Ballfest Maryland
August 5, 2000
Owings Mills, Marylan
After getting off of work at 2 on Saturday, I drove right down to MD, and checked into the hotel around 3:30. As soon as I checked in they told me I had a message from Paula waiting for me… I thought, "Paula… oh dear, who was that?". When they put me through to her room it turns out it was Whitney and her mom!! They drove 17 hours from Tallahassee to see The Man! So we made plans to meet up when we were all done taking showers and getting ready. I went down to their room about 4:30, and Paula (the dear woman!) said I was welcome to ride with them to the evening's festivities. (Nighttime driving and my eyes don't mix well :)).
After a bit of trouble finding the restaurant (it is so new that people weren't sure how to best get there), we finally arrived at Tony Roma's… a half hour late, but we got there!! We asked the host if a group of rowdy Michael Ball fans were there (of course the poor, sheltered guy went "who?") and happily he went and found them… so the three of us walk back and encounter twice as many people as we were expecting!!! It was wonderful! So it was hello's and introductions and "oh my god, 17 hours????!!!!" all around. Unfortunately I can't remember everyone's name! It all went too fast!
Of course during dinner the topic of conversation was The Man! Who had seen him, who was going to get to see him in concert soon, why we loved him, and all the normal gushing one does while talking about Michael! We passed around the Thank You card I had bought and everyone signed it. Around 6:30 some people went back to their hotel to do a quick power nap before heading to the studio. About 6 or 7 of us stayed at Tony Roma's to chat instead of going back to our hotels. We headed out to the studio a bit after 7 (luckily had no problem getting there!!).
We walk into the lobby, and it is a sea of Michael fans!!!! Some people had T-shirts that said "Have a Ball on PBS", everyone got buttons that said that, and one of the Linda's had beautiful buttons with Michael's face on them that we could buy. Once everyone was there they took us back to the volunteer room (basically our "green room") where they had snacks and drinks and such… we all gathered in little groups to chat, and get to know each other. They had a big screen TV in the room with what was currently going out on air. (Jim Brickman was there when we got there). Anyone who hadn't already signed the card got a chance to, and we got it ready to give to Michael. Since Maria had done such a fantastic job of organizing the MD and the DC trips, and since she was the closest thing we had to a "Fan club president" there with us, we decided to let her give the card to Michael. Although, being the sweet person she is, she passed the honor on to the yougest attendee there. (I'm sorry, I blanked on her name! :-( )
We waited in the "green room" for about an hour. At one point Michael's manager Phil walked in, and we gave him a round of applause for bringing The Man to us!!! He told us that they just finished working on a new CD that is coming out in a couple of months, and are in the process of putting together a new video that will be out around Christmas. In fact, there was going to be a camera crew at the DC taping Sunday night. (Lucky guys!) And the new CD and Video are going to be released in the US as well as the UK! WooHoo!!!! In fact, they are hoping to release all of Michael's CD's in the US. **Does a happy dance** One other wonderful bit of news Phil gave us…MICHAEL IS HOPING TO COME TO THE US AND TOUR!!!! Oh the scream that went out after he made that announcement!!!
Waiting in the
"Green Room"
Phil (Michael's Manager),
and Maria
Then Phil left, carrying TWO cups of coffee I might add - oh my, it was so hard to resist the temptation to follow him!!! Just after 9 we saw the opening of the RAH concert come on the big screen TV!!!! (We weren't going to be going in the studio until the just before the first pledge break). There was a cheer, and a frustrated scramble to try to figure out how to un-mute the TV!!!! Just when we got it working and got it good and loud J some guy in the next room turned on a ball game on the tv in there! I swear everyone looked at the adjoining (open) door and glared! So, since I was the closest, I hopped up and closed the door! :) Well, wouldn't you??? *grin*
When they finally called us to the studio, you should have seen everyone scramble and jump up, excited to get down there, because we knew that was going to lead us to MICHAEL! We go in, take our seats, (there was actually more of us than there was phones!!!), and nervously waited for The Man to walk in… and then… he appeared!
OhMyGod! EVERYONE screamed and cheered and gave him this huge, wonderful, noisy welcome! The look on his face was so wonderful! I don't think he was expecting such a reception - he looked so touched and surprised! In face, so were the people working in the studio! They were so impressed with our enthusiasm that they asked us to give him the same welcome when he walked on camera the first pledge break. Needless to say we were more than happy to oblige! Since we had a few minutes before we went on air, he chatted with us for a bit, joking around - he has such a great sense of humor! It was all a little unreal! I don't think most of us could believe that we were so close to him! He was wearing a very smart navy blue suit, with a lighter blue shirt and matching satin-like tie. DROOL!
I didn't think it would be possible for him to look any better than all the wonderful pictures I have seen, but let me tell you, the best picture in the world can't hold a candle to seeing that gorgeous man in the flesh! I don't think that the flashes from the cameras clicking away stopped until the people in the studio finally told us that we had to put our camera away when we were on air (but trust be, as soon as they said "studio clear" they came right back out to snap more!)
Michael's reaction to our reception!
