WARWICK — As Ken Silva watched himself crying on national television, explaining to the crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition how his lead-ridden house threatened his children’s health, the foster dad couldn’t help but break down in tears again.

He didn’t have long to dab his cheeks. Moments later, Silva joined the 350 people packed around him in laughter, as he watched his five children tackle Home Makeover’s Ty Pennington on the big screen.

“The generosity is outrageous,” Silva said. “If it wasn’t for everyone in this room — it’s just overwhelming.”

Last night in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, the Silva family watched their home destroyed and a new one built on national television for the first time, surrounded by family, friends and those who helped build the house.

They participated in an hour-long live ABC6 special, and then sat in the darkened room as their family’s story was told to a national audience.

The scene was surreal for many in the audience, who got a lesson in live television. As the ABC6 special was filming live, the audience watched on large screens, but couldn’t hear a word because the sound was turned off to avoid feedback. So they waited in their seats until an ABC6 staffer would raise the “applause” sign, and the crowd would erupt.

Silva’s co-worker, fellow garbage truck driver Ed Flanagan, consistently cheered the loudest — and stood and pumped his fist when he saw shots of his fellow sanitation workers tearing into Silva’s old house with an axe.

His friend hasn’t changed a bit from this experience, Flanagan said.

“We joke around with him, a couple times we’ll call him Hollywood,” Flanagan said. “He’s still the same exact guy. He’s the same guy from the day that I met him. He’s just very thankful for everything that he’s gotten.”

The Silvas’ longtime friends mixed in with contractors and executives from CVS/Pharmacy, which paid off the $196,000 mortgage on the Silvas’ home, and from Cardis, which donated furniture. Governor Carcieri sat on a couch in the front to watch the show. Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian gave interviews on the makeshift soundstage, plugging his city.

“It gives us an opportunity to put Warwick on the map for the right reason,” he said.

On commercial breaks, Silva went table to table, shaking hands with friends old and new.

“It’s nice to meet a lot of new friends. That’s what these people are to me now — they’re not contractors, or people who did the work — they’re new friends,” he said.

Then he sat down with his family and the Extreme Makeover crew to watch the broadcast.

At the climactic moment, when the Extreme Makeover bus was pulled away and the new home revealed, Silva again blinked his eyes hard and fought back tears. As the entire room cheered, he sat silent. Then he put his arm around his wife, and pulled her close, their children all around them.

dbarbari@projo.com