Megan is not only a blog long-timer, but she was one of last night’s superfabulous tweeters! (@mcaro05). Check out her detailed recap below:
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I don’t know how many people are interested in reading my recap of the Detroit Idol show, but since I have written one every season, figured I might as well keep on truckin. (warning: I write a lot).
So…remember last year, when I walked out of the Toledo Idol after party and I said “that’s it. No more Idol shows for me. I’m done”. Well, I lied. And you can blame Casey Abrams. Yes, Casey was my favorite this year, with Jacob and Naima coming close behind. Overall , though, I really enjoyed this season. My best friend Sam’s favorite is Stefano. She went to the Milwaukee show and met him, but never got a picture with him, so we were on a MISSION this time around. So, we headed down to the Joe around noon to try and meet our faves before the show. When we first arrived it was a very small group, and it was cloudy with a nice breeze. Their ended up being about 20-25 people outside, and it got hot- FAST. Thank goodness we had chairs, a cooler full of water, and umbrellas, or I probably would have passed out. It was disgusting.
The buses rolled in around12:30- 1 or so. Right behind the buses came a taxi, with Jacob in the front and Haley and Stefano in the back- they must have missed the bus. Haley’s window was down and she just smiled and waved at us. Someone further down the line asked if Haley and Stefano were dating. I saw Haley shake her head no, then Stefano said something and she hit him. Not sure what that was about :-p
After the buses got there, we waited. And waited. Thia’s mom came out and told us they were already in hair and make up, and she made it sound like no one would come outside. Jacob FINALLY came outside, I don’t remember what time it was but in my head it was a little after 3. I was really excited to meet Jacob. I had made him a little gift (printed off a ton of pictures from Idol, put them in a photo album so it was like his Idol journey) and I really wanted to be able to give it to him in person. When he got to me I handed him the gift and his face lit up. He was like “I NEVER GET ANYTHING THANK YOU THANK YOU”, hugged me 8 times and kept saying “OKAY ONE MORE HUG” he was so funny! And he’s REALLY TALL. I wasn’t expecting that. I also told him to look for my sign in the audience. Then I asked him to please tell Naima I had something for her too. He promised he would….
Naima came out like 5-10 minutes later, so thank you Jacob! Holy cow, she is GOREGOUS in person. She has these absolutely killer green eyes . I showed her the sign I had made her (red, yellow, green coloring in the background that said “Peace, Love, Naima”) and she did a little dance. Then I gave her the gift (A teal scarf that said sunshine on my shoulders) and we took a picture. She also took out her phone and took a picture of me holding the sign, but it was so hot and I was shaking that I don’t think it turned out well haha. She very quietly asked me if I was okay and I said “I’m really hot”. Then she asked my name and said she’d tweet me later. She was really a sweetheart. She and Jacob both seemed extremely grateful for the fans coming to stand outside.
So we wait some more….and another taxi comes up. We’re all waiting to see if it’s an Idol, and out pops James. We all screamed for him…and it only took him a few minutes to come over! James was extremely down to earth and nice. I was glad we met him even though I was never a huge fan. I asked him very politely ( HATE asking the Idols for things) if Stefano could come out because my best friend had a gift for him. He said “well what’s the gift”…. “wine”. He got so excited and was like “ALRIGHT” and high fived Sam. James liked the collage I had made for the idols to sign; he kept making comments about the other contestants’ pictures (Jacobs’s bow tie, etc). I also told him about my friend Erin and how he had inspired her and he said “hi Erin” ha. We took a picture together, and when he moved to my friends he asked if they wanted water. …which he DID bring to them after he finished talking to everyone in the line!!! When he walked past us to get back to the venue we said “don’t forget red wine!”
Right around 4, Casey was outside. My friend says “there’s your man. Go get him”. We eventually lured him into coming over. Casey looked so tired!!!! The heat probably wasn’t helping. Anyways, when he got to me I show3ed him my sign- which said “Is it that look in your eyes(with a picture of his scary eyes from smells like teen spirit) hey Casey I think I wanna marry you) he read it, and then said “you THINK?” I said “well, I know”. HA. He signed stuff for me then I gave him the Esperanza Spalding LP I picked up for him. He was like “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” and then hugged me. He said he had the cd but wanted the record. We took a picture and I asked him, kindly, to please bring Stefano out for my best friend.
Security told us no one else was coming (and they had escorted Casey back in, so I’m assuming it was time for the meet and greet). We gave Casey the wine for Stefano as he walked by.
We were ready to give up when I spotted Stefano by the buses. I literally screamed “DON’T MAKE ME COME GET YOU”. You don’t understand. I literally never ask the Idols for anything nor am I that forward but I needed Sam to get her picture. I was not leaving until we did. He came over, motioned for Sam, gave her a hug and said “I’ll see you after”…and walked back in.
We put all our stuff back in the car and then came back to sit with our friends who were waiting to see if Haley would come out. On our way back, I got a tweet from one of the band members (who I’ve met before) asking if I was okay outside and if I needed water. I told him we’d love water if he could bring it- so he walks out with a bud light case of water bottles to give my friends and I. So nice!!!! By this point we knew it was too late for people to come outside so we went over to cobo and sat in the ac and grabbed something to eat.
SHOW TIME
Our seats were AMAZING. 5th row, but the way it was set up it was more like 2nd row, because we were in the 2nd row past the catwalk. Pretty incredible. I don’t know that I’ve ever been THAT close at an Idol show.
So I can’t remember the exact order of the show, I’ll just go with contestants who I know performed in each half.
Pia. Here’s my thing with Pia. She’s a gorgeous girl. She’s an incredible singer. But she sounds like every other “REALLY GOOD” pop singer. There’s nothing super special about her voice. And, I hate to say this to piss off Pia fans, but she’s kind of boring. I only saw her crack a smile a few times through the whole show. Don’t get me wrong, she is talented- just don’t get the hype I guess. I loved her duet with Stefano, their voices sounded really good together.
Paul was a ball of fun! He took “Maggie May” and just went for it. He got us up on our feet and just ran around the stage. I enjoy Paul’s sound a lot (would buy his music!) , and I appreciate his enthusiasm and energy.
Thia. She’s adorable, she has a sweet voice. I didn’t like what she did with “Who Says” (I was already to jam out to the nananana part but she waaaay slowed it down), but that probably isn’t her fault J, so I give her a pass.
Stefano was the pleasant surprise of the evening. He was superb live- and a lot of energy. Grenade was fabulous. “Dj got us falling in love again” was a really fun song. Sam and I kind of went nuts, Haley was laughing at us dancing. And Stefano took his shirt off- holy abs. The crowd loved that!! Really enjoyed his set.
NAIMA. OMG.!!!!! She is insane and I LOVE IT. Her voice sounded a lot stronger than on the show, and her dancing was incredible. The crowd really enjoyed it, I hope people are giving her the appreciation she deserves. I always felt she was robbed on the show for being unique when white dudes with guitars sing an acoustic version of a pop song and they are dubbed “genius”.
Casey. Do I even have words? I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my life, but Casey’s performance last night was the first time I’ve ever designed a plan to jump on stage and mob the artist. LOL. Everything about his set was magical. He is just such a talented musician with a true love for the arts and a soulful sound that I adore. Oh, and his duet with Haley was perfect. I am not a Haley fan, but I started to appreciate her more after that performance.
As for the group numbers, in the first half, I gotta say the boys “Animal” was my favorite. When you have a handful of hyper, cute, talented boys on stage, you’re going to have a good performance.
Second Half (sorry, I know I write a lot)
Lauren is 95093039 times better live than I imagined she would be. And she’s so much more confident now! And she’s not having breathing issues (at least that I could tell). She made eye contact with the crowd and looked like she was having the absolute time of her life. During “Like My Mother Does” she changed one of the lines to “that’s what YOU do”, pointed to her mom and said “I love you mama”. So cute! “If I Die Young” has really special meaning to me, so I was glad to hear that live. Sam and I were crying, and Stefano/Haley noticed. The four of us were like having a lovefest through tears. Pretty neat moment.
James– like I said earlier, I was never a fan of James- but he was incredible. He runs in from the back of the arena and his set was just this rock party. He is QUITE the performer. Honestly (don’t throw rocks at me) I think he’s better than Adam. ::runs::
Jacob. Holy moly. Jacob did NOT hold back in Detroit. You could just tell that he was really excited to be in Motown, he totally let loose. His vocals were out of this world. He practically took the wind out of me, and out of himself too- after his last song he fell to the ground, exhausted from all the energy her put into his set. It was really funny, and I think he gained new fans last night.
Haley. Never ever did I consider myself a Haley fan…until her final performance of Bennie and the Jets the night she was eliminated. I just loved that version. But last night she may have finally won me over. I don’t know that Haley is a real person. Her voice live is haunting and gut wrenching. Bennie and the Jets was like a religious experience. She definitely won me over. Still wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan, but she’s hooked my interest J
Oh Scotty. I made the decision to NOT leave the show early with my friends and to stay for Scotty’s whole set/ the final performance. I had already met my faves earlier and I really wanted to see the rest of the show. Scotty was so good, and the crowd could not get enough of him. That voice of his is really something. Loved that he sang “baby lock them doors”. I was kind of fan girling for Scotty, not gonna lie. “Gone” was my favorite, that’s one of my favorite songs ever. The girls were so cute doing background- Lauren and I were rocking out together. I really think Scotty’s career will take off.
The final group number was so fun. Jacob was INSANE. He was doing this half jumping jack dance move and everyone in our section just laughed- he looked like he has having a blast. All of them seemed to enjoy themselves, dancing with each other. It was hard to keep track but my eyes were mostly on Jacob and Naima. When the song ended and the lights came on, James stayed on the stage and got us all screaming and cheering some more. He went off stage and people started leaving- but I look back up and James had his head poked out of the little doors where the idols had used to come on stage and was still getting the crowd excited. He must have enjoyed Detroit J
I got out of the arena pretty quickly and made my way to the buses to find my friends. I found them and was 2 rows behind them- held their purses for them because I’m def the mom of the group J I waited for a while with them; it started raining so I used Jacob’s sign as an umbrella. After about an hour, Casey came out!!
My friend Sam told him “Megan is behind me and she wants you to know that she KNOWS she’s gonna marry you now”. Casey looked up, saw me and said “Yeah? When?” I said “whenever you want” and he was like “FALL? Is fall good for you? We’ll talk.”. Then someone asked him if he and Haley were still dating and he said “No, I was never dating her”. And Sam says “uh clearly he’s getting married to Megan”. HA!
After Casey, I walked back to the car with these SUPER NICE people. I was afraid the garage was going to close. So I got my car (thank you to the family who walked me to my car- so nice) and pulled it up right in front of where all the fans were waiting- found my friends, who at this point were at the very end of the line.
SAM HAD GOTTEN HER STEFANO PICTURE. VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he was super nice to her- I’m sad I missed it but I’m really happy she was able to talk to him for a few minutes and take an adorable picture.
Jacob came out and ran to our end of the line to start there- we took a huggy picture and he thanked me again for the album. Then we waited for Casey to finish- he was taking a long time with the fans- when he got to us I asked for a proper proposal and he said “We’ll get married, but we won’t have a wedding”. Okay Casey- whatever you want J He signed my program for me-and by signed I mean drew a picture of himself- then said “I’m gonna draw a bass on Jacob’s tummy” and he did just that. So random. We took a huggy picture too, then he said “what’s your name again?” so I told him and he said “You got me the record. I’m gonna give you a shoutout. Yep, that’s what I’m gonna do”. He was adorable.
After Casey we left…Scotty and Lauren were out but we were all SO tired that we weren’t going to wait. Paul was out too. Don’t think anyone else came out. As we drove by we yelled “YEAAAH LAUREN” and she turned around and yelled back. She seemed to be really enjoying meeting people.
So that’s it, in a nutshell- HA. Sorry, I just have to remember every detail.
