As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, bright and early this past Monday morning I headed out to Hollywood to attend the Walk of Fame Star Ceremony for American Idol creator Simon Fuller. And I really should admit here that, while the Grim Cheaper is a die-hard fan of AI, I have never really been all that into the show. The only reason I wanted to attend the ceremony was that Carrie Underwood was scheduled to be there and I have been absolutely DYING to get a photograph with her ever since the two of us played the “Carrie Underwater” game together on The Ellen DeGeneres Show back in early April (which you can watch a clip of here). And I have to say that the stalking gods were definitely smiling down upon me because the day turned out far better than I ever could have imagined!
I arrived on Hollywood Boulevard at around 10 a.m., just about ninety minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, and because I got there so early I ended up securing a FABULOUS spot directly against the crowd barricade, right behind the stage. A super-nice woman named Kat was standing next to me and the two of us wound up really hitting it off and shared many of our various stalking stories to kill time before the ceremony began.
The first celeb to arrive on the scene was So You Think You Can Dance judge/American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe, whom I absolutely love.
Nigel truly could not have been nicer and when I called out to him to ask for a pic, he immediately walked right on over and took a photograph with both me and Kat. Yay!
Ironically enough, my friend/fellow stalker Mike, from the Mike the Fanboy blog, whom for a week I had been begging to come to the ceremony with me, texted me at around 11 a.m. to say that he was going to be able to make it after all. I ended up spotting him across the crowd right when a comedian came out to get the crowd warmed up shortly before the event got underway. Well, the comedian saw me waving hectically trying to get Mike’s attention and assumed I was waving at a celebrity. He immediately walked over to ask who it was I waving at and when I explained that it was “just my friend, Mike”, he began to call out “Mike, Mike, Mike!” over the loud speaker for all of Hollywood Boulevard to hear. This went on for a good three minutes or so. When Mike finally figured out that the comedian was speaking to him, he got incredibly embarrassed and tried to hide his face, but the comedian just wouldn’t stop. It was absolutely hilarious and at one point even some of the people in the crowd were shouting “Mike, Mike, Mike.” LOL
Amazingly enough, all of the Top 13 Season 10 Idols were in attendance for the ceremony, including Casey Abrams, James Durbin, Lauren Alaina, Paul McDonald, Pia Toscana, Stefano Langone, Scotty McCreery, Ashthon Jones, Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk, Karen Rodriguez, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia. When they first arrived on the scene, James and Lauren started making faces at the crowd through the glass doors of Delphine Restaurant, which was being used as a holding area for the event. James was easily the most friendly and funniest out of the bunch and, as you can see in the above photograph, was pretending to be smashed up against Delphine’s glass doors before coming outside.
The Idols were actually first brought out at 11 a.m., thirty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, for a meet-and-greet with the fans, which was quite unusual. Celebrities usually wait until the end of each Walk of Fame ceremony before signing autographs and posing for pictures, but apparently the Idol kids were scheduled to rehearse for the show’s season finale immediately following the event and would not be able to stick around afterwards.
The Idols were all SUPER nice and happily posed for as many photographs as people asked for. I got my picture taken with James Durbin, who was my favorite this season;
Stefano Langone;
Pia Toscano, who is GORGEOUS in person;
Casey Abrams;
finalist Lauren Alaina;
and Paul McDonald, who, when I asked for a photograph, said, “Of course! I will stand here and take as many pictures as people want.” SO NICE!
Finalist Scott McCreery was also incredibly nice and happily agreed to take a second photograph with me after I majorly failed taking the first one.
At this point I was beyond floored! I mean, the day was already shaping up to be a huge WIN and the ceremony hadn’t even begun yet! So, as you can imagine, I literally just about had a heart attack when my FAVORITE So You Think You Can Dance judge, Mary Murphy, walked outside! Mary is so incredibly positive, energetic and FUN on the show that I absolutely fell in love with her during the series’ first season. I was standing pretty far away from Mary, but as soon as she walked out I immediately started calling her name to ask her to come over for a picture and she yelled back that she would just as soon as the ceremony was over.
Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Randy Jackson were the next celebs to arrive and, not surprisingly, they did not go up to fans to pose for photographs or sign autographs.
Posh Spice, aka Victoria Beckham, showed up next, but she also did not walk over to the fan area. I have to say that she looked absolutely STUNNING, though!
Carrie Underwood was next on the scene and she also looked absolutely AMAZING! Love, love, love her shoes!
The ceremony got started right on time at 11:30 with Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler introducing Simon Fuller with a brief speech.
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest spoke next and gave a very heartfelt speech about Simon. Ryan stated that for once the cameras had been turned on the producer and even though he knew that Simon would be incredibly uncomfortable being the focus of so much attention, it was all incredibly well-deserved.
Then Carrie Underwood came up and said a few brief words, thanking Simon for making all of her dreams, as well as the dreams of so many others, come true. Then Simon spoke and thanked all of the people who had worked behind the scenes to help make Idol one of the most popular shows on television. He said that when he first came up with the idea for the series well over a decade ago, every single network turned him down and no one in the industry seemed to be at all enthusiastic about a show centering around a singing competition. He said it took a lot of hard work and determination to finally bring the show to fruition. I bet those network executives who turned him down are kicking themselves black and blue right about now! Simon also gave a very heartfelt thank you to Idol judge Simon Cowell, who was not in attendance, but whom he said pretty much made the show was it is today.
And with that the ceremony was over. Ryan Seacrest was the first celeb to head over to the fan barricade to begin signing autographs and taking pictures. Ryan was extremely nice and, as you can see in the above photograph, not nearly as short as everyone makes him out to be. I would guess he is about 5’7” or 5’8”.
Carrie Underwood came over next and I immediately told her that I had played the “Carrie Underwater” game with her on Ellen. Well, let me tell you, I just about died when a look of recognition came across her face and she said, “Oh my gosh! How are you? I am so glad to see that you recovered from that! Your make-up is intact today!” (I had gotten drenched with water balloons during the game on Ellen and by the time it was over my mascara had run halfway down my face.) Then Carrie said, “How are you enjoying your new bike?” I absolutely could not believe that she not only remembered that my make-up had gotten ruined on the show, but also the fact that I had won a bike!!!!! What a complete and total sweetheart! Sigh! Love her!
Carrie signed a ton of autographs and took a lot of pictures with the fans in attendance. She also signed a few guitars that people had brought along. So incredibly cool!
Randy Jackson came over next but he, sadly, only signed about three autographs before leaving.
The Eight Season American Idol winner Kris Allen was also in attendance and not only was he super nice in person, but he was also SUPER cute.
Idol’s Season Seven winner, rocker David Cook, was also there and he was also incredibly nice to the fans, and, let me tell you, people were going absolutely CRAZY over him!
Simon Fuller also came over to the crowd, but he sadly only signed a few autographs before heading back into the W Hotel Hollywood for the ceremony after-party.
Ever since the ceremony ended, I had been calling over to Mary Murphy, begging her to come take a picture with me, and when she was finally able to come over after doing a few press interviews, she walked up, put her arms out and gave me a HUGE hug! What a SWEETHEART! I love her even more now than I did before! And with that the event was pretty much over. Quite a day for this stalker, let me tell you! I was pretty much walking on air for the rest of the afternoon!
And, as I was leaving, I happened to spot Extra correspondent Terri Seymour, who, ironically enough, just so happens to be Simon Cowell’s ex-girlfriend.
After the ceremony I met up briefly with Mike, from the Mike the Fanboy site, and was floored to learn that he was one of the very lucky few to get autographs from both JLo and Posh Spice. Each woman only signed about five autographs the entire day, so Mike majorly scored on that one! You can see his autographs and his fabulous photographs of the event here. Simon Fuller’s unveiled star is pictured above.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Simon Fuller’s star on the Walk of Fame can be found directly in front of the W Hotel Hollywood, which is located at 6250 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
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