Reaching Out to the Stars (19 page)

Chapter 19

Life Is What You Make It

August 19, the day after another American Idol adventure, and I was off to record a new song at my brother’s house. David had agreed to let me record another song as long as I used my own karaoke music and he did not have to create any of the music for me. I had just found out prior to leaving home that Jason Castro was releasing a single from his new album that was still in the works.

I drove and listened to “Light On” by David Cook, trying to learn the song that I was going to be recording in forty minutes. I also kept rewinding the night of the show in my head. It was like another experience that I was trying to keep alive through constant thought because I never wanted it to end.

Bryce got home early the night of the concert so that I could shower and get ready for the show. He walked in the door at 3:30 and we were supposed to leave for Boston at 4:30. It did not quite work out as we planned.

My parents were supposed to be over the house for 4:30 but got held up at the hospital where my dad was having a follow up appointment for his fractured shoulder which he got in a motorcycle accident in the beginning of July. The doctor was running three hours behind and they had called to say they would be late. At 4:35, I started to panic. I was getting anxious because I knew that if we did not leave by five we would miss the beginning of the show. After paing a large sum of money to get phenomenal seats, I really did not want to be late.

I started to think about who the first two contestants were to be eliminated this season, who we would most likely miss. I was not concerned at all about missing Megan Joy but I did like Michael Sarver. Therefore, my goal was to get there on time. We had planned to eat before the show but then I thought, If we get there in time we could catch Michael and go eat while the horrific caw-calling girl performed.

I had called my neighbor to see if there was any way she could come over with the kids until my parents arrived. As she too was on her way home, she said that she thought she would be able to get here to save us a little time. She showed up around 5:10 and we kissed the kids goodbye and hurried on our way.

We began our drive to the Boston Garden, I was anxious to get there. I was really stressed out because I was in charge of reading the directions, and when you’re the directions manager on a trip to Boston, you need to be quick because anyone knows that if you miss a turn in Boston, holy shit, you are screwed.

In college, I remember riding with my friend Jake in the Anna Maria College van to the Boston Art Museum for a field trip for our religion class senior year. We ended up taking a wrong turn and we were so lost that we didn’t get there until the tour was three quarters over.

Forgive me my fellow Bostonians, but I have only been to New York City once in my life and could probably figure out my way there better than in my own capital city. There are seven million exits, all close together, tunnels everywhere surrounded by seven million one way streets and somehow, none of them are connected. It has to be the most confusing city ever and it is scary shit.

I managed to get us to the Government Center garage in one piece. When we parked and walked out of the garage, Bryce and I looked at each other at the same time after looking around and had no clue where the Boston Garden even was. Flipping up the cell phone, the time read 6:48. We tried to ask the garage attendant directions but ‘no speaka da englas.’ I spotted some woman with a glittery American Idol t-shirt and as I grabbed Bryce I said softly, “Follow that woman…she knows the way.”

We finally made our way to our section. I got excited when I saw the souvenir booth but was bummed out that it would have to wait until later. I placed my foot on the top stair to make our way down to our seats. The arena went black and the music started as you were listening to the introduction to the actual television show on Tuesday night. The timing was impeccable and we made it!

Sitting in our fabulous seats, all of ten feet from the stage, the music was still playing and I got a rush through my body. I leaned over to Bryce and said, “Can you actually picture what it would be like sitting on the set of this show as they are filming?”

Michael Sarver was the first to perform. The two things that I remember about him most was his friendliness to the crowd and a single comment that he made to the fans. “Is there someone here who you love tonight?” The entire place erupted and I thought, it’s not me this year. Although that connection was absent, I had a great fondness for at least four of them whom I was very excited to see perform.

As Meghan Joy entered with a hot pink number and shoes higher than Mount Washington, I could not deny her beauty. However, she had absolutely no stage presence and could not walk in the shoes.

I could not even bring myself to clap for her.

I feel bad for being so anti-Meghan, but I can’t seem to get by her erratic behavior on the show. I saw an interview after she was eliminated and she still wasn’t getting it. The judges were not upset with her comment regarding not caring about what Simon had said. It was her complete attitude about the elimination and how she almost made a joke of it with her funny faces and so on. Most contestants are very nervous and serious on the elimination show because they do not want to go home. It is an opportunity for a career that most are hoping for, the mere reason for trying out for the show to begin with. It was like she made a mockery of it. Maybe it was the only way that Meghan knew how to deal with the rejection. Unfortunately, it showed her immaturity, it was not good for the show and it turned off viewers.

It would not be surprising to me if it even had an effect on her fellow contestants. She was basically making a joke of an opportunity from which they were all hoping to make a career.

Performances by Anoop “Dogg” Desai and Lil Rounds were both solid along with Scott Macintyre who was a bit outshined by Matt Giraud, a definite showman on stage. As he was singing “Hard to Handle,” he owned that piano on his feet. It was quite impressive but my first thought was, Top Gun, Maverick and Goose, and “Great Balls of Fire.”

During the intermission Bryce went to the men’s room and told me to get in line for food. As I turned and spotted the souvenirs once again, I thought to myself, but honey, there is nobody in that line right now. I must take the path less traveled by the hungry because the program and the t-shirt were much more important than eating at that very moment. I also bought an 8 x 10 of Adam Lambert for my friend Bonnie.

After inhaling a hot dog, we returned to our seats for the top four, and my four favorites. As I was somewhat partial to Danny Gokey, I enjoyed Allison and Kris and was just purely excited to see a live performance by Adam.

One of my favorite examples of an ‘idol crush’ all night was what I saw when Allison Iraheta took the stage. There was a little boy about three rows down from us who had to be about thirteen years old. He was trying desperately to get her attention. He had purchased her 8x10 photo at the souvenir booth and was holding it up every moment she was on stage. The poor little man’s arms must have been ready to fall off by the time he put it down. I felt so bad for him because he just wanted her to notice him. A simple wave probably would have made his night. In fairness to Allison, she was concentrating on her performance and she probably couldn’t see past a certain point with the lighting.

Allison had a great performance. My favorite was “Cry Baby,” which I was hoping she would perform because it was one of my favorite performances by her on the show. I downloaded that song on iTunes and I listen to it all the time. Before her last song, she got the crowd prepared for Danny, Adam and Kris. The room erupted and no doubt about it, everyone was awaiting the performances of all three. They were definitely the most loved trio of the season.

As the music blared and a loud voice said, “Number three, Danny Gokey”, the room again exploded with screams and applause. Danny was my favorite all season. I always seemed to think that he had a little bit of a Robert Downey, Jr. thing going on. I do still believe that the title should have gone to Adam. I think it should have been Kris at three, Danny at two and Adam at number one. Oh well, it is what it is.

Danny came on stage wearing a black jacket over a red button down shirt with jeans, sporting black boots and of course, a different pair of glasses, which became his trademark. Halfway through his set, he dropped the jacket exposing the red button down short sleeved fitted shirt which drew my attention to his arms, which was something I never had noticed before. Holy crap, Danny Gokey was buff. I have to say that was a complete turn on for me. What was ironic is I never really notice things like that, but oh, I did.

Out of all the contestants, Danny was the one who interacted the most with the fans. He actually had a message as he reminded us that the death of his wife had set him forth on this journey which was a blessing for him. He said, “Bad things are going to happen, but don’t let your dreams die.” He was very inspiring.

As Danny finished his set he formed his arms in the shape of a heart as he did the many times on the show. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that but it was so quick that I missed the opportunity.

The most exhilarating part of the night was when it was Adam’s turn to come on stage. Adam’s presence provoked excitement for everyone because people were envisioning what his performance would be like. “Number two, Adam Lambert.” The crowd was on their feet. Adam opened with, “Whole Lotta Love” and it was like someone hit the rewind button and I was experiencing the eighties all over again. The black leather suit, the smoke and the voice that went completely through you was something that I have never heard nor experienced in my entire life. Adam was in a league of his own, as Simon Cowell had said many times on the show.

Midway through his set, while performing “Mad World,” I looked around at the thousands of people holding up their cell phones in place of lighters which pointed out a definite change in the times for me personally. After his duet with Allison, “Slow Ride,” he too shed his coat. I was not sure what was going on that night with the guys and the stripping but there must have been something in the air or maybe the water.

Adam was just a born performer. As his dance moves started to get a little bit suggestive I thought to myself, “Keep it PG Adam, keep it PG.” Actually I noticed that Bryce seemed a little uncomfortable with it and I started to laugh.

“Number one, Kris Allen.” I screamed for Kris. I did not do that for anyone else. I almost felt like the audience needed to be supportive because how the hell can anyone follow Adam Lambert? Kris did the right thing in switching his instruments from acoustic guitar to piano to electric guitar and back to acoustic. He proved that he was a well rounded musician with a great voice with his own unique style. That is all he needed to do.

Kris closed with “Hey Jude,” which I loved because I too am a Beatles fan. As the whole group joined in they ended with “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

Great show, but I found that at the end the only thing I could think about was Danny Goey’s arms. Exiting the show, I think I actually left with a little Gokey crush and a little disappointed that I had not bought the 8 x 10 for myself which I came close to buying.

My excitability over Danny’s arms has become the newest thing for Bryce and I to joke about at home. As a matter of fact, I just recently sent him an email at work saying that I was having a hard time getting the cap off of a bottle of apple juice for the kids and was wondering if he could come home and ‘Gokey’ it open.

Now that the show had sadly come to an end, all we had to do was get out of Boston. Good luck! I wasn’t actually comfortable until we hit the last toll and heard, “Welcome to Woosta, that’ll be a dolla twenty five.” We came home to sleeping babies who had a good time with their gramma and papa. I was excited but ready to get some sleep so that I could post my pictures and read my program the next day.

As I went to bed that night, I started to reflect on my experiences through life…my hopes, my dreams, my fears and the importance of life as it is as opposed to what we would like it to be. I thought about the dreams that I had laid to rest along with the dreams that I still have alive within me.

I think of the times where I can just sit in a room with my husband and we are able to spend time with each other even if sometimes we never have a thing to say. I think about the sound of laughter when my children are playing and the times that there is just nothing to do and that’s alright. I thanked God for the simple life that we sometimes take for granted but also for the uplifts such as a simple trip to Mohegan Sun to get away for a night or an American Idol adventure.

I also thought of the lives of the present idols. As I read my program, I took great interest in the letters to the fans. These letters made me realize that this show that I had come to love so much along with its contestants does not only inspire its viewers and followers, but also inspires its contestants themselves who are actually somewhat inspired by us fans.

Addressed as fans or even friends, which made perfect sense to me, I hung on to the inspiring words best said by Danny Gokey:

“This time on American Idol has brought so much new hope back into my life. It has allowed me to reach out once again towards my dreams in a time where all my dreams seemed to have been shattered. I hope that my journey on American Idol has helped you or inspired you to follow your hearts aspirations no matter what obstacles stand in front of you. Sometimes it can be hard work or even painful at times but in the end you’ll find out that it was worth all your efforts.”

I could not help myself.