This trip was won for writing a little Chicken Soup style story about being a fan of Chris Daughtry for the Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul contest.
"On Monday, I had fun exploring Hollywood, wishing that the show was still at the Kodak because it's a more interesting area than Downtown L.A. The Idol portion of the trip began on Tuesday morning when we walked over to the Nokia to pick up our tickets from the box office. We went about half an hour before the office opened, so we were able to see people building the Idol Extra set and news crews interviewing Idol fans....everyone in line at the box office was a winner of various contests (Oscar Meyer, Fox, etc) - I ended up talking to a really loud and excitable archuleta stan who practically demanded that a camera crew talk to her about how much she appreciates her prize from Fox - she asked who I was cheering for and I said Cook. Her facial expression actually turned a little less friendly and she said "I'm for Archuleta" and there was a silence, so I said "well, both seem like good guys and are deserving" (intending it to be a friendly statement) and she spat out "Cook has an attitude." I said "a winning attitude. I like it" and she turned away and stopped talking to me. O-kay.
Once the box office opened and people picked up the tickets, I heard some people saying that their seats were in the mezzanine - mine were too. They were in the front row of the mezzanine, but they were pretty crappy seats, to be honest. Some of the "seat fillers" ended up with much better seats on the floor, but you know, they actually waited in line outside from 10:30am until the show started - I ended up sitting next to one of the seat fillers on Wednesday night and he just reaked of sweat and he apologized for his smell, saying that he felt he really worked for the tickets, so I was grateful that I was able to bypass all of the waiting-all-day-for-tickets thing and was relatively cool with the seats.
I got to the theater and they were taping Idol extra. Holy moses, there was Constantine. He just has this air to him and I forgot that I think he's a pig now. He is really attractive, really attractive. He appears to work for tv guide or something.
He was messing with his hair.
Sanjaya seemed to be getting interviewed by Justin Guarini and Kimberly Caldwell. You can see Tamyra Gray in one of these shots, too. Kimberly Caldwell is much tinier than I expected her to be:
Sanjaya ended up walking within a few feet of us, he looked up and I waved and he waved back right at me with his creepy smile.
OK, fast forward to the show. Before the show, the "sway-bots" (term coined from USA Today, I think?) from the mosh pit walked out in orderly lines, very mechanically. They really looked like a bunch of brainless bots! WTF is the purpose of them? An obnoxious guy ran around, trying to pump everyone up. He asked who was there for Cook. Thunderous applause. He asked who was there for Archuleta. The applause for Archie did seem to be louder then and throughout the night. There seemed to be a lot of Archuleta signs, too. Ick.
It seemed as if the theater became full at exactly the right time and we were told that we had to be very quiet, as they were going to be doing a new beginning of the show in under a minute and the place got silent - we watched the boxing beginning and the show was on. The introduced the judges and I admit that I booed Randy (both nights).
Cook's voice just filled the room. He sounds so great live, so great. The audience was actually much more into this performance than it seemed on tv - the majority of people were clapping to the beat. When I watched it back live, I was actually surprised at how the energy didn't seem to come through on television.
Archuleta was next and, as a Cook fan, I was very impressed by Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me. By sister and I looked at each other, literally with dropped jaws. This song is way overdone (Clay, Bo) and we really did not need another Idol version, but I found myself clapping at various points throughout the performance because it really was outstanding. I actually understood the judge's comments here and thought he also sounded better live than on tv.
Cook.......oh man, this "original song" was horrible. Live, the sound was a little distorted and I couldn't detect a melody. When he got the negative feedback, the depression started to set in about it being obvious that the contest was going into Archuleta's favor. I was worried that, if Cook won, he'd be singing this Hillary-Duff-knockoff-pile-of-shit. BLECH. Actually, the song did sound better on tv because it wasn't so distorted. Archuleta's original song kind of made me sick and I started to feel sicker when he got more praise for that.
David Cook's voice, again, filled the theater beautifully for his last song. For whatever reason, I felt dissatisfied, though, despite the fact that he sounded just gorgeous. I think that, by that point, the judges put so much of a downer on things with giving 2 rounds to Archie that it made what Cook was doing hard to enjoy. I liked David's response to Simon's criticism; we all cheered.
Archuleta sounded beautiful, of course, but how un-interesting of him to sing Imagine again. I left feeling lousy about the finale. It's really no fun to see the judges tell your guy that he lost in a knockout.
The show went so fast - I couldn't believe it was over. I went into the lobby and down the escalator and saw some huge guy who looked like a huge inflated blowup doll with clown hair coming toward me - yep, Chris Sligh. He was right there in the mob of fans and no one was even bothering him - he was walking briskly, talking to some guy, and walked right by me, and I said "Hey Chris" and he kept walking.
I am glad I bought a few minutes of internet access in the business center that night to see that Cook was leading DialIdol and that he had a chance of winning. That made me feel better.
Next up....wednesday...
On Wednesday, I arrived at the theater at 2:30 (show started at 5) hoping to watch people arrive, but was met by a much different scene than Tuesday. There was already a line of people at the door and the security people insisted that everyone get in line....so we could not watch the red carpet stuff! How disappointing. However, I did see Bo close up and he just looks good.... he was so close that I could have reached out and grabbed his hair - people said that Haley and Melinda were there too, but I didn't even see them because my attention was on Bo. I blurted out "Bo Bice" like a moron and he gave a general smile and wave to the crowd.
Ryan was standing in the street (in the lane that was closed off) talking on a cell phone and looking important and busy near the red carpet. He is small and business-like.
The show started a couple hours later. The sway-bots filed in mechanically once again and assumed their position. I wonder if they are hired - they all look like they are going to a high school homecoming the way they are dressed. Before we went live, the Davids came out into the center of the stage to stand still as statues for the opening. Before it went live, Cook was doing this cute boxer shuffle, maybe with a few jabs. Archie awkwardly tried to do the same. We were all told to get really quiet until Ryan said "This...is American Idol." However, people were yelling out random shit (to the stage manager's chagrin) and it looked like someone might ruin the opening (but everyone did get quiet in time)....the whole crowd did jump the gun, though, and cheered early.
At the end of the first medley with the SYTYCD performers, Jason got scared by the flames and was jumping around at the end when everyone was still. We thought he got burned or something. He's so animated
Wow, the minute David's voice started on "Hero," I got chills. Again, he sounds outstanding live. This was my favorite performance of the night and I thought that the Davids actually sounded really well together. The crowd was going NUTS for them. Lots of fun.
Syesha and Seal put on a blech performance. Jason Castro, on the other hand, sounded outstanding. His reprise of Hallelujah (sp?) was just beautiful and I was thrilled to hear it live - he has a way of making you just hang on to every note. I wonder why he didn't have a guest performer...but anyway, he really did sound great during all of his solos. He just has a natural live performing voice........while Carly, for example, sounded just horrendous live. Carly was shrill, sounded like she was on helium - it was so unpleasant every time she sang. She needs to dial it back a little. Michael Johns, though, BTW - geez, his voice is insanely good. It's another one that just grabs your attention. It's not as strong as David Cook's though.
I'm getting ahead of myself - that was a good moment to see the Davids get their new SUV's...Cook was squeezing his head between his elbows in his "overwhelmed" stance. I wonder if he was aware that they get cars - if not, then what a nice surprise that must have been.
The girls' medley was okay. Actually, live, I am not sure I like the female voices - they come across as kind of shrill and chipmunky. Except Brooke - her voice sounded very warm and pretty, Amanda sucks.
I really enjoyed the Bryan Adams medley - I thought it was fun.
Actually, I didn't like Cook's performance with ZZtop because it sounded all distorted in the theater and I couldn't pick out a melody, but when I saw it on tv, I recognized the song. He seemed to have fun. The crowd responded well.
The Jonas brothers were painful to listen to. Archuleta outsang the One Republic guy on "Apologize"...Carrie Underwood, who would have thought, actually has good stage presence! I was shocked to see she commanded the stage, looked like a seasoned performer.
I was anxious for the results by the time they did the George Michael medley. This was an amazing show though - it was a lot of fun, there was tons of energy in the crowd, and the show was just plain entertaining. When they announced the winner, it was great to jump up and down screaming for a long time....and have it be completely socially appropriate. While, throughout the finale, the screams were louder for Archuleta (probably due to kids and teens being loud screamers), the place just ERUPTED for Cook's win. I thought Cook showed the right amount of emotion - it was just the perfect ending to the season. I was really glad that the winners song wasn't that awful thing he performed on Tuesday night. Although the coronation song was awful in all it's Rainbow glory, it seemed so appropriate for that moment and it was just so perfect for David's voice on it to be booming throughout the theater as confetti fell. Archuleta fans started pushing their way to the exits and you could just tell by people's faces who they were pulling for. It was wonderful.
Outside, Idol Tonight was taping. Here is my biggest regret - I was standing so near the door where the Idols were coming out to go get interviewed. I had a chance to go to the bleachers and watch this taping...however, the limo was waiting down the street and, while I stuck around for 40 minutes after the show, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cook (IF he came out), my conscience kicked in and I just had to leave so the driver wasn't sitting there waiting forever. I regret so much not just planning to stake out the theater for the rest of the night. I really wanted to see Cook, but had no idea whether he'd be getting interviewed. (We werent allowed phones, so I couldn't cancel the ride). Ugh, I have to get over this disappointment.
I did see Jason, Brooke, Carly, Jordin, Kristy, and Syesha rather close up, though. Jason and Brooke are both really really gorgeous people. A few crappy pics (I had a crappy disposable camera, btw, because cameras were prohibited in the show and I didn't want to risk losing my digital to the security people).
That's all...
