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It
began Saturday night, as I read a post on the e-groups list
by Mark quoting the Charlotte Church concert at Eaton's
Centre, and autograph session at the Indigo Book Store,
downtown Toronto, that would take place Monday, November
13th. Well, it was two days away, and I contemplated whether
I should go or not, being two and a half hours away from
Toronto (in London, Ontario), having a full day of classes
that day, and without transportation. It was only the Sunday
night that my roommate informed me that he couldn't drive
me, as I originally planned; instead he showed me how to get
there by bus, alone. I've never done something so spur of
the moment, young as I am. Yet I convinced myself that this
was the chance of a lifetime, to meet such an incredible
person, and nothing was going to stop me. And so I
prepared... I wouldn't meet Charlotte empty handed... all
the art work that I had done in the past was back home in
Winnipeg, so I stayed up that very night till 3 in the
morning to finish the pencil portrait.
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| Jason's
Portrait of Charlotte |
Stumbling awake the next morning I went to my first class, and
headed straight for the bus. I bought the frame luckily at a
nearby store near the bus depot. At this point I still couldn't
believe I was doing this... going to an enormous city that I
didn't know in hope that everything would go as planned. But I did
it... and $45 later, I was on my way to Toronto, for what I hoped
would be an incredible day...
I arrived at 1:00pm, and found the Eaton Centre (a huge super
mall) after a few corners, and found the stage and store that
Charlotte would appear at.
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The
stage inside Eaton Centre |
I asked the security guard by the stage for my autograph
ticket (only two hundred given out) and I was set. So what
to do for a handful of hours. I really didn't feel like
shopping (even though I've never seen such a beautiful and
impressive mall.) So I sat there by the stage (among other
Charlotte fans in waiting) and composed a letter on the back
of my portrait frame, in hope that Charlotte might read it.
By then it was about three o'clock, and my attempts to do
school work had failed, for my mind just couldn't focus. So
I pulled out my sketchbook and began to sketch the stage and
security guards to try and capture the moment. There I was
looking from pad to stage and to pad again, and was quite
happy with the outcome. Well, on my last pen strokes
something caught me by surprise...
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| Jason's
sketch of the venue |
There she was, out of the blue, leaving me in shock for
minute or two. The whole family was there, as casual as
ever.
People began to notice, for Charlotte ascended the stage,
and music began to play. It was a sound check, and I thought
wow, two concerts in one day. This was a particularly rare
rendition of Dream a Dream and Chestnuts Roasting on an Open
Fire ("The Christmas Song"), for I've never
recalled before this day hearing half the song in bursts of
laughter. The sound was fine, but I half wished it wasn't so
that she would continue singing. Notice Mrs. Church dropped
into one of the pictures. Those that were lucky enough to be
around, gave her a warm round of applause, as she headed off
back upstairs, I believe to do some shopping. Out of
respect, I didn't follow, and returned to my seat to try and
study some algebra (which proved unproductive again because
of my wandering mind.)
The crowd began to grow, and there was this unruly rush for
the chairs thatbegan when some elderly people took the initiative to take a
seat themselves. Reminiscent of crowds in the past, there was
every age group represented. The time had come, and I would say 800+ people
filled the mall corridor, and Charlotte was introduced. Down the elevator
she came, and on to the stage. She said she was relieved to see so many
people come, for she had thought it would only be her mom and dad up front,
cheering, "go Charlotte." She thanked Toronto for the such awesome
shopping they had- she had just bought the orange sweater she was wearing. And soon
after she began her very first Canadian open live concert (the previous
being a private affair), and I was blessed to be there. Her renditions of
Dream a Dream and
Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, were next to none, but I
couldn't help but wish for more, but I'm not complaining. Everywhere I
turned all I could
hear were words of awe and admiration of this phenomenal
girl.
One of the executives of Sony Classical Canada mounted the
stage afterwards to present Charlotte with two records, for her
accomplishments in Canada. After her already established platinum "Voice of An
Angel," her album, "Charlotte Church," was heightened to platinum
status, and "Dream a Dream" already in its young life had reached gold. (Sorry the sound
stand was in the way.)
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| Charlotte
receives her gold and platinum records |
She then headed for the bookstore just upstairs to prepare
for her autograph session. As you can imagine, this was the apex of
my trip... actually meeting Charlotte, and giving her the portrait I
had made. It was amazing, I could go up to just about anyone and say,
"Big Charlotte fan, too?" and a conversation would start. I met a very
friendly girl who was nice enough to take pictures for me-- she had just found out
that Charlotte was coming that very day. She even gave me a roll of film
when I ran out (Thanks). So we approached, CD covers in hand.
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| Jason
waits in line to see Charlotte |
My turn came. I asked her if we could exchange signatures,
mine being on the portrait, but I'm not sure she understood. I pushed the
portrait toward her, and she was astonished (too bad no picture). She asked
what name I wanted the dedication, and I gave mine. She was as friendly
as could be. I asked if she had seen the artwork on charlottechurch.net,
but she said she hasn't, and was surprised to know that there was art
work of her. So I told her to visit, so we'd better keep on our toes =). Last,
I asked if I could get a picture beside her, and she said sure. Well,
this would have been the nicest picture, but I guess my luck had to run out
sometime, LOL. She offered to take another picture because the water bottle
was in the way (she was moving it) but my camera had run out of film! So I
left with my two
CD covers in hand, and one heck of an experience. I couldn't
help but smile when Charlotte beckoned to her mom, "Look mom, it's
me!" referring to the
portrait she just handed her.
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Charlotte's
Autographs
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After lingering about awhile, I approached Mrs. Church to
exchange a few words, and brought up CharlotteChurchFans. She responded,
"Oh, you mean the really good one, yes... Charlotte had tried to post a
message before, and tried to prove it was really her, but only got erased"
(not exact quote,
processed though memory). She did, in fact, add, afterwards,
that our site,was better than the rest, even better than one that I will
leave unnamed :). And she commented that Mark was doing a really good job,
which I think all of us would agree to. What an amazing, and unforgettable
experience. And so,
the day came to an end, all still dreamlike. I headed back
to the bus station after picking up some Burger King (my favourite)
prior to my two hour bus ride home, concluding a perfect day (save the
untimely blink, lol!)
Hoping you all will one day experience the same,
- Jason
Thank you Charlotte, and, once again, a pleasure to meet
you!
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