American Idols Live 2010 – Cristina’s Houston Recap

Read Cristina’s American Idol Tour adventure below:

***

I’ll start with a little bit about myself. I’m 20 (21 in October! Wooh) and I’m majoring in English with a Minor in Studies in Pop Culture. I have always been a very casual AI watcher. I’m hardly an encyclopedia of AI knowledge. But this season, I got hooked on Beatles week. Something about didgeridoos, bagpipes and Lennon/McCartney songs got me invested in these people. During the show, I couldn’t stand most of them but I loved Crystal and Lee. After seeing all the idols in person on Saturday, I love all of them as people and most of them as singers/performers.

My AI Tour Extravagaza began at around 2 in the afternoon. I was waiting with a couple of friends at the venue in the hopes of meeting some of the Idols. They eventually pulled up in the busses and some of them came out to see us. First, Tim came out (this was before any barricades were set up) and I would like to give props to the Tim fans that managed to control themselves and not tackle him. Who would have thunk? We also saw Andrew, Aaron and Lee. Luckily, there were only 30 or 40 people there instead of the hundreds after the show.

(Let’s get the fangirl moment out of the way now!) I love Lee. He’s a really sweet guy. He took the time to meet everybody and take pictures. He talked to me and my friends for at least 5 minutes, which was awesome. I bought him neon pink converse and he was SO excited. He said in a surprisingly serious voice that he would wear them, but I’m not expecting him to. My friend also made him a photomosaic of his winning moment and he really appreciated it. I like how surprised he always is to get gifts that take time and effort. Lee does so much for us fans, so the least we can do is show our appreciation for him.

Fast forward to 7:30. I LOVE the opening credits. Epic music always makes me LOL, and this time was no different. The AI intro was pretty cool too. It was cool to see glimpses of everybody’s performances.

Didi– She did fine. She’s a lovely person and she can sing. I can’t put my finger on it, but she was lacking in something. I wish she had some more charisma up there.

Andrew– His intro video also made me LOL. (I think it was supposed to remind us of how cool he is?) I’ll admit, I actually danced in my chair to Straight Up. Loved it. But I hate Maroon 5. And I hate Sunday Morning. Ergo, I hated Andrew singing Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. But to end on a positive note, he succeeded in getting some of the crowd to stand up! Yay, Houston!

Katie– She’s got a big voice that I love. She’s super sweet and I hope she can find some sort of opportunity once the tour is over. I don’t have many other thoughts on her except I would totally buy one of her singles if it’s catchy enough. I like a little bit of mindless pop. I have no shame!

Tim– I think meeting the Idols before the concert colored my opinion of them, especially Tim. I doubted his capabilities during the show, but meeting him was sort of a lightbulb moment for me. He’s able to draw people in, even if it’s mostly the younger crowd. And he can sing, even if it’s not comparable to most successful singers. So what? I ended up singing along with him when I could, but I also hate Coldplay so that proved difficult during Viva La Vida. Overall, Tim was fine.

Siobhan– Oh, Sha-bon-bon. I liked her, then I didn’t like her. Then I liked her all over again! I will testify that her end note on Paint It Black lasted at least a minute and I will stand by that until a video proves otherwise. She sang Spiderwebs without mumbling, so that was nice. Stockholm Syndrome was… interesting. I was trying to prepare myself for the sudden shift from Siobhan to Aaron so I couldn’t really enjoy her last song. Either way, Aaron eventually hopped on stage whether I was ready for him or not.

Aaron– Maybe I’m just in denial, but I don’t consider myself a country fan. However, I do have one Keith Urban cd and some Shania Twain and Faith Hill so make of that what you will. Aaron has the voice for radio/performing. With age, he’ll only get better so I can see him being successful. His set was fine, he was feeling the love of the crowd and the crowd was loving on him. Even though he’s a pretty small guy, he filled up the stage and venue with his energy.

The Climb– I sang along to this also despite my vehement dislike of Miley Cyrus and her voice. I think the bottom six made the song a better song, and they really let Aaron take the reins for the song. Very cool.

Intermission– I’ll use this space to discuss extra stuff. There were TONS of people there. The covered seating (about 7000) was full, and the lawn seating (about 9000) was at least half full. I was so glad for these guys that so many people showed up. I swelled up with pride. It’s an outdoor venue, so it was very hot. But that’s summer in Texas for ya. Also, it was a relatively lively crowd during the first half. People were clapping; people were getting up and dancing. Things didn’t get more energetic until the end of intermission. Also, the audience wasn’t hounded to get up and dance too much. Maybe 3 or 4 times total? So that wasn’t bad at all. Aaron was the most successful at getting crowd participation in the first half.

Big Mike– I won’t hate on him because he seems like a really cool person, but I don’t like his singing. And I don’t like how often he sings in such a high pitch. I told my friend that he must use that falsetto voice to talk to babies and small animals. No thanks.

Casey– CAAASSAAAAAAYYYY!!!! Okay I wasn’t really that enthusiastic but he was awesome. I’ll let the more passionate Casey fans explain his awesomeness, since I’m not a big fan. He’s good at what he does, and I’m sure he’ll also find success wherever he goes (sorry I’m being a bit repetitive, I really like everybody! Lol). I did find (a ton) of pride seeing him up there though. It was all just one big love fest between the crowd and Casey. His duet with Big Mike was good (considering I hate that song with the intensity of a thousand burning hot suns) and their voices blend well together.

Crystal– I love me some Crystal! I’ll be honest though, I prefer her live performances over any studio recordings I’ve heard. I love watching her perform. Anywho, her set was really good. I got chills during Up to the Mountain. She also had a funny gag: She had a stagehand bring her water and he brought it in a big gallon water jug. She proceeded to say “Wow, I guess everything IS bigger in Texas!” to which the crowd responded with an appropriate amount of chuckles and laughter. When she finished Piece of My Heart, I stood up and clapped/hollered like a crazy person. Even at this point in the show, most people were not standing up! But everyone was clapping so I guess it wasn’t too terrible.

Lee– I honestly don’t remember his set haha. It all went by so fast, but it was fun to sing along. (His was the only set where I knew the words to every song.) He and Crystal succeeded in getting people to clap/sway arms the most. (Some serious sway action was going on during Hallelujah). Alas, I stood up for BD, THLAL and US because I knew I would have regretted it later if I had just sat there. I really hope to see some videos so I can experience it again. Funny moment: Before THLAL Lee told the audience to “do… whatever” instead of his usual banter to make people dance. Vague, much? Oh and in case you were wondering, he wasn’t wearing the neon pink shoes. No worries though! They wouldn’t have gone with his outfit. Lol.

After Lee wrapped up US, I powerwalked to the barricades. All I heard of the group sing was It’s My Life. I was walking out the venue as Katie started singing. I’m really glad I left when I did, because a hoard of people came after MLWSWY ended. The idols came out kinda late (no surprise) and luckily I got all of their autographs. Some people were a bit ridiculous (also no surprise) but for the most part, people were nice.

Overall, it was a really good time. This was my first AI concert so I feel like I had a mix of bad mistakes (buying tickets early instead of late) along with good choices (going to the venue at 1 in the afternoon) and I’m really glad I went. I know there’s a negative air around this season, but I really do love this group, and I’ve watched most of the episodes online over and over again. Of course not everyone will get behind this season, but I hope that doesn’t prevent people from trying to go in with an open mind or finding at least one thing to like. Why waste your energy being negative? I paid $76 for my ticket, so I had a lot of incentive to have a good time, but I hope even those with $10 tickets have a blast.

Well thanks for reading! I hope something in there entertained you in some way or made you excited to see the show!

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!