By Clare Katyal
Amelia Dimoldenberg graced our campus with her presence during the Friday night of Carnival. Dimoldenberg created Chicken Shop Dates, a series where she interviews celebrity guests in various chicken shops around London. Notable guests on the show include Cher, Jennifer Lawrence, and Keke Palmer, to name a few.
Senior Lily Hazam was selected by the Activities Board (AB) to do the interview. Before knowing who the Carnival speaker was, Lily said she wasn’t interested in applying. She couldn’t think of many celebrities she’d like to interview. “Then it was her,” Lily shared, “And I was like, ‘Wait a minute, I can do this, I like her, we kind of have similar energies.’ [They] were looking for someone to moderate, so I applied and interviewed.”
Interviewing someone who usually does the interviewing is quite the challenge. Lily did feel intimidated by the task. However, she “felt confident in [Amelia’s] abilities because she does that for a living, so I knew that once we were on stage together it would be fine, like she would carry me no matter what happened. And that’s how it felt, honestly.” Their banter was very natural and easygoing. Lily was quick-witted throughout the interview, asking questions on the spot about topics Dimoldenberg brought up. She joked that she and Dimoldenberg had good chemistry and suggested that they ditch the interview and go to a chicken shop. Dimoldenberg’s humor made the interview as fun to watch as any of her YouTube videos. She shared an embarrassing story about peeing in an elevator in high school and mentioned Andrew Garfield’s obsession with her.
Dimoldenberg also shared the interesting story of how Chicken Shop Dates came to be. In college, she was part of a music journal and tasked with interviewing local rappers. She suggested creating short videos of the interviews rather than written articles. She chose chicken shops due to them being an unconventional choice for a first date. She began interviewing more and more musicians and actors. Like many digital platforms, her channel gained popularity during the pandemic.
Interviewing such a well-known celebrity has to be nerve-wracking, but Lily found solace in preparing for the interview as much as she could by watching old Chicken Shop Date videos and interviews with Amelia. “Before the interview … I met her,” Lily said, “[A]nd she was just really calm and really funny and nice and so just chatting with her … it really calmed me down because I was very nervous.” She came up with questions that matched the style of Dimoldenberg’s lighthearted questions on Chicken Shop Date. For instance, Lily asked her to compare U.K. items versus U.S. equivalents. Dimoldenberg prefers Love Island U.K., by the way.
The interview also featured deeper questions about Dimoldenberg’s background. She shared how Chicken Shop Dates took 10 years to get to a place where she was satisfied with it. On this note, Dimoldenberg also provided some advice for students, saying, “Just carry on believing in your idea, whatever that is, or whatever you want for yourself, even if it doesn’t take the time you think it will.” She encouraged students to believe in themselves, above all, and to turn to their friends for guidance when they felt confused about their identity or purpose.
After the interview, Lily spoke with Dimoldenberg backstage, and she told her she should interview full-time. However, Lily disagrees. She’d prefer to leave the lighthearted interviews to Dimoldenberg, but perhaps she will change her mind. I’d say this date was a success.
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