McLA Team: Katharine’s Homecoming Concert
August 26, 2006
Staples Center, Downtown Los Angeles American Idol Live Tour
I arrived at about 4:35 pm in Staples Center and I immediately searched for the other Kat Fans who we’re volunteering for the Homecoming Project.
In case you’re wondering what this Homecoming Project is, I’ll explain it to you. Chad, the host of KatharineFans.com came up with this idea. He suggested that we purchase 10,000 orange glowsticks (Orange is Kat Fan’s color during the tour so that they would be able to indentify who’s a fan of who) and we’re going to raise it right before Katharine sings. It would be a pretty sight, seeing all 10,000 glowsticks fill the entire arena just for Kat’s homecoming.
Kat Fans all around the World pitched in to make this project a reality and give our girl the best homecoming ever. After just a day or two we were able to raise enough money to purchase 10,000 glowsticks.
After that they started looking for volunteers who live in LA to distribute the glowsticks, since I live near the LA area I decided to offer my help. There were about 21 volunteers all in all, some even came from Hawaii, Canada and Stockton. I’ve mentioned maddie before here in my blog and I got to meet her. She drove for 7 hours just to help out. She ended up having tickets for the show which was bought by another kat fan (how sweet is that?).
Okay, so by the time I arrived they were all there waiting for the other volunteers as well. Then we started wearing the orange shirts and went straight to the parking area to get the glowsticks. We hurriedly stuffed the glowsticks into our bags and went out in 4 groups and started to distribute the glowsticks in every entrance. We pretty much got a receptive response from the people but there were some who were just plain damn rude. There were little girls who kept coming back and asked for more glowsticks to give out to some of their friends. Some of the people hesitated at first because they thought the glowsticks were for sale but as soon as we said that it’s free they instantly took it. The others kept reading the words on our shirts, it says "Katharine’s Homecoming Concert" and at the bottom "There’s No Place Like Home" I forgot what it says on the back but there was a "McPheever" sign in it.
This whole experience was overwhelming and I’m actually quite surprised that I started to approach people without hesitation. It was amazing to see all the people there who were a fan of Kat as well. Especially the little girls, they kept repeating "Kat is no. 1, Kat is no. 1". I’m sure that if Kat would’ve met them, she’d be touched by it. Also, the people started to recognize us and even approached us for some glowsticks. There was even one point we were walking back to the parking area and there were some people inside the arena, they must be VIP’s, and the girls waved right at me so I waved back at them. It was awesome!
But anyways, our smiles ended there. The moment the people entered the arena, they confiscated the glowsticks. It was a little disheartening to see that, after all our hard work, they threw it out just like that. I saw a group of girls staring at me from inside, they were dissappointed, I was dissappointed, we all were. From that moment, our dream of giving Kat the greatest homecoming concert ever ended, crushed, shattered. But as fans.. our Hope still burns inside.
Even though they didn’t allow it, some people still managed to sneak some of it inside. It’s pretty much useless trying to confiscate a freaking glowstick when they can’t even manage to take them all. How idiotic! So I hid some glowsticks inside my back pack and hell yeah I got it in! Bwahaha! As soon as we got to our seat, we distributed it to the people in front of us, behind us and to our sides.
We we’re not able to get in 10,000 glowsticks but I hope Katharine knows that we did our best. We always do..
As for the concert, I’ll only mention Kat’s segment. She started off with Black Horse and A Cherry Tree and the people were on their feet singing and dancing with the tune. I stood up as well with one glowstick on my right hand and the other a camera. I screamed as loud as I could and everytime she was in front of me, I went wild! (Our seats were right next to the stage, so we were really, I mean really close)
The next song she sang was "Think" and people were still on their feet since it was an upbeat song. I really loved that performance, it was one of my favorites! She was amazing! At one point she got down the ramp and into the audience, one girl was able to touch her back.. LOL! I wish that was me! (^^,) Aaaahhhh.. Everytime Kat gets near to our seats, I swear I wanted to just jump out on stage with her!
Anyways, her last song was Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Katharine is just amazing! She’s much more beautiful in person! If she’s that gorgeous on television and in pictures, I’m telling you! She tops it up a notch in person! Everything about her is just plain perfect. Her eyes, her smile, her lips, her hair, her teeth, her body, her voice.. She’s too B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. It’s all too surreal! Oh! and I forgot to mention that she waved right at me! OMG! I swear I could’ve died! She must’ve noticed my orange shirt and recpgnized me as one of her fans.
During that performance, everyone raised out their glowsticks. It wasn’t much but you could definitely see it. It was so sweet of Katharine for mentioning it. She said something like "Awww.. I can see those orange things.." somewhere along those lines. I’m glad the she acknowledged it, so our project wasn’t a failure.
After the concert, I didn’t get to see any of the Idol’s but I got to see the buses. I got to say goodbye to some of the Kat Fans and that it was a pleasure meeting them. This is truly the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. I got to meet the people who I’ve been talking to on the boards, also some new fans who I didn’t have a chance to talk with and lastly…
I got to meet Katharine McPhee.
My American Idol.
