I guess i could have also titled this why it's never a good thing to meet your idols.
I've been a fan of county radio since 1984 and over the years i've been blessed to meet alot of awesome country singers, but there's always 1 or 2 that your in absolute awe of...and you always think to yourself, "man, i wish i could meet so and so and tell them how much their music has touched me," and well, Lorrie was one of those people. So of course i jumped at the chance to be an emcee at Country Thunder over the weekend and looked forward to the chance to tell Lorrie how much i've enjoyed her tunes. There was another jock there from Chicago who got to do the jumbrotron interview which was probably a good thing since, after i met Lorrie...ok, let's just put it this way...i lost 30 pounds last year, but honestly, i'd have to lose another 50 before i could on the jumbrotron and not look like a monster next to her.
So it got close to the time that Lorrie would be on stage, and i gotta tell you, although i've introduced close to a hundred country stars on stage i have never been this nervous in my life.
I've rehearsed my opening speech probably a hundred times til i know it forward and backwards, all two minutes of it...and then they drive Lorrie up in a golf cart and oh my God, she hasn't aged a year since i've been a fan...and that's about 18 years!
She steps out of the golf cart like i would bounce out of a golf cart, but she does it with about 8 inches of stiletto heels, a dress, and not one hair out of place. I suddenly become very conscience of the fact that i have been out in the sun all day, my eye shadow has now melted down to my chin, and i'm covered in Country Thunder dust...i'm embarrassed to even look at her.
So, now the appointed time comes and just as they're handing me the mike to step out on stage, her manager informs me that we're running late and to cut the intro to 10 seconds...arrrrrgh!!!! I'm not even sure now what i said, perhaps something like "her voice is going to break your heart" ...but Lorrie must have liked it because she stuck her hand out to shake mine and said "thank you" and then here it is; my opportunity to tell Lorrie how much her music has meant to me all these years...so, did i tell her that?
Not exactly.
In a voice about 12 octives above my own i said "i love you Lorrie"...actually, i think i screeched it...all i know was blood was coming out of her ears as she smiled sweetly, took the mike and strutted out on the stage, and i dragged what was left of my dignity off the stage in absolute embarrassment.
I've only been that bad once before...years ago i had the chance to interview Dennis Deyoung, formally of the rock band Styx, the man whose voice was the soundtrack of my entire high school experience...he called me up for a radio interview and every single rational thought and question flew out the window as i asked him the only question that came to mind;"Do you wake up in the morning and go, oh my God i'm Dennis Deyoung?"
He was very nice about it but my husband and kids weren't...for weeks after that they'd taunt me with "hey mom, do you wake up in the morning and go...oh my God, i'm mom and i need to do the laundrey?"....and on and on.....
So maybe i'm not really meant to meet my idols...maybe i'm better off in the future staying behind the mike, and not in front of a country star where i'm liable to embarrass myself with some harebrained compliment that would perplex them and humiliate me and wait, whose coming to Germanfest...Gretchen Wilson?
Game on.
Ps...thank you Kerry for being an awesome boss...i'd say more but then i run the risk of making a fool out of myself...again.
Psps...the above picture of Garth Brooks and me was taken at the Shawno County Fair back in September of 1990...you had to pay 10 bucks to see the Yuppers but Garth was FREE! This was also one of the few times i didn't make an idiot of myself.
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