Holding signs such as “I (heart) Archie” and “Canada loves Castro,” fans from as far as Alaska and Utah hoped for a glimpse of the Top 10 singers from the mega-hit FOX reality television show.

Meanwhile, the performers mostly stayed inside to do media interviews, eat and rest up for the 7 p.m. concert. A few ventured outside to greet fans through a security fence.

Michael Johns, the 29-year-old soul-rock singer, had a bulky icepack strapped to his left elbow after a fall in the Dome parking lot. Johns tripped over some luggage while trying to catch a football thrown by fellow rocker David Cook, who won this year’s “Idol” competition.

Had the Australia-born Johns heard of Tacoma? No, but he said he was struck by the beauty of the region’s mountains and trees.

“I prefer to play in smaller cities like this,” he said.

“The people who come are really spending their hard-earned money to hear us sing. This is as real as it gets.”

Kristy Lee Cook, the only Northwesterner from this season’s cast, was looking forward to visiting Cabela’s outdoor emporium in Lacey with her fiance today.

Hunting, fishing and camping – it’s all in the repertoire of this 24-year-old country singer from the southern Oregon city of Selma.

Kristy Lee Cook, no relation to David, was born in Seattle and spent her early years in the south King County city of Des Moines. She was expecting a contingent of supporters in the Tacoma crowd, though it might not match Friday’s outpouring at the Rose Garden in Portland.

Ranging in age from 17 to 29, this season’s “Idol” performers followed the usual script, having been plucked from obscurity and launched into meteoric success – and, in some cases, guaranteed record contracts.

The show’s seventh season’s finale in May drew nearly 100 million votes.

Tacoma marks the ninth concert on a tour of more than 50 stops that runs from July 1 to Sept. 13.

Matt Misterek: 253-597-8472

Name: Lisa Steilen

Home: Redmond

Favorite Idol: David Cook

Notable: She drove south in a recreational vehicle carrying three generations of “Idol” fans. They were staying overnight in a secured parking lot next to the Dome. It was the third straight summer Steilen’s family has come to Tacoma for the “Idol” tour stop.

Quotable: “I hope (the performers) come out soon, I need to go make spaghetti.”

Name: Elizabeth Price

Home: Tacoma

Favorite Idols: David Cook, Michael Johns, Carly Smithson

Notable: Price said she’d grown bored with music lately, but Cook

has made her want to listen again. She and her mother would watch the show together each week along with Price’s grandmother, who lives in Longview, via telephone.

Quotable: “My grandmother is 79, and she’s a bigger American Idol fan than I am. But she couldn’t make it, so I’m here on her behalf.”

Name: Cassidy Doohan

Home: Spokane

Favorite Idol: David Archuleta

Notable: The 12-year-old held an “I (heart) Archie” sign, in support of the show’s youngest contestant, and said she bought tickets to the concert the first day they went on sale. She headed west Friday with her parents and a friend.

Quotable: “We drove from Spokane to Ellensburg yesterday and another 21/2 hours today.”