My birthday present this year was one of the best I’ve ever had! My parents let me go see the American Idol Live Concert. It features the top ten contestants from the show. They came live to the Mellon Arena on July 27.  My mom knew that I was excited, so she took us to the concert 6 hours early. We were there from the time the buses arrived ‘til when the buses left. The tour buses were very nice, air-conditioned with entertainment systems inside. They looked kind of like RV’s, but you probably don’t go camping in buses like these were!

 I guess these performers know something about entertainment. They didn’t all get off at the same time. They SLOWLY got off. The crowd was starting to form at the gate, and one by one, they competitors got off. Everyone cheered for them and shouted lots of things. One person who had been there since the morning actually got to go inside where they were cooling off and talk to them. He had written a song for Kellie Pickler and recorded it, so he gave that CD to her. He was very excited, and came out jumping around and calling all of his friends.

People started to get frustrated when nobody came outside to sign autographs. Luckily, Bucky Covington came outside. He was talking on a cell phone, but when the crowd saw him, they started to scream “We want autographs! Come sign stuff!”, so he had no choice but to come out and give his loving fans his John Hancock. My mom had bought posters for my sister and me to get autographed, so we had him sign them. He was very nice, and my mom was very excited, because he said the word ain’t. She hasn’t heard many people say that in Pittsburgh.

After Bucky went in, Ace Young came out. He worked his way down the row of screaming people, and signed as many people’s items as he could. When he came to my sister and me, I told him about my other sister liking him. He laughed and said it was really funny. There was a group of teens there who had his face on their shirts, so they got to pose for a picture with him. He was very nice to his fans!!!

Taylor Hicks came out after a long time of waiting. He came outside and had to go back in to get a pen. When he came out, he looked down the row to decide where to start the signing. After a little while, he came to my family first!!! He signed my sister’s poster, then mine. We didn’t get a good picture with him smiling for our camera, but he was in a rush to sign all the fan’s items.

After that, we waited a while longer to go into the concert. We went around to some radio booths, but then it started pouring down rain! We went to an entrance that nobody was at and waited. We got to see some workers inside, and we heard the rehearsal through the door! After a while, the skies cleared, but it was time for the concert. We watched the whole 3 hours of the concert, and then went back outside.

At the fence where we had been before, there was a mob for pictures, autographs, or just simply saying high to the people. Chris Daughtry, Elliot Yamin, Paris Bennet, Kellie Pickler, Lisa Tucker the people we had met before came out to sign autographs. I got Paris Bennet to sign my poster, and my sister had Chris, Elliot, and Lisa Tucker sign hers.

After the people signed a lot of things, they decided to show off their athletic abilities by playing football in the parking lot. Kellie Pickler was so funny; she caught a ball and acted all tough, throwing the ball on the ground and yelling at the top of her lungs. We all thought this was funny, but then they started to pack up the buses.

After the buses left, we were about to leave, but we saw someone else in the parking lot. It was Ace Young’s brother! We went over to him and asked if we could have his autograph. He said sure, but asked if we really wanted him to sign a picture that he wasn’t on. He wasn’t in the competition, but he appeared on TV a lot, so we said sure, and he signed it!

He left finally, and the concert was over. We watched the last bus pull out, and went home to relay the details to my dad. Then our day was completely over. It had been a good time, and it left me feeling happy. I hope my account of the concert made you happy, too.