Cheer on ‘hometown hero’ Paige Anne at a community watch party
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IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls Community Hospital, Teton Auto Group and Idaho Falls Arts Council invite you to come cheer on local musician Paige Anne as she competes on American Idol.
The watch party is the brain-child of Brian Ziel, the director of marketing at Idaho Falls Community Hospital.
“(We) are big fans of the show,” Ziel told EastIdahoNews.com. “And when we saw (Paige) made it on, I immediately thought we should do something to show our support.”
The 16-year-old Idaho Falls High School student originally appeared on the show in March, only to learn she’d been eliminated from the competition. She was selected as the first alternate pick, meaning that if anyone dropped out of the top 26, she would replace them. A contestant did drop out later and Paige was called back to perform.
“When we saw she got back on, I was like ‘We have to do this!'” Ziel said.
He felt that a viewing party “just seemed like the kind of thing that we do to show our support for the community.”
When asked why he thought Paige had such a loyal fan base, Brian answered, “I think she’s just incredibly charismatic, and I think a lot of people (were) really disappointed when Katy Perry didn’t vote for her during her audition.”
Sunday’s episode of American Idol will show the results from last week’s Hawaii show.
“It’s a special segment they do there. We will get the results of who is in the top 20.”
The watch party is being held at the Colonial Theater at 450 A Street in Idaho Falls. Doors will open at 5 p.m., with the program starting at 6 p.m. with a special message from Paige to her supporters. The episode of American Idol will begin at 7 p.m.
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“We’re hoping to get a big turnout to show our support for her at the Colonial Theater,” Ziel said. “I’m going to buy 50 pizzas from Little Caesars and Teton Toyota is providing candy, popcorn and drinks.”
Ziel said he is grateful to Teton Toyota and the Arts Council for helping sponsor the event.
“We are excited to show our support for Paige while she’s on this journey for American Idol. It’s really incredible to see our community come together to show their support for one of our own,” Ziel said, then added, “I think it helps her knowing she has a support system back at home cheering for her.”
And if Paige Ann makes the top 20?
“We’ll do it again on Monday night,” Ziel said. After all, “Who doesn’t love an underdog story?”
Watch a video Paige Ann sent to her supporters in the video player above.