My visit to American Idol

I got a last minute phone call on Wednesday to join my mom at the results show taping of American Idol. I told her that I couldn't come because I was at work - so sad. When I got off the phone Andy and Nadim told me I was an idiot and should leave immediately. That was all the encouragement I needed.

So, I made the long trek to CBS studios in LA with my mom Wednesday afternoon. My dear friend Shannon came with us - isn't she pretty? After going through security one of the guards asked me a question which I thought was "do you have to pee?" I lightly chuckled and said "yes", thinking "that was a weird way of asking"... He started walking me back to another area which I thought was strange. SO I asked him to repeat what he had asked. He said "I asked you if you're VIP" to which I said "Oh, I thought you asked me if I needed to pee" Several people saw this play out and he and I both laughed very hard. Very awkward.

The show was fantastic. They had a crowd warmer, that got everyone dancing and laughing. Then they announced all the "Idols", then the judges. Everyone walked through the audience and shook hands when they were announced except for Simon. He just walked straight to his seat - very funny, it's actually not an act. All around fun show to watch. Surely not as much fun as a Tuesday night show would be. But we had a blast and sang along and danced together. Great girl time.

Afterward we got to hang out for a couple hours. Visit with some of the performers. Shoot the breeze with Ricky Minor - probably the nicest, most inclusive, and interested person I've ever met. Some hang time with Justin Guarini - he asked for Shannon's number, Classic. Randy was just chatting it up with everyone, he was way cooler than I would have expected. Elena (who got cut a couple weeks back) was there. She was my favorite! Incredible sense of style. We talked clothes for about 15 minutes. She's already working on an album and has gotten some offers for television. I got to meet Blake who I love watching perform - he was very down to earth, clearly creative, all around nice guy. I spoke to Chris Sligh briefly. Asked for a picture with him so that I could brag to Josh. I told him that my co-worker was a huge fan of his and blogged about him all the time. He asked where I worked and I told him "Simply Youth Ministry". He then paused and said "Oh, Josh?" He admitted to google searching his name and coming across Josh's site. How funny is that?

We concluded the night with dinner at Maggiano's at the Grove and then a long drive home. SO much fun.