my elliott post

It started out as a typical Friday for me. Alarm rang at 6, I shut it off, procrastinated a bit, got out of the bed after 10 minutes or so, and quickly gobbled down breakfast. But as I walked towards the shower, I couldn't help but think if I should continue in my morning rush. It was, after all, the 21st of September. And Pamy mentioned the day before how her 21st was all planned out. And I have given my word, not just to Pamy but to myself, that I WILL watch our Idol. And weighing my chances of watching him on Friday or Saturday, knowing just how lazy my lazy ass can get, I was 99.9% sure that I'd end up sleeping through my Saturday morning rather than lining up for tickets in Glorietta.

AND SO. I made my decision.

With one text message, my whole morning, whole day, whole image and whole being was changed.

Haha! Do I sound whacked? You haven't heard the rest of the story. (Or rather, how much energy I have to write this length of an entry!)

The plan was to be at Trinoma in time for its 10:00 AM opening in order to secure Elliott Yamin concert tickets at the Activity Center concierge. Sounds simple enought, right? Little did I know that my morning would end up having Twists and Turns.

T&T #1
I had no way out of the house. All our cars were coding and, though I texted Pamy to try and hitch with her, she called me up to say that she couldn't. So suddenly, I had to figure out another way out. I panicked a bit. But then Pamy calls again to say that I can ride with her after all. Even better, she can pick me up! So in the end, I met her halfway inside one of the villages so that we (Pamy, Patty and I) were on our way to Trinoma by 9:30 AM.

T&T #2
While walking from the parking lot around 9:45 AM, the three of us were talking about how many people can possibly be lining up for this gig. Alas, when we caught sight of the entrance, there was actually a "competitive" line of people, a snake of potential rivals in getting tickets. We calmly went in line, but couldn't help but stare hard and gossip about those people who, in turn, gave us steely looks as if they were out to get us. (Of course, it could also just be paranoia, pero hindi, yung isa talagang nasa pinakaharap ng pila na tingin ng tingin sa'min...HE WATCHED THE CONCERT!!! Okay I'm preempting myself...)

T&T #3
Paranoid or not, it WAS a long line. But still, we tried to be more optimistic, more "realistic". The profile of the people was just too varied to ALL be Elliott fans. Young, teeny boppers, old, guys, girls, C1's, C2's...it was just a mix of people and we just thought, they can't possibly all be here for Elliott. In my head I thought, at most, maybe 50% are here to grab those tickets with us. But as the doors opened, and after each person stepped in to have the guards check his/her bag...each person just RAN. Not pick up the pace, not jog, but RAN. They were RUNNING towards the concierge to get the tickets!!! Naturally, this caused a surge of panic in the three of us and Patty, being the first one to get it, just sprinted the moment she was past the guard. And me and Pamy? We just chased her down. So there we were, running through the clean, shiny and fresh hallways of Trinoma at 10:10 in the morning.

T&T #4
As if running wasn't enough to get our adrenalines pumping, we arrived at the concierge to find ANOTHER long line of people waiting to get tickets to the show! LONGER than the line in the entrance! We were just blown away. Who thought Elliott had this much of a following?? Thankfully, our anxiety over whether there'll be enough tickets for us quickly went away when we found a flier saying that they're giving away 400 tickets. Phew. Cos we were definitely NOT past 400th in the line. Thank God.

T&T #5
But, as quickly as we were appeased, yet another reason for panic emerged: A lady announces that apart from giving away stubs to the first 400 people in line, they are ALSO giving away AUTOGRAPH-SIGNING STUBS to the FIRST FIFTY (50) people to buy his CDs in a nearby Odyssey booth! Shit! SHIT! We couldn’t get out of our line because we still had to get our seat stubs…so there we were, all fidgety and panicky until we got our stubs, and the moment we did, we dashed to the Odyssey booth and quickly checked if we still made it to the top fifty. And with our determination and speed, we, of course, did :D

T&T #6
The line was in its usual sad state. Some attempted to line jump, to “reserve” slots in the line, to buy an X number of CDs to earn an X number of autograph-signing stubs. Thank goodness there were Ayala Mall staff members to guard the line (and to make sumbong to) so that our spot was secure. They even gave us our line number (20, 21 and 22) to make sure that the first 50 are assured of their stubs. But best of all, it turned out that aside from getting an autograph-signing stub, we were also going to get a RESERVED SEAT stub. HOORAY!!! So that, by the end of the morning, Patty, Pamy and I were holding onto a regular seat stub, a reserved seat stub, an autograph-signing stub, a CD and a poster!

T&T #7
The adventure of the morning had me and Pamy arriving at the office past 11:30 AM. For me, this was a MAJOR twist as I didn’t even tell my boss I was going to arrive late!

During the concert, I can’t say there were MANY twist and turns. Seeing Elliott made me scream and screech and left me with a grin as wide as the distance between Fairview and Sucat. Expected. I couldn’t sing along to his songs but I ended up bopping along and screaming wildly. Expected. Elliott sang beautifully, and with the acoustic setup, his voice just came out clear and strong and pristine and PERFECT. Expected.

Now for twist and turn #7.

I love Elliott for his Idol performances. So I thought it fitting for him to choose “A Song For You” as a final song. What I had NO idea would happen was what would come over me when I actually hear him sing it.

I swear, I cried. I quickly wiped my tears before they rolled down my red, hot cheeks, but I promise, I just got goosebumps all over and I didn’t know what to do with my hands (I wanted to use them to throw something or squeeze something or maybe pull my hair—just do SOMETHING with them!) and this warm feeling just rushed from my toes to my head and tears just came out of my eyes! I just couldn’t believe he was there, singing, and I felt all the joy he felt when he got to where he was in Idol. And all the sadness/happiness I saw in his exit video when he was singing the same song in a stadium packed with fans just came over me. It was exhilarating. It made me feel high.

And when the song ended, we clapped and cheered and shouted even more crazily.

Then it was time for the encore. All of his musicians have the left the stage. He suggested doing an acapella. And, instinctively, and as if on cue, the three of us again shouted in unison: “MOODY’S MOOD! MOODY’S MOOD!”

And for some reason, our prayers were quickly answered, and Elliott, generously, lovingly, and to our ears’ and eyes’ and hearts’ pleasure, sang Moody’s Mood for Love in acapella. FABULOUS.

From that point on, the evening was a surreal. What followed was the traditional meet and greet, photo-taking, autograph signing sessions. The crowd was a riot, the marshals in their typical most-masungit selves. And while, at the end of it all, we also got our share of Elliott-signed CDs and “private one-on-one conversations” and HUGS with the man himself, I am left with no more words to describe how it all felt. Well, except maybe, this One Word: AMAZING.

Thank you, Pamy and Patty, for letting me become part of this adventure. No other pair can do fangirlism like the Lazatins do!