Am I right in assuming that the people always photographed up front at live performances such as the Super Bowl halftime show and various award shows are hired help in the way of out-of-work actors, cheerleaders, and the like? What with some of the things that these people cheer at, it just seems fishy.
On “Making the Superbowl XXXV Halftime Show” (produced by MTV) two years ago, they said they basically recruited volunteers from nearby colleges to swarm the field and cheer. I suspect MTV does more or less the same for its own award shows with pits at the front of the stage.
I attended a local televised benefit where the audience consisted of the local TV station employees and their freeloading friends(that would be me). We were cued when to cheer for the performers and the camera, though it wasn’t too hard to cheer for Lyle Lovett (Clint Black’s goofy brother required more prompting).