After all the blogging and tracking a certain American Idol—I think you know the one—neighborsgo editor Dawn Redig and I got to kick back at the American Idols Live! Tour at the American Airlines Center last night.
I met up with Dawn and Jason Castro fans Nancy Below and her friend, Cheryl, at a restaurant near the AAC. Our table had a perfect view of who was coming in and out of the arena. (They had already met Brooke White who was a late arrival; I missed out!)
Once show time drew closer, Dawn and I picked up our tickets and headed inside to find our seats, which turned out to be very up close and personal. We handed our tickets to the usher and followed her. I started to notice we were getting closer to the stage and closer…and closer; we ended up in the eighth row!

We sat there for a while counting down the minutes until finally the concert got kicked off by the one-and-only Chikezie. The crowd was pretty pumped and fans were going crazy. He sang a few tunes from the show and an Usher song, which got everyone dancing.
Next up was the cute Ramiele. She sang a couple dance-oriented numbers and sparkled onstage. (Even being so close to the stage, she still looked so tiny!)
After Ramiele, the familiar beat of “We Will Rock You” filled the arena. Shrill screams of ladies young and old raised at an alarming pace as “Michael Joooohhhhnnnssss!” was exclaimed over the speakers.
The Aussie sang many of his Idol favorites including the song that got him eliminated—Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” The audience loved it. (One girl was holding up a sign that read: Jailbait for Johns, to which he replied “what does that mean?” with a laugh in his Australian accent.)
Things turned country once Kristy Lee Cook hit the stage. She sang a few Texas-style favorites and told the audience how happy she was “to be back in her second home.” (She also threw a T-shirt into the audience that the lucky Dawn Redig caught!)
Irish powerhouse Carly Smithson was next and was awesome. She started out rocking with some Evanescence and changed the pace with a slow interlude into Heart’s “Crazy On You.” (I was ecstatic because I'm a huge Heart fan!)
She closed her stint with Celine Dion’s “I Drove All Night.” (Who else could compete with such vocal talents like Ann Wilson and Celine?) She was simply amazing. After belting it out, Carly introduced her friend, Brooke White.
Brooke rose from under the stage playing the piano to “Let It Be” to a very welcoming audience. After the song, Brooke said how much she loved Dallas; “the people are so nice here!”
She then sang “1,2,3,4” by Feist and “Yellow” by Coldplay to which she admitted she wished she had written.
Brooke’s carefree performance was followed by a short intermission and, of course, anticipation for Jason.
When the lights fell on the dreadlocked Texas native, the entire arena shook and it was like a miniature lightning storm as flashes were going off wildly. In true Jason form, he humbly smiled and waved to the audience as the band kicked off “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
After the song, he told the audience how happy he was to be back and was presented with a Texas flag that he displayed proudly. He then sang Ray LaMontagne’s version of “Crazy,” which had everyone in the audience swaying.
When Jason announced that his finale was “Daydream,” the crowd erupted. (I can’t get over how much that song seems so fitting for him; everywhere I’ve seen him perform it, it really does appear like he’s in a daydream.)
Syesha hit the stage in full force next wearing a sparkling number and singing Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” which was the most fun of her performances. However, her rendition of Beyoncé’s “Listen” was the most intense and moving, and showed off her vocals.
When Syesha introduced David Archuleta, the whole place shook and arms flailed around wildly. (For a second, I thought I was at a Jonas Brothers concert!) I will say, I wasn’t that big of an Archie fan, but seeing him onstage is different; he is just too cute!
Archie performed “Angels” and “Stand By Me”/“Beautiful Girls” among others, and sounded wonderful.
Now, it was time for the head honcho: Mr. David Cook.
Much like the other David, I wasn’t that big of a fan of him either. That all changed as he was pretty funny and very friendly onstage (not to mention very talented). He interacted with the audience a lot, which was received with screams and outstretched hands.
He told the audience that he has been working on his guitar pick flicking skills and flicked at least 10 out into the masses. (It was pretty humorous watching people scour the dark floors for a tiny guitar pick; they were frantically shining cell phones and cameras in the dark abyss like there were $100 bills on the ground.)
David closed his performance with an encore of Chris Cornell’s version of “Billie Jean.”
The craziness didn’t stop there. This audience wanted more. Luckily, all the Idols returned to the stage to perform “Don’t Stop the Music” together. (Cook returned wearing an appropriate black cowboy hat that he ended up placing on Jason’s head.)
After the concert, Dawn and I got to attend a meet and greet with Mr. Castro and many other excited fans. We chatted with his mom, Betsi, and found out that he was suffering from allergies. Despite that seasonal gift, Jason smiled and took tons of pictures with adoring fans and signed autographs like a pro.
It’s nice to see that a nationwide tour and tons of fans didn’t change our favorite Idol, Jason Castro.