Hey, isn't that Michael Johns?

Why yes. that IS Michael Johns in a picture taken by ME.

I went to the American Idol Live Concert last week with some great friends. I'm a recent convert to AI...this was just the second season I have watched. And I know what you're thinking. American Idol? Didn't most of those kids have to leave the show because America didn't like them so well? But seriously. It. Was. AWESOME. Elizabeth and I both agreed that about 8 of the contestants were significantly better performers than when they were on the show. Sorry Ramiele and Syesha. You still get voted off the island.
The show actually got off to a rocky start. A giant Pop-Tarts mascot came traipsing down the aisle and knocked the girl in front of me to the ground. Nice. But then...

CHEKEZIE. Totally love him. Great performances.

Ramiele. Blah.

MICHAEL JOHNS. Seriously, how did he leave the show at #8? What a shame. This was my favorite performance, yes, even edging out my favorite David Cook. He rocked onto the stage with "We Will Rock You", drifted into "We are the Champions" and ended with "Dream On". If you can imagine it sounding better than when he performed it on the show (I know, it seems impossible), but it did.

KRISTI LEE COOK. A good performance. I thought she did much better than she ever did on the show.

CARLY SMITHSON. One of the standout performances of the night for me. Didn't like her that much on the show, but she rocked out to Evanescence "Wake Me Up Inside" and I loved it.

BROOKE WHITE. Three great performances by her. She and her piano came up on the stage from below playing "Let It Be" which was, of course, brilliant.

JASON CASTRO. Oh, my cute Jason. No Bob Marley, thank you producers. He did sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with his ukulele which made me very happy as that was one of my favorite moments from the show.

SYESHA. I have nothing good to say about her three songs. Or her outfit. Or her Diana Ross hair.

DAVID ARCHULETA. What is there to say about dear David. "He could sing the phone book and we would love it." Absolutely incredible performances. And still as cute as he was on the show. More than a little disappointed that he didn't sing "Imagine" though.

DAVID COOK. Rocked out. I'm afraid most of my energy was spent by the time he came out, but he delivered fabulous performances and was sweet and gracious. After his first number, a strip of fabric had ripped off of his pants, so he announced that he would sit down and fix it now. And he did. He brought out his little video camera and videoed the crowd with the preface, "I have to record this so I have proof in 10 years when no one believes me that I did this." His encore was "Billie Jean" which I enjoyed a million times more than I did when I saw it on the show. I'm still glad he won.
You can see ALL the pictures I took from the concert by clicking to this blog post and then following the link to the pictures (thanks Adam!).