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sorry I'm late in posting this. but the holiday weekend has me running around crazy and I'm just catching up now...
My wife and I drove to Allentown from Central NJ yesterday night and the ride seemed to take forever (!) with all the traffic....
Finally got there around 7 PM; fully armed with my 35mm camera and zoom lens. I didnt want to miss anything since this was the 1st time I'd be seeing Kat live... We were in the 10th row center....
Marissa Rhodes opened and unexpectedly was pretty good. (We hadnt watched Idol that season, so we didnt know that much about Marissa). Matt Kearney was just fantastic, but the anticipation for Kat just kept building more and more.. I couldnt wait... ! Kat was scheduled to perform 3rd followed by Bowling for Soup finishing up the night.
My wife (who's a Taylor Hicks fan, and has gotten his autographs and hugs) kept advising me all week that once Kat finished performing, we should leave and go off near where her bus was and where she might be leaving from ( so that we would have a chance to posibly meet her and get her autograph, etc)
I camed armed to Mayfair with a GREAT 8x11 Glossy photo of Kat that I downloaded from her Idol days hoping she would sign that if we got the chance to meet her..
FINALLY, Kat came on and she absolutely was FANTASTIC!!! and looked even more gorgeous and beautiful than I had imagined... ( if that is possible) She sang 5 songs (Love Story, Dangerous, Mary Jane, Over It, and Open Toes) , it lasted about 30-35 minutes or so... GODDD, it went so fast!!! BUT she was just Fantastic !!!! Dancing, singing, really having fun I was clicking away with my 35mm camera like some insane photographer hoping the pics would come out ok since it was dark, etc...
She finished up and told us all to enjoy the rest of the show... I looked ay my wife and we both just nodded our heads to leave at this point and walk off hoping to meet Kat... We wouldnt see Bowling For Soup perform, but I really didnt care at this point... Trust me...
We went off to the side of the stage under some trees and saw Kat walking into her trailer.. We stood there with a small crowd initially waiting eagerly and HOPING Kat would come over to us before she left.
After about 10 -15 minutes of waiting and no KAT yet, My wife got into a conversation with another person who was getting impatient. and ultimately they decided to leave despite my wife urging them not to give up and stay a bit longer... WELL, then after about another 5 minutes, we heard Bowling for Soup begin to perform, but as I looked in the distance, I saw a small white van/mini-bus type vehicle with all its doors open and it looked like it was ready to be loaded and leave. I mentioned this to my wife and told her I hope thats not Kats ride cuz if it is she might not be coming over, they look to be in a hurry.
Suddenly, OMG, there was KAT walking to this vehicle, Nina in her arms,,, she looked over at our crowd ( we were behind a small fence under trees) and I waved and waved to her for her to come over to us... I know she saw ME waving and my wife ( the Taylor Hicks fan!) began screaming to Kat to come over to us all. Kat looked surprised that we were all there and she started walking over to us.. We were in the front row, right at the fence and now I couldnt believe this was happening.... Not only do I get to finally see Kat perform live ( we missed at the AI concert tour when she got sick last summer) , but now she is gonna be up close... OMGGGG Kat got to us and began signing some autographs,,, , she even handed Nina over to some fans in our crowd so that she could give the autographs! ... as she got closer to us, I gave my wife Kat's 8x11 photo we brought with us since she was slightly closer than I was , and I didit want to miss out now being so close.. Kat got to us and my wife handed her the pic to sign and began telling Kat how HUGE of a fan I was and how I would call Z100 almost 5x daily for her and all the other stuff... Kat replied , "Oh, You;re so sweet, Thank YOU!! " ... Now, I stood there NUMB seeing Kat right in front of me (2 ft. !) awed by her beauty , my CRUSH on her now out of control..
somehow, a voice inside me suddenly said "Idiot, wake up, your camera!!,,, take her pic!,, she's right up close ".. I fumbled like a nervous 5th grader (I'm 41) ,, my hands shaking, FINALLY getting my camera out and I snapped 2 shots of Kat up close ( again , hoping they come out good!) .. Kat signed our pic with a heart and Katherine Mcphee,,,, I was walking on air at that moment , and have been all day today, feeling fine despite the fact I was up ALL nite last nite ( couldnt sleep after this, too wired and NUMB)
We made the right choice in leaving and not watching "Bowling for Soup" perform.. If we stayed, we would have missed Kat all together... Wow!!!! What a nite and I still cant believe how I just froze when seeing her up close like that... like lightning had hit me... unbelievable LOL... Hoping next time to be able to chat a bit with her,, but we'll see if that happens.... I just want to tell anyone here that no matter how beautiful Kat appears on TV , TRUST ME, TRUST ME, in person, she is even MORE BEAUTIFUL.. and inside and out !!!! Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lastly. as we walked out of the Mayfair park to our car, we ran into the 2 women who didnt listen to my wife and decided not to wait for Kat... We showed them Kats autographed pic, and they began blaming each other for leaving too soon.. LOLOL That was funny, but we felt bad for them... What a night !!!
OK, I'll have to remember this. Screw Hilary Duff (I mean)...nevermind. Forget watching Hilary Duff and go try to find Katharine after she's done performing on June 9th in Sacramento. Although she might be in a hurry to get out since she has to get to Kansas City the next night. Whatever...it'll be worth it.
Great story though! Thanks for telling us.
Katharine McPhee fans around the world