Sharon Osbourne: Iron Maiden

By 9:45 p.m., Sharon's day is coming to an end — Ozzy is about to go on. The Oz-man's set begins with a series of video vignettes that superimpose Ozzy in various movies, videos, and ads, with hilariously vulgar results: Ozzy fighting Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator, Ozzy with Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, Ozzy and Britney Spears, Ozzy in an enormous black afro on the phone yelling ''Whasssup!'' The audience is eating it up, and it's one of Sharon's favorite moments — she chooses the videos each year for this perennial highlight. The dry-ice machines spew out thick white smoke and flames shoot 15 feet in the air: The vibe is Welcome to Hell. (The set is similar to one in Adam Sandler's Little Nicky, in which Ozzy makes a cameo.)

Ozzy finally emerges from the smoke, wearing black track pants with silver thunderbolts down the sides and a black T-shirt. Everyone in the crowd, from 16 to 50 years old, chants, ''Oz-zy! Oz-zy!'' ''They just love him so much,'' Sharon says, looking as if she might cry. ''It makes me so proud. It makes everything worth it.'' Crazy kids, fake smoke, shooting flames, satanic music, all with tears of joy at the end. Now, that's good television.

— Additional reporting by Bob Cannon