Hello everyone. I’m Jason and this is my third American Idols Live Tour concert. First was Season 6 and then Season 7. Sorry if this recap is super long! I just really wanted to write down everything that happened. I have to say this was my very favorite show to go to. The whole show was amazing and went by super fast and I got to meet my Idol Kris as well as my other favs Adam, Allison, Matt and Anoop. I had only two hours of sleep prior because I had to drive 5 hours and couldn’t sleep because I was so excited so I had like 3 hours of sleep within the time frame of 45 hours. I was exhausted but I was just too excited to see my Idols!
We arrived at 12 pm and waited forever for the Idols to come out to sign autographs. They finally came out at 2:15ish. The first person out was Michael Sarver, and he got a huge reaction from the fans because he’s from Texas. He signed my DVD collection box of all my Season 8 DVDs I recorded. Next was Scott MacIntyre, who was assisted by his brother. And when Scott signed my DVD box, he said in a very cute manner, “what is this!?” I told him and he was very friendly. Next was Matt Giraud and omg Kris Allen! I made a Kris shirt which had an iron on Kris picture and guitar over as well as stars and all of his performances on it on the back. When he got to me I like, was, literally shaking and I asked him to sign my shirt and he did! And he said, “thanks dude, so much. That’s so awesome!” Then I got my picture with him. Matt was super cool as well, so friendly and cool to talk to. So many people were taking pictures of me and my friend Sara’s shirts (her’s was a really cool Adam one) as well as are KRADAM sign, including blue and red roses and pictures of both of them and the sign was in the shape of a heart. Soon after, Kris and Matt were rushed inside as it was time for meet and greet and nobody else came out.
So we left and came back around 5:30 just in time to get inside. Are seats were lower level and so awesome. When we were walking up to go to the souvenir stand, we saw 13th place finisher Jasmine Murray and her mom walk down and we said hi and were like star struck. It was so cool to see her, she is so pretty. Apparently Drake LaBry, Adam’s boyfriend was there as well as Alexis Grace, but we didn’t see them.
The show started at around 7:15, and Michael came out first and got a great reaction from the crowd being the homestate boy. He started off with a very soulful rendition of “In Love with a Girl” by Gavin DeGraw getting the crowd on their feet. He then pointed out his wife and kids in the crowd and dedicated “Closer” by NeYo to her, saying he was in love. I was never really a big fan of his on the show, but he was very good live. So much energy and a great way to start off the show.
Next was Megan Joy. I know she is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I really like her voice and thought she did a great job on “Put Your Records On.” And she is so beautiful, I loved how she had glitter all on her tattoos. She doesn’t have a lot of stage presence, as in moving around a lot, but that’s her, that’s what makes her unique. Her second song, “Tears Dry On Their Own” I wasn’t too familiar with, but she sang it very well and it was really catchy. Apparently it’s an Amy Winehouse song, so she knows what route to go, so good for her!
Next was Scott MacIntyre. And I felt really bad, but during his first performance of “Bend And Break” I kind of zoned out. I didn’t like him on the show, but he did sound better live. His second performance of “A Thousand Miles” got me to notice and other than one bum note I really liked that one. Honestly though, his set was my least favorite of the night, but he is super nice and a great pianist.
Lil was up next, who I didn’t like on the show, but once she came out singing “Be Without You” I was really feeling her and her voice and realized what the judges saw in her in the beginning. Then she did “Just Fine” another Mary J. Blige song and it was okay. I love “No One” by Alicia Keyes and thought she did a great job on it as well. Last was a rousing performance of “Single Ladies” by Beyonce and it was a lot of fun! So far Lil was the biggest surprise of the night for me! I really liked her!
Next was Anooop Desai, whose soulful voice I really liked on the show. And he came out and sat down on a stool singing “Always On My Mind” by Willie Nelson, so beautiful and tender that it brought back memories from Simon saying he went from “zero to hero.” Next was “Mad” by NeYo, a song which I love. This is the right choice of song Anoop should pick, I thought he did great. Then he put on the dorky glasses, and put on a show and then some with a party driven performance of “My Prerogative” shaking his hips and giving Adam a run for his money. Lol, not really but Anoop did a great job on his entire set!
Up next was my boy Matt Giraud, coming out performing the heck out of “Hard To Handle”. Towards the end of it a piano came up and then he finished the song off by playing the piano so brilliantly. He really seemed like the first person to get the biggest reaction of the night so far. He has great stage presence and knows how to work a crowd! I really hope he gets signed and puts out a CD! Then he sang one of my favorite performances of last season, even though it was only shown like less than a minute during Hollywood Week, “Georgia On My Mind.” He put on a hat and gave a soulful, great rendition of the Ray Charles classic. Then he sang “You Found Me” by The Fray, which sounded amazing and I even told him after the show. “I thought you did amazing. I don’t know what the judges were talking about when you sang You Found Me” on the show, because you sang it amazingly.” He smiled and said “thank you so much man and that one of the guys from The Fray was there during the concert and they loved it too!” Matt was such a class act and did a great job!
Then it was medley time. First was Megan and Lil singing some song I can’t remember the name of, something like “Can’t stop loving you” or something. They did good. Then it was Matt and Scott on dueling pianos singing “Tell Her About It” and the only thing I could think of is why did they cut that from the finale!? It was great! Then Michael sang “Suspicious Minds” followed by Anoop starting out on “Beggin” with the other three guys joining in as well. Then Lil followed, doing some cool rapping. And then Megan joined in. I have to say they all sounded really good here, and Matt is one heck of a dancer!
Intermission time.
We came back and it was time for Allison Iraheta!!!! She is so beautiful! And she has amazing stage presence and personality, I don’t know what Simon was talking about. She started off on guitar with Pink’s “So What” and did a great job. Then she sang what I thought was one of her best performances on the show “Crybaby” which was also the best exit performance ever on Idol. All I can say is wow, what a voice! At one point she went to the side of the stage and seemed to nearly fall off, but caught her balance and she smiled about it, which was cute. Then she asked us if were excited to see Danny (cheers), Adam (huge cheers) and Kris (huge cheers). Then she joked around saying “well I’m not done yet guys!” Lol and then she sang “Barracuda” and was amazing on that as well. I cannot wait to buy her cd and I told her that after the show as well, and she was so nice and so cool!
Up next was Danny, who was one of my least favorite on the show, okay honestly I never liked him at all since the beginning. But I will say, after tonight I am a fan. I never really saw what the judges saw throughout the show. Until tonight, maybe I just needed to be live every week during American Idol. He started off with “P.Y.T.” by the late Michael Jackson and did a great job. Then he sang “Maria, Maria” which was okay, but he did dance and showed he worked on his stage presence and dancing since the show. Then came my favorite Danny performance from the season “What Hurts The Most” and he did a great job on that. He then preached a bit, and I have to say what he said was very nice and a great lead in to his final performance of “My Wish, ” which the crowd sang along to and he had everybody swinging their arms up and Danny did a great job all in all!
Next was the one everybody was waiting for, Adam Lambert! My friend couldn’t hide her excitement! Then the music for “Whole Lotta Love” came on and there he was walking out center stage and performed the heck out of the song! Up next, was a great version of the Muse’s “Starlight” which I thought was brilliant. Followed by “Mad World” which I didn’t really care for on the show, one of the minority, as well as live. I would have substituted it for “Ring Of Fire” or “The Tracks Of My Tears” instead. Then came “Slow Ride” and Allison came back on the stage in a different costume change and they gave a great performance and some bras and underwear were thrown! The lights went down, Adam drank some water and then when they came back up he sang “Life On Mars” and I am not very familiar with David Bowie or his music, but it sounded very good. Then he took off his awesome jacket and sang “Fame” and I really liked that performance. It was followed by “Let’s Dance, ” which was fun as well and I totally see him doing this style on his debut CD, as well as the rock stuff. I can’t wait to buy his CD as well! The crowd loved him, as they should! He did great!
Up next was my favorite of the Season, the Idol Kris Allen! He came up from the ground with guitar in hand and sang “Heartless” by Kanye West with an acoustic guitar. It was one of my favorite performances on the show and he did brilliant! Up next was “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers with electric guitar, the replacement song for “No Boundaries” and I loved it! He had the whole crowd singing along to “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier!” He followed that up with “Ain’t No Sunshine” on piano. I loved it on the show and I loved it tonight as well, although I was really hoping he would sing “Falling Slowly” instead on tour, as that is one of my favorite songs of all time and my favorite Kris’ performance. He followed that up with “Bright Lights” on piano, and I loved it! He is a great artist, I love his piano skills and then he got up and played electric guitar with one of the band members, it was so cute and so cool! He moved around and danced which is something I wanted him to do more on the show. He closed his set with “Hey Jude” and I held up my phone as a light and waved it back and forth with the crowd, and I loved Kris’ version of the Beatles classic so much! He did so great and just to meet him and have him sign my shirt and take a picture with, words can’t describe how I felt. He is such an inspiration to me and so kick awesome! Adam, Danny, Allison, Anoop, Lil, Megan and Michael joined Kris on stage to help finish “Hey Jude.” Then Matt and Scott rised up for “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey but me and my friend had to leave so he could get a good spot outside to get autographs from the Idols. So sadly we had to miss Kris and Adam rise from the ground and Adam’s glory note :(
When we ran outside there was already a lot of people, but we got front row and then 10 minutes or so later so many people arrived. Pushing us closer and I felt very claustrophobic. Having not ate nor slept very much that day, I felt very faint and got a soda and ate my pizza waiting for the Idols to arrive. They finally did around an hour or so later, around 11:10ish. First I got Lil’s autograph and picture, followed by Allison! Then I got Scott and Matt’s again! Then Anoop, whom I told him he was amazing tonight and he smiled and said “thank you so much, I greatly appreciate it.” My favorite was Megan, when I told her “You were amazing, I love your voice.” She looked at me and gave me a huge smile! She said “aww thank you so so much.” She really seemed genuinely happy I said that. I truly meant it, I don’t think she got enough praise ever, and she is very pretty and very nice. Then I got Danny’s autograph. And here comes Adam and everybody jammed in together freaking out and I felt suffocated! Once Adam got to us, my friend Sara was so nervous. I got Adam to sign my picture and sign we made. Sara gave him her present and he said “aw thank you. I love your glitter!” She was so excited, she told him back “I love your makeup.” He responded “aw thank you.” And then Kris came out and he was out for like 5 minutes when they had to leave. I was so happy I was his last autograph to sign and I gave him my necklace! I really hope he wears it tonight! If not, oh well. Just getting to meet them all and see them all in concert was truly an amazing experience! I will never forget yesterday for the rest of my life!!!
