I know it’s Hollie’s hometown show, but sounds like a good crowd tonight.  Plenty of live tweeters, both here on MJ’s feed and others on twitter.

Good that they’ve come out to support Hollie in her Hometown show.

Yep, just heard Home. It was a good use of the song.

Thanks!!!  I rewound and watched it a few times.  It was timed perfectly with the commentary, and Phillip’s words rang out with clarity and authenticity.  Thrilling!!!  

Kind of cool…checked I tunes–its up to #31…thats crazy good jump!

It seems like NBC is using it as the theme for the Women’s Gymnastics Team, so I assume we will continue to hear it over the course of the week as they compete.  Awesome for Phil since not only is it being used in the Olympics, but during one of the most popular sports.

Also meant to mention earlier it’s Elise’s bday today.  I know they had cake for her earlier, not sure it’s been mentioned on stage.  Also Heejun uploaded a video to his Facebook of he, Erika & DeAndre singing some End of the Road during tonight’s meet and greet.

Did Hollie get a great reaction from her hometown crowd?

First, congrats to Hollie for bringing the home town.  And Happy B-day to Elise.

In as far as Home and the Olympics?  Thrill to have the song just played at the Olympics, but then to have it played at one of the most popular events:).

Phil’s team is doing a very, very good job.

Hi gang!  Was at the Dallas show last night.  We had a good crowd. I would say easily better than 85% full and the AAC is a pretty good size. I went with 2 new Idol concert goers who are long time fans of the show.  I won’t do a full recap because I know someone else will probably do a more in depth one later but I will say a couple of things.  

1) The first half of the show was weak. Erika’s one song and Elise’s set were the only good things that happened. Skylar and Hollie had a duet that was ok but other than those vocal performances, the first half felt and sounded incredibly amature.  The group numbers were a fail.  The songs were not good for any of them vocally.  Heejun was also just awful.  Funny because he was sooo bad but really awful.   Very off key, breathless, and with a bad song choic.  Deandre sang well but I don’t know why the heck they gave him Master Blaster to sing if he had just one song.  A prince song or something would have been a lot more fun. But at least he was a part of nearly every other vocal performance.  I liked watching him on stage. 

2) The second half of the show was great. It was much more of what I expect from an Idol show.  It started off with Jessica, who after a bit of weak start( not very, just her voice sounded a little weak on the first song) really hit her stride.  The kid can sing!  She still needs to work on audience connection and I would still like to see her sing more appropriate songs but I really can’t deny her ability. I loved her expecially Proud Mary.

Hollie was also extremely strong.  She was great vocally and her performance skills are really improved.  I love her more than ever and really kind of hope she goes the Carrie route.  Her voice is great for that.  I think touring has really helped her settle into her self.  She seemed extremely confident on stage and had great audience connection.

Skylar:  Skylar was good but didn’t have the energy she did on the show. And she is pretty nasal in person.  I still enjoyed her and her set a lot. I wished she and Hollie had had 3 songs.

Colton:  I like his set for the most part. I enjoyed his original song most because I think he sang it best.  Colton is for some reason really annoying in person. I don’t know why.  I hated his facial hair and he was VERY nasal on the Switchfoot(?) song and the Piano Man.  He is getting heavy promo for sure. He had his own tee-shirt like P2 and Jess and his name was all over his background images. 

Joshua: OMG Joshua was soooo good.  He is so professional up on stage. The audience was nuts for him.  

Phillip: Other than the hated Gotye duet, Philip had a fantastic set. I didn’t love Superstition because I think the band was over whelming the performance a bit but his other performances were spot on and he had great rapport with his audience.  He seemed healthy and relaxed. He was just great.  He wasn’t a fave for me during the show but I totally get him after watching him live.  I think he has great potential and I am curious to see what his album will be like and will even see him if he comes to the Palladium Ballroom in a year. 

I think they need to go back to the countdown format.  S7 and s8, the first shows I had seen, were like that and I much prefer it.  The group numbers are just bad and you are there to see and hear your favorite anyway.  So I am crossing my fingers for a return to the mini concert style again. 

I was at the show last night. All I can say is Joshua, Joshua, Joshua. Oh, and it was really full.

I was at the concert in Dallas.  I thought it was a great show and the audience was eating it up.

We arrived early for autographs, and it was the first Idol concert I’ve ever been to (been going to every one since ’05) that no one came outside at all.  Very disappointing.  But they made up for it afterwards.  Nine out of ten came out and gave autographs, pics and for quite a bit of chatting.  I was impressed with the time they spent with fans – except for Colton, who dashed out and ran quickly through a part of the line, and then dashed back in.  A girl next to us had a Colton shirt on and had been hoping to meet him since she had arrived at about 3:00 that afternoon.  Another girl had a BIG Colton sign with lights all around it.  They were screaming his name when he was going in.  He looked over and said, “I’ll be back!”  But he never came back out.  The girl near us with the shirt was so sad.  Someone else near us read a tweet from him that said management was not letting him come out.  Whatever.  The others (including Phillip and Jessica) were out for a good 45 minutes after his run out.  He seems cocky, cocky, cocky – not just from that, but from his performance as well.  Just my read on it.  Others will disagree, I’m sure.  The other Idols were all truly delightful though. 

The American Airlines manager, who I remember from previous years, chatted with us for quite awhile.  He said Aerosmith was there this past week.  He said Steven Tyler came out afterwards and gave every single person waiting outside a hug and took pictures until absolutely everyone who wanted one, had one.  Someone near us said, “Steven Tyler can, but Colton can’t.”  Lots of laughter.  I just wonder if these Idols realize what a lot of goodwill they can build (read: fans who will buy future music) by spending an extra 15 minutes with the fans afterwards.  *shrug*  I think they feel like they are a little more famous than they really are during the tour time. 

Great show, great venue, great time.