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COURTESY OF SUSIE SLATER

A picture of Granby's Susie Slater before a Today makeover.

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COURTESY OF SUSIE SLATER

A picture of Slater after the makeover, sans about a foot of hair.

GRANBY - The television cameras were rolling when a sleepy Susie Slater answered the loud, incessant knocking at her front door at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Slater had been ambushed, makeover-style.

Stylists, makeup artists and clothing consultants, along with cameras and microphones, crowded into her Ridge Path home. A satellite television transmitting truck parked in her back yard to beam Slater's makeover live to the NBC's Today show's worldwide audience.

"Talk about going global," Slater said Friday.

She had initially signed up for an ambush makeover on the Web and was shocked when she was selected from presumably millions of aspirants. A watercolor painter, Slater felt she needed a snazzier look than her usual casual attire for gallery openings and such. And at 64, Slater said she wanted a more up-to-date look.

But after feeling overwhelmed by the numerous questions asked before the makeover, Slater said she cancelled her appearance. Then her daughter took over organizing the ambush without Slater's knowledge. The pounding on her door caught her by surprise.

"I thought it was about a lost hiker or some emergency," Slater said.

But she quickly got into the swing of the makeover as three or four people worked on her hair color and cut, nails, makeup and clothing while the cameras rolled. In typical TV fashion, the episode was labeled "'Frumpy hippie to Fashionista.'"

"I felt like such a diva," Slater said. "I had more fun with this than I ever thought I would."

Slater said she is grateful that her cancellation was ignored. "I look wonderful. I thank them for not allowing me to quit," she said.