I'll start where my friend Stacy (a Danny fan) and I arrived at Jobing.com Arena. We got there at 10:30am (we wanted to scout possible meet & greet locations) and it was already hot. It was probably 95 degrees but hey, we were determined! It didn't help that I had on jeans, socks and my Anoop t-shirt.
My shirt - very bright btwWe got to the other side but stayed in the front because they were unloading a truck and there were like 6 cops cars on that side and I didn't want to get arrested, no matter how much I joked about it. Everyone was expecting me to get arrested too, for throwing myself on Anoop haha. We were sitting on the benches wondering what to do when an older lady came over to us. She was wearing a Danny shirt, and I just knew Stacy would be thrilled. She was a very funny lady and we walked back to where we had come from with her, so she could see the parking for the buses. Then we walked back to where we had met her, and I had to sit down because I hadn't eaten yet and I was dying from the heat. She and Stacy went on around the other side of the building and eventually I joined them standing by an open door because the cold air was flowing out. Then a security guy told us to leave. We were heading towards Westgate to find something to eat and ran into the Adam fans we saw earlier.
It wasn't so fun now, because I was hot and hungry. Everything got really bright and started to sparkle brilliantly. I was swaying while Stacy exchanged numbers with an Adam fan, so we could keep each other informed (seeing as we were the only people to show up so far). We finally made it up the sandwich shop I found online and had the best sandwiches ever. People kept giving me odd looks because of my shirt lol & the "I heart Anoop Desai" button pinned to my bag. We sat in there for about an hour and half, then decided to go back to the arena and see if the idols had arrived yet (per Michael's tweet that they would arrive at 1pm and come out around 2pm) Apparently they were late though, and we missed them getting off the bus, thanks to Stacy taking 20 freaking minutes in the bathroom. Sure we were disheveled looking but 20 minutes? COME ON! By the time we got back to Jobing the security guys sent everyone to gate 5, where the official meet and greet was supposed to be. We were certain no one would come out since there were no barricades! But everyone else was over there so we figured that was our best bet.
We still were uncertain about gate 5 so we went around to the other side of the building where people were originally, but still found nothing. We went back over to gate 5 and met Michael Sarver! We didn't even recognize him because he had on sunglasses and a hat, but he was just the sweetest guy. He signed our pictures, no barricades! We were ecstatic because we knew that meant everyone else would come out! So we waited. While we waited we met the Sanjaya crying girl, Ashley, and got to talk to her quite a bit. She had on a shirt that was for all of the Idols, but she said she liked my Anoop shirt =D While we waited we met a ton of other fans, mostly for Adam but towards 6pm I did see another Anoop Trooper. Woohoo!! Then 3:30pm rolled around and the official meet and greet people started lining up.
I hate those people. Yes, I shouldn't be bitter and I wasn't until one of the guys came out and said "Look at our signatures! HA HA!" right in our faces. We had been there for HOURS, and you really don't want to mess with me when I'm hot and tired. Well meh on those pre show people because they only got 10 minutes in there, since you can't take pictures and they make you keep walking. By this time we were severely angry because the m&g started at 4pm and the idols had soundcheck at 5pm. We knew they weren't coming out and we just couldn't believe it. Plus the woman who was with Idol was EXTREMELY rude, she even told us our parking wasn't underground. We told her that it was and she said "well not for our bus". Ummm you're not the important one that everyone is here to see are you?? NO!
By this time almost everyone else that was in line before left, leaving around 10 of us. We had quite a bitter party out there. Stacy and I ran to her car, dumped off our crap (I had a huge bag of stuff haha) and came back to wait for Stacy's friend so she could give her the tickets Stacy won. We had ROW 8 tickets, like hell we were giving them up. When we got inside we went straight to the merch stand and I bought the giant poster and the Anoop photo (even though Stacy made me one of the whole group but I wanted my solo Anoop picture) It was insane at the merch stand! It was almost worse than when we were waiting outside after the show!
We finally made it to our seats and discovered we were surrounded by Adam fans. Look, I have nothing against the nice ones but the nasty ones I want to punch. There's no reason to act like such an ass to everyone who doesn't love Adam. Then it started.
Our view really was much better than what my camera lets on.
Michael was up first of course and even though I had gotten to the arena a non fan, after he was the only one to come out I wanted to cheer and yell for him as loudly as I could. While Stacy and I were cheering and singing along, this old BAT in front of us kept plugging her ears like we were annoying her. There was no possible way she could have heard our singing, so it must have been the occasional scream we let out. Sod off grandma, you don't like it, leave. Michael was really good, even during "Closer"! I had heard bad things about it but I thought he did very well with it. Then it was time for Megan. She is a very pretty girl (you have no idea how many times I've read that) and when she gets into the chorus of the first song she is fantastic. Um, that's about it though. Her second song - no idea what it is - made her sound very bitter. I've decided that there is no way she and Anoop are dating. It's just a feeling (ok a jealous I don't want him to date her feeling)
Next was Scott, his songs were nice and he's a master on the piano. His jokes were funny as well. I'm so glad he got to come home! Then came Lil. Girl, if you sang like that on AI you would have made it farther! Her "Be Without You" started off nicely but it went off into something else and I got really confused. Can't remember her second song, oops, and then came "Single Ladies"! hahaha We were all dancing and singing along but she should really cut the length of the song. She just kept repeating herself in the end and I lost my will to stand up. I knew, as the song was ending, who was coming up next. My heart was racing and I couldn't breathe properly. I kept making high pitched squeaking noises as well.
We all sat down as Anoops picture came up. I had to sit down, or else people would have yelled at me. All I could do was stare. The lights were dim and I knew he was coming up from under the stage. He appeared and I screamed fully at the top of my lungs. He has the most amazing stage presence. The bat in front of us turned to her husband and said " I wish they'd stop screaming in my ear" so I turned right to her and screamed again. Yes I'm spiteful that way. I think I stayed quiet until the end of "Always on my mind" and then the crowd went wild. I was so excited my screams came out so high pitched you could barely hear them. Stacy recorded "Mad" for me, which I'm sure I shrieked my head off during and then MY PEROGATIVE! I was thrilled to hear "Mad" because Anoop is brilliant and that's the stuff we want to hear from him in the future but I wanted to see the MP dance moves. Everyone was standing up and dancing and singing, clapping and cheering. I was so proud to be an Anoop fan at that moment, and I made it known. His dance moves...*drool* No words. I tried to record it but I kept dancing and jumping around and screaming, so it came out badly.
After his set my knees went out and fell into my seat. I couldn't believe it; I just saw Anoop Desai, and we were so close! Row 8! I could see him perfectly and let me tell you, he is perfect. It was hilarious when he came out because he was joking about how cold it was in AZ, and then he laughed at himself. :D That was the cutest moment of the night. Matt came on and I don't think I heard one word of his set. I was in shock. My mind was going "Anoop Anoop Anoop Anoop". Sorry Matt, didn't mean to ignore you. Then came Lil and Megan's duet, oh goody <--sarcasm* and Michael came out on his own. Again he was very good and I will support him throughout his career. The dueling piano men Matt and Scott came up, no idea who won, then it was time for Beggin'! where Anoop came back out and looked so unbelievably sexy in his suit. The glasses look a lot better at the show, for those of you who don't like the pictures. He's just adorable. I was howling by this time and I hated seeing him leave the stage.
Intermission came and we stayed in our seats. You can read Stacy's blog to see what happened with the two Adam fans. I'm too lazy and this is too long already. The show started back up and Allison came out. She really is a rocker chick and had a blast up there on stage. Her boot came untied too. Oh dear I knew who was up next and I knew Stacy was going to go insane. She did as Danny walked on stage. She just stood there clutching her camera staring at Danny so I poked her and made a camera motion. Then she started taking pictures. Danny was good of course and his salsa dancing was hilarious. Stacy was screaming louder than I ever imagined she could. His "What Hurts the Most" made me tear up a little, but no worries I teared up slightly after Anoop too. I just felt bad for Danny, losing his wife like that.
Oh lord guess who came next. Don't get me wrong, I liked Adam on the show because he always seemed so humble and nice. Now, um not so much...And I don't care if he's gay, you'd have to be blind not to know it. And no I'm not a church going conservative. I'm a liberal democrat and I'll support anyone regardless of their race and orientation; i just don't like over pimped contestants. I got sick of the judges shoving him down my throat, and that's why he lost. We don't like to be told what to do and they were over-hyping Adam to the extreme. So I voted for Kris and I'm really glad that I did because he's my second favorite. He deserved to win; he earned that win. It just ticks me off when Adam fans are mean to him, because Kris is such a sweetie and he's a master at making songs sound cool.
Anyways, you could have literally gone deaf in the arena when Adam came out. Holy cow. There was like a constant roar from the crowd during his whole set. That coupled with Adams voice...yeah the floors were vibrating and my eardrums were hurting. I couldn't even stand up for two of his songs just because it was physically exhausting. I was never especially fond of Adams style of singing but I love "Mad World" and the duet with Allison is so much fun. I took a bathroom break during his David Bowie medley but I could still hear him in the bathroom. Yep, I can say "I took a pee break during Adams set" and then smile an evil smile. >) The guys next to us who were Adam fans gave me the dirtiest look possible when I came back just in time for Kris.
I guess Stacy heard some people behind us say Kris had no stage presence but I didn't hear them. We cheered and yelled as loud as we could for Kris. He looked so at home on that stage, like he loved being up there more than anything, except for his wife and family of course. He was genuine. That's what I love about him and Anoop: they aren't fake. I just feel it from them, they love being up there performing for us. I loved all of Kris' set but jeez someone tell the band to tone it down during his second song, they were drowning him out! They did that a few times during the night, to the other idols as well. It was freakin' annoying.
I didn't know the "Hey Jude" song but Anoop came back out, and so did everyone else. Then I REALLY got into it because that nasty awful woman and her family left during that song so we were free to scream and carry on as loudly as we wanted. It's not like anyone could hear us over other peoples' noise. "Don't Stop Believin'" was next and I was excited for that one because I'd seen interviews that showed them practicing the song and I knew it was going to be good. IT WAS! I swear the crowd was starting to drown out the idols because everyone was singing. We were all dancing and singing, and I screamed some more for Anoop. I just couldn't take my eyes off of him and the screams welled up in my throat so I couldn't hold them in =D And just like that, the night was over. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So after we were done cheering at the end of the show, we ran for the stairs to go outside and find out where the buses were. It was underground parking but we weren't sure if they would let everyone come out, since that Idol lady wouldn't tell us anything. We thought they'd have them come out by the ramp where the buses would pick them up. While we were standing on the stairs waiting to leave the building, a guy in front of me goes "Look at her shirt!" to everyone around me. I have no idea why he said that but I just said that I loved Anoop and was thrilled to see him. Then I felt someone poke me and I turned around; it was the Sanjaya girl, Ashley! She asked me if I liked Anoop and I told her I loved him. We chatted for a few minutes and then they finally let us leave the building.
We came out on what we thought was the wrong end, so we raced around to the other side where the ramp was but we didn't see anything! There were people on both sides, but it looked the like there were more on the other side, where we had originally come out. Someone had opened this gate thing that blocked off a gravel area between both sides and we ran through it. Yep, if only we'd stayed on that side, we would have been right by the barricades. There was a huge crowd of people and we were clear in the back. I was devastated. It was around 10pm I think and we knew the after party lasted a while, so we were hoping people would leave as the wait got too much for them. They did muahaha. You couldn't sit down because there were so many people pressed around each other, so those who were faint at heart left. Soon there were only two rows in front of us, and we were packed together so tightly we ended up being close to the barricades.
You hear and smell some very interesting things when you're that packed together, let me tell you. Ick! It was a nice night, as there had been a severe monsoon storm during the show but we were sweating profusely as the night went on. I started talking to a girl in front of me, who turned out to be a huge Anoop fan, and an Adam fan. We were joking that we'd be Anoops' two wives, sharing him every other day, except he could have Sundays off for alone time. We were just kidding people, don't get your knickers in a knot thinking we're creepy fans. We were just excited that they were finally going to come out! Eventually, around midnight, Michael came out. Again, he was such a sweetheart. He took his time and made sure everyone got something signed. How awesome is that? Then Lil, Megan and Allison came out. I didn't get their signatures because I was trying not to hit people around me with my picture of the top 10 and everyone was clamoring to get their picture/cd/whatever signed. I only wanted Anoop anyways. Scott came out a few minutes later. I can't remember when Matt came out, I think he was after Scott.
We were waiting and waiting and FINALLY, it happened. Danny came out, and then Kris and right after Kris came ANOOOOOOOP! Oh quick add, after Anoops set was over all you could hear was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP. It was so cool. Back to after...Anoop came out and I don't know what happened but I lost it and I and the girl next to me screamed his name as loudly as possible. I know it was obnoxious but I lost control of my mouth. Unfortunately we screamed that right in poor Michaels face :) so he plugged his ears and told us to do it again!
Kris was great and came down to our end, which was the end of the line and had a handler. Aww! I missed his siggy too but Anoop was getting closer and closer and breathing was starting to become impossible again. They were all moving so fast down the line of people! I said before the show, when they didn't come out, it didn't matter if I didn't get my picture signed, I just wanted Anoop 2 feet in front of me. And it happened. Suddenly he was there and boy did I get my picture up over those people. I'm 5'9 and everyone else was around 5'1 to 5'5. Then he was holding my picture steady and signing it. Oh and Anoop isn't as tall as everyone keeps saying. Well, I mean, for them I'm sure he is but we were practically eye level. HOORAY FOR BEING TALL! lol Stacy printed off the picture I had for me and she put a Carolina blue heart right next to Anoop and he signed right across it. HE WAS RIGHT THERE! Just remembering it makes me a little breathless. I think he even had an Obama shirt on. How did I not pass out?
His signature, wow oh wow oh wow
The only thing I could think of to say was "Thank you Anoop!" and I swear he looked up briefly at me. Could be wishful thinking though :D I couldn't get a picture of him because people were so pressed into me I couldn't get to my camera phone. Oh I forgot to mention that when the idols started coming out, these two boys who were probably 10 or older who had been waiting in the back just shoved their way through the crowd and were standing, literally, on me. I was furious because I loathe children and I said quite loudly "Someone needs to teach their children some manners." Then one of the little pests looked at me and I glared at him. Hey I'm not afraid to sink to that level, I'd been out in the heat all day. I was there to meet them dammit and no brat was getting in my way. There were a few lovely kids there though, a younger girl even handed my picture out to Scott so I could get his siggy. Somehow I ended up with Dannys, but Anoop was still around my area so I can't remember how Danny signed my picture. Maybe I was in too much shock and just left my arm in the air.
Oh yeah while that was happening Adam came out. And went back in maybe 5 minutes later. I would hate to be his fan because he never comes out before the show, and he barely stays out after the show. Most of the people waiting before and after are Adam fans! Stacy had her Danny moment and I had my Anoop moment, and we heard Adam left, so we all just filed away. Of course I think I yelled quite hysterically "I got Anoops signature!!!" as we walked to the car :P It was all over. My cell phone was dead, my knees were rubber, my back was killing me but I was beyond happy. I tweeted Anoop in the car telling him he made my year by signing my picture :P Then we started for home, a wonderful <--more sarcasm* hour drive. Can't even believe it, he signed my picture. He really is reserved, because he kept his head down and just laughed at what everyone was yelling at him. What an amazing night. Now I am dealing with the aftermath: sore everything and waiting for Stacy to upload pictures. My camera phone stinks and wouldn't take clear pictures so here's to wasting 30 bucks on a media card for my blackberry. It still feels like a dream. Feel the love :D and no I have no idea who was on stage while everyone was doing this hahahaha they were the only good pictures I could get. I'll add Anoop ones once Stacy uploads them! And sorry to the random people I took this picture of. =P
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