Idol tour kickoff

The show's over, and the fans have all gone home -- though not before stocking up on more Idol merch and free Pop-Tarts.
Outside the arena, 14-year-old twins Fallon and Erin Busbell told me that, on a scale of one to 10, they'd give the show a 10.5.

I just wish Katharine was here, Fallon said, adding that she voted for her in the finals. The worst part of the show, according to Erin, was the lady standing in front of us. Floor seats turned out to be tough for shorter concertgoers; even on tiptoe, it was difficult to see the stage.

If you want a detailed recap of the show, scroll to the bottom of the page. For those of you who just want to glance at the songs, I compiled a little set list:
Elliott: Never Too Much, Trouble, Moody's Mood for Love
Bucky, Chris, Elliott, Ace: Patience
Mandisa, Kellie, Lisa, Paris: Man! I Feel Like a Woman
Encore: Takin' It To the Streets (Taylor), We Are the Champions (everyone), Living in America (everyone) -- W.

M.
Taylor shed his white jacket for the encore, a cover of the Doobie Brothers' Takin' It To the Streets. Feeling inspired, he indulged the crowd with a harmonica solo, a tambourine performance and enough body movement to soak the back of his shirt in sweat.

Chris Daughtry fans came to life when he began the next song, Queen's We Are the Champions. The rest of the Idols soon joined, following with a group performance of James Brown's Living in America. -- W.

M.
Taylor Hicks certainly knows how to make an entrance: He began his performance of Jailhouse Rock from the back of the arena, daring to walk and sing his way to the stage. (A couple security guards helped clear a safe path.

)
Once Taylor bounded onto the stage, he, too, grabbed an electric guitar and launched into Bob Seger's Hollywood NIghts. At this point, parents seemed to be dancing even more than their kids.
Taylor spotlighted old-school soul with Wilson Pickett's Do You Like Good Music and Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On, which prompted his trademark frenetic dance moves.

Then came the third Stevie Wonder song of the night, Livin' in the City. “Say yeah!” he told fans, who loudly obliged.

-- W.M.
Elliott Yamin surprised the audience by duetting with Chris on Nickelback's Savin' Me.

He followed it with a soulful version of Luther Vandross' Never Too Much, which prompted at least one middle-aged couple to slow-dance in their seats.
On Elvis Presley's Trouble Elliott kept the audience groovin'. “I need some friends out here to help me out,” he said afterward, beckoning backstage.

Chris, Ace, Bucky and Elliott then dedicated their next tune to an ailing Katharine McPhee. With her picture displayed on the screen above them, they launched into a cover of Guns N' Roses' Patience. Ace took the super-high notes, while Chris strummed an acoustic guitar.

-- W.M.
Jaclyn Parolin, a 13-year-old Kellie Pickler fan from Nashua, N.

H., said her favorite part of the show so far was watching Lisa Tucker play the piano. “I can't wait to hear Taylor,” she said moments before the second half began.

Clad in an Idol T-shirt, Parolin came with her parents and sister, all fans of the show. Her father, John, said a friend of his was coming to tomorrow's concert -- to celebrate his 60th birthday. -- W.

M.
Enthusiasm for Chris Daughtry is louder and more animated than it's been for any previous performer. For Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive, he strapped on a guitar and got several fans on their feet.

Chris' wardrobe: a tight black T-shirt, jeans and his signature chain.
Chris continued the rock with Styx's Renegade. At this point, hands are waving, heads are banging -- it almost feels like a real, live rock 'n' roll show.

-- W.M.
Bucky promised it earlier, and here it is: the You're the One That I Want duet with Kellie Pickler.

Song No. 2 from Kellie: Patsy Cline's Walkin' After Midnight. She, too, strode into the crowd and took some time to chat.

“I can't see in here, it's really dark,” she said after the song ended. She then offered a piece of Idol trivia: During the finale, “the whole time we were doing our girls' medley, my fly was unzipped.”
Finally, before launching into Melissa Etherige's I'm the Only One, Kellie revealed she recently had her wisdom teeth removed.

Her cheeks became so swollen, “I was afraid I was gonna turn into a hot-air balloon and blow away,” she said. “But I'm here.” -- W.

M.
Bucky Covington sang the second Stevie Wonder song of the night, Superstition. As is the pattern tonight, he followed it with Dobie Gray's Southern-flavored Drift Away.

A nice moment for the crowd came when Bucky drifted away into the audience to shake fans' hands. A sprited sing-along followed. -- W.

M.
Lisa Tucker hit the stage belting out Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Clad in tight jeans and a T-shirt, she then sat at a keyboard and turned it down a notch for Elton John's Your Song and Someone Saved My Life Tonight.

After introducing Paris Bennett as her “best friend,” the two duetted on TLC's Waterfalls. -- W.M.

Ace: 'You ready to rock?'

For Ace's first song, he chose George Michael's Father Figure -- but his wardrobe was what got the audience worked into a frenzy. As he unbuttoned and removed his jacket, the lyrics suddenly became secondary.

“You ready to rock out a little bit?” he said before launching into Maroon 5's Harder to Breathe. --W.

M.
Mandisa dedicated her second song, If I Was Your Woman to a previous Idol winner and self-professed “crush,” Ruben Studdard. The ballad had some fans waving their cell phones in the air.

“I'm a living witness that dreams do come true. If you can dream it, you can achieve it,” she told the crowd.
Ace Young joined Mandisa for her third song, I'm Your Angel.

Three large screens above them projected the performance for those seated far from the stage. -- W.M.

Attendees with frowns on their faces are probably upset about one of two things: Either their sign was too large to be allowed in the venue (they can't block others' views), or they just heard Katharine McPhee isn't here tonight.
But, not everyone was affected by these developments. “I'm actually kind of happy,” 16-year-old Samantha Hoffens said of McPhee's absence.

Hoffens made her own T-shirt, a black number with bright red glitter spelling “ELLIOTT” across her chest. -- W.M.

Once the doors opened, hundreds of Idol fans headed for pre-show activities, including karaoke, dance lessons and the ever-popular merchandise booth.
Idol T-shirts are going for $25-30, while programs and teddy bears bearing Idol shirts are 20 bucks each. Keychains and 8x10 photos go for $5, while Idol buttons, the cheapest item available, will set you back $3.

Lisa King, 38, brought her 12-year-old daughter, Kelsey, and two friends to the concert. Kelsey, a Chris Daughtry fan, was already wearing her new Idol shirt. When asked what she'd say to Daughtry if she could meet him, 11-year-old Haley Magee had two words: “You're awesome!

” -- W.M.
Only four Idol finalists -- Paris Bennett, Lisa Tucker, Bucky Covington and Ace Young -- were available for the press meet and greet, so until the show starts we won't have details on the other performers.

And for those diehard Ace fans...

.Whitney had less than 30 seconds with the crooner, and the interchange went like this:
Ace: Hey, what's your name?
Whitney: Whitney.

Ace: My mom always said if she ever had a daughter, she would've named her Whitney.
Whitney: I bet you say that to all the girls.
Ace: No, I'm serious!

“I'm not doing any country,” Bucky Covington just told me in his raspy, Southern drawl. Instead, tonight he'll be performing a duet of You're the One That I Want -- yep, the song from Grease -- with Kellie Pickler.
Other Covington confessions: He says the best thing about these shows is “not getting judged.

” When I asked him about the design on his T-shirt, he shrugged and said he just threw it on. “I was wearing a Corona shirt earlier,” he said, adding that it wouldn't exactly be appropriate for today's festivities. -- W.

M.
So how did the Idol finalists spend the Fourth of July? Lisa Tucker tells me they rehearsed fairly late into the evening, but then they had a small celebration back at the hotel.

“Paris' mom cooked barbecue,” she said. “We had sparklers (outside), but it was kind of windy, so they kept blowing out.”
Tucker just got an iPod for her birthday and has loaded it with Jimi Hendrix, Gavin DeGraw, Mariah Carey and lots of other artists for the tour.

Once it's over, she'll be exploring ideas for a sitcom. (You may remember her guest stint on The OC earlier this year.) -- W.

M.
The concert starts in about three hours, but so far none of the Idols claims to have pre-show jitters. I never get nervous, Paris Bennett tells me backstage.

Tonight she'll sing several numbers, including Midnight Train to Georgia. After tomorrow's show, she'll hop on the tour bus -- there's one for boys, one for girls -- and begin a three-month road trip across the country.
Bennett says fellow finalist Lisa Tucker has become her best friend of the bunch, and they'll probably sleep in neighboring bunks on the bus.

After the tour, she plans to record an album and -- get this -- several cartoon voice-overs. I want to work with Disney as much as possible, she says. -- Whitney Matheson
Whitney Matheson is live backstage in New Hampshire: Ten finalists are on the bill for American Idols Live, but tonight it will be only nine: Katharine McPhee will not be performing tonight or July 6 because of severe bronchitis and laryngitis.

According to a statement, a doctor has ordered the runner-up total voice rest.
I'm disappointed, and I am sorry to disappoint my fans who will be attending the start of the American Idols Live tour, McPhee said in the statement. There was no word on who would have to break the news to a couple dozen fans waiting outside, hours before doors open to the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.

H.