Photo courtesy of www.newsobserver.com
I happen to be about 15 min down the road from Scotty's hometown of Garner, NC. I grew up in Garner, moved there in 1982, graduated from the same high school in 1988, shopped in the same Lowe's Foods grocery store on Aversboro Rd. where he once bagged groceries, and moved from Garner to Raleigh about 5 years ago. Now because I happen to live here, I have access to TONS of footage and photos from Scotty's Homecoming today which was, I hear, incredible. THOUSANDS of fans turned out to welcome him home. The hometown tour wound through Raleigh, starting at the local country radio station, WQDR 94.7 FM, where hundreds of fans turned out in full force this morning to welcome him home. Some camped out since about 3am in the morning. The station had a contest and the winners got to be in the station with Scott during his interview.
Scotty's First Homecoming Event - WQDR 94.7 FM Studios Raleigh, NC
via peajay5johnson
The tour then took he and the American Idol camera crew in their 22 ft stretch limo to other media outlets around town, and then onto Garner where he bagged groceries at Lowe's Foods and went to his old school, Garner Magnet High School where he was welcomed by friends and family (this turned pretty emotional for Scotty from what I saw on the news). He then climbed into a Mustang convertible and headed towards his final destination, Lake Benson Park, where thousands of fans had been waiting all day for his arrival, screaming and waving, most wearing some kind of Scotty paraphernalia and waving homemade signs as he made his way towards the stage that was set up for his concert. Once on stage, he thanked his fans and being a person of strong Christian faith and values, thanked the most important person on his list, God. He began to sing his "theme" song, "Your Man" by Josh Turner. He was about 30 seconds into the song when the crowd went wild and Scotty, totally oblivious to what was going on, thought the applause was for him until he turned around and there was his own idol, Josh Turner, a surprise guest that he had no idea was part of the celebration. After he regained his composure, they both sang Scotty's favorite songs by Josh to the crowd of loving, adoring fans who have stuck by his side all season long. Once the day wrapped up, he headed home for some private time with his family and best of all, dinner brought in by one of his favorites, Bojangles fried chicken.
The Celebration Parade and Concert at Lake Benson Park, Garner, NC (www.wral.com)
Josh Turner Surprises Scotty on Stage (www.wral.com)
Scotty greets his fans at Lowe's Foods in Garner, NC via peajay5johnson
If you're a fan of American Idol and want to see your favorite country singer take home the title, then you have to VOTE! Scotty and Lauren's battle to make it to the two left standing takes place Wednesday night on Fox at 8pm ET and the final two will be announced on Thursday night during the elimination show. Your favorite can't win if you don't vote. Oh, Hailey's in it too.
Check out photos of today's events , go to the WQDR 94.7 Official Facebook Page and Q-Morning Crew's Official Facebook Page.
