Aspen
May 20th, 2005, 10:18 AM
Local schoolgirls go gaga for teen crooner Aaron Carter
Concert at Round Table was prize for KGOT contest
By JESSICA AGI
Perfect World
Published: May 20th, 2005
Last Modified: May 20th, 2005 at 04:34 AM
More than 50 teenage girls, with only a handful of boys in sight, squeezed into a crowded and stuffy pizza joint in a mall on Thursday afternoon (yep, a school night) to see and hear pop star Aaron Carter performing in Anchorage.
For those who don't know, Aaron Carter is one of the youngest music idols around. The younger brother of the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, Aaron has been a recording artist since before he hit puberty -- which wasn't that long ago; he's 17. Already with five studio albums under his belt (including a greatest hits album), Carter has been a teen heartthrob his entire career. In the midst of promoting a new chart-topping single, "Saturday Night," Carter stopped by Alaska just to say hello.
Well, maybe there's more to the story than that.
It all started a few weeks ago when radio station KGOT held a contest for all students in grades three-12 to win an acoustic Aaron Carter concert at Round Table Pizza in Dimond Center. The contest was different from most, in that it was the sole reason Carter came up to Anchorage; most artists do a big concert, then a radio contest on the side.
"We wanted something different," KGOT DJ Timmy Daniels said, explaining the small setting of the show. "Something kind of intimate."
According to Daniels, more than 1,100 entries poured in -- an overwhelming amount from West High, where winner Mary Tesche is a student.
Tesche has been a fan of Carter's since she saw him open for Britney Spears back around 2000. Moments after having her picture taken with Carter, she was ecstatic.
"I don't win a lot of things," she said. "I'm still in shock!"
She wasn't the only one. The contest guidelines allowed the winner to invite 15 friends to the show. Some of the friends were long-time fans while others converted after seeing him in person. Tesche and her friends sat in a separate area of tables and pizza, right in front of Carter; the non-VIP audience crowded around the other side.
"He sounded really good!" said Ashley Cummings, one of Tesche's invited friends, after Carter's four-song set.
Despite their different levels of fandom, few or none of the teenage girls disagreed about Carter's good looks. "He's so hot!" seemed to fill the room, which, ironically enough, was very hot itself, even provoking Carter to request the heat be turned down.
Sometime after 4 p.m., the planned starting time, Carter and his guitarist began the show. It was hard to hear because many in the crowd were still talking -- and continued to talk throughout all of the songs.
The first number was "To All the Girls," one of the tracks on his "Most Requested Hits" CD. He continued on with a brand new song for which he requested audience feedback.
"I wrote this song," he proudly admitted.
It was slower than most of his songs and elicited a lot of adolescent swooning. The next song he played was "Do You Remember?" from the same album as the first song. Finally, he moved onto "Saturday Night," his current hit single, which he informed us was produced by his guitarist.
From overheard conversations, it seemed a lot of people were impressed by the raw acoustic version of the song, as opposed to the well-known technologically souped-up radio version.
After his set, Carter talked with the winner and her friends for a while, joking, flirting, socializing and even kissing a few girls.
http://www.adn.com/life/story/6513543p-6394492c.html
Concert at Round Table was prize for KGOT contest
By JESSICA AGI
Perfect World
Published: May 20th, 2005
Last Modified: May 20th, 2005 at 04:34 AM
More than 50 teenage girls, with only a handful of boys in sight, squeezed into a crowded and stuffy pizza joint in a mall on Thursday afternoon (yep, a school night) to see and hear pop star Aaron Carter performing in Anchorage.
For those who don't know, Aaron Carter is one of the youngest music idols around. The younger brother of the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, Aaron has been a recording artist since before he hit puberty -- which wasn't that long ago; he's 17. Already with five studio albums under his belt (including a greatest hits album), Carter has been a teen heartthrob his entire career. In the midst of promoting a new chart-topping single, "Saturday Night," Carter stopped by Alaska just to say hello.
Well, maybe there's more to the story than that.
It all started a few weeks ago when radio station KGOT held a contest for all students in grades three-12 to win an acoustic Aaron Carter concert at Round Table Pizza in Dimond Center. The contest was different from most, in that it was the sole reason Carter came up to Anchorage; most artists do a big concert, then a radio contest on the side.
"We wanted something different," KGOT DJ Timmy Daniels said, explaining the small setting of the show. "Something kind of intimate."
According to Daniels, more than 1,100 entries poured in -- an overwhelming amount from West High, where winner Mary Tesche is a student.
Tesche has been a fan of Carter's since she saw him open for Britney Spears back around 2000. Moments after having her picture taken with Carter, she was ecstatic.
"I don't win a lot of things," she said. "I'm still in shock!"
She wasn't the only one. The contest guidelines allowed the winner to invite 15 friends to the show. Some of the friends were long-time fans while others converted after seeing him in person. Tesche and her friends sat in a separate area of tables and pizza, right in front of Carter; the non-VIP audience crowded around the other side.
"He sounded really good!" said Ashley Cummings, one of Tesche's invited friends, after Carter's four-song set.
Despite their different levels of fandom, few or none of the teenage girls disagreed about Carter's good looks. "He's so hot!" seemed to fill the room, which, ironically enough, was very hot itself, even provoking Carter to request the heat be turned down.
Sometime after 4 p.m., the planned starting time, Carter and his guitarist began the show. It was hard to hear because many in the crowd were still talking -- and continued to talk throughout all of the songs.
The first number was "To All the Girls," one of the tracks on his "Most Requested Hits" CD. He continued on with a brand new song for which he requested audience feedback.
"I wrote this song," he proudly admitted.
It was slower than most of his songs and elicited a lot of adolescent swooning. The next song he played was "Do You Remember?" from the same album as the first song. Finally, he moved onto "Saturday Night," his current hit single, which he informed us was produced by his guitarist.
From overheard conversations, it seemed a lot of people were impressed by the raw acoustic version of the song, as opposed to the well-known technologically souped-up radio version.
After his set, Carter talked with the winner and her friends for a while, joking, flirting, socializing and even kissing a few girls.
http://www.adn.com/life/story/6513543p-6394492c.html