Hometown fans "Idolize' runner-up Justin;
His admirers watch the finale at Central Bucks East High School.
Mariella Savidge
Morning Call (Allentown, PA) September 5, 2002
The nation was divided, would it be Justin or Kelly?
In a packed auditorium at Central Bucks East High School, the cheers were
deafening as hundreds of friends and neighbors watched the big screen onstage
waiting for the final tally that would name the Fox network's first
"American Idol."
Finally, the last commercial break was over and as cameras swept the audience,
the once rowdy crowd silenced.
But Justin Guarini, a 1997 graduate of the school, was not chosen. The
title, as well as the recording contract, went to the competition, Kelly
Clarkson of Burleson, Texas.
In one collective, "Ohhhhhhh," a pall fell over the room, but they
recovered quickly and even cheered as the winner fought back tears to present
her signature song, "A Moment Like This."
"He should've won," agreed Brianna Alldred and Amber Gibson, who were
only slightly daunted by the decision.
Most of the fans gathered didn't know Justin personally, but were there for the
same reason as Danielle Benjamin.
"I'm obsessed with Justin because he's incredibly hot," she said.
Others, however, actually knew Guarini when he attended the school.
Linda and Mike Menard, parents of four daughters, remembered Guarini from the
days he wooed their daughter, Laura.
Linda tapped her fingers on the seat in front of her as she stood with the crowd
to hear the final decision.
"Oh well," her husband said, "He has a bright career in front of
him now even with that decision. It was close, though."
When the Menards' daughter and Guarini went to school together, Guarini was part
of a group known as the Midnight Voices who would serenade chosen young women in
the middle of the night.
Laura, one of the chosen, was given a rose at the end of the performance.
"Of course we snuck out to listen, too," Linda Menard said, "And
then I fed them. I always fed them," she said.
Now Laura Menard, who works New York City, has been seeing Justin's face
everywhere, her mother said.
The youngest Menard daughter, Anna, was among the fans in the auditorium who
were cheering for the hometown favorite.
Indeed, Anna phoned in her vote for Justin 550 times using two regular phones
and two cell phones over the course of the allotted voting time.
"Hey, that's allowed," her mother said.
There were others at the school who also remembered Justin.
Janemarie Cloutier taught English the school a few years ago, when Justin was a
student.
She also directed him in three school productions: "The Pirates of Penzance,"
"The Taming of the Shrew," and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."
"He was very professional, even then," she said. "He always knew
his music and led the others by his example. They wanted to be like him."