. . . 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 . . .