Crazy doings in the Idoldome

By On 05/06/2009 · 52 Comments · In Uncategorized

The wait for spoilers seemed like forever before yesterday’s performance show.   When the call finally came, my source was slightly hysterical, describing a scene that seemed straight out of a disaster movie.   I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

UPDATE: Read a first-hand account of the mishap HERE.   Part of the problem was   No Doubt’s rehearsal running long.   If the rehearsal had begun on time, they might have had time to clean up the stage and resume rehearsal.

When the big arm started to fall (I was standing in the pit underneath it), Ryan and others on stage yelled at the crowd in the pit to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“move, move. Get away.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  The only place to move was the lower stage in front of the judgesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ table. Well, there are stairs there, so the people in the pit were tripping up the stairs. Several people fell or were pushed. It was kind of a mad-house. There were at least 6 or 7 people laying on the stairs or the lower stage as a result of the crowd surging in that direction. There were several children who were in the pit. That was scary too.

Two completely unrelated mishaps shut down yesterday’s performance rehearsal. The first involved Idol’s beloved stage manager Debbie.   According to Entertainment Weekly’s On-the-Scene report:

At the start of dress rehearsal, beloved stage manager Debbie Williams stood at the top of the massive glowing staircase. The first three steps are fixed, but the rest roll out from under the band deck; as she followed Seacrest down the stairs, she was caught in the gap when they began to prematurely retract. Observers told me she slipped, then grabbed onto the railing and dangled for a moment before falling the 20 or so feet to the ground. She suffered a severe cut on her leg — amazingly, according to one crew member, no broken bones — and was taken to the hospital by paramedics.

It’s amazing there were no broken bones.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, another completely unrelated mishap occurred.   What were the odds of that?

Dress rehearsal continued, at which point the spinning Idol gyroscope atop the stage right tower came unmoored, showering the stage with glass and causing them to evacuate the theater. Given the way they pack the kids into the “mosh pits,” it’s a genuine miracle more people weren’t hurt. Chaos reigned for the remainder of the preshow, as they struggled to re-seat the audience and tape the contestants’ performance clips before airtime.

One of my sources was in the moshpit, and she says the globe exploding was absolutely terrifying, and that there was quite a bit of chaos afterward.   As Ryan Seacrest worked to calm the crowd down, he announced that after the crowd was evacuated, and the stage cleaned up, they’d be let back in the studio, and dress rehearsal would resume.

But I guess he wasn’t looking at the clock.   In the end, the crowd was evacuated, and dress rehearsal was cancelled.

My source was still a little shaken as she stood outside the studio describing the scene to me over the phone.

After the studio was evacuated and cleaned up, they had 25 minutes to seat the live show audience:

The line for Idol stretched farther down the street than I’ve ever seen it stretch, and at 4:20, when we finally passed through the gates, I overheard the guards referring to some sort of “incident.” I met up with a journo colleague, and the two of us strode past the hundreds of people on the holding benches outside and walked right into the studio and up the stairs to find what was clearly the fallout from said “incident”: a giant hydraulic lift was in the “mosh pit,” and crew members were working on the gyroball atop the stage right fang, which was clearly askew. We sat in our seats — the only audience members in the studio — until a large member of the security staff kicked us out, then hovered beneath the seating risers until about 4:35, when the crowds outside finally began to make their way in.

After everybody grabbed a seat, with only 15 minutes to go, each of the Idols had to tape short snippets of their songs, for the recap package:

“Ignore your tickets! Grab the first seat you see!” a page yelled as people haphazardly wandered down the aisles. “No tickets! No tickets! Just grab a seat!” The audience seating process usually takes a good hour or so, and they were having to do it in 25 minutes; families were wandering aimlessly throughout the studio, dragging signs and small children behind them.,With 15 minutes to go, Cory appeared (in a jaunty scarf!) and, skipping his usual antics, began to plead with the audience to sit down. “Just be accomodating if you can,” he asked, then explained that since dress rehearsal was cancelled, they needed to tape short snippets of the Final Four’s performances for the recap package at the end of the show. If ever there was a time to make the argument that this practice of taping dress rehearsal is ridiculous, given the ability of pretty much everything everywhere ever to utilize instant replay technology, this would be the time — but tonight was so fraught with hysteria I just don’t have the heart.

Danny’s recap clip was sh*teous, I couldn’t believe the producers would air the worst part of his performance–that horrible scream.   It turns out they didn’t have much choice:

I grabbed my friend’s shoulder. He aimed for the note, landed in a neighboring county, trailed off. With four minutes to go, they started his snippet again. He aimed for the note again, and this time landed four states to the south, but there was no time to be precious about it..Danny added a little doo-doo-doot between choruses one and two — which he didn’t do in dress rehearsal, meaning the clip they’d pre-taped was now essentially useless — and then he went for The Note.

Oh. Boy.

 
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  • primeminister

    To round up the crazy Idol happenings this week, Danny delivered the most horrendous note in Idol history.

    Perfect week for a shock boot, don’t you think? he he he.

  • http://www.myspace.com/gwendolyndiane GwendolynD

    I still say that show was cursed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=587900002&ref=name cruzceleste

    ^Maybe the ghost from the Idol manssion follow the Idols to the stage… well as long as anybody got hurt….

  • cwg509

    Those stairs are really scary. Debbie is very lucky that it wasn’t worse but I really hope she gets better soon. I saw her at a results show earlier this season. She is awesome.

    Go TEAM ROCK! Defeat the Gokester

  • yeahyeahsure

    This is crazy/scary!

  • Duke

    “The Note”: haha. I can’t wait to refer to this in future seasons of idol. LOL. i hope we all remember it.

  • weareallinnocent

    Well, I hate to agree with Simon, but he did say no one should use those stairs after Adam’s entrance last week. LOL

    Sorry to make light, but wow, that is really scary! Glad Debbie wasn’t hurt worse and seems to be on the mend. She’s the heart and soul of the show, I hear!

    Being the suspicious type though, and a believer in karma, I think the exploding Idol dome occurred at the exact time (or shortly after) TPTB managed to make mj’s photobucket account vanish. :-) Bastards!

  • Victoria

    Crazyness. I hope Debbie feels better soon.

    Those spinning things were just a disaster waiting to happen. I hope they get rid of them.

  • OutlandoGirl

    I was there!! It was all very odd and it was very lucky that no one was hurt seriously.

    When the big arm started to fall (I was standing in the pit underneath it), Ryan and others on stage yelled at the crowd in the pit to “move, move. Get away.” The only place to move was the lower stage in front of the judges’ table. Well, there are stairs there, so the people in the pit were tripping up the stairs. Several people fell or were pushed. It was kind of a mad-house. There were at least 6 or 7 people laying on the stairs or the lower stage as a result of the crowd surging in that direction. There were several children who were in the pit. That was scary too.

    Truly, the rehearsal problem started MUCh earlier in the afternoon. No Doubt’s closed rehearsal went extremely late. Usually, the rehearsal crowd is in place by 2 p.m. I don’t think we started to enter the studio until about 3:15 and then the crew was still moving a lot of musical equipment and risers around the stage. The rehearsal had only been going for 2-3 minutes when Debbie fell. Ryan was the first to react to the huge THUD we all heard.

    If No Doubt had not been practicing so late, the rehearsal might have gone on in a shortened format even after the accidents. But there wasn’t enough time.

    Yes, Ryan told us all that we were just clearning the studio so that they could fix the gyroscope and arm and we’d all be back in for rehearsal. At this point, it was after 4 – close to 4:15!. I knew there was NO WAY that would happen. And, sure enough, after we were all ushered outside, the red-jacketed CBS staffers made all the rehearsal ticket holders leave. The communication was really poor, but I guess that’s to be expected when something unexpected happens.

    Many of the people that I’d been in line with all day had flown in from out of state (Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas) specifically to see Idol. I felt badly for them.

    The good news is that no one was badly injured.

  • http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com Buderschnookie

    So did the spinning Idol sign really crash while Danny was singing?

  • TKat

    Sounds like everyone was very lucky that there were no injuries when the stage set fell apart! Yipes!

    Regarding last night, I wondered why the producers could have picked that Danny highlight! I still don’t know why they can’t handle an instant replay and show a clip of the real performance?

    In any case, more history was made last night, according to WNTS, Danny’s “Dream On” performance was tied for the second worse AI performance in the later rounds (Top 5 or later)!

  • Chipmunk

    I grabbed my friendà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s shoulder. He aimed for the note, landed in a neighboring county, trailed off. With four minutes to go, they started his snippet again. He aimed for the note again, and this time landed four states to the south

    :lol_tb: :lol_tb: :lol_tb:

  • http://myspace.com hgzaj

    Well they probably used Danny’s last note because whenever the last performance of the night is recapped they play the ending to their song….duuuuhhhh ;-p

  • joyous

    In any case, more history was made last night, according to WNTS, Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Dream Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  performance was tied for the second worse AI performance in the later rounds (Top 5 or later)!

    There simply COULDN”T be a worse performance! No, tell me…who committed Hari Kari on the Idol stage before?
    And, what is the latest on Debbie?

  • steve

    Maybe the ghost from the Idol manssion follow the Idols to the stage

    The ghost said if anyone is going to scare mass amounts of people it will be me damnit.I heard the kids could hear the ghost last nite saying put the GO in GOKEY

  • SpenserJ

    So, what again was the final tally for number of times Gokey attempted that note and failed? 4? 5?

    What the hell was he thinking?

    All funny aside, I sure hope Debbie’s feeling better and that she mends quickly. She does a really tough job, really well, and we need her back.

    Considering all of the time issues and the last minute stuff, I’m still amazed at how, no matter what Ryan just comes walking out cool as cucumber. He must just have the perfect temperment for live tv.

  • CRB

    a scene that seemed straight out of a disaster movie.

    A least the disaster preempted Danny’s dress rehearsal or things could have really gotten ugly.

  • snuffles

    SpenserJ May 6th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    So, what again was the final tally for number of times Gokey attempted that note and failed? 4? 5?

    What the hell was he thinking?

    Exactly! Could he not HEAR himself? While mentoring with Slash? During rehearsals? EVERY. TIME. he sang the song? Any other person would have realized that couldn’t hit that note and tried something different.

    I KNEW Danny’s ego would force him to try and “RAWK!” as hard as Adam. And I knew he’d fall flat on his face doing it.

  • cheese

    So, what again was the final tally for number of times Gokey attempted that note and failed? 4? 5?

    Hmm, with Slash, two times in rehearsal, live performance, and on his sing-out tonight, so 5!

    Think of how many times the poor arrangers, voice coaches, etc. probably had to hear that in the last 5 days. At some point, I hope there were ear plugs involved.

    I went back and watched Jasmine Trias’s Everlasting Love (the lowest rated on WNTS) and it was actually worse than Danny’s Dream On, but only because it was boring.

    Debbie is very lucky that she wasn’t more seriously injured. My height-fearing self gets panicked about the thought of falling more than 3 feet. I hope she’s back for next Tuesday’s show.

  • abbysee

    Damn, that sounded quite scary. I am happy that Debbie wasn’et badly hurt.

  • Lisa

    Scary stuff. Hope Debbie is well soon and so glad she was not seriously injured!

    Wow, the stairs and then the gyroscope! Was Danny practicing his *worst scream ever heard by human/animals ears* backstage?

  • Dr. Tracey

    Well if that isn’t reason enough to get rid of those dumb stairs I don’t know what is. How crazy scary is that?! Hope Debbie recovers quickly.

    As for Gokey’s ‘note’ i’m still LOL
    I’m going to enjoy the laugh too ‘cos I won’t be laughing later when he stands there with a smug grin on his face while either Kris or Allison board the bus.

  • downeast

    Hmm, with Slash, two times in rehearsal, live performance, and on his sing-out tonight, so 5!

    Don’t tease me that way. Right now this season has been so screwy, and I’ve heard so many posters talking about voting for “poor Kris,” or “poor Allison,” that I’m all the way over to being nervous for ADAM again tonight.

    Because you know the Gokeyites vote for anything. And I suspect last night will prove that.

  • maturin

    Geez, hope Gokey gets voted out before the next Sign arrives!

    Swarms of grasshoppers in the mosh pit! Plagues of frogs among the band!

    And when the judges’ Coke cups start to run with blood, you know it’s gettin’ scary.

    Big voice from on high: IT’S TIME TO LET MY PEOPLE GO. SPECIFICALLY, THAT DUDE. PUT THE GO IN GOKEY!!!!

  • BootStar

    I don’t get the No Doubt performance at all. They’re not even premiering new music, are they? Gwen Stefani must have some serious shit on somebody. She was probably the worst mentor the show has ever had. And then her group runs over yesterday afternoon? It would have been nice to have had Elliott or Melinda on tonight instead.

    In spite of all the craziness, I am not anticipating a shock boot for Danny tonight. If Brian Mansfield thinks Danny’s performance was good, I can’t imagine Gokey’s most loyal fans wouldn’t agree. I’m sure they saved him last night.

  • http://www.myspace.com/gwendolyndiane GwendolynD

    In spite of all the craziness, I am not anticipating a shock boot for Danny tonight. If Brian Mansfield thinks Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance was good, I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t imagine Gokeyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most loyal fans wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t agree. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sure they saved him last night.

    I read that. He ranked it second. Second. I can’t stop laughing. I need to listen again, but I can’t muster the nerve.

    Again, I’ll say this, people remembered that, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. Better to be memorable than forgettable.

    They need to start looking for that voodoo doll. It’s there, somewhere.

  • Natasha

    In spite of all the craziness, I am not anticipating a shock boot for Danny tonight. If Brian Mansfield thinks Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance was good, I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t imagine Gokeyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most loyal fans wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t agree.

    Eep. Does Danny have some sort of dirt on this poor guy that he is threatening to expose? lol

  • http://www.myspace.com/rjveritas MrRJ

    Dooby dooby doo in a rock song? This Mansfield must have a crush on him or something.

  • http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

    In spite of all the craziness, I am not anticipating a shock boot for Danny tonight. If Brian Mansfield thinks Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance was good, I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t imagine Gokeyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most loyal fans wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t agree. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sure they saved him last night.

    He calls his scream “redemptive”??? WTF?

    It might have woken some peeps the dead. LOL.

  • rmeyer9970

    Just Posted On Votenumber1.com

    Results night May 6, 2009
    Our voting indicates that Danny Gokey will be eliminated

    PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE!! KRIS MUST BE IN THE TOP 3!!

  • cat

    Rumor has it that rather than listen to Gokey maul that note again, Debbie actually jumped.

  • http://www.myspace.com/swood1104 Sarah

    No, No Doubt doesn’t have any new music, but they ARE starting their reunion tour soon (I’m going to their Tampa show, yay!).

    I’m really glad Debbie is okay. It’s really a miracle that she didn’t break anything. And yeah – get rid of the stairs! AND, put the GO in Gokey! Heh.

  • TKat

    HAHAHAH cat!

    Votenumber1.com seems to underestimate Danny’s votes. I think that it could be Danny, Alison or Kris. But my money is (unfortunately) on Kris’ elimination.

    We’ll see in a few hours.

  • http://www.myspace.com/gwendolyndiane GwendolynD

    If Danny survives tonight, which I’m beginning to believe he will, then that fanbase is a force to be reckoned with. Who ARE these people?

    Votenumber1.com seems to underestimate Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s votes.

    His supporters aren’t online or virtually anywhere in the internet community, compared to the other contestants.

  • hwc

    The set exploding wasn’t even the most scandalous thing to happen on the Idol stage last night. I’ve been wondering for several weeks why Idol only shoots Adam from the waste up or from distant shots.

    Watch MJ’s video from last night. Apparently part of the problem was his tight pants. But, watch the final rave up at the end of the song. Notice the camera switches quickly to Adam on the video towers and then back to Adam from the waist up. Why? He had the mic stand bent over between his legs straddling it and he started humping it.

    Now, I see why he’s getting the Elvis video treatment. A bit too scandalous even for rock night on Idol!

  • Kirsten

    It might have woken some peeps the dead. LOL.

    Well, you know those dead people. They always vote like crazy. Many an election has been won based on their votes. And the dead are likely to reward those that wake them. And really, if you were already in hell, Danny’s last note might actually have sounded good to you.

  • Laurie

    cat – that is the funniest post today! LOL!

  • Natasha

    If Danny survives tonight, which Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m beginning to believe he will, then that fanbase is a force to be reckoned with. Who ARE these people?

    What if he isn’t even in the bottom two? They must be huge.

  • BootStar

    Votenumber1.com seems to underestimate Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s votes. I think that it could be Danny, Alison or Kris. But my money is (unfortunately) on Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ elimination.

    Weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll see in a few hours.

    I sure hope you’re right TKat (not really, because I flove Kris), because I’m presently ranked 7th on EW’s Predictify competition, and I decided to go bold and choose Kris to be eliminated this week. Most folks (and Slezak) are picking Gokey. I may suck at mj’s pool, but I’m doing really well on Predictify. Tonight is make or break for a lot of us, LOL.

  • TKat

    Most of Danny’s fans are not online.

    Adam rules the online universe; no other contestent is in his league for traffic, onine buzz or any other measure. Kris is #2, Danny in #3. Kris and Alison are rising quickly; interest in Danny is static. The real surprise in the online nubers is that Adam is still accelerating RAPIDLY — all over the world. He is even more popular in SE Asia, New Zealnand, Canada and several European countries than in the US.

    If you’re interested there is a lot of data about the Top 4 in a report on WNTS. It’s on the homepage in the “Predicting the Winner” article.

    http://www.whatnottosing.com/

  • frogcooke

    “Rumor has it that rather than listen to Gokey maul that note again, Debbie actually jumped.” I know I reaaally shouldn’t laugh but thats just funny…. ROFL

  • weareallinnocent

    If Danny survives tonight, which Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m beginning to believe he will, then that fanbase is a force to be reckoned with. Who ARE these people?

    Well, I don’t know WHO they are exactly, but I get the distinct impression from their apparent fervor that they may equate a Gokey win on AI with winning back the White House. LOL j/k

    And, cat, that was REALLY funny — great screenname for today’s *main story* too! :-)

  • http://www.myspace.com/gwendolyndiane GwendolynD

    What if he isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t even in the bottom two? They must be huge.

    That’s what I’m saying. :eek_wp:

  • http://www.sortingthingsout.com surfingnoreen

    With Danny receiving so much support from the Christian Right, perhaps the Idol ball crashing was a “sign” that God really wants a gay man to win American Idol. (wink)

  • http://myspace.com/pm68 Pam

    If Danny survives tonight, which Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m beginning to believe he will, then that fanbase is a force to be reckoned with.

    Exactly. I don’t think Danny will be leaving tonight. Glad to hear that Debbie didn’t break any bones with her fall. Yikes!

  • moody

    As I recall, Jordan didn’t have much visible support online either. Blake was getting most of the internet buzz.

  • Victoria

    The set exploding wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t even the most scandalous thing to happen on the Idol stage last night. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve been wondering for several weeks why Idol only shoots Adam from the waste up or from distant shots.

    Watch MJà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s video from last night. Apparently part of the problem was his tight pants. But, watch the final rave up at the end of the song. Notice the camera switches quickly to Adam on the video towers and then back to Adam from the waist up. Why? He had the mic stand bent over between his legs straddling it and he started humping it.

    Now, I see why heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s getting the Elvis video treatment. A bit too scandalous even for rock night on Idol!

    I’ve noticed that for a few weeks. I think it’s pretty funny, actually. So they can have Flo Rida singing about oral sex with a bunch of trashy dancing girls, but they can’t have Adam (relatively tamely) humping a mic stand?

    I doubt Danny will leave tonight. If his fans are willing to vote for his other performances, are most of them really going to stop now and think, “Oh, wait. He sucks. I’m not going to vote anymore.” Possibly the casual fans, but not the dedicated power voters. You think there aren’t Danny fans on the internet? Head over to his folder on AI.com. There’s a thread called “Wow, even more rocking than Adam was!” Really? Really. I doubt the Gokey Gang is going to be taken down this easily.

    There goes my Kradison Top 3. *sigh*

  • http://absinthedreamers.blogspot.com/ Starrlight

    Kara should send Brian a candy basket thanking him for officially being the biggest idiot of the night as far as critique skills go. Redemptive? Regurgative, yeah but not redemptive.

  • davidlove

    In Adam’s pre-AI videos from the Zodiac he clearly grabs his crotch – I’ve noticed he’s had a hard time keeping his hands away from himself during the group numbers on AI (see Disco night). The mic humping does not surprise. This is what he does, folks – decide if you like it or not and vote.

  • ShariG

    They could have taped Danny’s snippet 400 times and it would still have sounded God awful.

  • yummystars

    God did everything He could to stop the show and save Danny from himself. But it didn’t work.

    Of course, I wouldn’t be joking had things gone worse. Debbie is lucky not to have broken any bones and I’m glad no one in the audience was injured. What a scary, strange day for everyone.

    Maybe they should ditch that stupid staircase.

  • anna in vegas

    “With Danny receiving so much support from the Christian Right, perhaps the Idol ball crashing was a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“signà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  that God really wants a gay man to win American Idol. (wink)”

    Or, surfingnoreen, God was telling him to NEVER again attempt rock and roll, or maybe never sing “anything” again? Well we can “Dream On” can’t we?