01 July 2008

. . . idols . . .


. . . let's just say that
i will not be turning into a
coyotes or cardinals fan
any time soon . . .
. . . the round trip to glendale
was 120 miles . . .
{. . .well, that and the fact that no one likes hockey
and the cardinals stink . . .}
. . . when we finally arrived,
pregnant daughter
was about to perish from hunger . . .
. . . so i did what every
respectable mom would do . . .
. . . i took her to hooters . . .. . . we located our seats inside the arena . . . . . . and found self-portraiture
to be a little tricky . . . . . . so, i gladly took myself out of the photo . . .
. . . besides . . .
. . . asking the nice folks
who were sitting in front of us

to help with a digital camera

just didn't seem a viable option . . .

{. . . this nice lady is intently watching

jordin sparks and chris brown's

video of "no air" . . .}{. . . the 80's called and they want their scrunchies back . . .}
. . . guess who wasn't at the concert? . . .
. . . ryan, randy, paula and simon
were, of course, nowhere to be found . . .
. . . in their place,
they sent this
obnoxious giant pop tart -
{did you know pop tarts is/are sponsoring this tour?}
he's strawberry AND blueberry! . . .
. . . the concert was arranged
david letterman top ten countdown style . . .
#10 - chikezie
started the show
he was full of energy,
singing "i believe to my soul",
"caught up" and
"walking on cloud nine"

#9 - ramiele malubay -
. . . oh, dear . . . not so good . . .
. . . she started with "i want you back",
which was okay, but then . . .
. . . on "love will lead you back" . . .
. . . perhaps her spiky boot heels were too high,
or her jeweled pants too tight,
but something went wrong -
terribly, terribly wrong . . .
. . . everyone around us was
looking at each other in pain . . .
. . . she went so flat
about half way through,
and though she was
surrounded by monitors
{and even wearing them in her ears},
she never found her way back
into the key the band
was playing the song in . . .
. . . "if i never see your face again"
wasn't quite as bad,
but, by then,
the damage had been done . . .
. . . bye bye ramiele! . . .
#8 - michael johns -
. . . thank heaven for michael johns,
who rose onto the stage
via hydraulics belting
"we will rock you" and
"we are the champions"
moving smoothly into
"it's all wrong"
and finishing with
"dream on",
which is the song that got him
kicked off the show,
but was a showstopper in concert . . .
. . . good for him . . .

#7 - kristy lee cook

. . . this girl is gorgeous and
about as big around
as your pinkie . . .
. . . she sounded great and
was really darling as
she danced all over the stage . . .
. . . her numbers included
"squeezin' the love outta you",
"god bless the usa" {of course}, and
"little cowgirl" . . .

. . . we unanimously gave her
the "most improved" award . . .

#6 - carly smithson

. . . this girl's lung capacity is amazing . . .
. . . she can only be described as
powerful . . .
. . . she also looked like
she had lost weight . . .
. . . her three-song set started
with wind-blown hair {see the fans?}
and "bring me to life". . .

. . . she started her second song,
"crazy on you"
kneeling at center stage
before she really got going and
rocked the end of the song,
then she finished with
"i drove all night"
and a standing ovation . . .
. . . carly introduced the next performer as
the "whitest person i know,
and if she messes up
the beginning of her song,
she'll just start over"
which was supposed to be funny,
but i thought it came off as
kind of snarky and mean . . .
#5 - brooke white
also rose to the stage,
piano and all,
via hydraulics . . .
{i'm having her hair in the next life!}
. . . amid big-time hometown cheers,
she sang/played her soulful version of
"let it be"
wearing only one of her stiletto heels . . .

. . . you could tell she was happy to be "home" . . .
. . . she put her other shoe on and
carefully made her way
to center stage
where her guitar
was waiting . . .
. . . we were instructed to
"snap it out"
while she performed
"1, 2, 3, 4" . . .
. . . her set ended at the piano
with "yellow" . . .
. . . appropriate . . .
. . . by the way . . .
. . . no dancing for brooke,
which, as we all know, is for the best! . . .

. . . the first half ended with
a group performance
by idols #5 through #10
as they patted themselves on the back
for "idol gives back" . . .

. . . a l.o.n.g intermission featured
these two losers
duking it out on a
new version of guitar hero . . .
{oh, guess what? . . . another tour sponsor}
#4 - jason castro
. . . mr. dreadlocks
{aka the most laid-back person alive}
sat on a stool and
sang "over the rainbow"
while strumming his ukelele . . .
. . . oops! a roadie had to come out
and plug it in for him - hello! . . .
. . . he also mixed up the lyrics . . .
{love the red kicks} . . . second song - "crazy",
then "daydream" . . .
. . . i need a nap . . .
#3 - syesha mercado
this girl is not laid-back and
she has rehearsed - a lot!
you could tell she knew
exactly what to do and
when to do it . . .
all the while looking fabulous
{except i really love when
she has her crazy 'fro hair better}
look at her legs!
look at her shoes!
and wait! listen to her . . .
. . .she was really good . . .


. . . she opened with "umbrella"
{even i knew that song},
then "i ain't got you",
ending with a very powerful
and heartfelt "listen" . . .

#2 - david archuleta
. . . FINALLY! . . .
. . . with the fog machine going crazy
right along with the crowd,
archie and his piano appeared,
he opened his amazing teenage mouth
and my ears were very happy
as he sang "angels". . .
. . . the runs, his range - i'm a fan . . .
. . . wow! . . .


. . . so is amanda . . .
. . . as idol numero dos,
david a. got to sing
four numbers . . .
. . . you would think another perk
of being in the top two
would be some sort of cool wardrobe,
but nope!
he had the worst outfit of the night . . .
. . . a cheap black jacket
with sequins sewn
around all the edges - really tacky! . . .
. . . but not to worry . . .
. . . just close your eyes and listen . . .
. . . following "angels" he
went right into "apologize" and
i'm pretty sure
i liked it better
than the original
{sorry onerepublic} . . .
. . . next he strutted around to
"stand by me"
which included a
longer/way effective clip of
{that formerly pesky}
"beautiful girls"
at the end . . .
. . . superb . . .
. . . he finished with josh groban's
"when you say you love me"
which gave me goosebumps . . .

#1 - david cook
. . . he really likes himself,
and surprisingly,
i liked him, too . . .
. . . david and his guitar
kicked off their five songs
with his version of "hello"
{of which i am a fan},
followed by his current hit
"time of my life", and
"don't want to miss a thing". . .
. . . i'm thoroughly enjoying it . . .

. . . amanda? . . .
. . . not so much . . .


. . . he videotapes the crowd
so he can remember
this amazing moment,
there is some small talk,
including news that
his brother's tumor
has stopped growing,
then he dedicates the next number
"my hero"
to said brother,
and closes with his amazing take on
"billie jean" . . .

. . . i was expecting
at least one group number
and it came at the very end
with all 10 idols
awkwardly prancing around to
"don't stop the music" . . .
. . . of the two davids,
if i were buying a cd - no question.
i'd go for archuleta.
to watch in concert - no question.
cook.
. . . just my opinion,
but it was a fun night . . .


8 comments:

Amelia Johnson said...

Thanks for a SUPER FUN night, mom! You pretty much rock, just like all the idols! Seriously though, it was so fun. Thanks again!

Peg and Parker said...

Love that you got to go. Thanks for the best review I've read so far....and I've read a few. Go Romney Ladies!

Elder Davis said...

I feel like I was there, sooo awesome you got to go to see the idols...Lucky.

maccam said...

Awesome fun night...good job with all the pictures. I agree with your observations and opinions. And I would have to agree...David A.. mmm hmmm.

Kristen Arnett said...

How fun! I didn't even know you guys were going! Excellent, excellent post. This was so fun to read! One question: Why was Amanda not enjoying David Cook's performance??? Was it because she was ready to go home, or because she isn't a fan? If it's the latter, I'm sad because he's my fav. Thanks again for the detailed post!

K Bailey said...

Love the play by play of the concert!! Speaking of Hooters (restaurant that is)....I've done mystery shopping for years and for awhile we kept getting them for Hooters...mostly for take out (their food is not the best I might add) but we did go into the restaurant twice....with kids. Ha ha. I'm sure we were a sight inside of Hooters.

Kat said...

I am so jealous that you guys went! I LOVE american idol! But I guess I will just pretend I was there through your play by play. glad you enjoyed it!

Sassy said...

You sure brought it to life! I felt like I was almost there getting to read about this...I would have liked to have gone...did make it to the one a couple of years ago when BO BICE was one of the singers...it makes for a really fun night and I love that you went to Hooters with your girls...you are my kinda mom...I would have done the same thing! Thanks for the review...