Ellen’s Canadian visit has mayor hoping Niagara Falls show still possible
With Ellen DeGeneres visiting Canada in March, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati is still holding out hope the city’s invitation to bring her talk show to town will pay off.
DeGeneres announced this week she will be hosting two question-and-answer events, at Montreal’s Bell Centre March 1 and Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena March 3.
It’s the Toronto show that has Diodati hoping the star, or her producers, will swing by Niagara Falls to scout a possible visit for her syndicated show after some dialogue began last summer.
“If she’s going to be in Canada doing some things, maybe this is a good time to reach back to them,” he said. “See if we can get this (idea) back on the front burners.”
The city’s invite originated from a moment on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” last year during which she asked a member of the audience to name a place the show hasn’t visited before. When a woman answered “Canada,” DeGeneres responded “Correct!”
With council’s approval, Diodati then starred in a cheeky
five-minute video invite which was sent to producers in July. It stemmed from a motion city council made in 2017 to pursue major talk shows to broadcast from Niagara Falls after that year’s successful visit by “Live With Kelly & Ryan.”
Diodati was unable to follow up personally on the video, however. He felt ill while filming it, and was soon in the hospital with pneumonia. Subsequent tests revealed he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for which he only recently completed chemotherapy.
In his absence, the city’s director of business development, Serge Felicetti, was in contact with the show’s producers.
Now that he’s getting his strength back, Diodati wants to reach out to producers again.
“Now that I’m finished my chemo and on the mend, going in the right direction, let’s see if we can light a fire under (this thing) and see if we can’t get something happening.”
With DeGeneres being so close to Niagara Falls during her Toronto visit, Diodati would love to have a producer tour the city. Not only could the show air from Oakes Garden Theatre, as “Live With Kelly & Ryan” did, but there will also be a new 5,000-seat theatre in the tourist district opening soon.
“Let’s show them firsthand what we have, see if there’s some interest,” he said. “I know her show is very interesting and creative. They’re always doing fun and unique ideas. I think this would be a pretty cool concept.
“If they’re in Toronto anyway … we’d love the opportunity to show them around, show them what we have. At last plant the seed.”