LOS ANGELES — With outdoor events permitted to resume, major television networks are hosting their first live screenings of the year.
NBC held its Summer Games screening at the Los Angeles Coliseum, complete with free food and fun activities for the family.
It was the first time Adi Tuimala Fakatoufifita got to enjoy an event outdoors in Los Angeles, and it just so happened that the NBC Summer Games screening was her last hurrah with her cousin and brother.
She's from an island called Tonga, next to Fiji and New Zealand, but she's been stranded in the U.S. since the pandemic hit.
"They wouldn't allow us to go back home because there was not any cases back home, so we're just trying to be more protective," Fakatoufifita said.
Two years ago, Fakatoufifita came to the U.S. to attend a trade school class, and she was supposed to go right back to Tonga last March, but they wouldn't let her back into the island.
She stayed in the U.S. for another year, and even with the best cousin to keep her company, she said it's been tough.
"It's pretty hard like I miss home, you know, it's just different out here. Everything is fast. Back home, everything is slow," she explained.
Fakatoufifita said she couldn't be happier to book the 20-hour flight back home.
Life finally seems to be returning to some sense of normalcy after everything fell apart, she said. It's a breath of fresh air to be at the exclusive screening of America's Got Talent, she said, not because she's a huge fan, but because she was able to be outside with other people.
"I think it's pretty awesome that I get to be out here wearing no mask, not have to be 6 feet apart, you know you get to be with everyone, it's going back to normal, I like it, I really love it," Fakatoufifita said.
It was NBC's first live screening since Gov. Gavin Newsom reopened California on June 15.
As they prepared for the guests at the Coliseum, staff said they were careful to check in with local officials in LA, Chicago and Miami, the two other locations they'll head to next, to adhere to all COVID-19 safety protocols.
But as restrictions continue to lessen, at least 100 people spent the evening at the outdoor event taking pictures with fans and running through the inflatable obstacle course.
NBC's Access Hollywood and America Ninja Warrior Host Zuri Hall said it feels good that her job is finally getting back to what she calls "the before times" after navigating last year's obstacle course. This time around, she said she's a lot more grateful.
"We used to take this for granted, being shoulder-to-shoulder, being among friends and strangers and celebrating together, and after a year of doing anything but that, this feels all the more special," Hall said.
It was special for the special guest and the islander, who made sure to stop by the sunglasses decorating station for her relaxing beach days.
"I just wanted to experience this whole thing about America, America's Got Talent. I wanted to see what it's like. I'm excited to be here," Fakatoufifita said.