The Day I Met An American Idol

I was completely ecstatic when I saw the name list. What name list may you ask? Well, it was the contest coordinator's list and on it were the winners of ASTRO's Kris Allen's showcase passes contest. The grand prize? On top of the showcase passes, a pair of meet and greet passes, post-show. Awesome? Yeah, totally. So did I win the grand prize? YES!

The stage was set for the autograph session. I was a tad late for that but oh well, I was more content with the meet & greet passes I won. Oh yeah not to forget, I have to thank a good friend for that. If she never told me about it, meeting Kris Allen would still be, just a dream. Thank you so much. You know who you are. :)

First glimpse of the American Idol himself. He seemed quite cool, immediately greeting the roaring crowd upon stepping on stage. 200++ autographs were signed in 35 minutes. Quite an amazing feat. I guess Kris needed to prepare for the coming show and also have err, dinner? I have no idea. But, I couldn't wait. Especially for the meet and greet. I wonder how amazing it would be.

JJ & Ean entertained the crowd while Kris was preparing backstage. "WE WANT KRIS! WE WANT KRIS!" we all scream out loud. JJ said Kris will come out only if we were loud enough. If it was loud that he wanted, we gave him loud alright. I swear the walls were shaking from the roar of the crowd.

The show started with a bang. He sang Heartless/Gangster Paradise first. IMO, it was amazing. Kris has such an amazing voice. You thought his voice was great on the radio? It's even better live!

There was this moment when I blurted out "Kris Allen, you're awesome!" At that time, the room was silent. Kris was to start another song. Oh shoot. What did I get myself into?! He paused for a while, smiled and said "You're awesome too!" I was shocked. Did he just reply my shout out?! I was quite happy he heard it! But trust me, it was an impulsive reflex of mine I couldn't contain. Don't worry though, at least I didn't make a fool of myself. :)

To all those who think Kris is a snooze fest have you seen him perform? Wow, he knows how to work the crowd alright! And this coming from him, fresh out of Idol last year! He learned a lot from the experience I guess. And he learned for the better. He sings songs with such passion and such pride, we totally feel the emotions he tries to bring into them. And look at the way he strums the guitar! He really feels it! Oh and did you know, there was one point where he CROWD SURFED?! Are you kidding me? CROWD SURF?! How cool is that?!

Kris seemed really happy to perform here in KL. "I'll be back here again for sure," he said. If the time is right and I hadn't flown to the states yet, I shall definitely go. Oh, and when I'm in the states, I'll definitely go too!

Kris and his best mate Cale. Don't even ask why or how I even remember his name, as I am puzzled myself. Maybe because Cale is quite a cool name. Haha! Oh and this picture is just way too cool. I just wished it was a little sharper though.

This was the meet & greet session. As starstruck as I was, I managed to utter a few words to him anyway. I introduced myself and asked how he was. With a puzzled look (perhaps because of my name) he replied with a 'fine thank you'. Kris isn't really tall in real life. I remember standing at eye level with him. So even if he was taller than me, it wouldn't be that apparent. Having said that, after the introduction, I froze. He looked at me and had a worried look on his face (as if I was going to faint Kris! LOL). Then the organisers said OKOK, photo time! So they took the photo, as we couldn't do so with our own clickers. After a couple snapshots and an awkward cheer, it was time to go.

Before I left though, I made it a must to say the things I wanted to say to him. So I did. "Kris, you're amazing you know that. You should come back here sometime," I said. "Aww, thanks man. You guys are amazing too," he replied. "Well...," I only manage to say that as the girls were all over him and pushed me out of the way. I wasn't long before we all were literally ushered out of the room as another group was to do the same thing we did. The night was then over. I left with a heavy heart as I knew reality would kick in any moment now and I would have to get back to my routine schedule. But I had a blast that night. A night I will probably cherish for years to come. Now, who's up for a Kris & Adam concert? I'm sure it would be epic. How I dream of this to become a reality. :)

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I think Kris had an amazing time here in KL. I wished the 'fans' were more in the know about his songs though. I was, of course singing along to each and every one of them but I can't say the same to the rest of the crowd. They went all the way up front but most of them didn't seem bothered to even sing along. Gosh, I guess they just went because they were captivated by his charming looks. Eugh, they just wasted other people's opportunity to go and catch their idol just by doing so. Unfair huh?

Oh and there was even this uncle who came to protect his pure daughter. I mean the thought of it is fine, but when he started to push me away, I got really pissed. I mean, a show without any pushing and shoving?! We're watching Kris Allen for heaven's sake, not Barney The Dinosaur, in concert! I reckon that uncle should have brought himself and his daughter to one of those. Perhaps he will be more content. Oh and to add on to the rudeness, HE COVERED HIS EARS THROUGHOUT THE PERFORMANCE. How effing rude is that! To make matters worse, he was up front and towered among the others in the crowd! Eugh, imagine if you were up there on stage and saw people covering up their ears listening to you sing. Disrespectful no? Anyways, back to the push. I had my revenge. In what sense? Well, I screamed EVERY SINGLE WORD OF KRIS' SONGS IN HIS EARS. How's that for you-stay-behind-me-and-don't-touch-my-daughter, uncle? Serves you RIGHT. Hehe. Sorry for my ranting. I was truly infuriated.

Oh and just so you know, Kris' set list for that night was something like this:
1. Heartless/Gangster's Paradise ♥
2. Can't Stay Away ♥
3. Before We Come Undone ♥♥♥
4. The Truth ♥♥♥♥♥
5. Red Guitar ♥♥♥♥♥
6. Alright With Me ♥♥♥♥♥♥
7. Live Like We're Dying ♥♥♥♥♥♥
8. Is It Over ♥
9. Come Together (cover of The Beatles' song he sang during AI)

Ps// & yes I did take all the photos included in this post. Except for the last one of course. Oh and Kris is AMAZING. ♥♥♥ him. :)

Mood: Hyper

Saturday

The weekend came and I was excited. Excited because is was a good friend's birthday weekend. Saturday started slow. I was sure I was going to be late for the 10am (supposedly) meeting at Subang Square. Of course I was going to be right? I left home at 10am. Little did I know it, I was dead wrong, I was EARLY! Everyone was running late. A friend just left home circa 10am, another friend got locked out of her OWN ROOM and another friend was MIA.

So, as soon as I reached I met up with friends who were already there and off we were to Mid Valley. I had a couple of things on my to-do list.

1. Update points at Topman. My previous card was spoiled and they recently mailed me my new one. Points received between the time the card got spoiled until I got a new one was easily updated with receipts I kept. Now I am RM300 away from my RM25 off voucher. Haha.
2. Collect a shopping voucher from Robinsons. How I adore the department store. Last year my dad bought a whole bunch of stuff there and I collected points off them with my membership card. Recently, mail arrived for me. One of them stated I had received a RM20 voucher for being such a good customer. Yeah.
3. Window shop for new shoes. I sort of want to spend my 'student helper' money by buying myself new shoes. I know RM120 isn't a lot, but that's like RM120 off the shoe I plan to buy, so technically, I won't spend as much right? Hehe.

After completing the tasks, it was time to indulge in some American goodness. TGI Friday's was where we headed for lunch. Food there was, as usual, large in all ways. Most of us didn't finish what was on our plate. I ordered a meal which came with an appetizer and entree. I figured the appetizer would be a nice 'appetizer portion', but boy I was wrong. The fried Mac & Cheese was huge! Well, at least for appetizers. It was scrumptious but very filling. Then came my chicken. Wow, it was a challenge I tell you. I only got to feast about two-thirds of the HALF CHICKEN served to me. It was just too much. After our meals, we chatted, laughed and there was a little bit of cam-whoring going on too.

Then came the part the birthday boy 'anticipated'. The birthday cake. He literally grew all red and started 'hating' us for what we did. After a little bit of (singing) Lady Gaga and a speech, we all sang the birthday song, followed by the trademark Friday's birthday song. Again, the friend continued with the 'I-hate-you-guys-but-deep-inside-I-love-you-guys-speech'. However, we know that he loves us anyway so he need not deny it. LOL.

Later we headed to the bowling alley for a planned bowling session. After finding out there was 25 names on the waiting list, we headed to Red Box Karaoke to check the prices. I guess because it was at The Gardens, it was a tad expensive. So it was a definite no-go. We were walking 'casually' (I was walking 'fast' according to others) until inspiration came and told us to stop at Baskin Robbins. I was totally game for ice-cream alright. So was birthday boy. After trying 5 different flavors, I decided to go with my all time fave, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough anyway. I think the dude serving me was like 'this kid tried out like 5 different flavors and he ordered a completely different one?! Sigh'. Oh well, customer rights correct? I can order anything I want to, as long as I pay for it. Then another surprise. The 'fight'. Well, not really. The birthday boy insisted on paying for his own scoop but I was like of course not! I almost tipped my ice-cream over and in the end, the cashier was the one who broke the 'bad' news to birthday boy saying, "I really need the RM10 bill as we don't have small change." I noticed I was the one holding the RM10 bill and happily I paid. Dre, was 'defeated'. LOL.

At the cafe we chatted bout the most random stuff from cars, Malaysia in general and even how a friend went to the petrol station, paid for petrol, but drove off instead. Aduii. The news was too hilarious that there was a moment of silence after the story finished. Of course our laughter broke the serenity. After a few more rounds at Mid Valley, we got bored and decided to play pool back at Subang Square. I got to play a game (which I lost) until my mom came to pick me up. The day was seemingly going to be a snooze after I reached home. It was 7.30pm when I finally reached home. Too lazy to be doing anything, I just sat on the couch and watched a little television. As usual, there was nothing good on.

*phone vibrates*
02.06.2010 20:20
'Congratulations, you are one of the winners for Meet & Greet for Kris Allen Live in KL contest from ASTRO. Please collect your tickets...'

I literally jumped up and down like a monkey. Wow! Really? ME? Just after writing about having 'bad karma' and how I will NEVER win contests, this happens to me. Well, it's perhaps the best first-time-winning-a-contest EVER! I am so happy and I thank a friend for telling me about the contest and of course ASTRO for picking my entry as a winning one!

So, tomorrow I shall be headed to Mid Valley again to catch Kris Allen live and hopefully meet him in person! I will definitely take photos like mad and hopefully I will get a photo with him too! Wish me luck!


Mood: Energetic

Stream Of Thoughts

1. I think I am getting pudgy. As slim as I am, I kind of think so. I need to hit the gym, ASAP.

2. Kris Allen is coming to town if you haven't heard already. Of course it is an unofficial stop (who would have guessed?! -__-). As usual, EVERY artist seems to go south of the border. I guess Singapore is cooler? Hell yeah!

3. Which makes me think, I want to live in Singapore, you know, after I have gotten bored of the USA (like I will ever! Hah!).

4. My attention span nowadays are shorter than ever. Focus Faiz, focus.

5. I saw a blog one day which has the top 10 tattoo mishaps. #1? Of course, 'Beautiful Tragedy' spelled as 'Beautiful Tradgedy'. Oh the irony. LOL.

6. The workload of college is heaping, and I have a hunch it would be critical in the week after the Chinese New Year break.

7. I cannot screw up this semester. My applications depend on it.

8. I need to register for TOEFL. Damn. I keep forgetting.

9. I want to go to Kris Allen's showcase/concert/show so bad, just as much as I would love to have a retreat with friends, before they leave.

10. Oh, did I mention how bad I want to go to Kris Allen. Tickets, come to me. Please. I tried the Hitz.Fm thing, but as usual, I am just unlucky I guess. I never win contests. In fact, I don't think I will ever win any. Bad karma? FML.

11. I need more sleep. Sleep deprivation is no good.

12. I want to transfer to the States during fall with the others as well. Unfortunately, I haven't enough credit hours. Thank you MARA.

13. My #1 university of choice now is UW Madison, Wisconsin. It'll be a dream come true to go back there (Wisconsin). I miss Wisconsin, and the people.

14. Randomness post much? Yah. Oh well. Heh.

OK, enough of this post. Till next time.

Mood: Exhausted