Kids clean up
Given the right inducements, kids can enjoy neatening up their rooms.
At least that’s the conclusion you could draw from a live version of NBC’s Saturday morning show “Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls” that recently came to the Santa Monica Promenade.
For three hours, teams of boys and girls ages 4 to 16 competed in mini-decorating faceoffs, amid the buskers and the break dancers who usually fill the street.
Side-by-side rooms stood in the open air, with teams poised to start. Host Diane Mizota reminded them, “You’ve only got three minutes,” then yelled “Go!”
The crowd cheered. In one room, a girl painted palm fronds on a wall as teammates slung a hammock in one corner, added a pile of faux leopard-skin pillows and hung a string of colorful Japanese lanterns as a final touch.
Meanwhile, the boys’ team put a keyboard in the middle of its room, hung a disco ball from the crossbeams, strategically placed an electric guitar, then tossed a 5-foot stuffed alligator into a corner.
“Time!” Mizota called.
The winners? Well, it didn’t really matter, as everyone got prizes.
Some teams received celebrity help. Appearing for the boys was JC Chasez of ‘N Sync, who came up with the musical theme.
The girls’ secret weapon? Lisa Leslie of the L.A. Sparks, who helped create a wacky nautical theme.
-- Carolyn Patricia Scott