Crystal Bowersox Toledo Homecoming – Photos, Videos and Recaps

Saw the vid of her singing Holy Toledo she broke down at the end, she said that was the biggest cheer she has ever received for any of her songs. Awww. Her Bobby McGee performance last night was better than her Idol version, actually overall she sounds so much better here than on the Idol stage. I had goosebumps!

This girl is just awesome !! count me among the goosebumped :)

I think this homecoming is going to have a similar vibe to Kris last season (which I loved). Small town, huge support that will come across great in the Wednesday night video.

Tears welling up- she sounds fantastic and the crowd response was really moving. Loved the vids, love Crystal!

MJ – thank you so much for posting all of these videos!

I haven’t watched all of them yet, but Crystal disclosed one of her tour songs – “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes. I never heard of that song, so I checked out the preview on ITunes and I can totally see her killing this song.

I wish I could have attended this homecoming!

Crystal is awesome!! love her!

Crystal is awesome – and all this happening for her gives me goosebumps. And “What’s Up” is a GREAT song for her, love it! Heh, that brings back lots of college memories.

4 Non Blondes is perfect!

I really want to hear this girl live.

I actually loathe “What’s Up” with a passion, but I can see why she would pick it. It should suit her, particularly if she rounds out some of LP’s squeaks on the higher notes.

is there a live stream of her at at&t?

Hey MJ apparently Ellen picked Maybe Im Amazed by Paul Mcartney for Crystal. Odd song choice.

Hey MJ apparently Ellen picked Maybe Im Amazed by Paul Mcartney for Crystal. Odd song choice.

Great song choice. One of the best songs from Paul post Beatles.

Hey MJ apparently Ellen picked Maybe Im Amazed by Paul Mcartney for Crystal. Odd song choice.

Umm… really? I hope she Crystalizes it. I dunno about that one.

Here’s a link.

Oh Look! Jem covered it!

tinawina – Yes! I was thinking of the Jem cover too. I think Crystal will do well with it.

Thanks for putting all of this together MJ, I can’t wait to watch the videos after work. I just wanted to say though that yay me because I had a feeling Ellen would pick for Crystal. I think Maybe I’m Amazed could work, it will be interesting to see.

That version sounds sort of Country, yes? At least Simon and Randy can’t pan her for choosing a subdued song, since they want her to wail every single song.

Well of the 3 crystal is the only one i’d wanna see do this song… I am a major paul fantard… since i was a weeeeeeeeee lil bit of thing (was i ever lil? but i digress lol) Maybe I’m Amazed is one of my all time favs of Paul… gooooooooooooooooooo Crystal!!!!!!

Oh Look! Jem covered it!

P.S. When I clicked on that link, I thought, “What a nice wedding gown and isn’t this a cute daddy-daughter dance song?” And then I realized that it is Julie freakin’ Cooper and that the old dude is the groom. (I should have known, because the reason I know the Jem cover is the OC soundtrack.)

I love Ellen’s choice of song for Crystal!! She’ll kill it.

Adam Lambert did a great cover of What’s Up, you can find it on YouTube. I think Crystal will do make it her own and it will be fantastic! :)

If Ellen had the Jem cover in mind can she tell Crystal? That would actually be a very smart move by Ellen. Pick a well known song so a good portion of the audience doesn’t tune out because they don’t know the song, but one that was covered by a female singer songwriter in a style that Crystal would excel in.

I think that’s a good song choice. Hope she would nailed it.

I really want Crystal’s pick to be Miranda Lambert’s Dead Flowers, I’ve been hoping for that all season, but it is probably a long shot lol

I think Crystal will kill this song. I do think she can go country. More Allison Kraus, Gretchen Wilson and a soupcon of Miranda Lambert.

I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone ends up saying the same thing about “Maybe I’m Amazed” that they did about Bobby McGee. :)

I actually like Maybe I’m Amazed for Crystal. The judges can go 2 ways with their picks: pick something obvious that’s in their lane or give them a song that they can adapt. Ellen went went the 2nd option and I can see Crystal doing real well with it.

I wish Holy Toledo could be her coronation song. She sounds so beautiful.

I love that song, but don’t want to hear it Crystallized.

Interesting choice…I’m looking forward to see what Crystal can do with it.

What a strange song choice.

UPDATE! Ellen Degeneres chose “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney as Crystal’s Judges’ Choice song

Hmmm. Intriguing. This song gently nudges Crystal out of her box and I think she can do something with it. I see “moment” potential.

does it seem like Crystal is doing the most Singing on her home coming tour? i hope she doesnt burn her voice out!!

by the way she is so very charismatic on stage and sooooooo appreciative of her fans wtg mamaSox!!!

does it seem like Crystal is doing the most Singing on her home coming tour? i hope she doesnt burn her voice out!!

Me too. Her voice did sound a little bit strained in the 101.5 interview. Maybe it was due to lack of sleep.

i was wondering about that too she’s singing ALOT which of course i appreciate alooot but i really hope she does’nt lose her voice come Tuesday, im a little worried

Randoms:

1: Do we know Baby Bowersox’s name? I can’t remember what it is.

2: Great radio interview. She seems so comfortable in her own skin.

3: I love that she loves red. Check. Agreed.

4: I love the book “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life” by Steve Almond. It’s new. Not sure when she found time to read it in the last month but good for her. Great musings on music. You should get it.

You know, for a girl who left a small town at 17, Crystal is amazingly articulate and thoughtful. Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life is a wonderfully well-written book. She’s a bright little thing. :)

Crystal is obviously unapologetic about who she is. Go Team Crystal!

Crystal will kill Maybe I’m Amazed! That is a really good choice.

Crystal’s performances at Fox Toledo are just amazing. I teared up when she teared up. She gives a very good interview, very engaging and present. I can’t wait to see her on the late night shows.

Seems Crystal’s been reading about a book a week while on idol. So far, they’ve all been music related.

I’m a little worried about all of the singing she’s doing today, too. I hope her insulin pump is yelling at her when it’s supposed to & that she can hear it over the crowds. Glad to hear she’s already in the beginning stages of planning for her foundation for Juvenile Diabetes.

As far as the song choice, we’ll see. Whichever song she chooses for herself, it needs to be a completely different vibe than what she decides to do with the McCartney song.

very grounded lady with a very good head. love her!

love the judge’s choice for her. she’ll kill it!

Randoms:

1: Do we know Baby Bowersox’s name? I can’t remember what it is.

I believe his name is Tony, aka “Little T.” He is adorable!

Does anyone know how many people were at the fairgrounds?

Crystal just knocked the Star Spangled Banner out of the ballpark! Fantastic!!
P.S. She held BabySox while she sang. So cute.

Crystal just knocked the Star Spangled Banner out of the ballpark! Fantastic!!
P.S. She held BabySox while she sang. So cute.

ITA! She is awesome! She also sounded great!

aww that was so cute and what pipes that girl has :) even with the crappy feed that sounded awesome and soooooo cute with her lil boy on her hip while singing it :)

fantastic day for her!!

Not sure about the # of people at the fairgrounds. About 10,000 reported for the parade and around 14,000 at the ballpark. She was hilarious warming up to throw out the first pitch & the anthem was great holding Babysox.

Does anyone know how many people were at the fairgrounds?

I just got back home from there a little bit ago. I’m not good at guessing but I was in downtown Toledo too and if the crowd there was 10,000 (which sounds conservative, but I won’t totally disagree), I would say there were maybe 15,000 at the fairgrounds. Could have actually been more but I think that’s a pretty good guess. I was hoping to see even more but in reality, I think the population of Ottawa County isn’t much over 20,000 (I could be off though).

Crystal sounded great on everything I heard! I have video that I took on my phone but I think they’re too big to transfer to computer! I did think for part of the short set at the fairgrounds she was holding back just a touch, but she still let loose at spots and let me tell you, the crowd ATE IT UP. Big thing that got me at both places too was that the crowds were like a cross-section of Northwest Ohio – young, old, all races, all “types” of people. Just like I’ve thought, she’s got supporters that I wouldn’t dream of being typical Idol watchers (i.e. bearded biker guys that look like they’d break you in half…wearing Crystal Bowersox t-shirts under their Harley leather. Not even kidding.) This girl has seriously got IT.

I can totally hear Crystal singing Maybe I’m Amazed. This has potential to be one of the season’s first moments.’bout time. She’s the best vocalist and most entertaining. If we’re lucky, she’ll win the whole thing!

Crystal sounded great on everything I heard! I have video that I took on my phone but I think they’re too big to transfer to computer! I did think for part of the short set at the fairgrounds she was holding back just a touch, but she still let loose at spots and let me tell you, the crowd ATE IT UP. Big thing that got me at both places too was that the crowds were like a cross-section of Northwest Ohio – young, old, all races, all “types” of people. Just like I’ve thought, she’s got supporters that I wouldn’t dream of being typical Idol watchers (i.e. bearded biker guys that look like they’d break you in half…wearing Crystal Bowersox t-shirts under their Harley leather. Not even kidding.) This girl has seriously got IT.

mozart-I’m so jealous that you were able to attend, but I’m glad you were able to enjoy it! I hope someone can tell you how to post the videos because I’m dying to see them.

I am not surprised at all about the cross section of fans for Crystal, but I certainly hope the bearded biker guys will spend hours voting because she needs votes!!!!

I’m glad she held back a bit because I wouldn’t want her voice to wear out for Tuesdays performances.

Thanks for the report!

Mozart– I was hoping you would check in from the scene to give us an intimate perspective of Crystal’s hometown travels. Sounds like a great time was had by you- and all. Thanks so much. She’s a winner no matter what happens in two weeks. She’s got the vibe and voice that makes her special. I wish her well.

And thanks to the poster above– J9BT– for telling me about “Little T.” I didn’t see the STAR SPANGLED live. I’m sure video is forthcoming. Can’t wait.

I like Casey a lot as well. His duet with Mike the other night made me look at him in a different light.

I really could live without Lee. I don’t like HIS vibe (uh, where is it?) and I certainly don’t like HIS voice (uh, where is THAT?)

MAYBE I’M AMAZED is a great choice for Crystal. Call me suspicious but I really don’t think Ellen thought of that on her own….Everything on this show feels unreal to me of late and I trust no one and nothing! (I hate feeling like this but…)

I would say there were maybe 15,000 at the fairgrounds. Could have actually been more but I think that’s a pretty good guess. I was hoping to see even more but in reality, I think the population of Ottawa County isn’t much over 20,000 (I could be off though).

I just looked up the population of Ottawa County and it’s around 40,000, so if that many people were there, I’d say she did quite well. That’s almost 1/2 of the people in the entire county!!!!

She is so much more engaging when actually performing live and not “live on TV.” (Not that she’s not pleasant on TV but the “connection” people want – it’s there, she’s going to do fine in concerts even at bigger venues.) It’s obvious she’s a seasoned performer and she is so at ease up there, talking to the crowd, laughing and joking around. And I’m not sure how long they actually had to rehearse (if they did at all) but she and her bassist Frankie May were 100% in sync at the fairgrounds. Of course they’d played quite a bit before but I don’t know if she’d performed Hand in My Pocket and Me and Bobby McGee with him before – or if those were new songs with him. It wasn’t just a one way thing, she worked with him perfectly. She had the harmonica on Hand in My Pocket and seriously blew everyone away. Simply amazing.

Lol so I was a bit off on the population of Ottawa County :-) But yeah, it was a very impressive crowd regardless.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED is a great choice for Crystal. Call me suspicious but I really don’t think Ellen thought of that on her own….Everything on this show feels unreal to me of late and I trust no one and nothing! (I hate feeling like this but…)

BlankSlate – yes, she has Big T and Little T – boyfriend and son are both named Tony!

IDK – I think Ellen may have chosen the song. She’s quite well versed in music, even if her comments on the show aren’t really too deep.

I vote for Crystal every week, but I’m worried she won’t get enough votes to make it to the finale since both Casey and Lee have such a large base of female fans. My husband, for example, refuses to vote even though Crystal is his favorite. I think men in general vote less than women. I actually like both Casey and Lee, and will probably buy their music along with Crystal’s, but Crystal is my fav.

So….we need to make sure all of her fans get as many phones as possible and vote for the entire 2 hours this week. I honestly think Casey is going to win, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all even though many people seem to think he’s a dark horse. I hope I’m wrong, though!

“It’s obvious she’s a seasoned performer and she is so at ease up there, talking to the crowd, laughing and joking around.”

She does seem down to earth, very well grounded and very comfortable on stage. Crystal and the other contestants aren’t really given the opportunity to interact with the audience in between performances since there are such time constraints, and there is such a big focus on performing to the camera since their largest audience watches them on TV.

I’m really looking forward to the tour, and I wasn’t sure if I would be earlier in the season. She’s Top 3, so she should get 4 songs, I think. Plus I want to meet her, so I’m definitely going.

I didn’t work today, so I caught all of the live feeds of Crystal’s day on Fox Toledo and abc13. Really wonderful, exciting stuff. Crystal really is an exceptional live performer and completely funny and engaging on stage. She was also a total crack up at the Mudhen’s game. She looks so incredibly comfortable out there. I, of course, want her to win AI, but after seeing so much of her live today, I have no worries that she will be a big success, no matter what happens. She’s really all about the music and connecting with people.

MJ, I wonder what you thought, having watched some of the live feeds?

Nice radio interview, great quality.. Not my recording.

I do have a clip of about 22 minutes of footage at the Toledo Mud Hens game I recorded off tv.

Pt1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OvSVw_ESrE

Pt2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEvcf65eit4

Better clip of the three song toledo concert from last tonight that can replace them other videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KX5tUpz420

I vote for Crystal every week, but I’m worried she won’t get enough votes to make it to the finale since both Casey and Lee have such a large base of female fans. My husband, for example, refuses to vote even though Crystal is his favorite. I think men in general vote less than women. I actually like both Casey and Lee, and will probably buy their music along with Crystal’s, but Crystal is my fav.

So….we need to make sure all of her fans get as many phones as possible and vote for the entire 2 hours this week. I honestly think Casey is going to win, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all even though many people seem to think he’s a dark horse. I hope I’m wrong, though!

Well, I’m a 30 year old guy, and I’ve been voting somewhere between like 500-700 or so times a week for her. My dad’s not quite 60 and my mom and I have gotten him voting lately too, he sits and redials for as long as he can too. Our family last week probably gave her at least 1,600 votes, could have been quite a bit more. It’s 2 hours of call-hang up-redial, over and over :-)

Well, I’m a 30 year old guy, and I’ve been voting somewhere between like 500-700 or so times a week for her. My dad’s not quite 60 and my mom and I have gotten him voting lately too, he sits and redials for as long as he can too. Our family last week probably gave her at least 1,600 votes, could have been quite a bit more. It’s 2 hours of call-hang up-redial, over and over

Yay! I think you’re one of a few guys I’ve heard who will actually dial and vote! My hairdresser’s husband said he had a moment last year and voted for Kris. I asked her how many times he voted and she said 2. LOL!

I can’t wait to see video of Crystal singing the national anthem! I’ve gotta admit, keeping up with all the interviews and videos is pretty daunting, I didn’t realize how hard it was to try and be a fanatic lol.

so… any video of her national anthem yet?

Yay! I think you’re one of a few guys I’ve heard who will actually dial and vote! My hairdresser’s husband said he had a moment last year and voted for Kris. I asked her how many times he voted and she said 2. LOL!

Honestly I probably wouldn’t have voted in past years…two things have finally gotten me to – I can’t stand seeing talented people lose competitions that are about talent, and of course, I’m one of the maybe 50,000 people in the USA that could have told you where Elliston, Ohio is before this season :-) Even people in Toledo itself wouldn’t usually know, only those who grew up in this little tiny area would have ever heard of it. She’s truly one of the most amazing things to ever come out of our part of the country and, a recurring theme today, has been how she’s an incredible source of regional pride for us.

gangreen29:
05/14/2010 at 9:00 pm
I can’t wait to see video of Crystal singing the national anthem! I’ve gotta admit, keeping up with all the interviews and videos is pretty daunting, I didn’t realize how hard it was to try and be a fanatic lol.

wolfsbane813:
05/14/2010 at 9:02 pm
so… any video of her national anthem yet?

I haven’t checked…isn’t the national anthem in one of the links that someone posted of her at the baseball stadium above? ^^^^ Just to tell you beforehand though, she totally Crystallized it – it was everything I expected it to be and more.

I’m gonna try to get the vids from my phone to my computer. They’re simply too big to email to myself (or anyone) and my cable isn’t working right but I think I have a memory card adapter if I can dig it up :-) I have vids of both songs from the noontime Toledo performance and then another version of Holy Toledo from the fairgrounds and also a video of Speak Now – I wish I would have done all 4 fairgrounds songs cause her Me and Bobby McGee was an extended version with Frankie May soloing – this girl with a little band in concert would be worth any ticket price today, she’s great. And Hand in My Pocket at the fairgrounds was great too – I mean, she just never disappoints…at all.

There is a 5-second clip of the anthem up with Crystal taking questions from reporters after the game but that’s it at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9pJj_6U2SA

I’ll keep looking for the complete version. :)

Lol so there seems to be a link now for the fairgrounds performance – I just got some vids up on YouTube from the fairgrounds myself but the link will be better, I’m sure ;-) I wish I had better recordings from the Toledo performance – I was in a lot better location there but the sound is almost unbearable, lol.

“Holy Toledo” at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WJJhFbsQbo

“Speak Now” at the fairgrounds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YXqgEPb8fs

(Vids might still need a minute to actually go up on YouTube. Cell phone camera recording quality, so be warned, lol.)

Those Casey fans are having an all out party in their thread – lol. Look at how many posts they’re up to…

There’s this from ABC:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=7442961

Footage from the Ottawa Fair Grounds

She sounds pretty strained in the national anthem/reporters clip. She really needs to rest her voice for Tuesday!

Here is a news clip from ABC 13. It shows Crystal getting the text from Ellen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G0DfEvoAkQ

She sounds pretty strained in the national anthem/reporters clip. She really needs to rest her voice for Tuesday!

I heard most of it here a little bit ago on the 10 PM news – it didn’t sound strained earlier tonight but that clip I heard just a little bit ago did kinda. I’m not sure how much of it was her actually straining after singing different places today and how much was just her really going for it. I don’t know if Crystal really knows the meaning of “take it easy.” I’m just guessing, having not seen her before the show – I’ll bet she didn’t go all out that often, only once in a great while. I think that may be the one way she might have changed, in that people came to expect it, so she’s done it. Her two more laid back weeks may have been as much self preservation as anything – she may have realized she needed to back off for a little while and picked songs that would let her. But yeah, the short story is, she really does need to be careful between now and Tuesday. I think she’ll be fine. Lee apparently sang a ton today too and I could see that having an effect on him.

Pam:
05/14/2010 at 10:48 pm
Here is a news clip from ABC 13. It shows Crystal getting the text from Ellen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G0DfEvoAkQ

Lol that was great – “drumroll!”

Yay! I think you’re one of a few guys I’ve heard who will actually dial and vote! My hairdresser’s husband said he had a moment last year and voted for Kris. I asked her how many times he voted and she said 2. LOL!

Let me tell you. Crystal has attracted a ton of male fans. And they vote. Competitively. :)

gangreen, I always thought it was exhausting trying to keep up with the videos, interviews, etc for the homecomings. Today, I ran all over Toledo just trying to attend the events! Whoo! I’m exhausted just from doing that. I do NOT know where Crystal got the stamina to actually DO it all.

If there’s one thing I can assure Crystal fans, it’s this. She is going to have one hell of a homecoming package. It was awesome. I know people who work in the offices downtown who were brought to tears just seeing Toledo come alive the way it did. My sister said that from her office it looked like New Years Eve in Times Square. (OK. Sis tends to exaggerate, but I understand where she’s coming from with this. Toledo has never seen anything like it.)

Whatever happens these next two weeks, Crystal’s going to keep on singing and playing. It’s what she was born to do. Whether she wins the show or not, whether she ends up having a platinum album or not, she’s got a career ahead of her that will be doing exactly what she loves to do, but at a higher level.

Here is the NA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7RJ7J8N8I

You won’t be able to see Crystal in the clip, but you can hear her at least. heh I think she did a great job especially considering she’s been singing all day.

In addition to the 13,200 paid attendance for the Mud Hens game tonight, the one local sportscaster just said there were 3,000+ standing outside the fence and gates just to hear her sing the national anthem. All in all folks, this area can’t hardly turn out more than it did to support her. I think it’s worth noting that the numbers that came out to see her are probably close to comparable with those who have come out to see others, even if perhaps more came out to see Lee today in Chicago as it sounds might be the case. However, the metro Chicago area probably has almost 5 million residents and it’s pushing it to say that Northwest Ohio/metro Toledo would have a million. As was already said, Ottawa County is 40,000 people, and the city of Toledo I know is 300,000. I don’t know about others at the events but I kept having to hold back tears at just how many people really realize how special this is (heck I’m almost tearing up again now writing about it).

mozart4898-Thank you so much for sharing your experience today and your videos too. :)

Thanks mj for taking the time to post all of this stuff today. :)

it’s great that she has been singing her songs today and i wish she could pick the “grey haired ..” as her personal pick. It’s a good song but on a 2nd tought I think it’s better to choose a song that people know.
She has a lot of presence and i like how she’s natural (i think the top 3 are real and genuine people though) and simple.
She got to be in the finale!!!

^^^ I’m really surprised that she said last night she’s been trying to get them to let her do an original song on the show. I asked this a few days ago – does Casey have any originals himself? I don’t recognize the song that quite a few were commenting on over in his thread (the one that begins with the HOLY CRAP CASEY HAS A FALSETTO? opening…I don’t mean that as a knock against it, it was just funny some of the reactions, he actually sounds quite good). Because I don’t recognize it doesn’t mean anything though. I know Lee was doing quite a few originals around Chicago today too. How awesome would it be if in fact, they’d all do the judges choice and then they’ve got, for the first time ever, original songs allowed – and all 3 of them did one? That way there would be equal WTF for all of the songs that people don’t know. I can see people thinking it unfair cause then the song itself would get voted on too, but I could only see this happening if all 3 agreed to it 100%. (And for the record I think it’s got about as much chance of happening as there is chance of Tim being brought back to go up against one of these final 3 in the finale…so not too much.) I would totally lose my shit if they allow originals this week though – Crystal has so many good ones I couldn’t even pick my favorite. “Holy Toledo” played so well to all the crowds today but I think in big part just because it mentions the city.

mozart4898:
It was good to be a Toledoan today! :) I know some people think these hometown visits are hokey, and I’ve felt that way myself. But, having participated in one, I can tell you the emotions are genuine.

What I noticed about Crystal at the AT&T event: she made point to sign autographs for every child in the place, and she got down on one knee so she could look them in the eye and talk to them. The kids were star struck. She was polite and pleasant to the adults, and wise-cracked with a few of them, but her focus was on the kids. I was taken by that.

Man I just tear up every time I start thinking about it all myself – I can’t imagine how she kept it together like she did all day. You could tell she was touched but she’s so good onstage she never faltered. I’m not one to milk the emotion thing for a TV show, but they need to use the clip from the end of “Holy Toledo” recorded Thursday night in the lobby, where she got choked up over the cheer for one of her own songs. You could see at that moment just how much all of this really means to her.

She’s done everything so far for us. We all need to get her the last part of the way now. Cause she doesn’t have to win to have a career out of this, but she deserves it.

Crystal’s voice moves me every time. It’s so great to see her at this stage of the competition, she was my pick since Hollywood week, S9 might not be great, but Crystal auditioning for it is the one thing that saves the season for me.

Holy Toledo is such a beautiful song, and it was touching to see her choke up like that, her original stuff is amazing! I wish she could perform that song on idol.

Can’t wait to hear what she does with Maybe I’m Amazed.

mj:
05/14/2010 at 10:24 pm

There’s this from ABC:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=7442961

Footage from the Ottawa Fair Grounds

THIS IS IT!!! This is what I saw of Crystal yesterday! My daughter, son and I spent 8+ hours traveling and 3 hours standing in the sun waiting [raccoon eyes FTW], (lesson #1, if you ever go to a homecoming and are unsure of the venue, put chairs in your trunk!).

My take: IT WAS WORTH EVERY MOMENT!!!! I would do it again in a second!!!!! That video, which is very well done, doesn’t begin capture how amazing everything was live!!

When we arrived in Oak Harbor we stopped at a gas station store to get some water and the clerk (probably in her twenties) loves Crystal and was wishing she could go to the fairgrounds! Virtually every business window in that small town had something written about Crystal on it! There were also signs all over the place! Crystal was so lovely and has such a fresh look about her. Her stage presence is incredible (as someone mentioned she is right at home up there.) I got chills when she sang, esp. “Me and Bobby McGee”. The crowd was drawn right in!!

As we finally left the fairgrounds we had to turn right instead of left and take a huge detour to get back on track. We stopped to place a takeout order so we could eat dinner in the car on the way home. One of the waitresses has on a Crystal t-shirt and had just come from the fairgrounds. She was probably in her 50s. She said Crystal had written a song for her anniversary a few years back. She also (obviously) loves Crystal!!! Mozart is right Ottawa County loves their hometown girl!!!

As I said, I would do it all again in a heartbeat!!!

Okay, a couple more tidbits. Frankie May (great name imo) was incredible as well. The video doesn’t even begin to capture his greatness. If Crystal has her way, I’m pretty sure she will taking him right along with her, wherever she goes.

On the video before “Holy Toledo”, she says, “Not today guys, sorry.” There had been a request for “Farmers Daughter” which some of us here at mj’s have heard when she posted it.

I’m hoping Crystal picks up the casual voters Tuesday night.

I think that at the finale, instead of a rainbow song the contestants should be able to sing one of their original songs. Their originals are way better suited to them than the coronation song of seasons past.

Frankie May is AWESOME, cookcricket. He comes by it honestly. Both of his parents are Toledo musicians. I really believe that when it’s time for Crystal to put her band together, she’s going to insist on having Frankie as her bass player.

Thanks for the NA vid mj. :)

Awesome-my dad went to the University of Toledo and I was born in Ohio

I’m not a fan,but I’m definetly gonna cry during her homecoming video

This girl is amazing. Everything about her. Maybe Maybe I’m Amazed is a political move. Casey did a John Lennon song, so we have to have a Paul McCartney. After all, he’s still alive; gotta even things out.

I don’t know if this has been mentioned but Crystal also made a private stop at Papa’s Tavern and sang 4 or 5 songs there with Frankie May and his dad. So, she really ended up singing a total of 14 to 15 songs in a very short time period. http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100515/NEWS16/5150359

Chris Daughtry said by Top 4 his voice was really strained because of the amount of singing that they do each week while on Idol. He said they pretty much had to sing every day and it was the most singing he had ever done so his voice was raw. I noticed that Crystal’s voice sounded strained the last two weeks and if you add the amount of songs she did yesterday, I’m concerned for her two performances next week. I don’t think she can give it a rest because she has to practice Ellen’s song choice as well as her personal pick for Tuesday night. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her because I really want her to win or at least get into the finale.

Thanks to everyone who shared their Crystal homecoming experience with us. :) I wish I could have been there.

To cookcricket. When the crowds @Ottawa Co Fairgrounds asked Crystal to play “Farmer’s Daughter”, Crystal leaned over to Frankie May & said “my mom is out there”. I didn’t catch that the 1st time I watched the playback. I caught it the 2nd time. Crystal then told the crowds “not tonight guys”.
Most of us has heard this song, the 1st time I did I got teary eyed. No one would write & record a song with this much intense, raw emotion unless it were true. It seems to me Crystal was sparing her mother any scrutiny. What a talented, forgiving and compassionte girl! Throughout her time back home she was gracious, funny and endearing. She is the most talented individual this season!
Did anyone catch in one of the interviews that when she attended Toledo School of Arts, that one of Crystal’s parents would drive her from Elliston to I280, so that Crystal could meet up with a teacher who then drove her on to school? Talk about dedication!!
Go Crystal, we’re voting & praying for you!!

Cool girl. She should win, but she won’t cuz she’s a girl. :-(

Thanks sunny1956! I wondered what she said to him. She is a very special girl indeed!

weareallinnocent, I’m not giving up hope yet!

@ cookcricket – I’m so glad you made it here to see her! I heard stories on TV of people from all over who came to see her – from Michigan, Columbus, heck there was a story about two people who pawned their TV, their DVD player, stereo equipment, and some DVDs just for gas money to get here from Cincinnati. I figured people would come from a ways away – I never expected to hear stories like that. It was basically like people who couldn’t even afford to do it, still did it because they feel how special this girl is.

And I heard her at the fairgrounds say “not today guys.” I wasn’t sure what someone had asked for – that totally makes sense. It almost seems to me based on a few things that I’ve seen and heard that she’s kinda reconciled with her mom – even if it’s no more than being on speaking terms. “Farmer’s Daughter” is such a powerful song, I really hope she still will do it in the future, but at the same time, I can understand as an artist, if it’s an expression of feelings she had before that she doesn’t totally feel like expressing now, she may not do it any more. At least there’s the demo recording out there for us to hear.

I worry about her voice some – I could tell she sounded a little strained on the national anthem at the baseball game, but I’m also hoping that she’s actually done a lot of performing before and is used to singing quite a bit. Hopefully a day or two to recover and her voice will be fine.

And Frankie May – he’s great. I really expect she’ll lobby hard to have him as her bass player after all of this – and I see no reason from what I’ve heard that he wouldn’t be more than adequate. Unless they’ve got a burr up their ass that he wouldn’t have been selected by TPTB.

weareallinnocent:
05/15/2010 at 4:09 pm
Cool girl. She should win, but she won’t cuz she’s a girl.

cookcricket:
05/15/2010 at 5:10 pm
Thanks sunny1956! I wondered what she said to him. She is a very special girl indeed!

weareallinnocent, I’m not giving up hope yet!

Don’t say she’s not gonna win cause she’s a girl! Lol I can’t understand why women wouldn’t want to vote for her just as much as for a guy – she’s another woman who isn’t afraid to be herself, she’s incredibly talented, and sticks up for what she believes in. And I’m glad to hear that people know of other guys voting for her too – not that I cared if there were others (and I knew deep down there had to be), but it just makes me feel even better, lol. But talk to your friends – if they don’t watch, get them to watch at least a little and see what they think of her. If you know people voting for her, try to get them to vote more if they can – if they’re voting 10 times now, get them to vote 50, if they spend an hour redialing, try to get them to go the whole 2 hours (heck, there’s only 2 more weeks left)! This girl really deserves it.

I really hopes she wins. She deserves it. I love her original song “Speak Now”. She reminds me of Jewel with that song but way better. Her phrasing is impeccable. The girl has “it”. Her lack of a penis might take the crown away from her but I hope not. I hope America will see that she is the most talented artist left in the competition and vote their asses off for her. Lee and Casey are great too but they will be fine being runner-up to Crystal. :)

I hope”mamasox” wins. Since Simon gave the song ‘hallelujah’ to Lee to sing- well, that song is great even if a singer is tone deaf and voice cracks-Lee got ‘lucky’ to be given that song, but Crystal is a better singer, beautiful vocal tones, always in key- she actually deserves to win.

I noticed that Crystal’s voice sounded strained the last two weeks and if you add the amount of songs she did yesterday, I’m concerned for her two performances next week.Her phrasing is impeccable.
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