Mari was at the opening cermony along with the other guests. She had two concerts, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each concert was followed by an autograph session. There was a Q & A session scheduled for Sunday morning, but it had to be cancelled when the hotel gave the room to another convention prematurely.
Mari was introduced at the opening ceremony, and said a few words to her fans.
Mari's concert began at noon. It was held in the theater at the Santa Clara convention center, and the stadium seating ensured that everyone had a good view. In an effort to minimize lines, the Fanime staff had tickets printed which were handed out in the morning. The line for tickets started forming two hours before they were handed out, and another line formed outside the theater.
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The concert began with No Limit and More than yesterday. Next Mari sang Love of My Life, a song by Queen.
Next she sang Kiss on the Forehead, a song from her first album. The Japanese title is odeko ni kiss. She next sang Friends. The recorded version has Tomo Sakurai singing also, but I thought that this solo version was better--probably because Mari is a better singer. :-)
After singing Friends, Mari said that Andy had practiced something to play, and called him up to the stage. He played a piece from a game called Zelda on the piano. He did a good job, especially for his age, and the audience cheered loudly.
Finally, Mari sang her piano version of Ai Oboeteimasuka. She invited the audience to sing along if they know the lyrics. Someone in the audience called out, "we'd rather hear you!"
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As soon as the concert ended, Mari went to another room for an autograph session. She also sold CDs, T-shirts, and concert booklets.
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Mari's second concert was also held at noon, in the same theater.
Mari started by playing a piano piece, followed by No Limit and More than yesterday.
Next she sang Cinderella. This song was used in Macross, both the TV series and the movie.
After that Mari sang Blueberry Jam, another song from Rosé. She had the audience sing along to the chorus, which consisted of the words "blueberry jam". Finally, she sang Friends and Ai Oboeteimasuka. After that, she called Andy and Ryan up to the stage, and they sang When the saints go marching in.
The panel scheduled for that morning had been cancelled because of a hotel mixup, so Mari answered a few questions from the audience after her concert. Here's a summary of what she had to say:
After the concert, a table was set up on the stage and Mari gave autographs and sold CDs in the theater. She posed for pictures with many of the fans, including Hello Kitty.
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