Happy is the fandom in the land of Oz
So today was the second full day of Supanova and the Colin Morgan panel, and it was absolutely fantastic.
vissy and I actually lined up for the panel before Colin's, not wanting to experience the hour-long wait in the sun that had characterised the Billy Boyd session, and then we just let everyone go past us and ended up close to the front (we weren't the only ones doing the sneaky clever thing!) We ended up with an excellent view, in the third row (the first two were reserved for the people who paid VIP prices, ie, hundreds). Alas, they only let us take photos for the first five minutes and only without flash, so the shots I managed to get were pretty grainy. But Colin was in great form; he was funny and relaxed and chatty. I'm sure many of you have already heard about the giant "You're the Voice' singalong (which did make me cringe a wee bit) so here are the few really interesting highlights for me:
- Someone asked about how musical he was. He said he'd pretty much picked up and played any instrument he could ever since he was a kid, drums, piano, accordion - I think he said his mum had, or had given him, a Casio keyboard? He never learned the notes, but played what he heard and said "imitation is an actor's passion". But he said he had a problem with singing and it was an issue for him at drama school.
- a wee little girl asked if he was going out with Katie & he said "no we're not"
- he said the best scene he'd filmed with Bradley was the most iconic Merlin & Arthur moment from the legends, which has been referenced before in the show, but hasn't screened yet.
- he did a very cute imitation of a horse trying to mess with his head and buck him off :)
- He can speak cat! He and cats connect on the cosmic level :)
- He had many good things to say about Catherine Tate - she's brilliant, incredibly funny, he couldn't say enough good things about her
- Someone asked about the props and whether he'd got to take any home; he said the thing he wants most is the little wooden dragon Balinor made for Merlin, and the thing he has is a prop from 4.04 - "you can fry it, boil it, poach it... and it's MINE."
- He says the finale of this season is phenomenal and he doesn't know how they'll get out of it.
- There was a "truth or dare" - he was dared to do ten sit-ups and had to hitch up his jeans before he did so :)
- and I transcribed this bit from the rather awful audio I recorded (so there is a word missing or muffed here and there) because I thought it showed how happy it made him and I know rodneyscat will like it :) As he was saying goodbye Colin said "I've had a chance to speak to most of you with the signing and the photos... And you really really have exceeded the expectations of what the Australian fans are like, you've represented your country absolutely fantastically... You've made me so at home and so welcome, it really is an honour, so thank you so much once again, you're all brilliant!" And I think he really meant it; he really did seem so genuinely pleased and happy and bowled over. At one point he commented about all the love in the room. So many hearts from everyone!!!
In short: Colin happy. Fans happy. He spread the joy around, and it was good.
vissy and I actually lined up for the panel before Colin's, not wanting to experience the hour-long wait in the sun that had characterised the Billy Boyd session, and then we just let everyone go past us and ended up close to the front (we weren't the only ones doing the sneaky clever thing!) We ended up with an excellent view, in the third row (the first two were reserved for the people who paid VIP prices, ie, hundreds). Alas, they only let us take photos for the first five minutes and only without flash, so the shots I managed to get were pretty grainy. But Colin was in great form; he was funny and relaxed and chatty. I'm sure many of you have already heard about the giant "You're the Voice' singalong (which did make me cringe a wee bit) so here are the few really interesting highlights for me:
- Someone asked about how musical he was. He said he'd pretty much picked up and played any instrument he could ever since he was a kid, drums, piano, accordion - I think he said his mum had, or had given him, a Casio keyboard? He never learned the notes, but played what he heard and said "imitation is an actor's passion". But he said he had a problem with singing and it was an issue for him at drama school.
- a wee little girl asked if he was going out with Katie & he said "no we're not"
- he said the best scene he'd filmed with Bradley was the most iconic Merlin & Arthur moment from the legends, which has been referenced before in the show, but hasn't screened yet.
- he did a very cute imitation of a horse trying to mess with his head and buck him off :)
- He can speak cat! He and cats connect on the cosmic level :)
- He had many good things to say about Catherine Tate - she's brilliant, incredibly funny, he couldn't say enough good things about her
- Someone asked about the props and whether he'd got to take any home; he said the thing he wants most is the little wooden dragon Balinor made for Merlin, and the thing he has is a prop from 4.04 - "you can fry it, boil it, poach it... and it's MINE."
- He says the finale of this season is phenomenal and he doesn't know how they'll get out of it.
- There was a "truth or dare" - he was dared to do ten sit-ups and had to hitch up his jeans before he did so :)
- and I transcribed this bit from the rather awful audio I recorded (so there is a word missing or muffed here and there) because I thought it showed how happy it made him and I know rodneyscat will like it :) As he was saying goodbye Colin said "I've had a chance to speak to most of you with the signing and the photos... And you really really have exceeded the expectations of what the Australian fans are like, you've represented your country absolutely fantastically... You've made me so at home and so welcome, it really is an honour, so thank you so much once again, you're all brilliant!" And I think he really meant it; he really did seem so genuinely pleased and happy and bowled over. At one point he commented about all the love in the room. So many hearts from everyone!!!
In short: Colin happy. Fans happy. He spread the joy around, and it was good.