American Idol

This past weekend my sister- Sarah- and my son-Auston- and myself traveled to Kansas City to cash in on Auston's 10th birthday present from his wonderful aunt. Front row tickets and Meet & Greet passes to the American Idol concert at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City. What an experience. The show was great, the hotel was excellent, and the company was the best. Auston's was excited before we even got to the show because we were staying in a "real" hotel, which by his definition was anything which cost more than a Best Western or a Motel 6. Our room was on the 23rd floor and we could look down onto the pool on the 7th floor. For dinner before the concert, for lack of options, we had to order room service. This topped off his day before we even got to the concert! I didn't know that chicken strips with fries, salads, and drinks for 3 people could cost so much! But it was worth seeing the look on his face when the guy wheeled in the cart with the covered dishes and flowers and miniature bottles of ketchup and mayonnaise. My sister and I realized that neither of us had ever had room service either! After we finished primping, we set out on foot to the Sprint Center to meet Sarah's friend and her family who also went.

After meeting up with her we made it past security and stood in line forever to buy t shirts and programs. Again, I could have bought a weeks worth of groceries including extra packages of cookies for the amount of money we spent. Auston wore his American Idol shirt proudly, though, and I kept telling myself we would most likely not have an experience like this together for quite some time. We found the restrooms, drinks, and our seats without any drama, but then the 20 minute wait until the start of the concert began. We watched several very interesting people pass by, talked about how surreal it was that we were so close and that we were actually going to meet the people who we watched on TV every week for what seemed like eternity. People who we voted for and helped get them to the stage which we were sitting in front of.

About seven o'clock, the lights started changing and we knew the show was starting, but not the show we had in mind. The MC for the night, came running up the aisle with a giant Pop Tart on feet and stopped right in front of us. Since we were all standing up clapping and yelling, he decided to use our chairs to stand on and do his little skit. He got and old, bald, chubby guy to dance by following step by step instructions on how to shake his booty, and then a couple of middle aged women who were sitting behind us tried to do the same but in the end, it looked like they were doing the chicken dance. The point of all of this is that we were on the jumbo-tron because the MC was standing on our chairs. Sarah caught a snap shot, and I am barely in the corner of it. Once it is downloaded, I am sure you will barely be able to make out my smile.

The concert then started with a count down from contestant number 10 to 1. It was all pretty uneventful, fun and great sounding voices, but nothing moving. Until Kristy Lee Cook sang "God Bless America" with a gigantic American Flag behind her on the stage. I stood up to show my respect for the most patriotic symbol our country has and the men and women who sacrifice every day to protect that symbol and all that it stands for. I started to feel my chest fill with pride in my husband, and then my eyes welled up thinking of all he is missing while he is gone and how much he is missed. Luckily we were in a concert and the noise level was insane because I think I added to it when I lost control and started bawling like a baby away from its mama for the first time. Being as blessed as I am, my sister and son both rallied around me and shed a tear or two as well while we all stood there with their arms around me and mine around my two children who were with me. I just stood their hoping and praying that my husband doesn't have to make the ultimate sacrifice for his country and thanking God for those who already have. I never thought I would have such an emotional experience at a concert which stemmed from the pop culture of our country. After the tears were dried and a few hugs passed around, we kept on having the best time ever.

Singing along and dancing to the songs we knew, and the ones we didn't, we'd cross our fingers each time hoping it was a well known song from the show. The performances by all of the singers were amazing, but when David Archuletta and then David Cook took the stage...I thought my ear drums were going to explode. It was insane. I figured out why people pass out, they forget to breathe among all of the yelling and screaming.

The night was topped off by going to an After show Meet & Greet. We met and got autographs and pictures with all but three of the artists. Two of them showed up late and ducked out after five minutes and David Cook hung out with his own friends and family in a different area. He was supposed to come, but when he wasn't there by 11:15 pm and Brooke White said the bus rolled out at midnight, we figured he wasn't coming. Auston got autographs from and pictures with Syesha, David A., Brooke, Michael, Carly, Jason, and Kristy Lee. We were extremely pleased with seven autographs/pics, but very, very, very disappointed in not meeting David Cook. Exhausted, we walked back to our rooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for some much needed rest.

It was an awesome experience to have with my son and sister and the most fun I've had in a long time. (even though I kept thinking about Tres and Beau!)

I'll post some pictures of Auston with the American Idols as soon as I get some from my sis.