Amy’s Recap of Danny Gokey in Charlotte, NC Part 3

Here is Part 1 and Part 2

So yeah, I was nervous.  I had my 30 second speech for the autograph session before hand planned but what would I say now that I had him backstage?  Too much fangirl and I look stalkerish, too much web site owner and I seem aloof.  If I act like a regular fan, then will he get how much I <3 him?  Yes, all of this went through my mind.  In the end, all I could do was be myself and be honest right?

Now, as for my friends, I actually had 3 friends with me who all rode together. Since I only had 3 total passes it just didn’t work out.  They all were ready to head home so I was left to figure it out on my own.  I do have to say I met Mary and Tara and they are FABULOUS.  They had backstage passes as well so I knew I’d be in some Danny-fan company.

I was backstage courtesy of Michael Johns last year and backstage was held in a different spot.  This was in a VIP club/bar type place and it was great for chatting and didn’t feel as cold as the bright concrete room last year but it made for horrible lighting!

Basically the idols were all spread throughout the room.  People would make a line behind each idol.  For each person, you could chat for a few seconds but if no one else was in line, you were welcome to stay and chat as long as you wanted.  They were taking pictures and signing autographs.

Danny already had a few people when I walked in and Kris had no one so I scooted over to him.  Since I already had his autograph, I stuck with a picture.  I made a horrible attempt at a picture of us and then had someone else do it.  I have to say Kris is smaller than I thought but wow, so super cute.  And really down to earth and easy going.  I love Pocket Idol!  I didn’t stay to chat except to say I loved his set as the crowd was starting to come in.

I then headed straight for Danny.  He recognized me right away and gave me a hug.  I gave him two 8×10 pictures I had bought for him to sign.  I got Tara to take a picture of us (again).  He asked what I thought of the show.  I felt so bad that I didn’t say something right away!  I told him it was great and then told him about my battery dying.  I told him I’d let the other people behind me go and I’d be back that I wanted to get some video and stuff.  He said something like definitely, let’s do whatever.

So I went and visited Matt, Allison, Lil and Scott getting pictures and autographs.

Danny’s line was empty so I went over to him.  I got him to record the appreciation video.  Then we chatted for a minute or two. His web site will be up in a few weeks. They have an outside company that is doing it.  We talked about him flinging the jacket into the audience and he said it just goes right in front of the stage.  I asked about the chain it looked like he threw in one of the videos the other night and he said that one he did throw into the crowd because it came unhooked and he couldn’t get it back on.  A line had developed unbeknown to me and he said let me get these autographs and he said he’d finish up with me.

I went and got a picture with Anoop and Adam.  Adam had a line about 5-10 people deep the entire time.  He’s also the only one that had a handler.  There were a few drunk people at this point and one lady kept getting in line.  She tried to talk to Adam when I was at the front of the line and he had to tell her to get in line again.

So at this point I was back to Danny.  A guy and his son was standing there and asked if I wanted my picture with him.  I said I had already gotten my picture so they took their picture with him and moved on.

At this point, Danny pulled a chair out of one of the tables and said he was tired.  I took the cue and sat down with him!  Another seemingly drunk girl that was sitting at the bar near Anoop said she has a shirt dedicated to Danny!  I said, I have an entire site dedicated to Danny!  Danny started joking with her and said, yeah, you need to do that!  Switch teams!

I asked him if he was tired of singing all the same songs over and over.  He started to answer me but Anoop grabbed him and said he needed him for a minute.  I think it was Danny, Anoop, Adam and maybe Matt stood in front of a Gators flag for someone and took a picture.  He came back and picked up.  He said at first he was getting tired of them but he said he decided to just put it in his mind beforehand that he was going to bring it and try to be fresh and new each night.  But I think he said again he was just tired.

The drunk girl (sorry, I just don’t know her name) walked by and said something about Adam not wanting his cookies.  I had seen a bowl of cookies on a table.  Danny said, no, Adam is watching what he eats.  I was like, speaking of which!  It really seems like you’ve lost weight since the beginning.  He said he thought he had.  I asked him if he was working out.  He said he tried to at the hotel but usually it was just treadmills and dumb bells and it was hard to do anything with that.  He said he really wanted a 6 pack and was trying to watch what he ate because he didn’t want to be fat on tour.  I was like, well I can tell and you are looking great.  He gave me a high five.  I said, I know this will sound fangirl but you know everyone talks about your arms.  He sort of laughed and said yeah, I saw that, especially with that red shirt I wear on stage.  Trust me, he knows what the shirt is showin’  It was so funny.  I said something about even the shirt he’s wearing and he kind of flexed his muscle.  I was like, hold on, I need a picture!  That’s when I snapped the one I posted.

So drunk girl made her way over and wanted a picture with him so we stood up.  I grabbed my camera after that and said I wanted to get a picture of him doing the heart sign.  After that, he said, hey, let’s do the heart thing together.  So that’s when we did the heart symbol together and drunk girl snapped our picture (thanks, drunk girl!).

We sat back down and I know we chatted about the Northwestern thing.  He said that it was not supposed to be advertised at all.  I asked him how he was allowed to do it and he said since there were no public tickets for sale.  But he said they still had 8 or 10,000 people there.  He said it was amazing and the donation was a huge surprise.  I also mentioned Nick and the donation and he did seem disappointed that it didn’t go to SHF.  We talked about the haters.  He says he just ignores.  I told him about my magic delete button

I think that’s when almost everyone was gone and he looked at the security guy and he was telling him it was time to go.

We got up and he gave me a huge hug and thanked me once again.  I said I’m supposed to give you a hug for so many people.  So then he kept me in a hug and then squeezed me like 7 or 8 times and said there, that’s for everyone!

So we walked out together and he had to go one way and I had to go the other.  He gave me one last hug and said thanks and take care, sweetie.  I turned to go and realized I had left my purse and everything in the room!  I went back to get it and then headed upstairs.

I was surprised and happy to find he had gone upstairs to sign autographs outside for everyone.  I stayed behind the crowd but followed him down the line trying to get pics and video until he went in.  At that point, I was going to my car but then stopped where the buses go in.  And guess what?  I see Danny walk by with his bookbag.  He waved bye.  Not sure if he saw me but I waved and then tried really fast to get a picture and video.  I think I managed to get about 2 seconds of him in the video.

And with that, I called it a night!

I really don’t think writing this out does it justice.  It seems so elementary.  I just have to say he really took time with me (or maybe I just hung around long enough LOL).  He was so good about looking you straight in the eye when you talked to him and you really felt like you were the only one in the room.  He looks exactly like he does in his pictures.  You know some people are more or less photogenic than others but Danny looks exactly the same…which is a good thing!  The thing I took away from last night is he is so genuine and real.  When we were talking it almost seemed like we had known each other for years and he was just catching me up on the latest.  I almost felt bad I didn’t give him a history of me or the site or tell him all my favorite songs from the show.  I don’t know, I think I could have said a lot more but it was nice just making small talk with him and feeling like we were just hanging out.

Last night was WAY BEYOND what I had even wished for from my birthday.  I can’t believe it all really happened.  Huge thanks to all the ladies that sent tweets.  And of course a HUGE THANKS TO DANNY!  You gave MY WISH to your PYT!!!

Here are the rest of the Danny videos from last night.  I have more video of other Idols that I will post to my YouTube account after this.

Danny Gokey Backstage American Idol Tour Charlotte NC

Danny Gokey Backstage American Idol Tour Charlotte NC

Danny Gokey Backstage American Idol Tour Charlotte NC

Danny Gokey Signing Autographs after American Idol Tour Ch

Danny Gokey Signing Autographs after American Idol Tour

Danny Gokey Signing Autographs after American Idol Tour

Danny Gokey Signing Autographs after American Idol Tour C

Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud at Buses in Charlotte NC Ameri