After party review :
Flanders Expo, Gent, Belgium - 21 April 2001
by Kathy & Bea
Dreams do come true
Never before did I take the lyrics of “Say what you want” so personally as that night! My big problem was that I had been thinking of what I was going to say to Sharleen all day long and I still couldn’t come up with something suitable. People had been asking me if I had my speech ready, but what was the use of preparing something, I would have had a blackout anyway the moment Sharleen was standing next to me. On the other hand there is no way that I would have been able to tell Sharleen everything that people had been asking me to say to her. It had been going on all week long: tell her this, tell her that, ask her this, ask her that, give her this, give her that! Well, to all you people who were counting on me, I must admit, I’m afraid I let you down! It was hard not to stumble or even to say a word at all, the moment Sharleen came closer. The nerves were taking control of my body!
After the gig we were supposed to meet with someone from the record company at the
VIP-meeting point. As usual we were so busy sharing our emotions about the gig with our fellow Texasfans, that we had lost complete track of time. In a way I think I did it on purpose to postpone “the moment”. How embarrasing it was when the responsible from the record company had to come looking for us in front of the stage. That was the moment I lost total control over my vital body parts...heartbeat going faster and faster...breathing unnatural. Please someone get me a doctor!
I felt so guilty for my friends I had to leave behind, I wanted them so much to join Bea and me backstage.
As we entered a small reception lounge, there were another about 15 people waiting...all wearing their much wanted VIP sticker with great pride.
In my thoughts I started rehearsing the speech I didn’t prepare. It was obvious Beatrice was very nervous too, as she kept on drinking sodas one after the other, although she had been complaining during the gig that she had to go urgently. The nerves must have given her a dry mouth.
After about 10 minutes “Elvis” entered the room. What a surprise it was Sharleen waved at Beatrice and lipped “hi” to her. Beatrice obviously was surprised by this gesture, as she looked behind her to see if there was anyone standing there. No doubt about it, it was either Beatrice, either the massive plant behind us, Sharleen was waving at!
At first Sharleen was introduced to some other fans. That was handy, it gave me some more time to chill out...to think about that speech again!
It was about to happen...Erwin from Universal Records handed the replica platinum album over to Sharleen. My “once in a lifetime experience” would soon be history!
I know what you all are waiting for, what did I say to her? Well, all I could think of was a way to release the pressure from my shoulders, as I said to Sharleen that this award was just as much Beatrices as mine. After all...we’re both such big fans! Sharleen said she was well aware of that and that she was pleased that she could give this award to very big fans. So she did regognize us from the many gigs we attented.
There we were...Sharleen and I holding the award together while pictures were being taken. There I lost it for a moment, I started shaking all over. I even told Sharleen. I still can’t believe how she managed to calm me down. She apologised for not being able to talk much as she had a very sore throat, so...we did have something in common that night... me too I had a very painfull throat. Imagine me carrying some of Sharleen Spiteri’s microbes...anyone interested in catching my cold?!? I asked Sharleen if I could take a picture from her and Beatrice aswell holding the platinum record...a perfect opportunity for her to tell Sharleen about the fans tourbook. I must say she was very pleasantly surprised!
It all happened so very fast, it was so very special! I will cherish these wonderful moments for the rest of my life.
As Sharleen wasn’t feeling to well that night she left the party early. Time to get to know those lovely guys. Our first victim was the sweet Eddie. We presented him with some pictures we took during our “tour” in the UK. At the gig in Manchester Eddie joined the support act Reef to play the keyboards. Eddie was well pleased. We moved on to Ally. As we wanted to tell him about the fans tourbook, we showed him this little card from the “www.Texasindemand.com” website. Without us even mentioning Dirks name, Ally shouted out that he wanted to meet the guy responsible for making this wonderfull website. He stormed out to go and look for him. Off course all his efforts were in vain, Ally didn’t know what Dirk looks like! Kathy and Johnny’s brother, Gerry, offered to join the searchparty. No luck though! Where was Dirk? Afterwards we heard that he went to have a beer and some chips with our english friends! Bad timing guys!
We said goodbye to all the nice people we met at the afterparty and went off to join our friends. There was Dirk standing next to the tourbus trying to get his tourbook signed by Sharleen. We grabbed him by the ear and finally we got to introduce him to Gerry and the boys. They were all so pleased to finally meet him!
Today not only our dreams came true!
Bea and Kathy
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