Londoners Have Brush with 'Idol'
John Miner
London Free Press
(Ontario, Canada) September 16, 2002
When Colleen Fraumeni and Karl Aguilar saw Kelley Clarkson picked as America's
next big pop star last week, they were glad they hadn't left her out of their
holiday picture.
The two Londoners have a photograph of themselves with Clarkson and two other
finalists in the massively popular American Idol television program.
"I didn't know who she was. I wanted her to take the picture for us,"
Fraumeni said.
Fraumeni and Aguilar visited California from July 20 to Aug. 3.
They had spent a fruitless day trying to spot stars on Hollywood Boulevard when
they decided to stop at a Target department store to pick up toothpaste.
Aguilar, a fan of the American Idol program, spotted Justin Guarini, one
of 10 finalists at that point, looking at CDs in the store.
"We were hiding behind clothes hangers trying to determine if we should say
something or not," Aguilar said.
He talked Fraumeni into approaching Guarini.
"I said, 'Are you Justin from American Idol?' He said, 'Yeah, yeah' and we
told him we were from Canada. He said, 'Tamyra (Gray), come meet my friends from
Canada,' " Fraumeni said.
Gray was picked by many to win the American Idol competition that started with
10,000 pop star wannabes.
Viewers of the weekly program voted off finalists each week. In the final last
week that selected Clarkson over Guarini, 15 million telephone votes were cast.
The Londoners had about a 45-minute chat with the three rising stars, including
Clarkson, who had been around the corner looking at birthday cards.
"We talked to them about the show and how they all stayed in the same
house. They were so nice. They asked us about Canada and our trip. They said all
the people they met from Canada were so friendly," Fraumeni said.
"Colleen did all the talking. I was starstruck," Aguilar said.
Fraumeni said it was just luck she had her camera with her and even luckier they
invited Clarkson to be in the picture.
As winner of American Idol, Clarkson, a cocktail waitress from Texas, has a
recording contract that includes releasing a CD later this month and a full
album in November.