American Idol Tour - Cookey Report - Chicago, IL - 07/19/08

(Here's the Cookey Report from Stacey who was also one of our cellcasters that night. Go Stacey!)

Okay. Saturday the 19th was a long day, so I have a feeling that this will be a LONG review. But there's a big payoff in the end (at least for me, haha) so, please be patient.

I went to sleep the night before at 2:30am. I was up late singing "Straight Ahead" for the Word Nerd tribute to Analog Heart cd that we put together for David (see the link in my sig). My amazing boyfriend stayed up til 5:30 mixing it down and normalizing all the tracks for the cd. It ended up turning out really well, and I was really excited. I woke up at 6:30 (NO SLEEP!) and put the tracks on my iPod and made 5 copies to bring with me (three for David and 3 to give away). I was out the door at 8am... it was POURING rain! I got to Rosemont around 8:45 and I met with Penny (Davidcooksfan.com) and her daughter at IHOP. We drove over to the Wyndham, where we all planned to park for the day, and tried to stake out the arena from the lot, but all we could see were a few people with umbrellas circling the venue. In the lot I met my new BFF Maria (blugrl88)! I sat in her car and we listened to the cd. She also introduced me to Andy Skibb (this was actually later) which totally changed my life! Anyway, from where we were, we could not see the buses. So we decided that we should walk over to the arena to see if there was anyone out waiting. My shoes (Converse all stars!) and my pants got completely soaked! This made for a day of misery and discomfort for me! I am not a sandals/flip flop girl, so I was forced to take off my socks and wear my Cons without them. Wet. All day. Yeah. Not good. And today my feet STILL hurt.

At the arena we saw the 3 roadie buses and a couple of cars with moms and kids (all Cook fans with one Archie detractor). But because it was still raining, there wasn't anyone waiting yet (at this point it was a little after 9am). So we waited around for about 10 minutes trying to get up the nerve to talk to one of the roadies, but ended up just going back to our cars. Now, when I tell you that the arena is right next to the Wyndham lot, I'm not joking. It's literally in it's back yard! So we notice three OTHER tour buses parked in the same lot we're in! We go up to check them out, and sure enough they are the boys bus, girls bus and the band bus! So we're pretty sure that the Idols are in the Wyndham. We move our cars so that they are parked closer to the buses, thinking we'll be able to meet them when they walk to the buses. After waiting for about 20 minutes, we decide to go into the Wyndham and find out if we'll be allowed to wait in the lobby for them to come out. I talked to the concierge, Corey, and he said that they would be exiting through the back exit. I asked if it was okay for us to wait there, and he said yes. So we waited at the back exit for a few hours. Eventually we saw that the buses were moving! So I gather up all of my stuff (I had a gift bag for ALL TEN Idols! It was a LOT of stuff!) and we ran through the hotel to the front entrance. We went outside and were told to wait on the sidewalk in front of the boys bus. There were about 30+ people out there. At this point none of us knew that there were some people that had chased anyone through halls or even went up to their rooms (which is so lame that they did that). The first person to come out was DC. As soon as he came out a bunch of little girls (kids) ran up to him and the crowd lurched forward towards him. He put his hands out for the little girls to get back and asked them not to yell. When he realized that everyone has seen him he just left his luggage there behind the bus and turned around and went back around the hotel with one of the crew members. This was the first sign that waiting at the hotel was NOT a good idea. For those of you that realize already that waiting at the hotel isn't a good idea, let me just say this: none of the people I was with acted ridiculous in any way. We did not go anywhere near where their rooms were. We stayed at the entrance the whole time we were waiting, until we went to the front when the buses moved. While out there we all did what we were told and stayed on the sidewalk.

Carly came out next then Brooke, but they both went straight to the girls bus (they waved to us). Chikezie was the next to come out. He looked completely exhausted. I gave him a giftbag that had his name written on it. And he said, "Oh thank you, Sweetheart! Come here." and he gave me a huge hug. My face was smashed into his neck. It was hilarious. He signed my group 8x10. I wanted to take a picture w/him but there were a lot of little girls that wanted pictures, so I backed off a bit. I was saving all my points for when DC came out. About 5 minutes after Chikezie came out DC came back to get on the bus. He stopped and said "I can only sign a couple, I have to go." I gave him a big Target bag that had a scrap book for the people on the Tribute cd, and I handed him the cd itself. I did my best to explain to him what it was, but he just has a look on his face that told me he wasn't quite comprehending what I was telling him. All he said was "Oh, thanks." He then signed a copy of the tribute cd for me (which was actually for Joe) and he got on the bus. A little while after Brooke, Kristy Lee and Carly came out to sign for the small crowd. Kristy Lee didn't come down where I was, but Brooke and Carly did the whole line of people. Brooke even posed for pictures (Carly did not). During that chaos, Jason came through. He got on the bus but told us all that he would be back out to sign. A few minutes later Archie came through and waved to everyone and got on the bus. By this time Brooke had made her way down to where I was standing. I gave her a gift bag and she said thank you. I told her that I was really looking forward to Yellow and 1234 which happens to be one of my favorite Feist songs. She said thank you again, and that 1234 was a great song. I asked for a picture, and she said yes. She is the sweetest! Then Carly came through and signed my 8x10. I gave her the giftbag and she said "thank you." I didn't take any close ups with her, and if I remember correctly she wasn't doing pictures with anyone. I'm not sure that I even asked. About 6 minutes later (according to my camera's timeline) Jason came out. I was standing right next to the bus door, so when he was at the door I held up his bag with his name on it so when it opened he came right to me. He said thank you, signed my 8x10, and I asked him for a picture. After he signed a few autographs he took a picture with me (I look terrible in it, as I do in ALL of my shots w/ the idols). Rami was the last to come out of the hotel with all of her luggage. She went straight to the bus and once she got on they all rolled out (to drive to the next parking lot... lol). Syesha came out to go to the bus at some point, but I didn't get a picture of her so I'm not sure when it was. I think it was after Brooke & Carly.

I didn't get the chance to give out all of my giftbags, so I asked one of the security guys if I could give him my bags. He said "sure, who are they for?" I told them that the names were all written on them, so he said okay.

With a significantly lighter load, we made our way back to our cars. We decided to head over to the arena to see what was going on. All I can say is OMG! There were at least 200 people waiting along a long line of barricades. They were at least 3-4 people deep at any given place on the barricade, so I headed down to the far end next to the building. I managed to squeeze my way under some pipes and found a really great spot that was technically behind a barricade, but it was really low (it was one of those gaurd rails they have on roads). So I waited patiently for all the idols to come through. Rami and KLC were already making their rounds, but they were on the other end. The first person I got to talk to was Syesha. She signed my 8x10 and I asked for a picture. She asked if I would be out after the show, I said yes and she said she'd take a picture with me then. I laughed because I know how things roll after the shows, there's no time for ANYONE to get pictures! But I just said thank you and let her go. The next to come over to us was Carly. I asked her if she looked in my gift bag, and she said she wasn't sure. She asked me what I had put in it and I told her "socks" because that was really all I could remember. She said "Oh yeah, I got that, with the bath salts! I'm totally going to use them! Thank you!" Then I realized she was not talking about my bag. She was talking about Maria's bag. I asked for a picture, but she said she'd rather not because she woke up with "the earth" on her face. A couple minutes later I guess she was talking to me and I didn't notice because she had moved down the line, and Joe hit me on the shoulder and was like "answer her!" and I looked over and she was holding up the Kung-fu Panda marker set I had put in her bag and it had been opened and 2 markers were missing! haha She said "were these in your bag?" and I said "yes!" So yay! She looked in my bag! AND she had the markers in her pocket. SO CUTE. The next person to come out on our side was Jason. I had already gotten his autograph at the hotel, so I asked him for another picture (the first one at the hotel is horrible). Joe kindly took it for me and it turned out a little better. I said thanks and he moved on. The next to come over to us was KLC. I had her sign the 8x10 and got a picture with her (thanks Joe). I look terrible in it, but she of course looks great. Like I've read in other reviews, she is drop dead gorgeous in person. Way better looking than on tv. She made some comments about it being cool where we were standing. She had a total blonde moment and said "is it because of those big things over there?" and pointed to some giant A/C looking things. It was endearing. Next was Rami!! She's so awesome. I told her that my mom is from the Philippines and that he was a huge fan. She smiled and said "oh really?!" I won't mention how it all went down, but she ended up giving me a pass for the after show! I was so excited, but didn't freak out until she was a good distance away from me! Around 3pm Jason went in carrying two GIANT bags full of gifts. At this point Michael Johns had been out signing for at least an hour. He started at the other end of the line and talked to each person individually, took pictures and signed autographs. Out of everyone he was by far the nicest. He was very patient and interested in what everyone had to say. He signed my 8x10 and took a photo with me. Then I made sure that he took a picture with my friend Joe. Jeff Archuletta came out and talked to us for awhile. He was kind of hilarious. Really proud of David, obviously. He told us a little about the record, but couldn't give us any concrete information. All he said was that David was writing with some of the top people writing in LA. He said people who have written with Jesse McCartney and the GOOD Disney artist (his words, not mine). I don't know much about Archie, so I just nodded and smiled. About halfway through the line Archie had to go in, so he ran past the rest of us in line and gave us all high fives. He was pretty adorable, I must say. His dad stayed out even though he had gone in and talked to us a little more. At this point, it was about 4pm. No sign of DC (or Chekezie). I wasn't that upset because I knew Rami was giving me a pass, but I felt really bad for everyone else that came to see him.

At that point I stopped at the box office and asked a man where and when I could pick up my aftershow pass. He told me that the list wouldn't be there until 5pm at the earliest, so I thanked him and left. I did notice about 50+ people standing in there all wearing circular Pop Tart/AI laminates. I assumed that these were the people that were attending the meet and greet that was starting at 4:30. I walked over to Steak and Shake with Joe and his awesome sister. I was completely starving and wanted to sit for awhile and attempt to eat something. By the time we finished eating a lot of people that had gone to the meet & greet were streaming in. No one looked overly excited and I didn't really overhear any conversations about the Idols. I was a bit disappointed; I wanted the 411 on what the heck was going on with DC! So we left and I went back to the box office. The guy said that they only had one list, but he was told that there were more coming. I was not on that first list and my heart sank, thinking that Rami wasn't able to get me a pass. So I went across the street and hung out with Jul, Nicole, Annie, Maria and the gang until about 6pm. I finally got up the courage to go back to the ticket window and again face disappointment, but the guy said they were still waiting. He wrote down my name and said that he would call me when it got there. So I sat with a few others that were promised passes by Syesha, Rami and Kristy Lee (I think). One girl was called to the counter and she recieved her passes(from Syesha). I was totally sad, so I went back up to the man I had talked to (who was further down) and he said "I've been calling you! It's here." I almost cried. I got my pass! I called Maria to tell her and asked her if she wanted to meet me at the Wyndham parking lot so I could get some stuff signed for her. She gave me her Rolling Stone and her program. I got my sheet of DC stamps out of the car and stuck them inside my program with my 8x10 that was still missing the David's autographs. I also grabbed a letter that I had written to David that I never finished, I also grabbed a pen so I could finish it before the show started. I was so excited! Once inside I was freaking out because I thought my seats totally sucked. I was in the 4th row on the side of the stage, which wouldn't have been bad except there was a GIANT black curtain blocking my view of everything. I couldn't imagine that they'd go to all the trouble of putting that up just to drop it down again and I was SO upset! But the woman in front of me asked one of the security people if it was going to come down when the show started, and she said yes. So I felt better after that. I finished up my letter to David, sealed it and put it in my bag to give to him at the aftershow. Turns out I totally forgot about it! DOH!!!

Okay, the show. You've all read a million reviews and/or seen it yourself, so I'm going to spare you a long in-depth saga and just do the digest version! I will say this though, every single person on this tour is about 100 times better in person than they are on TV! Chikezie is a total star on stage! Rami is adorable and her voice sounded flawless, I know she's getting a bad wrap for Love Will Lead You Back, but I thought it was beautiful. There wasn't one note out of tune. (I cell-casted both sets for Rickey.org, and the quality for Rami's set was AWESOME, if I do say so myself!) MJ was AMAZING and he had a great set! It was adorable when he "mucked up" the words. KLC was KLC... sounded better live than on TV, but still not my cup of tea. Carly had me in tears, I swear to god! She is stellar and very powerful live. I'm looking forward to whatever is in her future! Brooke, sweet Brooke. She was solid and had the best songs of the show (sorry, I love me some Feist and Coldplay!). The U2 group number was great. Jason was very good, exactly what I expected. I LOVE HIM! Syesha's mic went out (as we all know) during Umbrella, but she played it off like a pro and didn't allow it to stop the momentum of the show. Once the audio was fixed, her voice was incredible. I definitely see a future diva in her. She's got the attitude and everything all down! (I'm just sayin! I love SySy!) Cute adorable Archie really brought down the house. I could see why the judges were so all about him during the show, there's a pureness and perfection to his voice that you don't hear on TV or in recordings. He really is a great singer. Okay, DC was amazing. He's got a very brooding stage presence (that could have been due to his mood) and I totally loved it. He missed a few notes during Billie Jean and my heart hurt for him, because he was really trying... and that was the first time I ever heard him reach for a note and fail. But I was not disappointed by the performance. It was solid and he even had a bit of stage banter about his friends in Chicago that gave him a place to sleep when he was on the road back in the day. I secretly LOVE PDSTM, and was excited that I had an aftershow pass so I didn't have to rush outside to get a spot on the barricades. I got to watch the whole performance and was in heaven!

After the show I was told to go about 4 different places to get to the aftershow and was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Finally we figured it out and were eventually ushered out of the building and into the Skyline Room, which is part of the Box Office building. As soon as we walked in, our passes were marked so they could not be used again. We were then allowed into the room. The Idols were already in place and chatting with people, posing for pictures and signing autographs. There were about 7 people in line to meet DC. I made a beeline for him because he's the main reason I wanted to go to the Idols show. I had one thing on my mind, and one thing only: ask him if he looked at the cd! I asked a woman behind me if she would take a picture of me with DC, she said yes. I waited patiently for the ladies in front of me to finish up, and it was my turn! I introduced myself and said that I was the girl that gave him the cd earlier in the day. He kind of looked at me blankly and said "Okay. Thank you." I went on to explain the concept of the cd and that it had turned out really well. I told him that it would totally make him cry, and he chuckled at that and said "okay." I ended with an awkward "So, hi!" and he was like "hi." I then got a big huge hug (omg) and asked if I could take a picture with him. He said "I would love to take a picture with you!" and we posed, click/flash and that was that. End of story. Not REALLY the end. I still had to meet me some Archie and thank Rami for the passes! But I was so flustered by getting to talk to David, that I forgot to have him sign all the stuff I brought (stamps, programs, and stuff for Maria). NEXT TIME, GIRL! So I made my way over to Ramiele and told her thank you for the passes. She said she was worried that she gave too many away and that I wouldn't be able to get in, but she was glad that I did. We posed for a picture (another!) and I told her thanks again and went to talk to Syesha. I got the picture she promised me after the show (score)! I don't really remember what I said to her, my memory is fuzzy, but I do recall her being a bit peeved about her first song getting ruined by the mic fiasco. I felt bad for her, Umbrella is easily the best part of her set. Oh lo! But all was forgotten when she belted out the glory notes of the Beyonce song, so no worries, Lovesha! Next was Archie! The only Idol I had yet to meet and get to sign my 8x10. He happily signed my picture and I told him that his set was incredible! He was gracious as ever, sweet little Archie! I got a photo with him, said thank you and headed off to get my coveted photo with Chikezie. The first thing I asked him was if he got to look in the gift bag I gave him, he said he didn't see it. I told him that I know he saw it because I saw him see it! He said "No, I saw it and have it, but I haven't had a chance to look inside!" I laughed. I got a picture w/ him and told him to enjoy the rest of the tour (I know, I'm total dork and never know what to say to celebs). I then went over to Brooke and got another picture taken. She asked me if I was the one who brought gift bags for everyone, and I told her yes, I was. She said "Thank you very much, we really appreciate it, you're very sweet." And I kind of melted. I love Brooke! I then went looking for Carly, but I found out that she had already gone because her back was hurting her. Sad! She was the only Idol I didn't get a picture with. But I understand that she was INJURED! Poor sweet Carly. I seriously love this woman right now. She is so incredible. I can't believe she even TRIED to sign autographs in her condition. WTG, Carly! At this point I had talked to everyone so I decided to see what Nic, Jul and Annie were up to. They were in line with DC, I showed them my horrible picture and vented a bit about how ugly it was and how much I wish DC was able to look at the cd before the show. I was generally being a whiney baby, but I ended that after about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Please keep in mind that I was on very little sleep, I quickly bucked up and decided to go chat w/ Rami a bit more before they got up to DC. I told Rami (who was alone and sitting on her table) that I was going to a few more shows. She said that she could hook me up, and I told her not to worry about KC because I knew there would be lots of people there for DC and the afterparty would be insane. She said, "No, don't worry! I'll hook you up!" I wrote my name with +1 next to it and the dates and cities of the shows I was going to for her. She put them in her little gift bag she had sitting next to her(oh lo! don't lose them!). Um, can I just say that we're TOTAL BFFs? LOL!! I thanked her like 10 times before someone else came up to talk to her and I politely excused myself to get back to Jul, Nic and Annie so I could offer my paparazzi services for their meeting w/ DC. I took a quick video and then started snapping away while complete chaos ensued... from piggy back rides to pictures parodying our favorite fedora/white sunglasses-wearing word nerd. I got it all on film. (No, TMZ, I will NOT come work for you!!) Then I realized that some crazy (but nice) lady was off to the side talking on her cell phone and telling someone that she was so close to DC that she could jump on him if she wanted to. I was like "WTF, Yo?!" Then she says to David: "I'm on the phone with my friend Stacey, can you say hi to her?" and he says "Hi Stacey!" and I'm like "MY name is Stacey." So he yells "Hi Stacey!" again. So funny. So, as the newly hired photog for Jul, Nic and Annie, I went with them as they made their rounds. Rami. Short and sweet. Jason, whom I hadn't spoken w/ yet at the AP. He kept asking if I wanted a picture, but I told him that I had already gotten one outside. Then he said "Do you want another one?" and I told him that I didn't want to be greedy. He was just like "Okay." Then I handed him my awesome retractable Sharpie. I showed him how to use it and told him that it's good for him so he doesn't have to put the Sharpie caps in his mouth anymore. He said "Awesome, that's so CREATIVE!" (because the marker said "Creative" on it... it was a promo from Creative Promotions that I got from work). I hope he used it... I wouldn't want him to muck up that precious smile by chewing on marker caps! Next, the girls moved on to Brooke and I took as photo of the three of them together. Then, lastly we went over to see Archie. At this point DC had peaced out, leaving a long line of people still waiting to talk to him. I was on the phone with Maria when he made it outside and I had her on speakerphone so she could hear our exchange w/ Archie. All of a sudden we heard some loud squeals and screems and Archie says "Is that outside?" And I said "yes, it's a live cell cast from the buses!" He then said "Oh, that must be Cook getting out there." And I said "Yes, that's what I was told." Archie just laughed and started smiling for the camera while I took pics of him signing things for the girls. My final shot was of him standing perfectly still and looking at the camera... like a total pro. He worked it! Love that kid, total little bro!

For the record, I didn't talk to MJ or KLC at all because I had pictures with them already and I didn't have anything else I really wanted to say to them. MJ is the sweetest, but I feel a bit starstruck around him and don't know what to say to him other than I'm sad he got voted off prematurely. So, I left him be for the night. hehe, lucky guy. And of course, I didn't get to talk to Carly because by the time I started looking for her she had already left.

Finally, this concludes my review. Thank you for reading, I know it was long and super drama. I've included a few of the pictures below. If you'd like to see my entire set, please go to my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyhankins/