Idol Delight

For the past several months, Buttercup and I have enjoyed going to concerts of finalists/winners from Season 7 of American Idol.


The first concert was David Cook, who was -- of course -- the winner that year. As I said before, his concert was louder, edgier, and (dare I say it?) more fun than any of the other concerts. But that's because it was a real concert. Loud, rock music, standing up the entire time, etc. etc.


Next came David Archuleta. That was a wonderful evening as he sang some of his pop songs and then delighted us with Christmas music. The first half of the show was screaming girls, cell phones lit up and swaying and "MARRY ME DAVID!!!!" being screamed from all the female fans. The second half of the show was sitting back and being entertained with Christmas melodies.


Last weekend we participated in the third -- and probably final -- Season 7 Idol concert. Brooke White.


Who is Brooke White? Some of you may not remember her. She finished #5 that year. She is the blond who was a nanny in So. CA when she auditioned for the show. And most memorably, she is the one who -- in competition -- started a song, stopped and asked if she could restart... and didn't get voted off because of it!!


This third concert was just as different as the first two. First of all, she only filled 1/2 the auditorium. That made me a little sad in the beginning, but as the show started, I really liked the smaller, more intimate feel that the smaller audience creates.

The concert was scheduled to start at 7:30. I took a picture of the clock so I could show that two minutes before the concert started...

...this is how full the auditorium was. Don't let the number of people in front of us fool you. The entire row directly in front of us was completely empty and there were only 4 people on our row. Also, we had the same seats for this concert that we had for the Archie concert.

Her show was acoustic. On the stage with her there was only a percussionist and a guitar player. Brooke moved between the piano and the guitar. The acoustic part was a plus and helped with the intimate "coffee house" style feel of the concert.

She was wonderful! Time and time again she reminded me of why I voted for her each week. She is down to earth, humble and has a quirky sense of humor that made me giggle and laugh all through the show. Before the show, I was very concerned that she would sound a little "country-ish" and -- I'm not afraid to admit -- I HATE COUNTRY MUSIC!!! It literally makes me feel nauseas. I put the barf bag away when she started singing. It was great. She has a "folksy" feel to her music, and that's okay with me!

And just like her days on Idol, there were times in her concert when she was unsure how to start a song. She frequently looked to her guitarist to get a reminder of what note to play first. For her second song, she was sitting at the piano and she had finished talking to us and she said to her guitarist, "Oh wait! How does this song go again?" Then she admitted she was nervous and her hands were shaking. But she pulled through and performed beautifully.

One moment really cracked me up: she had been at the front of the stage playing the guitar and singing and she moved back to the piano. She sat down on the bench and started talking again. Then she had to move her face away from the microphone, covered her mouth AND BURPED!!! Her comment was, "I am always paranoid that sometime I'll be singing and I'll get the hiccups or I'll have to burp." At that moment I turned to Buttercup and said, "I love this woman!" Then Brooke grabbed her water bottle, chugged the rest of the water, went to the front of the stage and threw the bottle out into the audience. It was silly, but that's the way she rolls. (Interestingly enough, no burps after that chug!)

Right after taking these photos, I was tapped on the shoulder and told that no photography was allowed. Interestingly enough, there were no announcements or notices anywhere that said that.

Another moment that endeared her to me was at the end of the concert. She came out for the encore and she and her "band" played Let It Be. Who doesn't love that? Then the guys left and she was alone on the stage... It was a little odd. I thought to myself, "Maybe she doesn't know that the concert is over....?" But she had one little gem under her sleeve. She actually bore her testimony to us and played and sang a song that she had written based on a Primary song (Every Star is Different). She wrote it for a friend who was having a hard time in her life. The song was titled You're Divine -- or something like that. I then turned to Buttercup and said, "I really love this woman!" What a great role model!!

After the show, she announced that she would be in the foyer for a meet and greet. WOW! That was pretty cool. So Buttercup and I stood in line -- for 1.5 hours -- and waited. She is extremely chatty and very warm. Everyone she met felt like they had met their best friend.

She is a teeny little thing. I had my pic taken with her as well, but a woman my size does NOT look good standing next to a woman of her size! Believe me......

Again, Buttercup and I spent a wonderful evening together. These are the moments that I will will look back on and remember with a smile on my face!