Pittsburgh, PA Show!

Awe I'm glad the cellcert went so well. Sorry cecilie for my broken promise regarding staying quiet during Matt's performances. He is just too amazing to stay quiet!

Guys my Pittsburgh concert is quite a blur. I couldn't stop staring at him and really can't remember much. We were just so close and I was completely star struck. Matt really looks and performs like a superstar. He is so amazing! Really it appears like he has been performing in large venus for years. Everything about him is so professional and effortless. His charisma level is off the charts! He is a natural born performer. He is not all about the sex like Adam but comes off a million times more sexy because well he's just naturally sexy. Unlike Adam he doesn't have to rely on over the top sexual tricks to be the most sexiest thing on that stage. He has such a cool singer song writer vibe yet at the same time he produces so much excitement and has amazing sex appeal. Really he is a complete dichotomy. He comes across as this serious, intense, brooding musician at times and then he moves into a completely different stratosphere . He all of sudden morphs into this sexy, passionate, sensual, rhythmic, and dynamic performer. I seriously love all sides of him! He completely blew me away! I love him more than ever!

Jenna wrote:

Awe I'm glad the cellcert went so well. Sorry cecilie for my broken promise regarding staying quiet during Matt's performances. He is just too amazing to stay quiet!

Guys my Pittsburgh concert is quite a blur. I couldn't stop staring at him and really can't remember much. We were just so close and I was completely star struck. Matt really looks and performs like a superstar. He is so amazing! Really it appears like he has been performing in large venus for years. Everything about him is so professional and effortless. His charisma level is off the charts! He is a natural born performer. He is not all about the sex like Adam but comes off a million times more sexy because well he's just naturally sexy. Unlike Adam he doesn't have to rely on over the top sexual tricks to be the most sexiest thing on that stage. He has such a cool singer song writer vibe yet at the same time he produces so much excitement and has amazing sex appeal. Really he is a complete dichotomy. He comes across as this serious, intense, brooding musician at times and then he moves into a completely different stratosphere . He all of sudden morphs into this sexy, passionate, sensual, rhythmic, and dynamic performer. I seriously love all sides of him! He completely blew me away! I love him more than ever!

Thank you,Jenna! I´m so glad to read your praises. So impressive!

Lana wrote:

Concert review from:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09235/992796-388.stm

Quote :

Matt Giraud: The dueling piano player, who went head-on with Scott MacIntyre on Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It," can really rock the keys, looks cool in a fedora and showed lots of savvy, lighting up the stage on "Hard to Handle" and "Georgia on my Mind."

Of course Matt ranked after the almighty Kradam (and the guitarist) but in the minds of these people ranking Matt third is big praise.

Hmmm weird because this is what I read...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09235/992796-388.stm

Quote :

Now, for the others, in descending order of preference:

Matt Giraud: The dueling piano player, who went head-on with Scott MacIntyre on Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It," can really rock the keys, looks cool in a fedora and showed lots of charisma with convincingly bluesy versions of "Hard to Handle" and "Georgia on my Mind."

Tim Stewart: Who's Tim Stewart? Not an Idol, just the blazing guitarist who was nailing it all night, from Latin acoustic to heavy metal.

And the writer also said this...

Quote :

Scott MacIntyre: The visually impaired singer-pianist proved to be polished and pleasant, in a Bruce Hornsby kind of way, but Giraud beat him at his game.

The writer must have changed his review.

I forgot to tell you that at the buses Matt was the only idol to receive screams when he came out. People started chanting Matt Matt Matt and then this one girl said I'll say Matt and you shout out Giraud. We did this a few times. It was so much fun and it made Matt very happy.

I know how you feel Jenna. Once you meet Matt and see him up close the obsession goes deeper. I,like you, don't mean that in a sexual way are anything, I mean for Pete' sake the guy is the total package. He can sing, dance, entertain, play those keys and engages the crowd. I just really love him and hope that he gets all the success he so deserves.

It was my frst cellcert an it was sooo much fun. Like Cecilie I was sitting here with the biggest grin on my face, I felt like we were all together at the concert. REallly really enjoyed it, thank you so much.

Hi! I posted my story about giving Matt the pendant in the "Matt's Pendant" thread.

I will post here later about the concert.

Matt is a fricking star!

I am exhausted and have to go to work but here are some thoughts on the concert:

Second row center! Floor stood for the ENTIRE first half, including Michael. Great crowd. Michael's songs were both wrong for him. Not great. Meg gave it her all and sounded fine. How in the world could the stylist find the one dress that makes her tummy look a bit big. But she is too gorgeous. Scott was dull and just OK. Then the surprise of the night for me! I LOVED LIL. I love R & B so that is what did it I guess. I was dancing through her whole set. I would easily go to a concert of hers. She had great stage presence. Who'd a thunk it. Her petite body reminds me of a cartoon drawing that a horny 16 year old boy would dream up of a woman. She was my second favorite of the night. Anoop was my third favorite. His voice is gorgeous. But his purple shoes were ridiculous. Noop, face it, you are not an 18 year old from the hood. And please stop with the corny hip thrusts. So not sexy and quite ridiculous. My heart was pounding now!!!!!! And my heart is speeding up now as I type this.

"PIIITTTTSSSBBUURRGGHH". Chills, flushes, rushes, freaking out. And out he comes! He was fricking right there in front of me. Holy shit! HTH was a performance by a true star. I really can't find words to describe this. How about....passion, energy, rhythm, style, sensuality, and vocally pure and gritty. Matt, you got it going on! HUGE SCREAMS! Georgia blew me away even more than I expected. It was a pure emotional experience for me. His vocals were stunning. He hit a low note that was so effective and shocked me. Georgia was the best song of the concert for me. He messed up the lyrics on YFM which was so disconcerting for me. I was belting out the words and oops! It took him a bit to get back on track. His facial expressions were like OH shit, I did it again. I don't think most people probably even realized he messed up. YFM was none the less just incredible. Group number/Beggin almost took Jenna and me down. He was so damn sexy in that suit. And his moves were natural and full of swagger.

I had just witnessed a star performing. At that moment I lost my anxiety about his future. Signed by a major label or not, Matt will a success. I was overcome with emotion and in a state of pure joy. I wanted to leave and just savor his performances.

The entire second half sucked for me. Except of course DSB. I apologize ahead of times to fans of these idols. This is just my opinion. They turned up the sound which does not help. Allison (my distant 3rd fave on AI) was less than impressive. She screamed and did her best impression of a true, passionate rocker, which she is not. Very disappointed. Danny was awful. He screamed and couldn't hit a lot of notes. Just silence at times with his mouth open. His dancing was awkward. I entertained myself by staring at his arms. At this point I switched seats with an Adam fan who I had become friendly with. I sat in her 25th row floor seat and let her sit in my seat for Adam's set. Adam was my 2nd distant fave on AI. Adam was a surprise disappointment for me. I did love Mad World though. His performances were much better on AI. I think the camera close ups on AI helped him. Adam had no emotional connection, and was too busy posturing and posing. It felt artificial, cold, emotionless. Then Allison came out for Slow Ride, which is a favorite of mine. And I hated the posturing and coldness of it. And I started to cry. I was sitting there by myself with tears rolling down my cheeks and I couldn't stop. I felt melancholy. Matt's performance was so pure and emotionally charged and I was losing my memory of it from listening to this cold sh-t. And what f-ed up world is this that Matt is not revered and clamored after. I moved back up for Kris's set. Was not looking forward to this. Through absolutely no fault of his own, I can't stand Kris. For reasons all relating to Matt. He was mediocre. During his second song I started to cry again. Jenna hugged me. Then Matt came out for final song and world order was restored.

Matt was breathtaking for me. I left concert in a stupor.

Off to work now and the real world. Wish I could redo this past weekend. One of the most fun weekends of my life.

Hehe, Macigirl.

I hate Kris, too. And it IS through every fault of his own for me. Mr. Cellophane is what I call him (well, that's the "nice" name I call him!). So blahtastic for me. I'll put it this way: I skipped his entire set when I went to the concert, because 1 minute of just talking to Matt was more important to me than hearing a single note of Kris' singing and/or guitar or piano "playing".

And you have a point about Gokey's arms. For all the irritation he brings me, those arms are magical. I felt 'em, too. Pure magic, I tell ya.

macigirl wrote:

I am exhausted and have to go to work but here are some thoughts on the concert:

Second row center! Floor stood for the ENTIRE first half, including Michael. Great crowd. Michael's songs were both wrong for him. Not great. Meg gave it her all and sounded fine. How in the world could the stylist find the one dress that makes her tummy look a bit big. But she is too gorgeous. Scott was dull and just OK. Then the surprise of the night for me! I LOVED LIL. I love R & B so that is what did it I guess. I was dancing through her whole set. I would easily go to a concert of hers. She had great stage presence. Who'd a thunk it. Her petite body reminds me of a cartoon drawing that a horny 16 year old boy would dream up of a woman. She was my second favorite of the night. Anoop was my third favorite. His voice is gorgeous. But his purple shoes were ridiculous. Noop, face it, you are not an 18 year old from the hood. And please stop with the corny hip thrusts. So not sexy and quite ridiculous. My heart was pounding now!!!!!! And my heart is speeding up now as I type this.

"PIIITTTTSSSBBUURRGGHH". Chills, flushes, rushes, freaking out. And out he comes! He was fricking right there in front of me. Holy shit! HTH was a performance by a true star. I really can't find words to describe this. How about....passion, energy, rhythm, style, sensuality, and vocally pure and gritty. Matt, you got it going on! HUGE SCREAMS! Georgia blew me away even more than I expected. It was a pure emotional experience for me. His vocals were stunning. He hit a low note that was so effective and shocked me. Georgia was the best song of the concert for me. He messed up the lyrics on YFM which was so disconcerting for me. I was belting out the words and oops! It took him a bit to get back on track. His facial expressions were like OH shit, I did it again. I don't think most people probably even realized he messed up. YFM was none the less just incredible. Group number/Beggin almost took Jenna and me down. He was so damn sexy in that suit. And his moves were natural and full of swagger.

I had just witnessed a star performing. At that moment I lost my anxiety about his future. Signed by a major label or not, Matt will a success. I was overcome with emotion and in a state of pure joy. I wanted to leave and just savor his performances.

The entire second half sucked for me. Except of course DSB. I apologize ahead of times to fans of these idols. This is just my opinion. They turned up the sound which does not help. Allison (my distant 3rd fave on AI) was less than impressive. She screamed and did her best impression of a true, passionate rocker, which she is not. Very disappointed. Danny was awful. He screamed and couldn't hit a lot of notes. Just silence at times with his mouth open. His dancing was awkward. I entertained myself by staring at his arms. At this point I switched seats with an Adam fan who I had become friendly with. I sat in her 25th row floor seat and let her sit in my seat for Adam's set. Adam was my 2nd distant fave on AI. Adam was a surprise disappointment for me. I did love Mad World though. His performances were much better on AI. I think the camera close ups on AI helped him. Adam had no emotional connection, and was too busy posturing and posing. It felt artificial, cold, emotionless. Then Allison came out for Slow Ride, which is a favorite of mine. And I hated the posturing and coldness of it. And I started to cry. I was sitting there by myself with tears rolling down my cheeks and I couldn't stop. I felt melancholy. Matt's performance was so pure and emotionally charged and I was losing my memory of it from listening to this cold sh-t. And what f-ed up world is this that Matt is not revered and clamored after. I moved back up for Kris's set. Was not looking forward to this. Through absolutely no fault of his own, I can't stand Kris. For reasons all relating to Matt. He was mediocre. During his second song I started to cry again. Jenna hugged me. Then Matt came out for final song and world order was restored.

Matt was breathtaking for me. I left concert in a stupor.

Off to work now and the real world. Wish I could redo this past weekend. One of the most fun weekends of my life.

Thank you so much Maci for your story,it made me emotional.
Another post to read over and over again. You both brought the show to us.
I enjoyed very much reading your thoughts about them all. And the Matt part gave me extra heart beats.
His solo shows are going to be absolutely fantastic.

I am reposting this on this thread because I realized only members can read the "Matt's Pendant" thread.

Hi everyone, here is the story of giving the pendant:

Jenna and I got to the fences at Pitt about 2 pm, straight from MI/OH. I was feeling very scattered during the whole drive because sgr at the last minute couldn't come. She had planned the trip and I felt so sad for her. And still do. Also, she was going to be our photographer which is her hobby. So my newish camera was not working (!), my laptop and Blackberry were at work (long story), my cell died and I had to use an old one. I felt like someone was trying to prevent me from going. I felt so jittery the whole drive and off balanced without sgr. Sgr and I have met and are BFFs! But I had never met Jenna. Picked up Jenna in Cleveland and we were like old friends. Thank god! Then I get us lost in crazy ass Pittsburgh. I thought I was going to miss Matt at the fences by 5 minutes after driving 6 hours! Success, Matt had not been out yet. Tons of fans at the fences. Jenna now wanted me to give pendant to Matt. What! I was much too nervous for that! I had not prepared for that! I had slept 3 hours the night before and was in a wired/shaky state of mind. We were supposed to give Matt the pendant at GR but Jenna thought we had to give it to him here because GR will be too crowded. She felt too shy and talked me into it. Now I am f-ing nervous.

About 30 minutes later Michael and Scott come out. They were both very subdued but so sweet. I take back everything I have ever said about Michael. He is a doll. I got his signature (who the hell wants signatures?? but what else are you going to do standing there). He signed it and I looked at it and couldn't tell up from down. He was a couple people away and I said Michael, I can't tell which way is up. He took the paper and turned it around and said it was kind of slanted. And he looked me in the eyes and smiled so kindly. OK, I am a fan. Then Scott comes. Everyone was quiet and not speaking, I think his blindness makes people uncomfortable. He was silent. So of course I have to speak . "Hi Scott, it is so nice to see you". He whispers "nice to see you too". He was very sweet sounding. Still not a fan but I wish him well. Got Danny's signature. He was smiling a lot but also rushing. No fan excitement for him. (?) He has incredibly great skin and arms but that is not enough to make me a fan.

Fifteen minutes later, Matt emerges from between the buses. OMFG. I am now a 12 year old fantard. He is wearing that blue plaid shirt with incredible jeans with lots of detailing on them. I am in middle of fence line and am watching him walk down the path. I can not take my eyes off of his jeans. I keep telling myself to look at his face! Later, Jenna said his hair was so beautiful. Sorry but my eyes never made it up that far! But something is wrong!!!! Matt is so quiet, so subdued, not smiling. He seems so tired. Matt is going very quickly down the line, not taking pictures but just signing. (we found out later that Matt came out about an hour later and was smiley and normal - oh great, I have to talk to him when he is scaring me! ) The fans erupted into screams for Matt. Danny, Michael and Scott got no screams. A lady started a chant "I say Matt - you say Giraud". We were in Giraud country! Woo Hoo! But "grumpy" is getting closer to me and I am feeling pressure. He is moving so damn fast and not really saying much. I have to get his attention.

The main details of this encounter were later told to me by Jenna and the women around me. Together we reconstructed the story because I truthfully forgot it all the second it was over!!! I was complete mush! As Matt walks in front of me I say "I have a gift for you from the Giraud Squad from Penny Royal" and hand him the unwrapped small box. He stops and looks at me. Matt says "he is a good friend of mine and told me to look out for it". Jenna says "he wasn't supposed to tell you". Matt says "he didn't tell me what it was". Matt is being very sweet, very soft spoken and gentle. He smiles and says "thank you so much" a few times and starts signing autographs. Remember he has been rushing down the line. I twirl around and go OMG and twirl back. He then steps back to me and says "I want to see it" and holds out the box. It was so sweet that he wanted me to open it and show him. But I freak out. I am feeling such pressure to hurry because Matt has been so rushy up to this point. I start shaking and take the small box from him and am fumbling with this damn thing. I open the outer box and out falls a guitar pick which Matt bends down and picks up from the dirt. I pull out the inner box and hand it to Matt. He looks at pendant and says "Oh wow, that's great, thank you so much". He says this type of thing a few times. I remember talking but I don't know what I said. He moves down the line. I twirl around again and say OMG and twirl back. I am watching him sign autographs a few people down the line and all of a sudden he comes back to me! He says "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it", smiles and pats my hand 4 times.

Mission accomplished! Then to see him wearing it at Cleveland fences was so amazing. It is a beautiful pendant. It looks "rougher" in person than appears in picture. Artist did a great job.

p.s. Janizzle - I think you brought me luck with your story about Matt patting your hand and your good wishes for me! Who could think that a pat on the hand would be so powerful??

LOL Maci I LOVED your recap. Sounds about right that Lambert and Allen would be so bad it would make you shed a tear. I won't get into the ridiculousness and false "emotion" of lambert and his whole set, but I will say that as much as I feel like Allen didn't deserve that win (barely deserved a top 5 spot) I will say that I think that he, like Matt, genuinely feels and connects with his music. Kris' problem is, unlike Matt, he is unable to transfer that emotion out into the audience, thus you are all left feeling a little cold.

I am surprised that you were let down by Allison's (the real rocker of AI season 8 ) set. I have watched enough video of her to know that I would thoroughly enjoy Allison at the concert (bar a little bit her So What performance) Idk I feel her problem is similar to Kris' where she just doesn't connect very well to the audience, but I can tell she is having the time of her life rocking out up there. Not to mention that her voice is out of this world.

Onto more important things. SO glad you enjoyed Matt. Gosh watching his youtube videos blow me away, but somehow I feel like expirenceing him live would be unlike anything else. Now I REALLY want to see a show of his...

Thanks so much for the recaps, Maci! What an exciting time you had with Matt! Thank you for representing us fans so well. He sounds like a sweetheart.

AI Now posted a nice little recap of the Pitts. concert. Here's Matt's portion:

Quote :

Matt Giraud: It was a great pleasure to get to talk to Matt a bit and take pics with him before the concert. What a very cool guy. Just another reminder that these people are real people. They are not wax figures or disconnected and uninterested superstars (although they ARE super.) They are real and genuine people who can really really really sing. They go through rough spots just as we do, they get emotional just as we do and they succeed just as we do. I almost experienced a bit of "star struck" when Matt and the others were me to your computer screen away (go ahead, lean in.) It was quite rewarding to experience them as real people who so appreciate the opportunity they have in front of them. One thing is for certain, none of the Top 10 take the fan support (during and after the show) for granted. And that is great to know. What else can I say about Matt? Again, his performances were amazing. Again he somehow managed to sound better than he did on the show. And again a big "WOW" to his mad piano skills. I'm telling you, I looked up at the big screen once and just saw fingers moving back and forth at such an amazing speed that my eyes couldn't keep up. How on earth can he (and everyone who plays an instrument well) memorize all of those notes? Combine Matt's outstanding vocals with this unbelievable piano playing and you've got a real moment on your hand.

This review was great because she managed to find a positive with every performer on tour, and noone more than others were overly praised. It was a nice break from what we usually get. Here is the full link:
http://www.ainow.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-frontpagearticles/740-ai-now-reflects-on-the-idols-liveq-tour

Thanks for your wonderful recap Maci! So glad you were able to get some time with Matt. I have 1 question though: Have you washed your hand yet??

Great review!

http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2009/08/24/entertainment/doc4a9287afb4a2d011408246.txt

Quote :

A second nice surprise came with the spunk of Matt Giraud, the fourth runner-up, whose playful demeanor and finessed vocals were comparable to those of Jason Mraz and Justin Timberlake.

Giraud’s trademark fedora — of which, he admitted in a preshow interview, he has more than 25 — found its home atop his head as he wailed on the piano for an inventive arrangement of “Georgia on My Mind,” followed by Otis Redding’s “Too Hard to Handle.”

Thank God he is getting stellar reviews again. Sorry East Coasters but the East Coast sucks!

Aw I LOVED your recap also Maci!!!!! I'm so glad things went as planned with the pendant. You & Jenna did greaaaat!!!! I would've probably been shaken too much and dropped it on the ground and then lost it haha. I'm so glad you got to share a Matt encounter also! Hope you enjoyed every minute of it!!!

OvenMitt wrote:

Hehe, Macigirl.

I hate Kris, too. And it IS through every fault of his own for me. Mr. Cellophane is what I call him (well, that's the "nice" name I call him!). So blahtastic for me. I'll put it this way: I skipped his entire set when I went to the concert, because 1 minute of just talking to Matt was more important to me than hearing a single note of Kris' singing and/or guitar or piano "playing".

And you have a point about Gokey's arms. For all the irritation he brings me, those arms are magical. I felt 'em, too. Pure magic, I tell ya.

Hey Ovenmitt - I really think it is all Kris's fault too!

The next night at the Cleveland show I just couldn't bear to watch Kris's set. So I went to the smokers area outside for a "social" smoke. I enjoy a social smoke now and then (I know it's bad but I can't help myself and Matt is certainly a social occasion). I started talking with a woman who was an Adam fan. She was enjoying a cigarette after her "experience". Her husband was along for the ride and didn't watch AI. He asked me who I was a fan of and I said Matt. He paused and was thinking and said "Oh, that's the one I liked. He was like a professional. He was better than all the rest." I said "thank you, thank you." He said "Oh, do you know him?". I said "No I am just an obsessed fan.." He laughed and we talked about record deals and the bumpy ride of being a Matt fan. He was intelligent, well dressed and "cool". His favorable reaction to Matt was meaningful to me because I was impressed with him. When he left, he turned to me and gave me a thumbs up. I took this to mean good luck to me and also to Matt's career. It was a great interaction and left me feeling excited. As Matt said, he just needs to be seen. Once seen, people are fans.

Thanks Maci for posting the recaps!

Lana wrote:

LOL Maci I LOVED your recap. Sounds about right that Lambert and Allen would be so bad it would make you shed a tear. I won't get into the ridiculousness and false "emotion" of lambert and his whole set, but I will say that as much as I feel like Allen didn't deserve that win (barely deserved a top 5 spot) I will say that I think that he, like Matt, genuinely feels and connects with his music. Kris' problem is, unlike Matt, he is unable to transfer that emotion out into the audience, thus you are all left feeling a little cold.

I am surprised that you were let down by Allison's (the real rocker of AI season 8 ) set. I have watched enough video of her to know that I would thoroughly enjoy Allison at the concert (bar a little bit her So What performance) Idk I feel her problem is similar to Kris' where she just doesn't connect very well to the audience, but I can tell she is having the time of her life rocking out up there. Not to mention that her voice is out of this world.

Onto more important things. SO glad you enjoyed Matt. Gosh watching his youtube videos blow me away, but somehow I feel like expirenceing him live would be unlike anything else. Now I REALLY want to see a show of his...

Lana, I was very surprised at my reaction to Allison. I really like her and think she has a great rock voice. But you're right, she just didn't connect to me on an emotional level. I think that if I hadn't just seen Matt's emotional performance, I would have reacted differently towards her. It wouldn't have paled in comparison. But I have to say she was strutting around that stage like she owned it.

I hope you can make it to the January show!

Very short clip of You Found Me...

[quote="macigirl"]

Hi everyone, here is the story of giving the pendant:



Thank you for this story too,Maci. Sorry that you missed one third of your company. That GR show is going to be so great to you all. So exciting story! And you are so brave to do the job without fainting. Patting FTW.

From MJ's...

Quote :

Matt = Unfortunately, his back was to us on the right side of the stage when he was seated at the piano – but he still managed to give us some loving (and more than just his backside at the piano bench) during “Hard to Handle” and the end of “You Found Me.” And, on the plus side, we had prime seats to watch him actually play the piano – and the dude is SERIOUSLY killing it on the ivories – very talented pianist and performer. #SIGN MATT GIRAUD indeed (and I’m sure someone will).

macigirl wrote:

I am reposting this on this thread because I realized only members can read the "Matt's Pendant" thread.

Hi everyone, here is the story of giving the pendant:

Jenna and I got to the fences at Pitt about 2 pm, straight from MI/OH. I was feeling very scattered during the whole drive because sgr at the last minute couldn't come. She had planned the trip and I felt so sad for her. And still do. Also, she was going to be our photographer which is her hobby. So my newish camera was not working (!), my laptop and Blackberry were at work (long story), my cell died and I had to use an old one. I felt like someone was trying to prevent me from going. I felt so jittery the whole drive and off balanced without sgr. Sgr and I have met and are BFFs! But I had never met Jenna. Picked up Jenna in Cleveland and we were like old friends. Thank god! Then I get us lost in crazy ass Pittsburgh. I thought I was going to miss Matt at the fences by 5 minutes after driving 6 hours! Success, Matt had not been out yet. Tons of fans at the fences. Jenna now wanted me to give pendant to Matt. What! I was much too nervous for that! I had not prepared for that! I had slept 3 hours the night before and was in a wired/shaky state of mind. We were supposed to give Matt the pendant at GR but Jenna thought we had to give it to him here because GR will be too crowded. She felt too shy and talked me into it. Now I am f-ing nervous.

About 30 minutes later Michael and Scott come out. They were both very subdued but so sweet. I take back everything I have ever said about Michael. He is a doll. I got his signature (who the hell wants signatures?? but what else are you going to do standing there). He signed it and I looked at it and couldn't tell up from down. He was a couple people away and I said Michael, I can't tell which way is up. He took the paper and turned it around and said it was kind of slanted. And he looked me in the eyes and smiled so kindly. OK, I am a fan. Then Scott comes. Everyone was quiet and not speaking, I think his blindness makes people uncomfortable. He was silent. So of course I have to speak . "Hi Scott, it is so nice to see you". He whispers "nice to see you too". He was very sweet sounding. Still not a fan but I wish him well. Got Danny's signature. He was smiling a lot but also rushing. No fan excitement for him. (?) He has incredibly great skin and arms but that is not enough to make me a fan.

Fifteen minutes later, Matt emerges from between the buses. OMFG. I am now a 12 year old fantard. He is wearing that blue plaid shirt with incredible jeans with lots of detailing on them. I am in middle of fence line and am watching him walk down the path. I can not take my eyes off of his jeans. I keep telling myself to look at his face! Later, Jenna said his hair was so beautiful. Sorry but my eyes never made it up that far! But something is wrong!!!! Matt is so quiet, so subdued, not smiling. He seems so tired. Matt is going very quickly down the line, not taking pictures but just signing. (we found out later that Matt came out about an hour later and was smiley and normal - oh great, I have to talk to him when he is scaring me! ) The fans erupted into screams for Matt. Danny, Michael and Scott got no screams. A lady started a chant "I say Matt - you say Giraud". We were in Giraud country! Woo Hoo! But "grumpy" is getting closer to me and I am feeling pressure. He is moving so damn fast and not really saying much. I have to get his attention.

The main details of this encounter were later told to me by Jenna and the women around me. Together we reconstructed the story because I truthfully forgot it all the second it was over!!! I was complete mush! As Matt walks in front of me I say "I have a gift for you from the Giraud Squad from Penny Royal" and hand him the unwrapped small box. He stops and looks at me. Matt says "he is a good friend of mine and told me to look out for it". Jenna says "he wasn't supposed to tell you". Matt says "he didn't tell me what it was". Matt is being very sweet, very soft spoken and gentle. He smiles and says "thank you so much" a few times and starts signing autographs. Remember he has been rushing down the line. I twirl around and go OMG and twirl back. He then steps back to me and says "I want to see it" and holds out the box. It was so sweet that he wanted me to open it and show him. But I freak out. I am feeling such pressure to hurry because Matt has been so rushy up to this point. I start shaking and take the small box from him and am fumbling with this damn thing. I open the outer box and out falls a guitar pick which Matt bends down and picks up from the dirt. I pull out the inner box and hand it to Matt. He looks at pendant and says "Oh wow, that's great, thank you so much". He says this type of thing a few times. I remember talking but I don't know what I said. He moves down the line. I twirl around again and say OMG and twirl back. I am watching him sign autographs a few people down the line and all of a sudden he comes back to me! He says "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it", smiles and pats my hand 4 times.

Mission accomplished! Then to see him wearing it at Cleveland fences was so amazing. It is a beautiful pendant. It looks "rougher" in person than appears in picture. Artist did a great job.

p.s. Janizzle - I think you brought me luck with your story about Matt patting your hand and your good wishes for me! Who could think that a pat on the hand would be so powerful??

Acourse Maci you KNOW i LOVE your story and posting!!! I love how we both went detail by detail in our descriptions but that's a MUST with our Matty!! luv ya girl!

Reading your story Maci, I actually got chills and had tears in my eyes. I know exactly what you mean. When I saw Matt Giraud perform live - it was incredible. I put on a good show about trying to be fair about the other 9 idols, but I was literally pissed off at the way the crowd reacts to Adam and Kris. I just don't get it. I will admit that Adam is a performer, no doubt about it...but Fame - yuck! too gay for me.

LOL Adam should team up with Lady GAGA since she told Kanye West - My songs are gay, my audience is gay, my fans are gay, everything about my concert is gay! LOL

Anways - Both in Atlanta and in Charlotte we left as soon as Adam was done, I could not bear to watch Kris. It is a slap in the face literally -- but I don't hate Kris. I guess i'm just jealous of his popularity and don't get how America embraced him more than Matt. I can't begin to fathom how anyone can see Matt perform, meet Matt, see Matt in Interviews, watch and hear him play that piano, hear him sing, see him engage the crowd - and hear his studio recordings and not think he is the most talented overall out of the top 10. But that's just me i guess and everyone else here for that matter.

I know that Matt will have a career - because talent like his cannot be ignored. Someone will take notice and sign him. Matt wants to make this happen, so with his desire, his talent and god on his side - i believe that it will happen.

One more rant - which has been said before - why is Matt ridiculed by some for doing a "cover" of the Fray's "You Found Me" - when every frickin' song in the concert is a cover!!!! WTF????? Is it because his "covers" are better than the original - could that be it? BETW Us I hate Kris' version of Heartless - so wish we could have heard Matt sing that instead. I use to love that song, but now it has become synonymous with Kris Allen...ugghhhh

And another thing - Maci i totally relate to what you said about Allison. When she came on I was so dissapointed - I did not like her song choices - and just didn't see her as star quality. I remember I text my daughter sitting right next to me and said "i like allison and everything but this should be matt - he's so much more talented" - of course I felt that way about the entire top 4. LOL

Sweet macigirl!!
I loved reading and rereading your recap of both yr encounter with matt and the show. It so amazing to read about how overwhelming meeting Matt is. Almost to the point that I get a little freaked out...
I am an emotionel person and I can so relate to you and how you must have felt during the last part of the concert. It is so unfair that the one person, the one perfomer who is by far the most talented, the one with the most charisma, the one with the most stagepresence has not (yet)been truly aknowledged. And that Kris who comes across as extremely bland, uninteresting as an artist and who from the YT vid seems so unable to really connect to his fans - got a deal.
I mean i am SOOO impressed by Matt and this gift he has (and that he really makes an effort) to get to know the fans, to appreciate what they do. I have not paid much attention to Kris tweets, but I can't rememeber a tweet of gratitude from him. On the contrary in some of the YT vid of him meeting fans he seems just to want it all over with. OK - in his defence he might just be extremely uncomfortable with this whole fanthing - but actually I think that this might be one of the reasons that he will not be succesfull in the long term. He just seems so unable to relate to his fans. And he is just SOOOOOOOOOOO boring to listen to!!!

Don't how I got started on this whole Kris thing - but what I want to say macigirl is that I get why you all of a sudden got the blues - it is unfair - but as matt states - he feels he has redeemed himself on this this tour. He is on his way up
And we will help him reach the stars