The Nellie Spot

Yup...I did say my inner 10-year-old-girl just got unleashed. No type-o there. Here's the lowdown:

Participants:
1) My wife, Allison (age 28)
2) My sister, Amy (age 32)
3) My neice, Grace (age 9)
4) Grace's friend, Mary Kate (age 9)
5) Mary Kate's mom (no idea on age...but I'm guessing mid-30's)
6) Pam Nolen (friend of Amy & Allison, lady we bought our current house from) (age 32)
7) Myself, John (age 28)

As you can tell, there are all girls in that group, except myself. But, this wonderful and majorly girly group headed to Norman, Oklahoma Wednesday to see the American Idol Concert Tour 2005!!! Yup! Me and every girl between the age of 5 and 30 loaded up and drove 4 hours to see the top 10 finalists from this year's American Idol contest perform at some joint on OU's campus (which is mighty pretty). Here's the breakdown of the trip:

Thankfully, I got to take my own car, so Allison and I drove up there by ourselves and met the other carload of giddy ladies in Norman. We met up with Brent & Jessica Orr and Erin Scoggins, who do campus ministry on OU's campus for Student Mobilization (StuMo). We ate at Moe's, near the campus and had some decent TexMex (like Flying Burrito, really) and great conversation (they're all old friends from college). After dinner, the ladies and I (from the list above) headed over to the concert.

We deflated a bit when we got there and saw a line WAY out the door, and the concert was going to start in like 20 minutes. We had Ticketmaster-printed tickets, while other folks around us had "real" tickets. Allison and I spread out and hit a couple of entrances to see if there were any shorter lines. Answered prayer: we almost walked straight in from a different line! We hit the bathrooms (they're girls...this happened a lot throughout the trip), then got to our seats as the lights went down and the theme song blasted its way through the stadium (I think it was the basketball stadium, I just don't remember the name of it). We had seats right in the middle of the stage, toward the top near the main walkway. The opening was pretty fun, and they started with the first person kicked off of the final 10. The first few people were OK...nothing amazing. Each contestant did 2 songs unti we got to Nikko Smith, and he did 3 songs. Now, I wasn't much of a Nikko fan during the season...he had a great voice, but I wasn't a fan of his song picks and style. He outperformed everyone but the final 2 (Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood)! His first two songs were really great, then he busted out a Justin Timberlake song and danced the heck out of it! It was incredible...dude had style! Anwar was great, and the thug Scotty the Body did pretty well, too. He actually did a duet with Jessica Sierra singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart", and it was maybe the best part of the whole show! Constantine wasn't all that great, though the girls thought we was still hot despite his mediocre singing skills. Nadia was really good and brought some much-needed stage presence and energy to the arena. That girl is 110% Tina Turner with an eating disorder thrown in. Great legs, big voice and hair. Very enjoyable. Anthony was just plain boring.

But when Vonzell came out, the place lit up like Razorback Stadium when we actually score! She sang a few Whitney Houston songs, and was truly inspiring! That girl can flat out sing! The place changed even more when Bo Bice hit the stage with his broken foot in an air cast. He hobbled out to a keyboard in the middle of the stage and sang "Desperado"...I got goosebumps! Then, he strapped on his electric guitar and played a 7 minute jam-session (I can't remember the song...but it was familiar and pretty hard-rock)...he was certainly in his rocker element during this part. This was my favorite song and performance of the evening! He also sang a single that will be released soon, which was pretty darn good, too.

Carrie hit the stage after Bo, and the place lit up...the Okie's were foaming at the mouth for thier local American Idol winner (she hails from Checotah, OK, about 40 miles West of Fort Smith). She sang some country songs, and has apparently learned some stage presence since being on tour. She seemed much more comfortable on stage and put on a heck of a performance! She and Bo did an encore duet of Rascal Flatt's "Bless the Broken Road", and it was perfect...their voices go very well together. After the lights went down, all 10 finalist came out and performed a couple of songs as a group, which was a great ending to a really fun concert!

One small benefit to being one of 20 guys in the whole stadium was the fact that, at any point during the concert or after it, I could walk straight into the bathroom and have my pick of 15 urinals...all while 3,000 girls waited outside the bathroom to use their's.

So, my inner 10 year old girl was unleashed yesterday as I attended the American Idol Tour with a bunch of girls. Embarrising? Yes. But the most embarassing moment came at a pit stop on our way to Norman. We're in a McDonald's and see a few mom's with a bunch of 10 year old girls. The mom's asked one of the workers how far it was to Norman. At this point, Allison turns around and giddily asks them "Are y'all going to the American Idol concert, too??". I drop my head in shame. One mom replied, "No, we're going shopping in Norman." which Allison thought strange (why pass up Oklahoma City to go shopping in Norman?) Allison met one of the mom's in the bathroom, and the mom explained that they WERE going to the concert, but were waiting to surprise their daughters at dinner that evening. As we were leaving the concert, we actually saw the group of moms and daughters, and they exclaimed "Hey! It's the McDonald's guy!". At this point, my "inner 10 year old girl" alter ego was on, so I was less embarassed and just rolled with it.

So that's that. I'm out of the closet. Yes, I went to an American Idol Tour concert. And I loved it. I loved it so much, that my throught hurt from yelling so much. I'm slightly ashamed, and know that I will be openly mocked. But, in 10 year old girl fashion, my response is "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" (and then I'll roll my eyes at you).