American Idols Live! 2008 – Kansas City, MO

this was over at IDF:

Found this on an Anthony board I go on by my friend Cheley….
I thought it was cute

Ok so let me explain who Charlie is…

Charlie is the Mascot for the Word Nerds. He is a 4 foot tall, Magic Rainbow Unicorn(also made famous by the Charlie the Unicorn skits on You Tube)

These were taken today in KC. Waiting for the rest of the pics now to come. But here is Archie and my friend Stacy with Charlie. Archie loved Charlie and was hysterically happy over him. He apparently watches the skits too.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m156/brookie8281/100_3990-1.jpg

We also have pictures of Charlie with KLC, Brooke and her husband, Jason, Dadchuletta and Big Dave(he is the head of AI security for David(s) and our buddy). Those pics will come later as soon as we can get them up. Charlie hasn’t met Medium Dave yet(but he will) since MD had press all day since it was his hometown. Little Dave though…was crazy happy over him!

awwwww look at the big grin on Archie’s face. Too cute.

awwwww Archie and a 4 foot unicorn… perfect image… LOL :wub_tb:

YAYAAY I’ve been waiting for Cook’s homecoming day! Can I just say.. *sniff* on the videos! This season’s peeps keep doing this to me!

I can’t wait to get more info for tonight. I remember when the tour was still new, Archie was quoted about looking forward to Kansas City because he got to introduce Cook. We have the best final two ever! *goes in search of chocolate to get me through this sudden burst of girly emotions*

btw guys, I’m listening to the cellcast now. Cookie just got through singing Hello. The crowd is going NUTS! Heh! During Archie’s set, I could clearly hearing the crowd singing along to Apologize and SBM. It’s was really awesome.

No special Mavid dance tonight.

aww really Pam?? you could hear that over the cellcast?? thats so cool! I can hear it frequently on apologize on the tube vids.

I wonder what they are gonna do for mavid and archucook on PDSTM.

I just got a cellcert from my friend that’s there in the 7th row and I nearly busted my eardrums from the screams. When she calls back once she gets outside I’ll ask some questions, but yeah no Mavid, and he was choked up and crying pretty much all night. IMO Mavid wasn’t necessary tonight.

you could hear that over the cellcast?? thats so cool! I can hear it frequently on apologize on the tube vids.

I wonder what they are gonna do for mavid and archucook on PDSTM.

Yes, one of our dear Cookie fans cellcasted for both Davids. Just before she hung up she told Rickey no Mavid that they basically just did the dance straight. With all the events that were planned for Cookie today in KC, I can see why both him and MJ might not have had time to plan something ahead of time.

I love the interaction between both David’s at the end of PDSTM as much as Mavid, in fact, maybe more now. That hug that DC gave Archie last night in OK and the expression on Archie’s face was something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. It was like Archie had this look on his face saying HELP! :laugh_tb:

He just kinda stood there after… lol. with a look that said… “what the….????? what just happened..?”

He just kinda stood there afterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ lol. with a look that saidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“what theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.????? what just happened..?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Yep. That is a dead on accurate description. :laugh_tb:

Here is the MyFox KC video coverage from tonight’s newscast HERE.

Oh man what I wouldn’t give to hear Archie do a Charlie the Unicorn impression: “Come to Candy Mountain, Cookie! Candy Mountain!”

The screaming on that cell cast was nuts, I hope we get a ton of videos from these two concerts.

MJ-I will be disappointed too if we don’t get lots of reviews/recaps since they’re in Cookies’ hometown. David, Carly & Michael are my favorites, so I hope to hear about their performances in KC. Come on guys, give us the juicy details !!!

A couple of early recaps: eta to add: these snippets pertain to DC

From TwoP (by way of the Word Nerd Home)

Someone stole his belt in OKC, so he had to keep pulling his pants up. Someone threw him a belt up so he put it on, then more belts started pelting the stage, he picked one up and said, “is this a dog collar?? My mom is in the audience.” LMAO!

The long pause during Hello was because he couldn’t sing over the noise so he had to calm the crowd down and get them quieter so he could hear himself sing.

He had asked before hand for extra guitar picks to be put on his mic stand so he could throw them, so they covered the whole thing from top to bottom and even the microphone itself with picks. He laughed and said something like, “Ok that’s funny guys.”

He was giddy, happy and then started crying.

His mom, Andrew and Kim were on the floor, about 10 rows back from the stage.

The energy, the crowd, the show was NUTZZZ!

From d-c.org

*In that long pause in Hello, he had to literally use his arms to calm the crowd down because it was so loud.
*Came out wearing some type of Kansas City jersey, but took it off. Held up a UCM tshirt and asked how many Blue Springs HS people were in the audience..
*He apologized for Michael Johns, who apparently thought they were in KANSAS, and for his mom..but I don’t know why for his mom.

Thanks guys!

*DL* at the dog collar comment and at MJ thinking they were in Kansas!
I’m so glad that Archie got some love there too!

No Mavid. No Archucook. MJ wasn’t even his usual goofy self. The finale was kind of disappointing. Cook didn’t even bow down to Archie like he usually does.

Cook came out in a KC Chiefs jersey and then took it off and had the usual t-shirt underneath. He apologized to his mom because he had to keep pulling his pants up since his belt was stolen in OKC. (You mean to tell me all those friends and relatives couldn’t go out and buy him a belt today? LOL)

Poor Archie seemed apologetic since he knew the crowd was mainly there for Cook. Before his last song he said, “Okay, I just have one more song in my set then I’m done.” I think he is still having trouble with his cold because he was trying not to cough WHILE he was singing, especially during “Apologize”. But he sounded amazing anyway.

The crowd was so loud, it was hard to hear Cook sing.

Performer of the night: Chikezie

I thought Archie got a good reception?

Archie did get a good reception, but since he was in Cook country, the crowd was mainly Cook-crazy.

Side note: I was amazed at the amount of beer being drunk during the concert. LOL

Well, I”m true to my name tonight. I went to the concert and I’m still livid at the rude people who were on my row and decided they ALL needed to take potty breaks during David Archuleta’s set. They went one. at. a. time. and effectively ruined every single Archie song for me. I also spilled all the contents of my purse in the row behind me after the second time I had to get up for these people, so that of course made it that much worse. Being that Archie is my fave and the one I looked forward to most, I was so, so bitterly disappointed.

Anyway, other than that it was great. Billie Jean was mesmerizing. I was really disappointed they didn’t do the Mavid, though….WHAT HAPPENED?!? Were they told not to again?!?

I actually heard Archie is feeling better. He just seems to have a lingering cough, which probably flares up when he’s talking or singing.

Anyway, other than that it was great. Billie Jean was mesmerizing. I was really disappointed they didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t do the Mavid, thoughà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.WHAT HAPPENED?!? Were they told not to again?!?

David had events scheduled for him all afternoon in KC so it’s very possible they didn’t have time to plan anything ahead of time.

I had hope they will use Charlie the Unicorn during Mavid or Cookchuleta… well there is still tomorrow I guess

I hope his cough clears up…. cant be too good for him.

David had events scheduled for him all afternoon in KC so ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s very possible they didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have time to plan anything ahead of time.

Hmm..did he ever show up at the bus meet n greet in the afternoon? We stayed there for about 2 hours and only saw Jason, Kristy Lee, Brooke and Archie. Saw the unicorn too but never realized it was “Charlie.”

ETA: forgot to mention I saw Jeff Archuleta and Brooke’s hubby.

ETA2: Yes, Archie got a huge, great reception…and large sections of the crowd were standing during most of his performances.

I thought Archie got a good reception?

From what I could tell from listening to the cellcast, I feel like he did. I could clearly hear the crowd singing along to STB and Apologize very well. For those of us who were listening tonight, it made us very happy for Archie especially it being Cookie’s hometown.

Hmm..did he ever show up at the bus meet n greet in the afternoon?

From what I read earlier, he didn’t make the afternoon meet n greet. But apparently he did come out after the concert tonight for about 1/2 hour, along with Archie, Jason and Brooke (not sure who else).

outofsorts, were we sitting in the same row? People climbed over us to take breaks during Archie’s set, also.

My husband liked “Stand By Me” the best out of all the songs. He also enjoyed MJ. Put his sunglasses on during Syeesha.

Hmm..did he ever show up at the bus meet n greet in the afternoon? We stayed there for about 2 hours and only saw Jason, Kristy Lee, Brooke and Archie. Saw the unicorn too but never realized it was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Charlie.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Apparently, he did come out to greet the fans after tonight’s show but not this afternoon because of all of those events that were lined up for him this afternoon especially with the unveiling of the mural.

I’m glad that it was clear enough to come through the cellcast, Pam. I didn’t make it to the cellcast until halfway through My Hero.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m glad that it was clear enough to come through the cellcast, Pam. I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t make it to the cellcast until halfway through My Hero.

awwwww sorry about that. There were a lot of people there tonight! LOL

outofsorts, were we sitting in the same row? The exact same thing happened to me during Archieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s set.

I don’t think so…we were sitting on the end of the row and there was nobody in-between us and the potty break people. But hey, misery loves company so it makes me feel a little better that I wasn’t alone in my frustration!!! I’m going again tomorrow night and I’m going to brief my row that none of them should take potty breaks during Archie’s set, or I will cut them. haha

I noticed, 300 right? I was surprised I didn’t get stuck in the waiting room.

I hope tomorrow night Cook wears KC Royals shirt or hat. I know that the Royals are terrible, but so are the Chiefs and he wore their jersey tonight.

Well here is the deal. I don’t know how to submit this recap, so I am just putting it here. I am a huge David Cook fan. Love the guy. So, from the time he said his dream was to perform at the Sprint Center I have been planning a trip to Kansas City to see him in person. When the schedule for the tour came out I booked my flight and hotel. Got tickets at the presale and here I am. This is my third concert. I attended in Chicago and Indianapolis and both times brought a gift bag for David C and he didn’t come out before the show and I couldn’t get close enough after the show to even shout “I love you, Cookie” so on my third try, I was still lugging the same gift bag.

My flight out of Chicago was delayed for an hour and I figured I would miss the before concert autographs. When I got to my hotel I dropped off my suitcase and was heading to the Power and Light district in front of the Spring Center to find the crowds. As I stepped out of the elevator there was Michael Johns looking very tired and very sexy stepping out of the elevator next to mine. We talked for a few minutes and he said they had gotten in at 5:00 in the morning and he had just gotten up. Soon after out walked David Archuleta, Brooke and her husband, Kristy Lee, and Carly. I was wearing my David Coook t-shirt and a huge smile and they all stopped to say hello except Carly who walked past me as if my obvious American Idol fangirlyness wasn’t completely obvious. I did not ask for autographs or pictures. Just commented on how much I had been enjoying the performances and wished them luck.

The I walked to the venue just blocks away. On the way a long black stretch limo with tinted windows passed. It was David and his family returning from the dedication in Blue Springs. So I was excited that I might actually get to meet him this time and give him my gift, hand made from my heart. But he didn’t come out. I am told he had press. In fact the girl next to me at the barricade said he was being interviewed on the radio by some girl who had won a contest. So I chatted with Jason, Kristy Lee, Brooke, Archie before the concert. Michael came out for a few minutes and was called back in before he got to where I was standing.

I did have fun chatting with fans at the barricade though. One girl had a great picture of David taken at her wedding where he was the soloist. This was before he moved to Tulsa. he looked like he did during Happy Together. Very cute. Very young. She said her sister was a classmate of David’s in college, both in graphic design. Another woman showed me a cute picture of David with a group of kids including her daughter when they were in seventh grade. So cute. He had on sun glasses, but already had the David Cook smile. There were a million David Cook signs and posters and t-shirts. The town, too, was ready for Cookie. As I pulled into town on the airport shuttle one big building had WELCOME DAVID C in big letters across the windows and the huge electronic billboard at the Spring Center said Welcoome Home David Cook with a great picture of him.

So, on to the concert. It was packed to the rafters and a very lively crowd, clearly very pro David Cook which made me feel right at home immediately. Chikezie absolutely rocked the house with his set. People were shouting out CAUGHT UP and were on their feet. He is great at getting the party started. Ramielle was 100 times better than when I saw her in Chicago. She was confident, her voice was strong, and I thought her performance was great. She didn’t even have the back up singers dancing with her anymore. She really sounded great tonight.

There was a huge roar from the audience when Michael Johns came out. He might have been tired, but you would never have known it in his performance. He sounded great. I particularly like the slower bluesy IARBIAW, but he rocked out on the other rock anthem songs as well. He is definitely a crowd pleaser. I think other than the Davids and Jason, Michael and Carly received the loudest crowd reaction.

Kristy Lee sounded good and looked good. I think she should do Cowboys second and end with God Bless the USA, because whether you particularly like that song or not, it is her strongest performance and it is good to end with a strong one rather than a song no one really knows. She is a sweet girl though and gives so much time to greeting the fans.

Carly looked and sounded good. I have always loved Crazy on You, but tonight I liked Drive All Night, too. Most of the performers talked about it being Cookie’s hometown, which got a reaction from the crowd.

Brooke is such a sweetheart. She sounded fantastic and just is the most likeable person on the planet. Let It Be remains her strongest performance, but she has fun with 1234 and Yellow is growing on me.

I still don’t quite understand why Michael Johns gets the big introduction in the group number and no one else does, but hey, he is a hottie with a great voice, so it isn’t a problemm.

The second half was really, really strong as always. Jason was his usual laid back self singing the heck out of Over the Rainbow, and my personal favorite of his Crazy. I liked his entire set and enjoy watching the big monitors to see his facial expressions. He is really fun to watch and got a great crowd reaction from the ladies.

Syesha just sings her face off every night. I don’t know what it is about her that there seems to be a distance between her and the audience. But she did a nice job on Umbrella, sang Since I Don’t have You better than I have heard it before, and just rocked the house with Listen. The audience roared its appreciation after the last song and I think she was touchted.

Archie seemed to have a little bit of a throat problem from time to time tonight, clearning his throat away from the mic on occasion. But, he still was his charming, adorable self and sounded strong. I love his genuine niceness during the autograph time and it also comes through from the stage. He is just a nice kid. I don’t think he sounded as good tonight as in Chicago and Indianapolis, so think he may still be getting over his cold. I don’t understand why he doesn’t sing Stand By Me last since it is much more of a crowd pleaser than the down tempo song he is currently closing his set with. All in all, I really like Archie and even on a down day his voice is better than most anyone else’s in the world. Just a beautiful tone and he sings with so much sincerity.

Then came the deafening roars of approval for David Cook. Oh my goodness it went on and on. It was fantastic. By the time it gets to DC, I am usually hoarse from all of the screaming for the others and don’t have much voice left, but tonight it didn’t matter. There were thousands of others there who love him as much as I do. He was visibly touched, but stopped towards the end of Hello to ask the audience to calm a bit. He said he couldn’t concentrate. It was kind of sweet really. When he introduced TOML, he wanted to thank everyone for the support and got choked up, but he sang the heck out of the song and the audience was right in there with him singing along. I was screaming so loud my voice didn’t work at all after the show was over. The applause and screaming went on throughout most of his set with everyone in my view at least on their feet throughout. He said someone had taken his belt in Oklahoma City and was having trouble keeping his pants up until someone from the audience threw him up a belt. LOL He asked everyone to sing along to Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, and they obliged. There Goes My Hero was dedicated to Adam and at one point he asked the audience to give his mom a round of applause. I absolutely love There Goes My Hero. He is the consummate rock star during that song and well it just rocks! When he left the stage the screams got louder and really didn’t subside. Kansas City loves Cook!! Billie Jean was great as always.

I left before the end of Don’t Stop the Music to try to get a spot along the barricade. Dave, the security guy, said he would be out after the show because he hadn’t made it out before the concert and I didn’t want to miss my chance to actually see him up close, get his autograph, and give him my gift. After about an hour Kristy Lee came out followed by Brooke and Archie and Jason. Then a while later out comes David Cook. I honesty think my heart missed a beat or two. He started down towards my end and I got my much anticipated autograph. He was still talking to the girls next to me when he got to me about a gift they had given him. They were from South Carolina. He was really rushed so I didn’t get to talk to him, but got some nice pictures and an autograph and told him how proud I am to be his fan, handed him my gift bag and he was rushing on to the next person. But, he looked happy and truly appreciative of the fans and their support.

The only other thing to mention was that I got to talk a bit with David’s mother, step father, and brother Andrew at the break. They are all nice and so proud. Kimberly Caldwell was with them and I have to say she is much smaller in person and very nice. I asked for her autograph and she was just as nice as can be having her picture taken with fans and signing autographs when asked. She really was very sweet and not at all like the kind of harsher person she sometimes appears to be on Idol Tonight. She seems to get along well with his family, which would be important to him, I think.

Anyway, it was a great concert for Cookie fans especially, and to top all of that off, when I got back to my hotel, Kristy Lee, Brooke and her husband, Syesha, Carly, Ramielle, and security guy Dave were going into rooms on my same floor. I assume David C. went home to Blue Springs with his family, but I saw Jason and Michael J. going up one floor higher than mine. It was a great night all around for this AI fan and David Cook supporter.

ShariG, I’m glad u got to give DC ur gift and thanx for the great recap

Hello

ShariG, thanks for he recap. THIS is the concert date I have been waiting for! So great reading about his homecoming day and the concert tonight from sources all ’round the net.

It must be so very surreal for him. I love his MOM! That hig she gave him was so touching.

More please!

DC banter, some more banter and Billie Jean.

ShariG, really enjoyed your recap! Thank you for sharing the experience.
How surreal to find out you’re living on the same hotel floor as some of the Idols? I wouldn’t be able to sleep and probably spend way too much time tracking the halls aimlessly in the hopes of coming across one specific Idol. Good thing I wasn’t put to that test, LOL.

I wonder if the disappearance of the Mavidance has something to do with TPTB, or was it really to do with too little planning time? Somehow I find it hard to believe that David and Michael wouldn’t even go for something random rather than leave it altogether. But why would TPTB end it again now with so few tour stops left? Makes no sense.
I guess we’ll see what happens tonight.

KC My Hero with banter, putting on the belt, and a very soggy Cookie which melted me to a puddle of “AWWWW”.

My gawd that was freakin’ awesome! Thanks Jolene. When he tears up I tear up. DC is just the Shit!!!!! Everytime I watch a video of him performing the thought of an album coming soon puts a big ol’ grin on my face! Come on November!

ShariG, that was a great recap. Thanks for all the personal detail! Glad you had a wonderful time and got to meet Cook. Sounds like it must have been a great day for him.

I hope David feels better now. Can’t be easy for him, four concert in a roll with a cold.

What a wonderful recap, ShariG. I love all the details about the welcome for him. I’m going tonight. I hope he still has some tears left for us, lol. (Where did you sit and how were the view and the sound?)

Oh! Isn’t that Tony Gonzalez’s #88 jersey that Cookie is wearing at one point? TG’s my fav Chief. I think he’s a football equivilant of Cookie–Young, handsome, charismatic, insanely talented, and an amazingly nice guy behind the scenes. I wonder if Tony sings TOML in the shower.

SHARIG, Great recap!!!! You already know how I feel about your personal experience, but hopefully this will show it ever more! :clap_tb: :thumbup_tb: :clap_tb:

Thanks so much sharig for the recap. Would have been amazing to be there! So much emotion, so much love.

Awwww, I had a ticket for last night’s show but ended up not being able to take the time off to go. So I better get a lot of recaps and video!!

Thanks for your recap Shari!

Here is an article and some pics at the unveiling of the mural in KC yesterday.

http://www.galesburg.com/entertainment/x392056390/Commemorating-an-Idol

I was at the mural unveiling yesterday…what a cool experience that was! There was basically next to no advertising for it, so there were maybe 100 people there all told. David seemed very touched by the mural (which is beautiful). He spent a lot of time signing stuff and taking pictures with the artists. He also took time to sign stuff for the crowd. He said he didn’t have enough time to do pics, but he did manage to sneak a few in if there were little kids involved. When he signed my things I thanked him and he said “no, thank YOU”. He’s just amazing.

As David was leaving, I had a chance to chat with his mom, his stepdad and Andrew, before ending the event with a nice hug from the man himself! I gotta say it’s sure nice living in David Cook’s hometown.

The concert was great. I have never heard such loud cheering at a concert anywhere, anytime in my life. David took the time to soak it all in. You could tell he was very, very happy but quite emotional as well. He is so very deserving of all the good things that come his way. Idol truly couldn’t have a better representative than David Cook.

I was remembering before about how how he once said while ago, I think on the AI site early on, his dream venue to play was the new Sprint Center in KC..then during his hometown visit top 3 week when he played his acoustic concert outside he pointed towards it and said he hoped that when the tour came there he could hopefully play last if everyone kept voting. Dang. Lump in my throat.

Thanks to everyone who said nice things about my recap. Jolene, thank you so much for the clip of the banter before My Hero and the song. It was so great to see again. To the person who asked where I sat, it was in section 5 on the floor, row 2, and the acoustics were great. I couldn’t see as well as I would like to have, but it was so enjoyable anyway. I tried to walk up closer to get a picture and the security people were very stern about not going closer. One guy told me to go back to my seat immediately or he would escort me out. I snapped the picture and retreated to my seat. LOL The crowd was really awesome. KC did themselves proud in support of their guy who has now become America’s guy. Just wanted to mention one thing. While I didn’t get David Cook’s autograph in person until the third try, my friend Cricket saw him in Cincinatti and got an autograph for me. Now that is a true friend! Trina, I remembered that too and it was the reason I really wanted to see him perform at the Sprint Center. Now I want to go to Tulsa for the last performance of the group and to see him play in his second home town. I want to check out the Blank Slate where he tended bar and lift a drink in his honor and in honor of the outstanding career I believe he has ahead of him with all of us along for the ride.