Emeli Sande Awesomeness! Karalee Uncaps Her Sharpies And Flags Down The Sultry Songstress! Autographs! Photos! And More!
Karalee has been on a super hot streak lately. Woo Hoo!
This time she’s heading out all by her lonesome to meet sultry songstress Emeli Sande! Performing on a talk show this past week, Emili has become one of Karalee’s top peeps!
When Karalee heard she would be on the markers got uncapped and the poster board got unwrapped. See what I did there with the rhyming… Yeah, I was impressed too! LOL…
Check out Karalee’s full recap after the jump!
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There are some singers who just stir your soul, whose voices transport your heart and mind to another place, another time, one note to the next. For me, the latest artist to do that is Emeli Sandé.
It was last summer when I first heard her sing. I was in my Dallas apartment, getting ready for work and I heard her song “Next to Me.” From that moment, I’ve been a huge fan. A few months later, while moving from Dallas to L.A. with my boyfriend, we played her debut album, “Our Version of Events,” on repeat. We couldn’t get enough of it.
In February, we were front row for her show at the Key Club in West Hollywood. From the moment she stepped on stage, she killed it, belting out each song with so much emotion and passion. She never let up during her hour set.
For those who aren’t familiar, here’s just a mini recap on Emeli’s recent successes:
In April, she broke a record held almost 50 years by The Beatles, for most consecutive weeks in the U.K. top 10 with “Our Version of Events” hitting its 63rd week.
She appears on the “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack, covering Beyonce’s hit, “Crazy in Love.”
Elton John invited her to be the featured musical guest at his 21st annual AIDS Foundation Oscar party.
She won Brit Awards for Album of the Year and Best Female Artist.
She performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics.
Needless to say, she’s the real deal and I’m just a huge, HUGE fan. When I found out she was taping a local talk show appearance (and when I say local, I mean, around the corner and down the street from where I live), I thought, “What the heck? Why not try?” I predicted there wouldn’t be many others there, as I knew the usual suspects all have “Star Trek” star sightings on the brain – and a big one was occurring across town.
4:15 p.m.: I pull up and notice the audience is already filing out, about 45 minutes earlier than usual. I begin to worry that perhaps Emeli and the other guests already have left. I decide to check it out anyway, given I did drive almost a mile.
4:17 p.m.: There is one other person here, a guy named Tommy. (Disclaimer: I’ve never met/seen Tommy before and I think “Tommy” may have been an alias. This doesn’t impact my recap, just thought I’d share anyway.) I ask him who he is here for and he says, “the singer.” Chatty Cathy, he was not.
4:18 p.m.: I can see an SUV and a larger van waiting through the gate – and I’m guessing one or both are for Emeli. It’s going to be any minute and there’s only me and “Tommy.” How are we going to get her attention? Then I remember I’ve got a blank piece of white paper from a meeting I was at earlier in the day. And I’ve got a Sharpie because, well, when you roll with the Fanboy family, you pick up a few tricks, like always toting Sharpies and D-Clips.
I start hastily “drawing” the worst sign known to planet Earth. I am a lot of things, but a sloppy hand writer is not one of them. I have no idea why I was so messy with it – I think I was just rushing because I also didn’t want to miss seeing her get into one of the two vehicles.
4:20 p.m.: I spot Emeli, down the way, getting into the larger van behind the SUV. Yay, she’s still here! But my “masterpiece” isn’t complete! The lead SUV starts to drive off – and then turns, taking a side exit. No!!!! Please, larger van, please don’t follow suit. And it doesn’t…it exits through the front gate, meaning Tommy and I need to make our way to the sidewalk/stop sign. It’s moment-of-truth time.
As the van approaches, I show my sign to Tommy Boy. His response? “Wellll,…maybe it will get her attention.”
Yeah, because it looks like it was drawn by a serial killer. Ugh.
The van pulls up and I’m holding up my sign, smiling and waving at the van. The van stops (don’t get too excited, there is a stop sign after all). And then,…it happens. I hear the most glorious sound — the sound of the van shifting into “park.” Holy fruit, she’s stopping!
The side door to the van sliiiiides open and there she is, with the widest grin on her face. I’m dying, I’m ecstatic! Tommy and I walk up to the van, and I thank her so much for stopping. And then, my hand on a stack of Bibles, she says to me, “I saw your sign and had to stop.” Shut the fruit up, are you kidding me?!?! At this point, the internal happy dance is out of control.
I tell her Tommy was here first and she can start with him (yes, my parents raised me well). He asks her to sign a bunch of stuff and I take a picture of him and Emeli.
Then, it’s my turn. I tell her how much I love her album, how my boyfriend and I listened to her on our 22-hour road trip to L.A., and how awesome she was at the Key Club.
She’s so gracious and so sweet. I thank her again for stopping and she repeats, “Well, it was because of your sign.” At this point, what the heck? I ask her, “Would you mind signing the sign?” And of course, she happily signs.
We’ve now attracted a small crowd — a few of the audience stragglers.
Some of them come up and get photos with her. One of her assistants is saying “last one, we need to go,” but she happily spends another minute or two meeting and greeting her fans.
4:30 p.m.: As Emeli gets back in the van, I thank her again. Incredible.
I can’t believe that all happened in 15 minutes. When I arrived, I had little expectation that I would meet her. And then I thought my sign would actually do more harm than good. But she said it — TWICE — she stopped because of my sign.
In a few short months, I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of great celebrities, but because of how wonderful Emeli was, how chill the entire encounter was, and for how big a fan I’ve been for some time now, this will be a stargazing moment I will forever cherish. Thank you, Emeli — and I can’t wait to hear your next album.
Thanks for letting me share…catch ya on the flip side!
Fantastic story.. Glad you had a great time. God I have turned into my parents, I have no idea who this is… Yikes.
Thanks, Other Mike. 🙂 It was a great afternoon…love her! 🙂