Mary's Grand Rapids MI Recap

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a shameless Taylor fan. My true desire is to see him in a small club, sitting on a stool with his acoustic guitar, singing The Fall, Georgia, Hell of a Day...BUT having said that, this was a tremendously fun evening for Idol fans. Recaps have been done so many times, I'm sure everyone knows the deal. I've read so many that when my DH and I were talking with the couple next to us before the concert, I could give them a play-by-play before it began. (Really...I do have a life.) So my impressions...I've heard rumors of strep, etc, but they all sang and all seemed very full of energy and enthusiasm! Maybe we were lucky that they had yesterday off!

Mandisa - Perfect "opener" - strong, great voice and stage presence, I thought her little motivational talk was just right, short and to the point -she said Grand Rapids could really "sang"

Ace - very entertaining; did all the moves I'd heard about - the leap is great! Most high-pitched screaming fans of the night - think young girls - every time he came on stage or his picture was shown the screams jumped at least a couple of octaves; he said we were a city of beautiful people, specifically nice eyes

Lisa and Paris - great, just what I'd heard - they are both young and have so much potential

Bucky - yes, he sang and seemed to do well - I definitely saw him coughing a couple of times, but he appeared to be having fun; commented on how great our weather was (the best on the tour so far!) and got cheers when he said maybe he would buy or rent a house here

Kellie - sang her regular songs -seemed strong to me - wore the black leather jacket and red bustier - talked about how dreams come true and thanked everyone for voting for all their Idols

Chris - wow, it almost feels like a new concert when Chris comes out after the intermission - his voice is so strong and he seems so comfortable on stage - deafening applause (All of the Idols commented on how loud we GR fans were.)

Elliott - he came out in a Michigan State t-shirt and the crowd loved it and him - as this is my first time seeing them, it's hard to compare what he was like in other venues, but he smiled a lot and really complimented the GR crowd and truly appeared to be having fun- seemed in fine voice

Patience - very impressive harmonies - really enjoyed it. Chris was wearing a Michigan jersey to compliment Elliott's State shirt. In this state, you root for one or the other! I went to Michigan and my husband to State so we thought it was great!

Katharine - wore the black dress and sounded great on BHCT - She was never my favorite, but I don't dislike her either - must say she seemed warmer that I'd anticipated and truly touched by the reception GR gave - Over The Rainbow was fine, didn't blow me away - maybe she was holding back - said she was still on doctor's orders for only two songs and then said that if we had noticed she was limping it was because of her broken foot and showed the cast

Taylor - I'm not sure what to write - Taylor caught my eye (ear?) when I saw the Vegas auditions and I have been impressed ever since - I've heard recaps and watched videos of the tour thus far so I guess there were no surprises, but to me, there is just something in watching him that I can't explain. I was mesmerized and loved every moment. He smiled quite a bit and seemed very energetic. I saw no sign of strep throat. Sang Jailhouse Rock, a song "written by someone from Michigan" (HN), Living For The City and DIMYP. Kind of cute - he smiled at himself at one point for being a bit winded during this last one. TI2TS was electric -we got the windmill, the spinning, the Mick Jagger hand on hip, the Chuck Berry, all the fun stuff....On a practical note he wore jeans, a black shirt, light gray (tan?) jacket and tennis shoes. Black shirt, no jacket for encore. I see that "Charles" who attended this evening said that Chris was the crowd favorite. Maybe, he's right in terms of crowd noise,  but I'm telling you, there is seriously some kind of incredible, sustained energy in the crowd for Taylor (and the cheering was extremely loud.)

My husband is a passing-through-the-living-room AI viewer so he "kind of" knew them. He said his "favorite" was Chris (strong voice, his kind if music) but he said there is something magnetic in Taylor's presence on the stage  and he became a fan.  A fun, fun night!!