Hi everyone!  I just wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself.  I’m Jill and I’ve been a huge fan of Idina’s for a long time.  You can read a little more about me here.  I’m very excited to be working on this page now but please bear with me as I learn my way around!  If you ever have any suggestions, comments, tips, or new pictures to share in the awesome gallery, send me a message at Jill[at]idina-here.com!

And now on to more exciting things — another concert!  Idina will be performing her 32nd show on this symphony tour (if I counted that correctly) with the Utah Symphony in Park City on July 30th.  Fan pre-sale information can be found at the official site.

Hey everyone! I want to take a minute to make an important announcement about this site.

No, don’t panic! It’s not going anywhere! I, however, am. The time has come for me to gracefully bow out of maintaining Idina-Here. I have loved every minute of it, and am grateful to Kim, the site’s creator, for entrusting me with this jewel. Don’t you fret, though; I’m not leaving the Idina fandom – not even close! (I know you were all worried, right?) I’ll be getting more involved with the official side of things, and I look forward to being able to use everything I’ve learned from this site and all the fans I’ve met and talked to over the last four years to shake things up a bit.

So, what becomes of Idina-Here if I’m departing? Just as Kim passed the “torch” to me, I am passing it to my dear friend – and the source of nearly all the videos added in recent years – Jill. She’ll handle everything from here on out (Twitter, tumblr, Formspring, etc), so any questions about the site that you’d normally ask me, come Monday, she’s your gal! Her contact information and bio will be added this weekend.

Thank you, Jill, for taking over this project. I know you’ll do it justice.

Over and out,
♥ Erin

This is pretty much one of those annoying self-promotion posts. I apologize, but I’m competitive, so…

Nominations are currently open for the Shorty Awards, an award that honors the best in social media, aka Twitter. It’s an actual award “show,” judged by an academy after public nominations are complete. There’s even a ceremony in NYC and winners get a legit award and everything (acceptance speeches have to be 140 characters or less!).

So if you love this site, and think that we have effectively utilized Twitter to deliver top-notch, relevant, and breaking news about Idina, then I ask for your vote. And hey, there might be something in it for you, too!

To nominate the site, simply tweet the following:

I nominate @idina_here for a Shorty Award in #fansite because [your reason].

That’s it! Everyone who votes for us is eligible to win an autographed photo of Idina. You do not need to vote more than once, as votes are not counted multiple times by the Shorties, and thusly won’t be counted by us (though if you already have multiple Twitter accounts, feel free!). Nominations (and contest entries) are accepted through January 31, 2011. I’ll pick a winner at random from all tweeted nominations on February 1. If you voted for us prior to reading this, don’t worry, your vote still counts for the contest!

The Top 6 nominees become finalists, and from that point they are reviewed and voted on by the Real-Time Academy, and winners are chosen. If we happen to win (which would be awesome!), I’ll come up with an kickass prize to give away.

So, crossies!

Congratulations to Vicki! She correctly named all 20 songs and was drawn as the winner of our NAME THAT TUNE contest and will receive an autographed photo of Idina! I know a few lyrics really stumped some of you, so here are the answers for your peace of mind:

1. What If (Rhydian)
2. Let Me Fall (I Stand)
3. Take Me or Leave Me (RENT)
4. No Good Deed (Wicked)
5. You’d Be Surprised (Here)
6. Don’t Let Me Down (I Stand)
7. It Only Hurts When I Breathe (Joe’s Pub)
8. I Will Be There (Ray Charles)
9. Take A Bow (Elaine Paige)
10. Minuet (Still I Can’t Be Still)
11. Coffee (See What I Wanna See)
12. I Dreamed a Dream (Glee)
13. Straw Into Gold (Still I Can’t Be Still)
14. Look At Me Now (The Wild Party)
15. Butterfly (2009 Tour)
16. Endgame #3/Chess #3 (Chess in Concert)
17. Jealous (Joe’s Pub)
18. Forever (I Stand)
19. Damsel In Distress (Desperate Housewives)
20. Rise Up (Live Performances)

We’ll have more contests in the nearish future, so good luck for the next one!

This past week we held a Contest Idea Contest on Twitter to come up with some new ideas for contests to kick off the New Year! I picked Sarah’s suggestion to have a lyric contest. For her winning idea, she will receive an autographed photo of Idina. And now it’s your turn to have a chance to win one as well!

THE CONTEST

- Name That Tune!

THE HOW-TO

- Correctly identify the song title to which the following lyrics belong.
- Email the list of titles to contest[at]idina-here.com with NAME THAT TUNE in the subject line.
- Songs are not limited to Idina’s solo studio recordings, but she does sing every line listed.
- Pretty much all of the lyrics can be found on this site!

01. Would you take the chance and make the change
02. I swear this isn’t who I’m meant to be
03. So be kind and don’t lose your mind
04. One question haunts and hurts
05. It’s you who brings me peace
06. If time stood on its head
07. Let’s have a drink, I won’t bite
08. Guess I was just a fool, the way I treated you
09. All the world loves a clown
10. I’d like to have babies with you
11. Ouch, right?
12. But the tigers come at night
13. Leaping Rumplestiltskin’s wall
14. I’ve been pillowed and paid
15. She’s the rain on your tongue
16. I tried to be that cynical but blew it
17. You won’t be running back to this life I’m living
18. Too much has been said
19. I’ve got tasty treats to tempt you
20. I know it’s you who’ll shelter me

THE RULES

- You have until January 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm ET to enter.
- Contest is open to everyone of all ages and in all countries.
- Winner will receive one (1) 8″x10″ photo autographed by Idina Menzel.
- Winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries. Selection will be made January 6, 2011 and notified at that time. Winner must accept prize within 24 hours by responding to notification e-mail and providing the requested information. If winner does not respond, another will be chosen at random, and so on, until the prize is accepted. The winner will be announced on Twitter and this site upon confirmed acceptance.
- Questions? Comment!

Idina popped up on Entertainment Tonight tonight in a clip about her Dove mentoring involvement! Check it out below. Thanks to Jill for the vid!

“Entertainment Tonight” – December 31, 2010
Description: A segment covering Idina’s mentoring of the Dove Sing4All winners.
Time: 0:37 | Size: 7.5 MB
© ET
Format: .m4v
[ DOWNLOAD ] | [ YOUTUBE ]

By the way, come back tomorrow for a new contest to win a photo signed by Idina!

Idina’s [brief] appearance on this morning’s Good Day New York has been added to our video archive.

“Good Day New York” – December 29, 2010
Description: A segment covering Idina’s mentoring of the Dove Sing4All winners.
Time: 2:47 | Size: 19.2 MB
© NY Fox5
Format: .flv
[ DOWNLOAD ] | [ STREAM ]

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday this year! Here are a couple “new” videos for your viewing pleasure. First, the official RENT Facebook page posted a video of Idina singing “Minuet” on VH1, back in 1998. Second, the Dove contest is over, so her final contest video was posted to Dove’s Facebook page. Stream and download below and enjoy!

VH1′s Midnight Minute – 1998
Description: Idina sings 60 seconds of “Minuet,” a cappella.
Time: 1:08 | Size: 6.5 MB
© VH1
Format: .mp4
[ DOWNLOAD ] | [ STREAM ]

“Dove Brush With Greatness Sing 4 All” – December 2010
Description: Idina partnered with Dove to promote their “My Favorite Things” singing contest.
Time: 1:01 | Size: 6.3 MB
© Dove
Format: .flv
[ DOWNLOAD ] | [ STREAM ]

Since launching our official Twitter in July 2009, we have earned nearly 2,000 followers – wow! In celebration of this (and to push us over that awesome benchmark), we are announcing a Twitter contest which begins the moment you are reading this!

THE CONTEST

- Get your friends to follow @idina_here!

THE HOW-TO

- Ask your followers, friends, and family to follow @idina_here.
- They must tweet @idina_here with the message, “I’m following @idina_here because [your Twitter name] told me to!”
For example: “I’m following @idina_here because @idinamenzel told me to!”
- Whoever gets the most users following us wins an autographed 8×10 photo of Idina!

THE RULES

- You must have a Twitter account and follow @idina_here.
- Those who begin to follow @idina_here at your request must continue to do so until November 23 at 11:59 pm ET (though really, why would they want to unfollow?).
- You have until November 23, at 11:59 pm ET to encourage your friends to follow. Followers after this deadline will not be counted (but will be welcomed!).
- If they fail to include your Twitter name in their “I’m following…” Tweet, it will not be counted (because we won’t be able to!).
- Contest is open to everyone of all ages and in all countries.
- Winner will be determined by number of followers crediting a single user for following. If there is a tie, a random drawing will take place. Selection will be made November 24, 2010 and notified at that time. Winner must accept prize within 24 hours by responding to notification Tweet and providing the requested information. If winner does not respond, another will be chosen from the next-highest number of followers, and so on, until the prize is accepted. The winner will be announced on Twitter upon confirmed acceptance.

After going through a ton of entries, the winner of our 5th anniversary Here giveaway contest is Natalie A. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who participated. We had over a hundred entries, awesome! I know there were a few tough questions in the contest, so here are the answers. I’ve also linked them to where on the site they can be found for those who were stumped.

Part I: Trivia
- Where was the first concert held in which Idina performed “Here?”
The Zipper Theatre, New York City

- What was Here‘s release date?
February 10, 2004

- Who was the photographer of the Here album cover?
Fabrice Trombert [It's the name of the album!]

Part II: Scavenger Hunt
- The first image ever added to the photo gallery


- The most viewed image in the photo gallery


- Your favorite picture of Idina (just for funsies, no right or wrong answer!)

Part III: Finish That Quote
- “Make love to the chair.”
(Late Late Show w/ Craig Ferguson, 3/2/06)

- “I am so proud to be in a musical that celebrates women.”
(2004 Tony Awards acceptance speech)


- “We will not tolerate hate any longer.”
(We Give A Damn campaign ad)


- “We do it in the shower. Everybody does it, you know. I just do it for a living.”
(Manny the Movie Guy’s Enchanted interview)


- “Don’t take the L.I.E., it’s bumpada bumpada traffic.”
(Late Late Show w/ Craig Ferguson, 3/2/06)


- “[My husband's] not with me on the tour, so I have to cuddle with myself.”
(Late Late Show w/ Craig Ferguson, 8/4/08)


- “When I sing, do people die?”
(This Morning, October 13, 2008)


- “Hi, I’m Idina. I’m Taye Diggs’ wife and I’m my own self.”
(Live w/ Regis & Kelly, March 10, 2006)


- “It’s okay to be who you are, and it’s okay to be figuring it out.”
(AOL Sessions interview)


- “A kielbasa’s a sausage, isn’t it?! Well, I can play that too! Hullo!”
(Wedding Singer Days stories)

Also, BroadwayWorld has [finally] released video footage from Idina’s “Tweet Up” last week! Watch it below.

Twitter Conference – October 13, 2010
Description: Idina meets w/ NYC tweeters/bloggers to promote her symphony tour.
Time: 10:34 | Size: 92.7 MB
© BroadwayWorld
Format: .m4v
[ DOWNLOAD ] | [ STREAM ] | photos