Yay! Another AI Finale Recap from my buddy KC

KC got to go to last night’s finale! She’s awesome, and you may remember her recap from a results show she attended earlier this season.

I got to the Nokia Theatre at around 10am to get in line to pick up my ticket. I was the 625th person in line but the venue is huge, so I wasn’t worried. I chatted to some fun college kids behind me while I was waiting (all Kris fans), some fraus behind them from San Francisco (ditto), and eavesdropped on some scary fraus in front of me (also rooting for Kris). They started giving tickets out around noon, and I got that great seat on the floor in the 5th row. I was thrilled!

So I went and had lunch at one of the restaurants on the plaza at LA Live (where Nokia is). I was sitting next to Nikki McKibben – like I said, she’s gained a lot of weight. The red carpet was right next to where I was eating, so when I was done, I walked over and watched it for a while. I saw Jestro, Syesha, Melinda Doolittle, Vonzelle, Chris Richardson, Paris Bennett, Mandisa, Brooke White, Janice Dickinson, and Antonio Sabato Jr. while I was standing there. Then I had to go back to my car and drop off my cell phone and go into the venue – yay!

I finally got in the theater around 4pm and got to my seat. I was on the far right side, in the 5th row, smack in the middle. I was sitting right behind Joel McHale from The Soup! In my row was Ace Young and his taller, cute brother, and Paris Bennett and her mom. Heather Locklear was two rows in front of me. Joely Fisher was in front of Ace and they chatted the whole time, he was GORGEOUS in person and really good with Joely’s little kid.

Brandon Rogers was behind me, and so was Melinda Doolittle. Blake Lewis, Kristy Lee Cook, and Chris Richardson were about 3 rows behind me. Blake, Kristy, and Chris came in together and Kristy and Chris were all over each other – isn’t she engaged to someone else?  Bo Bice was across the aisle from Ace, and Ruben Studdard was in the front row on my side. Also, T-Bag from Prison Break was two rows behind me with his adorable kids, and some hot guy from The Tudors who I stared at so much I know it was rude, but it was killing me that I couldn’t place him.

I was sitting right by the tunnel where celebrities come in, so I got to see a shitload of them walk by – I saw Kate Walsh (from Grey’s Anatomy), Chris Daughtry (about a thousand times – he kept walking by, one time stopping to hug Ace), COOKIE!!, Carrie Underwood, all of this year’s Top 13, Michael Johns, THE HOFF! (he and his daughters were two rows ahead of me) – that’s all I can remember right now.

You all saw the show, so I won’t recap the performances – except to say that the energy in that place was PHENOMENAL when Adam did that duet with KISS. He got on the stage extension right before we came back from commercial break, and when the crowd saw him in that outfit they just ROARED. It was fantastic! I was on the side of the stage where KISS came out and got on that platform – before it rose up, they were sticking their tongues out at us and throwing rawkhands and people were going nuts. That was so much fun! The pyrotechnics were amazing.

Everyone was also totally psyched by the Black Eyed Peas showing up – and Santana. It was just like a really cool concert, and everyone was having a good time. This was my fourth finale show, and the only one where I actually enjoyed all the star performances. They really pulled out all the stops this year.

The other part of the show that just blew everyone away was when they all sang with Queen – I think Adam might be the reincarnation of Freddie Mercury. Seriously – who besides him and Freddie could hit those notes? It was fucking awesome. And I think that’s why, after all that, when Kris was declared the winner, it was kind of… anti-climactic? After all the showcasing of Adam’s vocals, and the amazing star-power that was attracted to the finale to compliment his style, it was kind of a non-sequiter when Kris was announced the winner.

Plus, Ryan was so cagey about the whole thing – why so secret about the vote totals? It was weird. You all know what I think.

Anyway, I had a blast, and although Adam was my personal preference, I’m happy Kris won. The only other tidbits I have, of course, involve Gokey – before one of the group songs, he and a few other idols were in front of the stage on our side and he was blowing kisses and waving the whole time. No one else did that. The other douchey thing he did was after his HORRIFIC duet with Lionel Richie, he jumped up on the stage extension, waved, blew kisses, and then did that fucking heart thing with his hands.

So that’s about it! Oh, and I got sunburned standing outside.

I hope she didn’t catch anything bad from being in such close proximity to Blake Lewis, because that kid. Ewww…well, he just always gives me the piss shivers.