Check out Margie’s photos and fantastic videos at the end of her recap!
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By way of introduction I’m Margie, a 40-something professional woman in Toronto and a huge music lover. I got turned onto AI by my friend’s little girls towards the end of last season and I watched the finale last year. This year I jumped in during Hollywood week (I have a huge problem with second hand embarrassment and couldn’t watch the auditions) and tried not to miss an episode after that. I am not someone who is an obsessive Kris or Adam fan. I can honestly say I like them equally for different reasons and will buy the albums of several of the idols when they come out. At the beginning of the season my number one fave was Anoop and he and Allison and Matt make up my top five with Kris and Adam. I have to say after seeing this show; that I have become fans of the others as well.
I have some general observations and stories to tell before getting into the performances and videos. FYI I was Altrus01 on Twitter that night.
A very cute thing happened after I had my ticket scanned. I was trying to figure what door to go in for my seats and I walked by a Mom and Dad and about 4 little girls. I heard the Dad say, ‘We have a surprise. We have passes to the After Party.’ He stopped and let this sink in for a moment. And you could see the realization dawning on the girls’ faces. Their eyes completely bugged out and they asked “You mean we are going to meet Adam????” Real live squeeee-iing ensued. I wanted to say ‘adopt me?’ but didn’t. I hope for their sakes this was one of the AP’s that he chose not to skip.
Some of the crowd reactions were interesting ‘ I guess not everyone is as obsessed as us and hasn’t been watching all the videos. So you could hear the expressions of delight from the crowd when the Idols played a song they recognized especially for Mad World, Heartless and My Prerogative. I have to say that watching all the videos made it easier to video the performers. I know the choreography so well that I knew where they were headed next on stage!
Yes, there were big cameras in Hamilton too ‘ some on the sound mixing stage at the back and of course the hand-held ones at the front. Keep your fingers crossed for the epic DVD.
The guy next to me was creepy. He wore a Hawaiian shirt and he had BO. He was obviously only there for Adam. For everyone else he would stand up for 5 seconds at the beginning of the set, take a peek then sit down. For Adam, he stood for WLL then sat for the rest of the set. I wanted to say WFT, you paid C$90+ for this ticket, another $20 for parking and you are just sitting there with your arms crossed?
I was in the 12th row on the right hand side facing the stage. From where I stood the stage seemed smaller than I expected. Maybe it was just the perspective but it didn’t seem as deep as it does in the videos. For a moment I thought they were using a different stage in this slightly smaller venue.
In my heels I’m easily six feet tall. I assumed that I would have no problem taking pictures over everyone else’s head. Fail! There were three really tall men in from of me; one in particular must have been 6′ 6′ and you will see the back of his head in some of my videos. I can’t complain too much because the woman behind me was probably only 5′ 2’ and I certainly didn’t sit down much for her. At one point I looked back and saw her watching the whole concert on the monitors. Kind of sad but if she had been reading these threads she would have known not to buy floor seats if you are short. There was also one woman who was such a bad dancer that all she could do was wave her arms high in the air. She snapped, waved and flapped her hands at those idols all night. Maybe she is related to Allison? You will see her in my vids too.
Michael
Damn, this boy can sing! I wish he had stayed on the show a bit longer because I would have liked to see what else he could do on the show. He did get a black bra tossed on the stage and played with it twice before throwing it back to the audience. It doesn’t look like he kept it as a souvenir. The crowd really responded to him by waving, clapping and standing through his whole set. And yes he is rocking Matt’s fauxhawk. You can see it in my video. I know there was a question why Michael was on the bus during the second half. JSYK they buses were about 10 feet from the doors so it would have been really easy to run back and forth especially with no fans around. I don’t think it was that big a deal and I would be surprised if he was the only one who did this.
Megan
She sounded great on both songs. The whole floor was standing for her as well as some people in the stands. They cheer and waved and you could tell she totally loved it all. She didn’t seem to totter on those heels; she really moved with confidence. When she asked them to clap and wave they did the same as for Michael and they were on their feet through her whole set. You can see the crowd reaction in my videos. At the end of her last song she yelled ‘Best Ever! Thank you Hamilton.’ I don’t think she was talking about her performance ‘ I think she was talking about the crowd reaction to her. Maybe the difference was that she was into it tonight. There were several little girls carrying around pics of Megan after the concert. I’m not sure why there was so much love for her here in Ontario but I was very happy for her.
Scott
Scott is the only Idol I don’t have video for; the angle was all wrong from where my seat was and with so many people on their feet for him, it was hard to see him. Oakville is about 30 minutes from Hamilton so I’m sure the crowd that was at the AP (from what I’ve read) was all in front of me. In his speech he did talk about Oakville and Tim Horton’s before going into his usual set of jokes. As awkward as he sometimes seems in interviews, he comes across very well in this setting. He did a great job with both songs and on the piano and the crowd gave him a ton of love. Lots of people rushed up the aisle to take pictures at the front.
Lil
If there is one performer I don’t completely get yet, it is Lil. I think she has a lovely voice but I don’t think she has a particularly unique quality that will set her apart from all the other R&B singers. I hope I’m wrong. Regardless, she did a good job on all her songs and the crown remained on their feet. In fact at least half the floor never sat down for the whole three hours. There were even some Lil posters being waved around.
Anoop
This boy can do no wrong in my book. From the earliest appearance in Hollywood week, I was hooked and he did not disappoint on Friday. I love his tour style way better than his style on television ‘ I like how it changes slightly from performance to performance. He absolutely nailed all three songs; played with the crowd and basically was sexy and fine as hell. Thankfully Tall Guy sat down during Mad so I got a decent video. Someone tried to throw a bra at Anoop but I think it missed the edge of the stage. You could see it fly through the air and I think Anoop saw it too but nothing happened after that. I really hope the rumours are true that he is close to a recording contract.
Matt
Matt has become another of my favourites since the show ended. I would have loved to see the confidence he showed on Friday night while he was on TV. This boy will be a star with the right music, venues and promotion. The fact that he is such a flirt is going to work well for him. I like his Fray cover of You Found Me better than The Fray’s. Matt led off with a shout out to the MFB. He also ‘thanked’ us for voting. Ah well, we shouldn’t ask these kids to be perfect.
Beggin’
I really love this number so much and because I enjoyed Michael earlier I recorded both Suspicious Minds and Beggin’. Sadly the jacket stayed on tonight.
Allison
How much do I love Allison! She is incredible for 17. She is incredible for any age really. I can see her having a long career. I loved all three of her songs but my favourite will always be Cry Baby. I didn’t try to take pics or vids during it because I just wanted to enjoy the song. Something may have been thrown on stage during Barracuda but if it was I think she ignored it.
Danny
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Danny on the show. It wasn’t his voice (I actually would have loved to hear him sing NoBo ‘ try listening to it and imagine him singing it) but I didn’t think he connected with his audience very well. JMHO. His voice did sound a little rough tonight; I think you will hear that on my video. Having said all that, the crowd went absolutely nuts for him here. He was the only one with a banner hanging from the nose bleed section of the stands and the crowd stayed on their feet for him even in the lower bowl from what I could see. The helium/chipmunk voice did make an appearance on one of the Rascal Flatt songs. I can’t remember which one. If his sermon seemed a little long it was because he did a shout to some girl in the very front seats on her sweet 16. He waved at her and she waved back. I shouldn’t call it a sermon ‘ it really isn’t ‘ but he does need to refine how he communicated his message. Maybe it will be better when he doesn’t have to get everything he is trying to say across in 60 seconds. The boy needs a good PR person stat. One thing I loved is that on Maria, Maria he said ‘played by Mr. Tim Stewart’ twice instead of ‘by Carlos Santana’ -nice! I always thought it was weird that he was singing the Carlos lyric when Tim was playing. He was sweating a lot and even commented on it but it was hot in that arena and humid too. Can’t blame him at all.
Adam
Of course the crowd exploded for Adam as they do everywhere. From the 12th row I could only barely see the famous kick. Others say he seemed angry during WLL but I didn’t see that from where I was ‘ it is only obvious in the videos that are out there now.
There is a new, ummm, hand gesture on WLL on ‘every inch of my love’ ? Best description? An air-jerkoff movement complete with circled fingers? Like air-guitar but oh-so-different. He didn’t just slap his thigh like he usually does. It’s not on my video but look for it on other close up videos. This is the clearest video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLT-sbVs8nA&feature=channel. It starts at about 1:30 and freeze it at 1:38. Whew!
You’ve already heard his request for us not to throw things AT him. He said I know you can’t vote up here but we still appreciate your support etc and thank you for watching.
He was so happy and bubbly during Starlight which I didn’t expect. Check out the video ‘ he is smiling most of the way through it. He looked so relaxed and then I remembered that Drake has been around in the last week and I thought ‘Oh that explains it!’ BB got some!’ And there was helium voice again. It has to be a sound issue somehow.
People screamed and sighed for Mad World. During Slow Ride a few items might have been gently thrown on stage but Adam and Allison ignored them. You could tell they were having a great time but they kind of messed up or flubbed their hug at the end. It was kind of awkward and you could see them laughing about it.
Security generally let people stand in the aisles on the floor level to take pictures but during Adam’s set they had security in the aisles to prevent people from rushing the stage and crushing those at the front. The one closest to me was a tiny old man who could not possibly have stopped a determined Glambert. Nevertheless the aisles were packed all the way back to my 12th row for Adam’s full set and then for Heartless.
Does Adam have a new necklace? You can see it bouncing and flying around on my Fame/Dance video. It looks like it is some kind of silver tassel and hangs down past the first button of his vest. Great interaction with the backup singers and MFB in this one too! And is that belt buckle getting bigger?
I call his hair tonight Spiky Emo! There are some good pictures of in on my PhotoBucket
Kris
The audience was obviously still on a high after Adam and they kept right on going as Kris was introduced. Kris seemed tired throughout his whole set. You could hear it in his voice when he spoke to the crowd. It was like he had no energy. That didn’t stop him from giving us an amazing performance. He made the required sexy faces for us too. During his speech, he thanked us for the support etc. but then forgot that we couldn’t vote and thanked us for voting. See? I told you he was tired! I think he just went back into his spiel out of habit. Matt did exactly the same thing. He also could have been talking to the American’s in the audience. Buffalo is as close as Toronto (not counting time at the border) and I saw several US license plates in the parking lot.
I had no problem taking videos until Kris came on but I got caught by security during Hey Jude so I stopped briefly and then started again. There were so many people around me taking videos I didn’t think they were being aggressive about it but maybe I was just lucky. It was just an ordinary digital camera. Sadly my videos of Kris are not as good as the others but I don’t mind too much because I did love just listening to his voice and his skills on the piano and guitar.
FYI I did see people walking back up the floor aisle after Heartless but I think some of them were just returning to their seats after filling up the aisles for Adam and the only ones I could tell for sure were leaving had small children with them. Who knows maybe they wanted to first in line at the buses?
I love all of Kris’ set but my favourite song was Ain’t No Sunshine. I could listen to that all night.
Don’t Stop Believing
My camera battery was dying so I only started recording DSB right before Kris and Adam came out. For those of you who worry or ship about Dallison, take a look right at the beginning of my DSB video ‘ they actually have their arms around each other. Go ahead ‘ discuss.
I know people don’t think the Kradam dance was particularly epic on Friday. However the one thing I noticed is that Kris was finally grinning like a fool during Kradam dance and he seemed to perk up a lot. Good for Adam ‘ in a moment like that you can see how connected they ‘ whatever you choose to believe about their relationship.
I do want to say I’m proud of our Canadian audience. I know we have this reputation for being polite but the fact that they gave so much love, in many cases equally, to all the finalists makes me happy. Maybe we are more considerate than polite?
I didn’t have access to the after party and it is not my style to do battle with the crowds at the barricades so my recap ends here. I did get turned around coming out of the Coliseum and found myself at the barricades. Basically there was the building, three feet of space, then the barricades and then a narrow sidewalk and the buses were right there. As you can imagine the place was packed with people.
I wish I could see another show. Next time I would just watch ‘ maybe sit in the seats in the lower bowl so I would be able to see the top of the stage and just enjoy it. One show to take pics and vids and Twitter ‘ the other just to enjoy the thing as a whole. I hope you enjoyed this recap. Questions and comments are welcomed!
Pictures are here: http://tiny.cc/cpRXj
I also included some of the MFB to show them some love. I have about 100 more but these are the best of the bunch.
My Videos
DSB (from Kradam entrance): http://tiny.cc/oQapM
Kris ‘ Hey Jude (partial): http://tiny.cc/sl4i9
Kris ‘ Bright Lights Guitar Solo: http://tiny.cc/QdxUD
Adam ‘ Fame/Let’s Dance: http://tiny.cc/Anwye
Adam ‘ Starlight: http://tiny.cc/KpzCC
Danny ‘ My Wish (partial): http://tiny.cc/9aUaw
Allison ‘ Barracuda: http://tiny.cc/3Pjkj
10-5 ‘ Beggin’: http://tiny.cc/E0Znk
Michael ‘ Suspicious Minds: http://tiny.cc/J40mn
Matt ‘ You Found Me: http://tiny.cc/xFPiQ
Anoop ‘ My Prerogative (partial): http://tiny.cc/hZ8ba
Anoop ‘ Mad: http://tiny.cc/dbZ9O
Lil ‘ No One (partial): http://tiny.cc/IOcR7
Megan ‘ Tears Dry on Their Own (partial): http://tiny.cc/O9LTI
Megan ‘ Put Your Records On (partial): http://tiny.cc/2M5Ur
Michael ‘ Closer (partial): http://tiny.cc/QvQLQ
