newbie389′ American Idol Tour Cleveland Re-Cap

So, a little info on me. Girl, 17, this was my fourth idol concert (been going since season 5) and I’ve absolutely loved them all. Went to the Cleveland show for seasons 5 & 6, Columbus last year, and now Cleveland again (I only live about 20 minutes from the arena). I went with my parents, as is the tradition. My mom watches idol with me and we usually have similar opinions. Sometimes my dad watches with us too, but he didn’t see much of this season. It was fun to describe every idol beforehand so he’d at least have a clue who they were J Matt was my favorite this season, and after he was gone I voted for Kris. I had my opinions about everyone, but usually that starts to fall away for me when the concert rolls around. So I was stoked to see all of them and give them all a fair shot.

I’ll try not to re-hash too much of what had already been said, but I guess that’s inevitable! I’ll do my best with this, I’m not the best writer haha. Skip around, I’m sorry it’s so long! & I hope I didn’t make too many errors lol.

We got to the arena around 6 after finding a lot to park in and walking over. For anyone who cares, my outfit was my favorite green tank top, a black cotton vest, white&gray striped shorts and gray flip flops. Our seats weren’t bad- lower level, fifth row, kinda far back but I loved the view of the stage. Once we found our seats, I went to wait in line for merch- got the black tee and a tour book as usual. Hit up the concessions to get a bottle of Gatorade, since I was getting my wisdom teeth out the next day and couldn’t eat or drink anything past 10 pm. So then I got in line for the bathroom since I had time to spare. Lines weren’t bad at this time, but I must say it didn’t help that there were two separate entrances, both with lines. And also, there were more urinals than toilets in this women’s bathroom. Not even kidding! I counted while in line haha, 12 urinals. I’ve been to the Wolstein Center a few times, but I’ve never encountered that bathroom. Maybe they planned on it being divided, I’m not sure, but they should do something about that lol, because it’s just a waste. It was funny, people walked in like ‘umm this is the women’s bathroom..?’ , lots of clueless looks and laughing lol. But anyways, on with the show!

Got back in time to see more Carrie Underwood vids..no offense, but couldn’t they mix it up a bit more? I did the texting contest but didn’t win. One of the ladies behind me was a huge Adam fan and she asked about the program I bought, so I let her look through it while we were waiting and we all talked about idol stuff, it’s fun to meet people there! Then it was time for the show!

Michael’s opening was a fun way to get the crowd going. And he just seems like such a nice, average guy, you know? He talked a bit which I liked. He was like, ‘just stand up, and if a person behind you tells you to sit down, tell them to stand up! Seriously!’  haha. I did feel the band overpowered him a bit, especially on the first song, but it added a lot of energy. It was interesting to hear him sing R&B, I still think he’s got such a country voice’ ¦but for me, it worked!

Megan was next, and her background screens made me laugh. Distracting, I suppose, but I actually how they helped tell the story especially in the second song. There were cute haha. The colorful trees and question marks and such. As for Megan herself, I liked her more than I thought I would. I didn’t think her singing was that bad, the set was kinda fun. And she did totally look like a Barbie. Oh, and her hair was straight for this show.

Scott rose up on the piano and my first impression was that I liked his hair better now than on the show. Her first song was nice, but to me it seemed kinda long or drawn out or something. I but I didn’t hear any pitch problems. 1000 miles just isn’t my favorite song, but I think he pulled it off. Overall I didn’t find him as memorable as others, but at least he wasn’t memorable in a bad way either! Cool guy & I like that he interacted with the audience.

Lil wasn’t wearing a trench coat at this show. Or maybe she stopped that a long time ago and I haven’t been keeping up lol. My mom didn’t like her hair long, but I was indifferent. Single Ladies was fun and got people dancing. I think she’s got a powerful voice, but I still feel like something’s missing from her. I think it’s because I don’t feel the same uniqueness from her as some of the others. She’s still talented, I just don’t quite see her having a successful recording career. Maybe she could be on Broadway or something, though.

Anoop has changed my mind completely on this tour! On the show, I agreed with Simon on the ‘yo-yo’  comment- that he had good weeks and bad weeks and couldn’t exactly find the right place to define himself. I think I also kinda didn’t like him because I wished someone else would have made the top 13 over him. But wow, I loved him at the concert. I thought he made good song choices and was voice was gorgeous, especially on Always On My Mind. Mad had a nice vibe for him and I just like the song. I did like My Prerogative on the show, but I absolutely loved it in this concert setting. Fun & lots of energy. He’s one good looking guy which I don’t think I ever noticed before. The lady behind me said to her daughter something like, ‘he could totally be standing outside Abercrombie and Fitch’  and her daughter- my age- was like ‘uh, he could totally be my husband!’  Haha i agree. Anyway, I’d buy his album. He impressed me.

Matt was my favorite on the show, I was voting for him, so I’m biased. Just a head’s up. The intro was cool and I loved his energetic beginning. And it was awesome to see the crowd’s enthusiasm, he really brought it. A lot of times on the show you could hear his nerves, but he brought the confidence here as well. Loved the piano playing, he rocked it out. Georgia was a good reminder of his performance in Hollywood, and a nice showing of who he is, since he used to play at a piano bar. And You Found Me is a song I really like, so I enjoyed it. Love to see the fedora haha. I think it was a good choice to do a current song. Overall, I think he showed what he’s got, and he’s really come into his own since the show. Can’t wait for his album! But I’ll move on now.

Group number was fun. Loved the guys in suits and all. The rapping was cool, different. Loved the Billy Joel on the piano. I think the whole thing was a nice way to combine them all, briefly, while showcasing everyone. Just my personal opinion, but I like the concert set-up of seeing them more separately than together. I think it’s important because it allows them to transition from the show to their career, and really show people who they are.

Intermission: I went to the bathroom first, hoping to beat the line. And I didn’t do too bad. The lines were crazy as a walked out. It would have been so much better if not for the whole urinals-in-the-women’s-bathroom thing haha. Then I went back, watched a couple of those music videos, got ready for the second half. My parents both enjoyed the first half- my dad was impressed that he actually liked it lol. My mom and I are usually on the same page, so she was having a lot of fun too.

Allison’s a powerhouse; I can’t believe she’s younger than me! So What was young and current which I liked for her. Barracuda- the guitar player was great and Cry Baby- she really showed off her strong voice. I’m interested to hear her music in the future to see what she does.

Danny wasn’t my favorite on the show, although I did really like his voice on some performances. I love PYT and Michael Jackson songs in general, so I was glad he did it. It brought the energy and got people up and dancing. Maria Maria was a nice vibe, different. I know I wanted to do Latin on the show, so I’m glad he got to do it now. Dancing with the boots was kinda awkward I suppose, but I enjoyed his voice- pleasant but strong at the same time. I didn’t mind the ’speech’ , not very long-winded. I’m not into country music, but those are two songs I like and I think they were good choices for him.

But honestly, everyone at this point was thinking about, waiting for, anticipating, and freaking out about Adam. Kinda myself included, not gonna lie lol. I’ll premise this by saying that I wasn’t really a huge Adam fan or anything on the show. I knew he was really talented, just not my cup of tea. I preferred others, but I knew I’d always wish him the best. However, I found myself really anxious for him to come out. You could feel the intensity and excitement in the arena, really crazy actually. People were getting out of their seats (finally, lol), going ‘omg is he coming’ , and all that stuff. The build-up was insane, and when he finally came out, the crowd erupted and everyone stood up to be able to see him when he came on. Lighting for WLL was awesome. Adam’s vocals are incredible, he’s so talented. I found myself wondering how it was possible that he had to be on American Idol, but I guess he just needed the right chance. Loved his voice on Starlight, Mad World was beautiful, haunting, nice to see a softer side. The duet w. Allison was great of course, they’re good together. And I loved the David Bowie medley. Seriously, he is just so talented, I don’t know what else to say. He impressed me big time, I’m so glad I was there to see him. Before the show, when I was talking to the lady sitting behind me, she said she knew it was gonna be one of those things that you can look back on and say ‘yeah, I was there..’  or whatever. That’d be awesome, I hope so, I wish him the best.

I didn’t know how Kris was going to follow the intensity of Adam, but for me, he did for sure. I loved the set up for Heartless, simple yet cool’ ¦just like Kris. I think ATTTID was a good choice, even though I was skeptical at first, it got the crowd into it. Ain’t No Sunshine was a favorite of mine on the show and I was a good chance to see him at the piano. Bright Lights was my favorite- so much energy, he brought intensity to it and I thought it was great. You can see that Kris really feels the music, and I love that. And I really feel his set and song choices did a good job defining him and showing what he’s got. Hey Jude was a nice closing with all the idols. Can’t wait to see what Kris does in the future.

Don’t Stop Believing was a perfect way to end the show, all of them together again, the pianos, and Kris and Adam coming on together.

So yeah, I loved the show, haha. No complaints really, I liked the production. I thought the sound was a bit loud, though. At times it seemed that I couldn’t fully enjoy their voices because it was turned up so loud, and we were sitting pretty far back too, but maybe that was just me, I dunno. My dad immediately said it was the best one of the four seasons we’ve seen, and my mom and I agreed. He also commented on how much more ‘edgy’  it was than in past seasons, and he meant it in a good way, so he enjoyed the show way more than he thought he would, and thought that everyone was decent this year. Usually he’ll leave during someone’s set to ‘buy me program’  or something haha, he’ll think up some excuse to leave, we make a big joke every year about who he’s going to miss to buy a program, but he stayed for everyone and liked it. My mom absolutely loved the whole thing and so did I, she also commented on how much she liked the set-up and the screens for backgrounds because it was different from past seasons.

I wish them all the best with whatever they do. After the show, I definitely feel that Adam and Kris are deserving of the top two spots, but I enjoyed the whole show and think there’s a lot of talent. I love the tour because I always like them all better live. It was an incredible show that I’ll never forget and I’m so happy I got to go! Can’t wait to see where their careers take them. It’d be cool to see them in town on their own solo tours soon. If you have to a chance to go see this show, it is so worth it!!