photo by kiulinV attended the pre-show meet and greet by the buses and the after show party. Read about her Idol encounters in Toronto, below.
Also attending the Toronto concert: RiaP who scored passes to both the pre and post show meet and greets. Read here account here.
Pre-show
I got to the venue around 3:30, and there was already a big crowd there hanging onto their spots for dear life beside the guardrail that the idols would be behind. It was pretty much just a rope. When i got there, Jason Castro, David Cook, Ramiele and Kristy Lee were out signing things. David went alllll along the lines all the way to the back just to sign things. Some guy asked if he could have a hug, and David was like, ‘You really want a hug?’ and he’s like, ‘yeah’ and so David went and hugged him, and cue the aww’s and the not-fairs. David was in a good mood, and I’m sure his hand hurt by the end of it. He was in a rush though because he said he had to leave in like 15 minutes.
Ramiele is TINY but so cute. She’s very pretty and her face was just perfect. But very hard to miss because she is smaller than 5′ i think. Jason was also very nice and signed lots of things. I didn’t see much of Kristy, but i saw her leave, and some girl cried out ‘KRISTY LEE COOK!’ and she turned her head, smiled, and waved goodbye. Brooke came out too. She’s veerryy pretty in person, but also really skinny and i’m hoping the tour isn’t taking a toll on her health. Then a couple of minutes after that, Carly came out. Carly, like all the other girls, is absolutely gorgeous in real life. Shorter than i thought she would be too. but very pretty, wearing black t shirt and dark washed tapered jeans. They were all very nice.
More Recap After the Jump…
When David Cook was leaving, he started walking towards the inside of the hall then remembered that he had all these gifts sitting at a table near the door that they come out from (theres a glass wall from where the fans are and where the idols come from, thats how we were able to see them leave). He came back to get the stuff, and there was a TON of it. He had to pack everything carefully so that it wouldn’t fall out. It took him a while, and while he was doing that, the crowd started screaming “AR-CHU-LE-TA” over and over again. And David looks up, and he gives like a wth expression. Then he leaves. I dont remember if he left before or after Carly, Jason and Brooke who all left together. Jason got a lot of gifts too.
A group of people were gathered together shortly after all the idols left to go to the meet and greet. I thought i had passes to go to that one, but after many questions asked, I found out that we were in the group to go to the meet and greet after the show, which is not the same as the pre-show one. The pre-show one is where they all sit at a table and they sign the picture one after the other, and there is no picture taking or anything. There were only about 35-50 people who got into that pre-show thing, and i’m pretty sure they had all won contests to get those passes.
So all the idols left, and the fans are still waiting for Archie to come out, but he never does. This is the part where the fans are just sitting/standing out there in the atrium looking up at the window where the idols are getting prepped for the show (someone filmed it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng17js03bcg). By now its about 2:30 hours till show time.
As time drew nearer to 7:00pm, lines started forming. When i got back to the venue to line up, there were 4 incredibly long lines of people, a lot of older women, families, and a lot of teen girls. Anyway, the lines went pretty fast. And so we got to our seats, which were on the floor, and the view was not bad at all. i wish the floor was sloped a little because i am a small person, but i brought high heels with me for that purpose alone. Before the show started, there were still many empty seats. I was afraid people wouldn’t show up and that we would have huge gaps in the crowd, but eventually it all filled. Pop tart commercials, Daughtry songs, Carrie Underwood videos and Jordin Sparks were playing on the side screens. The Guitar Hero commercials came up too with Bob Segar in the background, and everyone singing along. Those are definitely crowd pleaser. Then Cory came out, and did his thing. He got some people to dance, and everyone to scream. He was pretty good. Then the show began.
Show
Chikezie
He was omg so good. He had strong and confident vocals. In one song he had a long falsetto note, and it was absolutely pitch perfect. He is a great performer, and had a nice set that pretty much represented his type and taste of music. I was very surprised at his singing. It’s hard to believe that this is his, what, fourth time? trying out for american idol. im glad he finally got top 10! he deserves it for working so hard. Just goes to show, you can practice and become great, whereas some people just open their mouths and breathe singing. He said at some point ‘I know for a fact that Toronto has had a party last night.’ or something. Not sure what that means though.
Ramiele
She sang better than i expected. Definitely not the same caliber as everyone else, but still a very decent and good strong voice. Performance points go down for her, and i find that the choreography to the Jackson 5 song was just… overdone and fake. She has a long of end-song poses. But she’s very cute, and everyone felt sorry that she had technical problems with her mic in between song 1 and 2. She felt bad that we couldn’t hear her, and started singing, but obviosuly, no one could hear her at all. Finally they got her a working mic (the first replacement wasnt working either), and the first few notes were tentative, then when she realized it was working fine, she made a smooth-sailing face, and continued on with her song. She fell flat in the last notes of her songs like she couldnt hold them. It was a shame because i think it was mostly because of the nerves about the mic not working. But it got awkward after her first song where she tried to get the crowd going by telling us that we were the best crowd so far by far. It just didnt sound sincere and i felt bad for her. But i still really love her voice.
Michael Johns
Grand entrance with Queen. It was a fun performance and everyone loved it. Well, everyone just loves mj. He said, ‘It’s good to be back in the commonwealth again, not going to lie.’ and that got a big cheer haha. Very well rounded set. His Aerosmith was good too, except for i think he messed up the falsetto part of the ‘dream on, dream on..’. or was it just me? i dont know, his first falsetto note was much higher than it was supposed to be, not in a im-rearranging-the-melody way. Anyways, great performer, and biggest personality so far. Loud cheers.
Kristy Lee Cook
Very confident when she tries to get the crowd going. She says things like ‘Is that all you got?’ which makes some people scream louder. Her dancing is a lot better than it was on the show. She is a country girl through and through. After her first song, she said something like, ‘I know a lot of you were wondering what i was goign to sing for my next song. Well we changed it up a little, and I’m goign to sing a song called Anyway.’ It sounded great, and it was definitely her best on the show. During her third song she threw two tshirts into the crowd, and had a big finale where she’s on the lift going down slowly, then at the last beat she looks like she jsut drops really fast. I think she’s very talented despite not being a crowd favourite by any means.
Carly Smithson
Absolutely amazing, blown away incredible. Strong voice, not afraid to sing those notes that she just belts/half screams. I think she does have a very unique voice that can easily be distinguished from Kelly Clarkson. She has a lot of different tones that she sings in depending on what pitch she is at. She is a great performer, and definitely has fun on the stage and shows it too. She sells I Drove All Night before she sings it as previously sung by Cindy Lauper, but also done by a Canadian, Celine Dion. That song was a great way to end her set. The other two songs were amazing too. Her evanescence cover was really well arranged to fit the time constraints i think, and Crazy On You was great too. I dont feel like she held back anything, and she looked great too. Oh and she said that we had a great city. I think they had the day off yesterday in the city, so that was nice that they got to tour around a little. I think it was also her that said that she had no idea the show was this big in canada.
Brooke White
Came up onto the stage on the piano, and it was great listening to Let It Be live. She’s a very animated piano player, and I’m not sure if she is like that naturally or she was coached to, but anyway it was great. Her voice has so much depth when she’s singing or just talking. She said some of her favourite things are Canadian. Her husband was born in Toronto and raised in Nova Scotia, and one of her favourite artists was born in Nova Scotia, which led into 1, 2, 3, 4. It sounded great, again. Suits her so well. Her last song, she got back on the piano, and sang Yellow. ‘I adore it, I wish i wrote it.’ I was looking forward to this one, and it didn’t disappoint. It was upbeat in a Brooke way with the drum arrangements and everything, and sounded so so good. Her voice is so engaging, and i dont think she could sing background to save her life.
The group number was nice and fun, after Brooke spoke about Idol Gives Back a little. I think they could have chosen a better song though.
The intermission was long, but i guess it gave everyone a chance to line up for the bathrooms and buy stuff to eat or programs. Again with the Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Disney World and Guitar Hero. But there was no Guitar Hero contest for some reason. I guess they dont do it at every show?
Jason Castro
No big entrance for Castro, but nonetheless it seemed like it was big. Jason exudes personality and charisma from his pores, and everyone loves him and cant help but feel laid back when watching him or hearing him. I couldn’t understand half the things he was saying though because he mumbles a lot. But i caught a few things. He introduced Crazy by saying that this song got him through to the show, he sang it ‘like, 5 times’ to get through the first auditions, but it was never on TV so he thought he’d sing it for us. It was, um, amazing. It shows he has a great ear for rhythm, because although the vocals were almost pretty close to the original, the guitar parts were nothign like the original, which made it all that more interesting to listen to. Then he sang Over the Rainbow, and i think i heard everyone in the audience singing along every note, even at all the parts where it goes ‘Once in a lullaby-y-y’. Wow i cant believe i just typed that. Anyways, it was pretty much exactly as he sings it in the recording. The next song he says something that i didnt understand, and he’s like, ’cause i do a lot of dreaming. in the day time.’ (something like that. someone correct me.) I loved his lovin’ spoonful, and again, everyone sang along. Everyone loves Jason.
Syesha Mercado
I didn’t like her on the show. I thought she was fake and overrated (or correctly underrated by the judges sometimes). But oh man she is soooo good live. Umbrella was a fun number for those who loved the song, and so was the Alicia Keys one. But seriously, when she sand Listen, i got chills. She went all out, and just sang her heart out. It was so so good. Unbelievably so. I was pleasantly surprised.
David Archuleta
Of course, loud screams brought the house down for David. He sang Angels differently from any other time he sang it, again, but i feel like he took more liberties this time. I dont know though, i’m not one to watch all the videos from all the shows, but definitely took liberties with the melody, and it just sounded amazing. Then right away, Apologize started without David saying a word. It was a dramatic performance where he matched his steps down the stairs to the beat of the music, but he pulled it off. Then he sang Stand By Me, and dedicated it to everyone in the room for supporting him and the rest of the idols. It was a popular song i think. His last song thoguh, When You Say You Love Me, was just sooo good it’s hard to believe a 17 year old boy can sing so well. I heard from someone who spoke to their voice coach on the show (who is that same lady who cried during his performance of Heaven during Hollywood week i think) because she was there at the Toronto show, and she had said that that song was the hardest for him to sing because he really has to build up to all those big parts of the song. But yeah, some notes that he sang were just omg.
David Cook
David Archuleta got a ton of screams, but mostly in waves, but i think David Cook had the most consistent screams throughout his entire performance. Maybe cause of the whole rock type songs. Anyways, he was great too. Before My Hero, he spoke about a girl that met him i think at the meet and greet. This girl’s sister had leukemia, and Cook said some nice things, and said how sometimes it feels like singing and playing the guitar wasnt so important. He was very graceful about it all. He had good performances. I missed the violins for his Aerosmith song though but i guess you cant tour with an entire orchestra. He threw a pick at the end of his four songs, and then another one at the end of Billie Jean.
I really liked the end performance. It was interesting to see all top 10 performing together, next to each other. They’re all so different and so hard to compare when it comes down to it. Anyways, very entertaining. Michael Johns picked up KLC, and did a dance off with David C. It’s a great end of show song to do i think (unless you really hate that song, as i’m sure some people do). Then the lights came up, and people started leaving the stadium.
After-show
So we’re told to sit somewhere and wait to be ushered somewhere. I had no idea how many people would be part of this aftershow thing. Apparently people only got to do this aftershow thing if they knew someone from the venue, or from the cast/crew of the show. I got my passes from a relative of one of the idols. But there were two girls who were waiting in front of us who obviously did not have passes and when the security guard came to ask what they were doing, they answered ‘Mr Archuleta told us to sit here and wait.’ and of course the guard was incredulous, but sure enough, in a couple of minutes, Jeff Archuleta came over and was like, ‘Are you guys ok?’ And i dont know why but they barely said anything, maybe cause they were just too awe struck or something, but he just reached into his back pocket and almost secretly gave them each a pass (they’re like big badge stickers). It was so sweet of him.
Eventually they tell us that we can come down and they’ll lead us to where the idols are. By this time, i was feeling really silly for even going, because i’m not like a die-hard fan, i had nothing to sign, i didn’t even have a camera, but my friends did, but i just really enjoy the music and the talent that these people have. In any case, I was like, wow what am i doing?? what am i even going to say to them? But i wasn’t about to leave, so I just went along with my friends, and hoped that i wouldn’t embarrass myself. As soon as i enter the room, i see Jason talking in the back with some people, and I see David A, but i didn’t even realize that Carly was standing like, right NEXT to me. If i had to pick a favourite voice, i’d pick her, so i was kind of like, omg its carly. She was so sweet, and she just started talking to these girls, and she was like ‘I just burned myself with a curling iron.. Is it red here?’ And the girls were like ‘No its fine..’ like they didnt know what to say. It was great.
I spoke to all of the idols except for Chikezie; i guess he just disappeared. He was wearing like white gangster sweats. But not extremely baggy or gangster, but it was funny to see. All of them were very nice, and it gets a little awkward i think when you dont have any questions prepared to ask them. But it was actually just really fun being there. Some fans are soooo intense. There is this one girl who saw a previous show, and loved it (or David A) so much that she spent 1000$ just to fly here and see this show. She was almost monopolizing David at one point, and was almost in tears when she was talking to Jeff about his son. Michael Johns had one fan who just kept talking to him and asked him for a picture, and he was like ‘How dare you?’ in a joking way. He’s so nice. A couple minutes later she came back and asked him for another picture haha.
So I spoke to all of them, and asked them shamelessly for a hug in replacement of signing or taking pictures with them. I feel like i didnt embarass myself, so its all good. Anyways, let’s see.. what did they say. KLC i spoke to first i think. She is sooo nice and just so pretty. I told her that it was great to hear Anyway. She said that she changed it cause it was just wrong to sing God Bless the USA here, so the day before they practiced Anyway, and the piano guy (whats his name again?) just picked it right up. Apparently he just listened to it, transcribed it to what they needed for the show, and it was as easy as that for him. They practiced it like three times the day of, then she went on stage. The last time she sang it was on the show. That’s pretty good right, even if she had sung it before that too. Anyways, she’s just very genuinely nice, and when we were talking about her album, i asked her if it was all country, and she’s like, ‘It’s good stuff. You’ll like it!’
David A had tons of girls and mothers just waiting to ask him for pictures and signatures it was so sweet. One girl asked him why he didnt come down before the show, and he said that he was just so busy with everything, and he got a haircut and he wasn’t supposed to. And he said he saw the people from the windows (the video of him up at a window pretending to jump out) and he was imitating himself breaking the window pane haha. it was so cute. David is way cuter in real life. He is short, very baby faced, and just radiating. He’s just authentically pleased by things people tell him. David Archuleta doesn’t even like his show costume. Apparently they dont get to choose what they wear. He says he makes him feel like Harry Potter.
David Cook had the largest crowd for a while i think. When i came to see him, i just gave him a hug and i told him that he was doign a good job. He is also just genuinely appreciative and smiling. My friend had asked him some questions though. If anyone was wondering (i wouldnt even have noticed but maybe some of you DC lovers have) apparently he didnt have his guitar one show when he sang Billie Jean, but that was because there was a technical problem at the last minute so he jsut went out. And if anyone is wondering about his knee, apparently he hurt it? but now he’s better and it doesn’t hurt anymore. He is also very sweaty.
Jason Castro is sooo awkward hahah its hilarious. He doesn’t really look at you when he talks to you. Another friend asked him if he ever got sick of singing Over the Rainbow, and i think he said something like he was actually really just enjoying singing it everytime. I remembered him saying something like he had never sung before or something, so i asked him how long he had been singing and he said two years. That’s just crazy. He’s one of those kids who just open their mouths and can carry a pitch perfect tune without even thinking about it. Talent. But yeah, awkward in person, which is really fun to watch haha.
Brooke was so cute. She seemed a little distracted and i didnt talk to her for very long. But she was very nice and smiling, and just emits UV rays around her i think.
Ramiele sat on a counter (i think it was some sort of a kitchenette room we were in?? dont know) for most of the time. She is so tiny, she looks like she melted if that makes any sense. I felt bad because she didnt have a ton of people talking to her. I think she has a lot of attitude to make up for taht though. She isn’t signed, and she is ‘bummed out about that’. She said she was going to the Philippines after all this i think.
Carly is soooooo sooo nice. I’m not biased. At one point i saw her walk by and ask one guy from the crew for a sharpie because the one she was using wasnt working. Then she went faithfully back to the group she was talking to and just signed and talk to them. She is much prettier than she seems on tv. I dont know why, but all the girls in the group are just very pretty this season. When i spoke to her, i asked her when her album was coming out, and she said ‘when i get signed.’ im pretty upset that someone like Carly isnt signed but KLC (no disrespect, she is awesome, but arent they all) has an album ready to come out. She said all that stuff about them not supposing to be signed. I really hope she makes some music though.
Syesha seemed a little standoffish for some reason but maybe cause she looked liek she was going somewhere. I dont know. But I said something like, ‘You’re wayyy.. umm way.. amazing.’ haha i think she realized that I was about to say something like, ‘Youre way better than you were on the show.’ but i didnt want to say that cause it sounded mean, but i think she caught on, and she was like, ‘Oh yeah i wasnt my best on the show. It was all nerves on the show.’ But good on her that she got over that. She can sing.
Michael Johns i shook hands with, and im a small person, and he is sooo much bigger and taller in real life than on tv. it caught me by surprise and i felt like a dwarf next to him. But yeah i shook his hand and it was hard to hold on cause it was so big. He was so sweet, and said he liked my name. His album comes out January or February, and he said his single should be coming out before that.
I think that’s it. Anyways, yeah it was great to be there. You find out a lot just from listening to things. And I spoke to Jeff Archuleta too about random things, and he is also just a nice nice man. So kind and thankful for the fans. I think his wife will be coming out on the tour to ‘babysit’ David soemtime in the second half of the tour. I think. And on the way out, i saw Ramiele but almost missed her because she is just that small. I thought i was a small person (i am, trust me).
