Sharon Does an American Idol Shout Out (and sneaks in a David Archuleta Mention)

SHARON DOES A “SHOUT OUT”

I signed up, signed in and was ready to go and whipped off my jacket only to reveal my beloved t-shirt!!

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sharon david archuleta shout out – Broadband
sharon david archuleta shout out – Cellular

Hi Fan Scene Readers!!

It’s just me… again…lol!! So, here’s the story of my latest “David” related adventure!! Back in the spring of 2009, I literally stumbled onto a contest here in my hometown sponsored by our local FOX affiliate – WFXV FOX 33 – that would send a lucky winner and her/his guest to the American Idol finale…well, this piqued my interest because I was confident that a certain 2008 Idol runner-up would be at that finale and being as determined as I was to meet him, I decided to enter the contest!! The contest itself consisted of doing a “Shout Out” (commercial) for American Idol that, if chosen, would be aired on FOX 33 and that those “Shout Outs” selected by the judges here would then be in the running (for those who had done them) for that trip to that fabulous finale…so, off I went to our local cinema where the contest was being held and I did my “Shout Out” right there in that cinema lobby in front of various passersby entering the theater or waiting in line to purchase a box of popcorn…and, yes, my “Shout Out” was one of those that was chosen to be aired and, yes, I was in the running to win that trip to the finale that year, but, drat, no such luck – I didn’t win!!

The next year, I felt a bit less pressure having met David in Atlantic City on November 1, 2009, but, I tried again anyway still hoping for another possible opportunity to see David!! This time I did the “Shout Out” with my then eight year old great nephew, Dylan, and, a friend of Dylan’s told him “I saw you on a commercial with some lady” but, I never actually saw our “Shout Out” that year, although Dylan and I thought that it rocked lol!!

In 2011, I inquired as to whether the contest would take place, but, to no avail…so, if we fast forward to 2012 – I’m thinking – “will there be a contest this year, or not??”… needless to say, the pressure that I’d once felt was off ‘cause I’d now met David several times, and, he’d be doing his missionary work in South America at the time of the finale anyway, so if I did a “Shout Out” this year, it would definitely be for different reasons…By the time that I actually did some research I learned that, yes, there was a contest this year and that two of the three dates in which to participate (2-18 & 3-10) had already passed…I had one last chance in which to participate – so, on that final “Shout Out” day, Saturday, April 14th, I showed up at the Marquee Cinema shortly after the designated 12:00 noon start up time… I had practiced what I’d say all week long and was determined not to forget a single word because what I planned to say was so meaningful to me…’kinda special, actually, so what I wore needed to be special, too!! Underneath my jacket, I wore my “I Love David Archuleta” t-shirt and I had a plan…When I arrived at the Marquee, 97.9 KISS FM staff and WFXV staff were right there in the lobby and for me – the timing was perfect – no lines, no waiting…

I signed up, signed in and was ready to go and whipped off my jacket only to reveal my beloved t-shirt!! Well, now, this drew the attention of one of the gals from FOX 33, I believe, and she immediately asked me how I felt about David leaving…I responded that I was sad, but, that was what he wanted to do…I was then asked if I knew what I was going to say in my “Shout Out”…the guys with the cameras were ready to roll and when asked once again “are you ready”…I said “yes”, and they began to count down “5,4,3,2,1 – go”…and, here’s what I said: “American Idol brought us David Archuleta in 2008 and I’m so grateful…I love American Idol…watch American Idol on WFXV FOX 33…American Idol rocks and so does David…” (and as I said that, I touched my heart with my hand – once or twice…)…well, what I said then prompted more questions, off camera, like “what’s your favorite song by David” – I responded “Everything & More” (which it was at that point in time) and told the crew that it was a song from David’s Asian tour…I was asked why I like David so much and I said that I’d met him and that he’s sweet and wonderful and, well, that all of his music is fabulous…then I was asked who my favorite Idol contestant is this year…after responding to that question, the gal from FOX 33 said “sounds like you’re a big American Idol fan” and she asked if they could film me saying “I’m Central New York’s #1 American Idol fan”…and, I said yes, of course!! When all was said and done, I thought that things had gone rather well and that I’d ‘kinda caught the eye of these nice people with my David Archuleta related “Shout Out” and all… at that point, for my efforts, I got an American Idol hot/cold cup and I was a happy camper, but, for me that was the easy part…the hard part would be the wait to see if my “Shout Out” was selected for airing and then, if it would be selected for consideration for that much sought after trip to the AI finale!!

Okay, so I did the “Shout Out” on April 14th and because I’d received news that my “Shout Out” had been selected just two days after I’d done my first one back in 2009 – when I didn’t hear anything about this years’ “Shout Out” for days and hadn’t seen it aired (although I would have had to have been watching FOX 33 24-7 just to be sure lol), I just assumed that mine hadn’t been selected …I thought, oh, well, no need to worry about winning that trip any longer…but, hold on…wait, just a minute – there’s a bit more to this story lol…April 24th was Presidential Primary Day here in New York State and since I work at the Board of Elections I knew that I had a long day ahead of me at work and that I’d probably be working until eleven pm or later that night, and, that, because this was the case, I’d have a break later in the day in which to get a bit of rest at home and then would return to the office…so I headed home to do just that and for some reason (since I don’t do this as often as I should lol), I checked my voice mail on my cell phone and saw that there was a message from the gal at WFXV, but, I was so excited that I wasn’t sure when I’d actually received the message which said that I’d been selected to attend an Idol viewing party at the Uptown Theater here on Thursday at 7:00 pm and that I was in the running to win that trip to the Idol finale…

I was so elated that I still wasn’t sure if the message was a week old or not which meant that if it was, I’d already missed that party and my chance to win the trip…I was instructed to call that gal at a certain number to let her know if I’d be there on Thursday so, I took a chance, made the call, and luckily – the party was scheduled for April 26th – that coming Thursday!! I must admit that I was excited and knew what would transpire at the party…subsequent to watching Idol on the theater’s big screen with the other invitees, a name would be randomly picked and the person whose name was picked would be asked an American Idol trivia question and if she/he answered that question correctly, well, off to the American Idol finale she/he and a guest would go!! You see, I’d read the rules of the contest so I was prepared…I studied each season of American Idol for hours on April 25th and now my biggest fear was that my name would be called and I wouldn’t know the answer to the question I’d be asked…I guess that you probably figured out that my name wasn’t called and so I’d worried for no reason at all lol…five names were called and five different questions were asked before that fifth question that was asked actually got a correct response!! Drat… and I knew the answer to every one of those trivia questions that had been asked!!

Oh, well, in spite of the fact that my name hadn’t been picked from that box or hat or wherever those five names had come from, I was glad that, once again, I’d left my comfort zone, given it my best shot and that I’d accomplished what I’d really set out to do – to thank FOX and American Idol for bringing David Archuleta into my life and to share my love for the “gift” that is David Archuleta with anyone who’d see my “Shout Out”…so there was absolutely no reason to “complain” because, thankfully, I’d already seen my “rainbow”!!!

sharon g