I do regret not being able to write more regularly these days, but returning to full-time work, plus a series of personal issues, pushed blogging way down my list of priorities.
However, I still want to keep this site alive and kicking, so this post - though short - offers a brief summary of one of the more significant events that occurred recently.
I flew to Sydney to see Josh Groban in concert for the second time in 3 years, and FINALLY met him face to face!
Featuring songs from his wonderful new album, Stages, the show was breath-taking from start to finish, with Josh hitting every note perfectly and demonstrating amazing vocal strength I'd never witnessed before.
I've been a fan for 15 years and couldn't be happier about him scaling new heights. At 35, his voice has fully matured and sounds incredible! This was especially evident during Bring Him Home - an extremely difficult piece for even the most accomplished tenors. Josh nailed it 100% and made my mother cry. How's that for skill? :)
My personal favourite was the encore - Over The Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz. That's the song that brought tears to my eyes, not just because of Josh's poignant delivery, but because of its message of hope in the midst of sadness and despair.
Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Way above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.
Together with Charlie Chaplin's Smile, this is in the top 3 of my all-time personal favourite songs list.
3 years ago, I went to the stage door after the concert but arrived late and ended up quite a distance away. Josh only signed autographs for a handful of fans closest to him before leaving in his car, probably because he was tired.
This time, I had an aisle seat in the theatre and was very near the exit, so I managed to secure a great spot near the stage door. Josh appeared about 20 minutes later and was so friendly, chatting with fans and signing everything they gave him. However, his bodyguard gently said, "No hugging please." to someone.
When my turn came, Josh signed my concert programme then got distracted by a group of Filipino fans next to me. He'd already spoken to them earlier before coming over, but they were quite selfish and wanted to continue the conversation. Josh being Josh, he talked to them some more, which left me no opportunity to say anything, like the fact that I was a longtime fan and had flown to Sydney twice just to see him argh!
So when his attention was finally on me, I quickly asked for a photo, and he obliged. But it wasn't just a quickie sort of thing - he looked at my phone's screen intently and positioned himself while I pressed a button to focus. My Samsung took a few seconds to do this but Josh was very patient, never once asking me to hurry up or moving off before the photo could be taken.
After the camera snapped the wefie, he even asked if it was okay and whether I got the shot, which I thought was very very sweet. I said, "Yes, thank you!" then he smiled and replied, "Thank you for coming!" before going down the line of excited fans.
I stayed for another 5 minutes and noticed that Josh didn't take photos with anyone else, which made our wefie very precious! He isn't the touchy feely sort either, standing a short distance away while signing items, and yes, the no hugging rule was enforced.
En route to the hotel, I checked the picture and realized Josh had a gorgeous smile when he posed, and looked positively ecstatic for some reason! That was the icing on the cake!
He'll still be on tour for the next few months before making his Broadway debut this fall. Really wish I could see that, but I won't be heading to the U.S. for a while. Especially when Donald Trump is running for president ugh. ( Don't let him win, please! )
That's it for this entry. Will post again another day if I have time.
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