"Chili Cookoff Off 2001" CB Smith Park, Hollywood, Florida
Saturday, February 3, 2001
by Shawn62
It was a spectacular day at C.B. Smith park near Ft. Lauderdale for the
16th annual Chili Cook-Off. The weather was warm and sunny, the air
filled with aromas of mouth watering treats (I recommend the
gator-on-a-stick) and some of the top artists country music has to offer
were lining up to give it their best. I was there to see Billy.
At the end of Billy Ray Cyruss's performance they announced that both
Billy's would be signing autographs. Billy Gilman would be signing
autographs first, until 2:00pm, about 20 minutes worth. I was standing
on a hill next to the booth and caught a couple glimpses of his smiling
face through the crowd. He seemed to be loving every minute of it.
Unfortunately he was only able sign for about ten minutes before having
to go back stage to prepare for his show.
The show started ten minutes earlier than its 2:20pm scheduled starting
time. My plan was to walk between the stage and the near 20,000 fans
sitting in lawn chairs to shoot some nice close ups. As soon as the DJ
introduced Billy the crowd stood up and rushed the stage. The attached
photo was the best I could do. Nice panoramic shot don't you think?
The black dot up on stage is Billy.
The sound system was excellent. After a little adjusting to kill the
feed back Billy was ready to give it his all and that's what he did.
The sound track he used, instrumentals and back-up vocals, matched the
CD pretty closely. It was clear , nicely mixed and enough bass to loosen
your fillings half way to the back.
While performing, a couple fans threw a white and black cowboy hats up
on stage. Between songs Billy said, "Lets have a contest to see which
one I look the best in". He first tried the white hat which didn't match
his all black attire too well. A mild response came from the crowd.
Next he tried the black hat and the crowd went wild.
Billy sang about six songs "I Think She Likes Me", "Itty Bitty Pretty
One", "What's Forever For" and "Oklahoma". During "The Snake Song" he
repeated "hose" to make sure everyone got it and pronounced "stocky" a
little better so that it didn't come out "starchy". Billy closed the show
with a full length version of "One Voice" holding the mic out letting
the fans sing a couple bars at the end. Billy added a couple punches
here and there throughout his show to let the fans know that although his
music was prerecorded, he wasn't. The high point everyone waited for the
entire show "…..help you find your waaaaaaaaaaaaaay…" was performed
exactly like it was on the CD. I must have heard it a thousand times
and I still get chills. Today was no exception.
As he waved good bye walking stage left(his right), throwing out "Thank
Yous" and an "I love you" I heard them play what sounded like the intro
to "Rolly Polly". Billy did what all great performers do, he left us
wanting more. A lot more.
Shawn62
© 2001 Shawn62, All Rights Reserved (02/17/01)
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