Washington, DC AI Live! Show – Cheese’s Recap

Cheese rules. So does little cheese. That is all. Read her snarkilicious recap of the Washington DC concert below:

Give it up for Pop-Tarts! (What is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ? I think à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  is probably a little piece of my dignity)

I attended the Wash DC show with my 10 yr. old daughter, little cheese. This was her first à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  concert (sort of. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  compared to The Wiggles and Clay Aikenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Juke Box tour, which is all sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s seen previously). The pre-show warm-up was all kinds of obnoxious. If the glare of a little girl could kill, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Corey the Warm-Up Guyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  would no longer be with us.

More Recap after the JUMP…

1. Chikezie à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Wonderful voice, good performer, but really no à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  factor for me. It probably didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t help that I wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t familiar with his last two songs. Still, a great way to open the show.

2. Ramiele – Little Rami was all sparkles and squatty dancing. During her second song, little cheese looked bored and asked if anyone would sing any songs she knew. Then Rami started the Maroon 5 song, which little cheese does know. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Oh, I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t like it when she sings it.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  I think the best part was watching my kid mock the dramatic hair flip and frozen pose that Rami did at the end of every song. Sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s very cute with a pretty voice, but I wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t into it.

3. Michael à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ So Michael rises up from under the stage. Little cheese rolls her eyes and says à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s such a dork!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  (she was, er, not a fan of his during the show) Ten seconds later sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s beaming from ear-to-ear, on her feet, and happily shouting along to “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” As cheesy as these songs are, they are absolutely perfect for this audience. Neither of us was really into à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s All Wrongà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  although we did enjoy the close ups of the weird Michael faces on the big screen, so we just made those at each other. Dream On was fantastic and Michael hit all the high notes. We still think heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a dork, though. The woman sitting next to us was completely batsh*t over MJ and that alone would have been pretty entertaining. (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mom, are you going to act like that when David comes out?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ )

4. KLC à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Apologies to any KLC fans, and I should preface these comments by noting that we are not country music fans (to put it lightly). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mom, why is she shaking her butt so much?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Expressions observed on daughterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s face while she waited for Kristy to stop singing: Snoring, tongue-out, finger down throat, pantomimed projectile vomiting, more snoring, eye rolling, and finally, the little girl death stare previously reserved only for Corey. It didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t help that Kristyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s first and third songs, were, to our ears, the same exact song, with God Bless the USA (eek!) in between. That being, said, she sang well enough (the band was sort of too loud), and the crowd seemed to like her just fine. Um, yeah, not my favorite.

5. Carly à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ She looked and sounded gorgeous, especially on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Bring Me To Life.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  I was a little inattentive during the last two songs because my daughter wanted to have a 5 minute debate over whether she could wait for intermission for the bathroom (and of course, I asked the obvious question à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ why didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t we leave during the previous set?) Carly and KLC both mentioned that they had gone to the White House earlier in the day.

6. Brooke à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Probably my second favorite set of the night. My daughter knew and loved all of her songs and had a blast singing along with 1234. We enjoyed all of the cheesy yellow lighting for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Yellowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  too. We loved Brooke.

INTERMISSION à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ A man wandered into menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s room that had been converted into a womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s room and was completely oblivious. Hilarity ensued. Corey was obnoxious some more.

7. Jason à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ More giddiness for both of us. Little cheese played air ukulele for SOTR and sang along with “Crazy.” We also loved Jasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s mumbled anti-banter as much as we loved his singing (All I understood was. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m Jason Castroà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I like this songà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , but it didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t matter. I wish he could have stayed on stage longer and just muttered stuff to himself. Adorable). His set really flew by way too fast.

8. Syesha à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Um, what is she wearing?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Umbrella was fun and got a great response from the crowd, and I liked the Alicia Keys song. I think she actually sounded the best out of the girls, and she really gave it her all for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Listenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and got a lot of love in return. I wish she would have had a 2nd upbeat number in her set though.

9. Archie à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ The squealing! OMG! Little cheese, despite her age, is immune to Mr. Sparklysuità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s particular brand of cuteness. Projectile!Vomiting! little cheese was back by halfway through Angels. During à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Apologizeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ruining it!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  (she sang along anyway) I think she actually enjoyed “Stand By Me/Beautiful Girls”, but would never admit it. We didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t much care for the Josh Groban Zzzzzong. However, I was impressed with Archieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s vocals and overall improved delivery, and he was adorable à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“dancingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  while singing the Beautiful Girls part. I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know if they turned his mic up, the band was quieter, or his voice is just that strong, but that boyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s songs were deafening. His banter was also funny. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“So, we were on the show and now weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re touring!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Really? I was wondering who they were and why all of them were on stage! Thanks Archie! He did a lot of giggling between songs and was very cute. I certainly get why a lot of people love him, even though his musical style isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t my thing. He got a huge response from the crowd, but not as huge asà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

10. Cook à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ DC LOVED DC. Absolutely loved. I loved the suit, but I kind of think he wore it just so he could make his à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m running for Presidentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  joke because heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a nerd like that. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s such a natural and it was worth the price of admission just to hear him sing 5 songs, even songs about tasting moments and songs from the Armageddon soundtrack. I havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seen too many people on stage with that sort of charisma. And thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not just my not-quite-Cougar-aged hormones talking. I saw plenty of men having reactions similar to mine. (To be honest, and much to my surprise, I barely swooned à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I guess it really IS about the music. Huh.)

Little cheese, however, most definitely swooned when he rose up to the stage for “Hello” and actually teared up during TOML and “Billie Jean”, which was very cute and very unexpected (sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s always liked DC just fine, but she really wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t that into Idol this year). I screamed a lot and sang every word like an idiot and had a blast during the whole set. I was interrogated after the show about the absence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Always Be My Babyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  from the set list. I think that suit + that song probably would have been TMTH for some of the, um, more vocal female fans in the audience anyway.

So in summary, 35 songs is a lot, Pop Tarts are evil, Corey is obnoxious, country music blows, Jason and Brooke are charming, MJ is a goober with great voice and an infectious personality, DA is a different kind of goober with a great voice and a different kind of infectious personality, and DC is a STAH!