Thursday was a big day. Upon arrival, there was a team from the American Idol Experience trying to recruit contestants to audition and participate in their show. As Jon was willing, Jesse and I went with him for his (1st) audition. They asked for 30 seconds A cappella and he belted out his song, "Drops of Jupiter" (by Train). The next round was more karaoke style but once he entered the "red room", Jesse and I were asked to go to the waiting area...we soon learned this was outside/behind the building. It actually felt like we got kicked to the street at that point, but, admittedly, the Hollywood park streets aren't such a bad place! We joined back up with Grammy, Larry & Eric who had gone on the Tower of Tower in the meantime. Then, the boys headed to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground area and also caught up with the Power Rangers (there is a new sharky green one) later.
Jon called to let us know the good news....that he had made it and would be in the first show of the day at 11a.m. We could go in for VIP seating at 10:30am. Jesse, Eric and I decided to take in the Great American Movie Ride just before this time but then made a b-line to the show arriving just before the exciting start. We were a bit flustered with our cameras but at least captured a few of Jon's fifteen minutes of fame. He was the final (3rd) contest and cleaned up nicely. He rocked the house, the judges were probably most kind to him overall, the crowd cheered ALOT and then. everyone voted and...HE WON! The lady judges were especially complimentary of his smiling eyes and being "so darn cute. "Six more shows (making it 21 competitors were selected from hundreds that auditioned) and then each show winner, including Jon, competes in the 7p.m. Finals show.
A little later after that, we all got to meet up to have lunch at the Brown Derby, took a class to learn how to draw Pluto from a real animator and later the kids were selected to participate in the ever popular Jedi training where they learn and then get to demonstrate their fight against Darth Vader. It was an exciting day as the boys also decided to go on the Aerosmith themed Rock n' Roller Coaster which goes REALLY FAST and UPSIDE DOWN TWICE. They LOVED this and were ready to go back for more. Rather than do that though, we returned for the big Finals show to cheer on our singer.
The competition was pretty fierce but our #3 contestant did great (again) and although the judges were less complimentary this time around, that's also part of their act. They teased when he said he sang and played at churches -rather than taking it as being plural, instead making reference to Churches, which is a "KFC-like" chicken joint. In the end, he didn't make the final cut but it was still alot of fun for Jon to perform and us to watch. Honestly, Jesse took this news (when they narrowed down the finalists) harder than anyone. His face dropped and he ran to his Daddy for a big squeeze after the show. It was a touching moment...a soft ending to an exhilirating day.
