David Archuleta - Archey Report - Atlantic City - 08/02/08

(Here's the Archey Report of Tara from Atlantic City. Sorry for the delay, but it's finally here!)

I had been looking forward to this day and planning it out in my head since I bought my tickets. The day did not start out so well, but there is a happy ending. My husband and I were planning on leaving around 10:00 am to get to Atlantic City by 11:30. We left a little bit after 10 and on the way listened to a traffic report on the radio that said there was traffic backed up more than 17 miles. I was so upset! We decided to take another route, which I think took us even longer to get there. We finally arrived to where the buses would pull up around 1:00 pm. There were a bunch of fans for all different idols waiting in this area. I walked over with my husband and looked for other Archie fans. I saw a girl wearing the same shirt as me (the Bianca Archey’s Angels shirt), so I went right over to her. It was archuletagem and we were so excited to meet each other. We hang out together the whole time and discussed our love for Archie. It was a lot of fun! My husband who has been so supportive through all this hung around with us. The time was passing by and still no buses had arrived. We had heard through other fans that there were hundreds of people waiting on the other side of the building (on the boardwalk) for the idols. We decided to stay where we were, since it was getting late and did not think we would have any chances of meeting the idols on the boardwalk because it was so crowded. Around 3:00pm the buses finally arrived. We were all screaming and we saw Kristy Lee Cook wave to us. The only other person I saw was Archie’s handler. We were all so excited, thinking they were definitely coming to meet us. We waited until around 4:30, when someone from the boardwalk came by and said that a security guard informed them that since the idols got here so late they will not be coming out to sign autographs. They must have gotten stuck in the same traffic my husband and I did. My husband and I decided to leave and try again after the concert.

We arrived to the concert hall around 6:30pm. I bought a David Archuleta t-shirt to have as a memory. Before the show began, I saw Brooke’s husband, and went right over to him. All I said is, “Your Brooke’s husband.” And he said, “Yeah, Hi.” That was it, nothing exciting. The concert began shortly after 7:00pm. By now, I’m sure you all have read other reports about the idols, so I will keep it short.
The show began with Chikezie, who I thought sounded great! He has such a great voice, very smooth and strong. Ramiele was cute and entertaining. She sang well, better than I remember on the show. I love the Maroon 5/Rhianna song, so I sang along. Michael Johns was great! He is an awesome performer and really funny! He gave a very strong performance. Kristy Lee Cook is pretty good. She definitely is not my cup of tea, but she knows how to work that stage. I think she will do well as a country singer. Carly was awesome! What a voice, so powerful! She really belted out all her songs and sounded great! Brooke sounded really good. She is very talented, since she plays the guitar, piano, and sings. She chose the perfect songs for her voice. The group song, In the Name of Love, sounded good and was fun to watch. It was a great way to end the first part of the show.
Jason began the second part of the show and sounded really good. He is another talented one. He plays the guitar (the ukulele) and sings. Again, he picked the perfect songs for his voice. Syesha sang next and I think she sounded amazing! I have never been a fan of hers, but she can definitely sing. My favorite was when she sang Listen. I love the movie Dreamgirls and I always loved that song. She sounded great on that song.
Next, the moment I had been waiting for, David Archuleta. The screaming was unbelievable. My husband said he thinks Archie had the loudest screams. He rises onto the stage sitting at the piano playing Angels. He sounded AMAZING! I recorded the end of the song and of course, he changed the ending a little bit. It was awesome! Apologize also sounded great! I love how he stomps down the stairs, reminds me of the American Idol finale when he stomped to the front of the stage for Don’t Let the Sun Go Down. I loved it! Stand by Me was so mush fun, with his little dance. He even said that he has so much fun singing that song. I think it was after Stand By Me, he got a standing ovation and tons of screaming. He was giggling and it was hard for him to begin his next song because of all the screaming. I was so excited for him! Then, to end it off, my favorite Josh Groban song ever, When You Say You Love Me. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! It gave me chills and made me a little teary! My husband recorded the first part of the song, really clear. Then to end it off, he thanked everyone, and introduced Cook. I was so sad to see him leave the stage, but he sounded great!
There was definitely a lot of screaming for Cook. I thought it was pretty loud. Cook sounded really good. I only stayed for his first four songs because I wanted to get outside to get a good spot to meet Archie. That means I also missed Please Don’t Stop the Music.
So, my husband and I got outside on the boardwalk and there were barricades set up. There were already people claiming their spots outside and we did the same. The show began to let out and the boardwalk was packed. We waited about an hour and some of the idols came out. I got autographs from Kristy Lee, Carly, Jason, Brooke, Syesha, AND David Archuleta. When David came over he was very rushed. I asked him to take a picture with me and he said he didn’t know if he had time. I had given my camera to the guy next to me and we kept telling David just to turn really quick, so he did and I got a picture with him. I told him I love Crush and think it’s amazing. He looked right at me and said “Aww, Thank you so much.” I was very excited about that. Then I saw Jeff Archuleta and called him over. I asked him for an autograph and took a picture of him. I think he felt kind of funny. He was so nice! My husband said to him, “Thanks to you son I haven’t had a wife for the past 8 months.” Jeff said “Well I think he is a little too young for her anyway.” We all laughed. We told him how much we have enjoyed David and how talented we think he is. He was very thankful!
So there’s my report. I was very happy with how my night ended! I will post pictures and videos soon.