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Click the "Start this video" button twice to play the video SOTR Thanks to California Kat Phan	Click the "Start this video" button twice to play the video Black horse and the cherry tree Thanks to CaliforniaKatFan
Click the "Start this video" button twice to play the video Think! Thanks to CaliforniaKatFan	Click the "Start this video" button twice to play the video Living in America Beginning Thanks to CaliforniaKatFan
Click the "Start this video" button twice to play the video Living in America End Thanks to CaliforniaKatFan

Starting with Katharine, she came on stage, and of course I did my famous "woooooo", about a thousand times. Lol. Hey, at least she knew I was a fan!

So she is singing, and I am of course on my feet, with my camera held out in my right hand, hoping that it would capture Kat, since after all, I did not want to take any media. Lol. But I was feeling guilty for not taking any footage and having such excellent seats. So I wiped out my camera. Lol.

It was such a different experience seeing her from the front row. Everything is different! She was so friendly in her speech to the crowd, and her shoulders were up, as she was talking about what a great journey she has had. Her performances were amazing, of course. There was this moment in Think, where she comes to the front row to touch our hands, and she steps on the actual silver barrier! It was crazy! She came close to us, but then ran back up the stairs onto the stage. During part of her performance, I noticed that her earpiece wire, was hanging out of the strap on her back, that cris crossed to make the letter X. She then tucked it in, and I was like "wow, it's crazy how they can hide that"...in her speech she talked about how "this song is for the ladies with men, and sometimes you just need to keep them in check" and then she started to sing Think. It was pretty funny.

During the concert, Chris came down to the front row, and touched/shook my hand so that was cool. And so did Bucky, lol! And Taylor came, and held my hand for a good 30 seconds while I videoed it! However, the camera was zoomed in too far, so you can’t see our faces, you can just see his microphone. So that was pretty cool. I text messaged Elphie about this and she told me to “wash my hands” Lmao.

Oh, I thought I might give you an update on my man, Ace. Lol. I got several winks and waves from him on the stage. It was amazing! He looked over to where I was sitting often. And he was right in front of me! Julie had made some funny comments about Ace and I too. Lol. And Ace's muscles were huge on stage, he had a tank top on...and we could see the veins in his arms! Woo!

As far as the after party goes, we were standing right by the door where they come in, and Julie and I are talking to Lisa Tucker, and I turn around, and Katharine is there, all quiet and poised in a down to earth demeanor. So Katharine goes "I saw this one waving and dancing (points to me) and I saw all of you and thought 'they must be Kat fans' " Then Katharine turns her head to me (turns her head to he left) and goes "Hi I'm Katharine" and sticks out her right hand!!!!!! I totally didn't even think "duh, of course you are Katharine"....I just stuck my right hand out and say "Aw, hi, I'm Brittney" and we shook hands! And Katharine was the one to initiate it! So I thought that was really special. And I was the only one's who she introduced herself to with a handshake. It was just really cute how she pointed to me, and puts her hand out to say "Hi I'm Katharine" and she said it so calm and sweet. You couldn't help but think "this is why I am your fan!!!" So when Katharine pointed to me and said "I saw this one waving and dancing," that made me feel so proud! The fact that she noticed that I was a fan, and that I was there screaming for her! So it looks like all of my "woooo's" paid off! Haha.

Anyways, then we are all talking in a little huddle, like I talked with m y friends when I was in high school, at lunch....5 friends standing in a close circle. First we were huddled around the trash can, and then we stepped a little ways away from it. Vadia posted a great recap of most of our conversations. But I'll tell you the 3 main things that I personally talked to Katharine about.

First, as we were still near the trash can, Katharine was signing a picture for my sister and was standing directly in front of me, less than a foot away! And I said "Katharine, I love your hair, it's so fun and cute" and she goes "aw, really you like it" and I said "yeah!" and she goes I just cut it today" and I say "oh wow" and she goes "well, my hairstylist, (insert stylist's name, I can't remember it) he does my hair everyday, and I've had him cut off a little bit each day. So this is where it is now, I think it might get a little shorter, probably not." So she totally was getting into telling me about her hair. And how her hairstylist does her hair, everyday. lol. Then we all are talking about her hair, and how if she doesn't like it she can just get extensions, and Katharine goes "yeah because they all have them anyways." (referring to the stars) So it was so cute. She totally was so fun and nice! She had the totally "girl next door image" going on. And she was so much fun to talk to! It was just like talking to one of my college friends, she's SOOO down to earth and is so nice!

Second, she is signing my Idol Tour Book, and is still standing inches away, and she is looking down at the book. And I go "Katharine, I love your eyelashes!" and she goes "Thanks, they're not mine" and she flashes her lashes and smiles! Then I say "aww...they are so cool, I almost got those the other day" and she goes "yeah I love them." I tried to get fake eyelashes before this trip but the place was all booked. Let's just say, that now I really want fake eyelashes even more. Lol.

Third, Katharine began to talk about her whirlwind schedule and how she was so tired for the Princess Cruise dedication. And then I was like "oh my gosh...did you hear what happened to it, what did you think!?" and I totally get a "wtf" look from Julie and Vadia....and Kat full on looks at me and moves her hands, eager to tell me about it! So that was great! Then I start motioning with my hands "can you believe it swayed so much" and she's like "I know!!" and was making cute faces. Then Vadia said something like "yeah we were afraid they were gonna hold that against you" and Katharine was like "I know me too, thank goodness they didn't, that was such a rough week" (something like that) I thought it was really cool how Katharine was so eager to discuss this topic with me....she started moving her hands and her eyebrows went up as she goes "I know, I know, can you believe it" ...So that was really cool.

During these conversations I was standing directly across from Kat, Julie was on my left, then Kat, then Vadia, then Leah. All in a circle! Katharine appeared quiet and shy at first, but she very quickly opens up and her smile and laughter are contagious! And she totally gets animated when she talks, she moves her hands and raises her eyebrows so many ways, and totally makes eye contact with you! There were so many little actions/things Katharine did where I thought "aw, I do that too!" I could totally relate to Katharine. I walked out of that room knowing that Katha

We had some wonderful conversations with Katharine, which were also mentioned in Vadia's review. We all had a wonderful time, full of laughter and memories that we will never forget.

So I arrived at the concert venue around 1:30pm after scoping out some nearby hotels that the idols could have stayed in. No luck, though I did find Ludacris’ tour bus at one hotel – too bad I don’t care about him. Haha. So I find out where the buses are going to pull in, which is this fenced in back parking lot, and I haul all my bags out just in case McPhee wants to sign autographs or another idol comes by. There are about eight other people there. I sit with my bags a few feet from the fencing and prepare for a long wait. I play idly with my video camera while a security guard scowls at me from a guard station with tinted windows. After a few minutes, he comes out from behind the fencing and tells me video cameras are not allowed there, so I hide my camcorder wrapped up in a pair of shorts and take out my digital camera instead.

I am bored, and I reason that the buses will arrive soon, but I have no signs or anything to fully indicate I support McPhee. There are two Soul Patrollers waiting near me with obvious t-shirts on and a mother and two children all decked out in pink for Pickler. McPhee cannot arrive with no support. Therefore, I pull out a red sharpie from my backpack and write largely on the huge bag carrying three gift bags, “K.I.Gs *heart* KAT.” Soon, around 2pm, the buses arrive, and though I have no idea who is in which bus (the windows are crazy tinted), I hold up the bag casually in case McPhee is looking out the window.

After about half an hour, the buses are parked and we’re all jammed against this fencing to get a glimpse of our idol. I casually tell a woman standing next to me to tell me if she sees Katharine. Lisa enters first casually, covered in some green blanket. Bucky walks out and waves to us. We cheer. A glimpse of Taylor is seen hurriedly entering a back door. I see Pickler in her salmon pink ensemble enter quickly, no time to yell. Suddenly, the woman says, “There’s Katharine!”

My neck snaps. Katharine is entering a door I wasn’t looking at. It is so fast. I instinctively yell, “MCPHEE! KATHARINE!” I am the only one yelling – no one else cares about her existence. Katharine throws out an arm for a wave and looks in my general direction and goes into the building. It was all of about five seconds. I pump my fist in victory and say a very audible, “YES!” People around me chuckle. I call Dutch and I hear people laughing harder when I tell her, “Um, Katharine McPhee just WAVED AT ME!”

I sit back, a little satisfied, but I want autographs. A guard named Fred comes out and says the girls are not going to come out and sign. My heart falls a little. He says if we have anything to give the girls, we should give them to him now. I grab my bags and hesitantly ask, “Are you really going to hand it to her?” He says, “Well, yeah.” I accept this confirmation and give him all four bags.

“Who are these for?”
“Katharine.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”

He rifles through all the items, tears open the envelope of my letter, messes up the bandana display, and then finally he is satisfied. The Kellie Pickler family waits patiently by as the guard (Fred) spends a good ten minutes looking over everything. I thank him and ask that if Katharine has any noticeable reaction to come back and tell me. He agrees reluctantly, saying that she will be too busy to really notice. I insist.

He leaves, carrying the goods.

Fred comes out of the building and is noticeably looking around. I have walked back a few feet behind the crowd, but I approach the fencing. He waves his water bottle at me and nods me over.

“She was touched.”
“Touched?”
“Yeah, she was touched by the gifts.”
“Oh my god! Thank you so much!”

Fred walks away, smiling a little, if security guards are allowed to do such things.

Pickler walks out briefly from the building. I yell out her name and she waves at me. She disappears behind the buses.

Elliot has been walking back and forth from the to ur bus and the concert venue for some reason. I assume insulin. Finally he comes out to autograph stuff, and I am standing in the mob waiting for my turn and trying to figure out how to throw my hat over the fence when I spot Pickler walking by from the buses.

“Kellie!”
“Hi!” She waves.
“Hey Kellie! Wear the pink bandana!”
“What?”
“The pink bandana!”
“Who has it?”
“Kat has it! McPhee has it! Consider it!”

She nods and walks away noticeably a little confused into the building.

I turn back, Elliott has disappeared. Oh well. It seems everyone is done with potential signing, so I head over to the front of the building to wait until the doors open. It is around 4:30pm.

I enter the building after six o’ clock and I immediately buy a large overpriced Pepsi. I then go and find my seat. Sixteenth row, dead center, and unbelievably close. Couldn’t have been more than 50 ft away. I make friends with the people around me, asking them to take picture or video because I will be freaking out. They somewhat agree.

The idols come out – you do not care about them. I will only tell you about McPhee, which is what you would’ve skipped to read about.

So during intermission, there are a lot of empty seats, so a girl and I try to move up to the very first row, but a woman’s friends show up, so we move to the fourth row. Unfortunately, though this seat is close, there are security guards watching out for camcorders, so the video of McPhee is awkward at first.

Anyway, I am telling the girl to tape the end of Patience so I don’t miss Kat and to aim the camera up at the top center stage. I see her sitting in the shadows. I yell her name. Suddenly, I hear it.

“Two, three, four!”

I gasp, and suddenly remember I was supposed to call Dutch. I call and immediately just hold up the phone. I watch her, flabbergasted. She has the usual black dress with STRAIGHT and trimmed hair. I stare and have some sort of creepy smile on my face. I am the only one standing in the entire section. I do not care. I cheer at the appropriate parts. I wave. McPhee waves back at me since I am dead center. BHATCT ends. Think begins and she does her sexy turn around. I wave and she waves back. I giggle like an idiot and woo. She sings this line directly looking at me:

“Think about what you're trying to do to me.”

OR SOMETHING equally ironic. She sang something in Think too me, but my mind is too cluttered to remember.

She ends the song and I cheer. She begins SOTR and I wave and yell out things like, “KIGS LOVE K-DAWG!” or “I LOVE YOU K-DAWG/KAT.” She doesn’t respond, perhaps she did not hear. It doesn’t matter. SOTR is magical and she waves at me multiple times throughout. She also does a little wink to someone in the crowd. I am the only idiot standing the entire time. She does not get a complete standing ovation, but I do not care. She leaves quickly.