Tampa, FL AI Live! Show – Sarah’s Recap
Sarah caught the show in Tampa last night from the 6th row. Sadly, her concert buddy Spencer couldn’t make it due to babysitter problems… I’m sorry, Spence! Read Sarah’s account below…
So the first thing I have to say is thank GOD for sunshine. I saw my first glimpse of it in FOUR DAYS as I was arriving in Tampa this afternoon, and it immediately put me in an even better mood than the one I was already sporting from having scored last minute tix on the 6th row floor on the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mavid Sideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ of the stage.
The next thing I have to say is that Tampa LURVES them some David Cook. Other people got plenty of screams too, but the ones for David Cook were seriously deafening. I, ahem, did my part to add to the love he was receiving, but seriously – it was insane. He even made a little comment about it on stage – something to the effect of thanking people for the cheers and stuff, and then saying à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s kinda weirdà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ the two people preceding me both have connections to this area, but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t. But I have been here before. Family vacation.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Heh. His banter was cracking me up. One particular thing – after he finished the whole filming the audience thing, he comes back and says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“so someone out there while I was doing this had a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“marry me Jasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ sign. I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t realize we looked so much alike!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Crack. Me. UP! He also took me to the other end of the spectrum – getting all teary eyed when he talked about Lindsey Rose – the little girl from Tampa with leukemia whose father is a personality on the Tampa Fox station, and gave him the orange bracelet he always wore on the show. It was so sweet – he dedicated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“My Heroà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ tonight to both her and his brother.
More recap after the JUMP…
Yes, the Mavid à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“danceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ was karate chops. MJ had a piece of cardboard that said à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“DCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ on it, and DC karate-chopped it, and vice versa. Sweet.
Random observations – besides that the words à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“we will rock youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ were on the screen behind Michael during his performance to begin with, it really bugged that them flashing up was out of sync with the singing. LOL. Other than that, Michael was great. I really enjoy him, but I definitely prefer when he sings bluesy stuff.
Archie got great big cheers for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Stand By Me.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ That was probably my favorite of his songs. He did a really great job with it – and all of his songs, really. He was really out of breath between songs though, but sounded great singing. He also got a ton of love from the crowd tonight. I think the biggest non-teen Archie fan in the world was sitting behind me. My ears were ringing from her, and from all the squealing.
Carly can freaking wail. I. lurve. that. woman. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Nuff said. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crazy On Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ was the first time on the show that I really started coming around to her, and it still rocks my world. She killed it. She said that some of her husbandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s family was in the audience tonight. Awwww.
Ramieleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s stage presence has grown leaps and bounds. She sounded good on the first two songs, but I just think the Maroon 5 song was an ill-advised song choice for her. Her family was sitting a couple rows up from me, I think. At least, it looked like her dad, and there was a girl with them who looked just like her.
Weirdly, Kristy got a bunch of cheers (not that sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not good, just that it kinda surprised me). It seemed to kind of surprise her too – at one point after a song and sustained cheering she kinda had this look on her face like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wow. Seriously? You like me?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s got sass and can work the stage pretty well, but she does still have that weird wide-leg stance.
Jason is a pure bundle of joy. I just lurve him to death. Jason cracked me up with the way before he started SOTR, he just kinda deadpanned à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“thanks for coming to the second half of our showwwwà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ in the way that only Jason can do. I missed his banter between SOTR and Crazy because I was saying bye to Spense. 
Brooke sounded really great, and sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s just a joy on the stage as well. I think as a whole set, I like hers the best. The songs just all fit her so well. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Yellowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ was a highlight. Love her version of that. And I cheered extra loud for her for you, Spense. 
Chikezie is really seeming to come out of his shell. One of my favorite moments of the night was when they each come to the end of the front catwalk the finale time, he just kinda stops and does the robot during his face time. A. dor. a. ble! Love him. He was really good tonight. Full of energy and a lotta fun.
Syesha got a lot of love from her hometown crowd. She said her family was in the audience and she seemed really glad to have them there. Honestly, I know everyone likes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Listenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , but I like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“If I Ainà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Got Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ better. Just my personal preference. IMO, she gets kinda screechy on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Listen.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ But she was really good.
I think thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s it. Not sure how good my pics will be as, though I had great seats, I have a crappy camera. But I got a ton of them, so hopefully some will turn out. The teenage guy sitting next to me with the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Marry Me Carlyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ sign (which she acknowledged, but then had to disappoint him by saying that sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s already married, lol) seemed to be taking some good pics and videos, so if they end up on youtube, and you hear some insane screaming (omg I even squealed a little *hangs head in shame*), please try to ignore it. LOL.
OH! Corey the Warm Up Guy made a hilarious comment during intermission when he was doing the Air Guitar Hero things with the kids. One of the kids, a little boy, got up there and Corey asked his name (donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t remember), his age (8), and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“what he doesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (swim). So Corey was like, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“so you wanna be Michael Phelps, huh?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ and the little boyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“YEAH!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ And he was like, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“so in *tries to calculate years and fails*, so yeah, you could be over in China now, competingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ only youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d have to be a Chinese gymnast.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ My friend and I DIED out laughing. I think thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the only truly funny thing Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve ever heard/read Corey say.
I had a blast, but it would have been even better if Spense hadnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t been stuck at home. 
Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m glad I was able to call you with a little Jason love though. I felt so badly that you werenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t there. 
Now, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m back to the rain (Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m ready for Fay to get her ass OUT of Florida). Yay. At least I got a brief break from it and a fun night at the show.
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33 Responses to “Tampa, FL AI Live! Show – Sarah’s Recap”
Exactly! I think AI and the media tried to create opportunities to bring in the angle any way they thought was posisble, but DC didn’t want sympathy votes and wanting people voting for him based on his performances and not his personal life or issues.
Good times, good times. Hopefully, we’ll all get the chance again!
I’ll work on it :}
What were the letters on his guitar for if not for attention?
I still think the comment made in Florida about the crowd “it’s kinda wierd, but the two people preceding me here have connections to florida…” in response to the supposed louder clapping for him. The idol always gets more cheers , that’s standard, but to make a deal about that on stage and in front of his other idols just seemed wierd and a bit pompous.
It may have been on the guitar, but he never brought it up in any way. Many people had no idea what the AC stood for or why it was there. Cook has mentioned before that he puts his brothers’ initials on various items, and has since his high school days. The “AC” was already on his guitar in many pre-Idol pictures.
Like others have said, despite many efforts by the show and some media, Cook never mentioned or alluded to his brother or his situation in any way during his time on the show.
As for the quote during the concert, it seems like just part of his normal banter – he may have been taken aback by his reception. We don’t know how it came across; we weren’t there. But, from all that we know about David Cook, I highly doubt he was trying to take some of the shine away from his friends.
I believe they were there for him, as his own personal reminder of whatever he wanted to be reminded about concerning his brothers. He sure didn’t seem in a hurry to tell anyone what they meant.
He sure seems to have great affection for his family, and it didn’t appear to me that he exploited his brother’s situation at all for his own gain.
I totally agree with Spense, on the show even, the time that his brother was there, everyone thought he would use his brother to get votes but not ONE word did he mention about his brother back then.
Thanks for the comments and discussion. I just know that they have to be careful when comparing. To thank the audience for their applause is one thing, but to compare it to the 2 other idols applause before him just didn’t come across as just thanking the fans for his applause but as comparing it to the others applause…I am sure he will be very careful when the idols come to his home. And I am sure the fans will be cautious about making sure all the idols feel supported at each and every concert. I know I did. I tried to make sure each and every idol got the same applause. I hate to see any one favored over another. They are still representing idol . When they get out on their own and do concerts, the fans can go overboard there, but I think during idol concerts all fans need to be respectful of all idols. The girls, especially, have mentioned how they get overlooked. I think it’s gotten better, but the Cook comment just started it all over again, and I think he of all the idols should be the most careful not to make comments like these that compare!
What do you mean it started it all over again?
I personally believe DC has gone to great lengths to make sure this concert is not about him, but about them. I’m sorry, but when I went to my concert I definatley applauded loudest for the idols I liked best.