, "Dippin' Dots?"
[ Laughter ]
Really?
-Yeah.
-That was not the moment
I wanted to have.
-I mean, don't take this
the wrong way, but it seems like
you were the opposite of a
impressive as Ariana Grande was.
[ Laughter ]
-Exactly!
Dippin' Dots!
-Yeah, you needed Ariana's
grandmother with you to be like,
"Sing something!"
-I need a nona.
-You needed a nona.
-That's right.
-Yeah.
Never go solo without your nona.
[ Laughter ]
-Hear that, Ariana?
So true.
-What did you call
your grandmother?
-Grandma Chenny.
-Grandma Chenny.
-Chenoweth. Chenny.
-Okay, okay, yeah.
-Yeah, we're not
brain scientists, but --
[ Laughter ]
-I called mine "Dr. Finn--
No.
And then you have
a Christmas film coming up
-Yes, I have --
I did Christmas since February
I did two holiday movies,
one for Netflix,
which is a little naughty,
and one for Hallmark,
which is nice.
[ Laughter ]
-That's right -- you wanna
absolutely hedge your bets
on where you end up
on Santa's list.
-It's so true.
-And then, for PBS,
you've already recorded
your concert
with the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
-So that'll be on in December,
and there's a DVD, too.
-That's great.
-That people can watch.
And, you know, it's cool
to get up there
and make music
with great musicians
and just nice people
even though we don't alway
believe the same, or --
-Of course. But I think
music brings people together
-Universal.
-Where did you record it?
-Salt Lake, baby.
-Oh, really?
So you went to Salt Lake?
-I had to have --
I embarrassingly enough --
I talk about injury and stuff.
I had to have an oxygen tank
offstage.
I would be like --
[ Vocalizing ]
"I can't breathe!"
[ Laughter ]
You know, it's --
-From the altitude.
The altitude is --
-Yes.
-Oh, my God.
No one -- I forgot.
I could not breathe,
so I'd go off between --
[ Breathes heavily ]
I'm sure the Mormons
thought I was a real find.
[ Laughter ]
-They were like,
"She's got a gas addiction."
[ Laughter ]
"That's what we hear about
these people
who spend time in New York."
-You know how it is.
-Hey, it's always such
a pleasure to see you.
Thank you so much
for being here.
-Thank you for letting me
come without my pants.
-Kristin Chenoweth, everybody.
