Katie, Angel and Johnny at the London Expo October 25th
This isn't so much a report as an impression and let me get this out of the way first; unfortunately I don't have pictures and this is why:
So yeah. loreley_se and I had decided not to try and get to the Expo as early as we'd originally planned so we arrived about 10 minutes before the doors opened for the early ticket holders. When the doors opened the line went very quickly so it didn't really matter that we were last in line, especially because when we got inside and went to the information desk to ask where we could queue for autograph tickets for Katie and Angel they said: 'Oh, you want Merlin tickets? Here you go...' and we got nrs. 40 and 41. The lady at the desk thought that there was no queuing this time because they opened later than last time (???), we thought it had something to do with the boys not being there, but what do we know ;p
Anyway, since everything had went so quickly we now had almost 4 hours to kill until the panel. We walked around the Expo looking at all the Merlin merchandise that wasn't there. Twice. Honestly, whoever is responsible for promoting the show, someone should wake them up! We searched for the Geek Syndicate people but couldn't find them either even though we had a map and everything. At some point we met up with bigtitch, which was nice. We had some snacks and coffee and water and amused ourselves looking at all the dressed up people, some of whom were very much in character. Lots of people with 'free hugs' signs, some of whom were very picky about who to show their signs to, hahahah!
At 13.15 we went to the stage because the Warehouse 13 people were on next and we thought we might as well see them plus be there in time for Katie, Angel and Johnny. It was clear that a lot of the people in the audience were doing the same thing as we did.
Next came on the same host as we had in May. Lovely and enthusiastic guy that one! And since they didn't have Bradley with his camera, they had someone specifically to record the event. We were asked to stand up and shout 'We love Merlin!' so it could be filmed for the behind the scenes footage. Not a lot of encouragement was required for that part; there was a decent crowd, all clearly there for Merlin specifically and we were more than willing to shout a bit for our show, so that was fun :D
Then came Angel, Katie and Johnny to loud cheers. Now I must say the acoustics were even worse than last time because the stage was set up in such a way that the room was bigger and I think also higher, the stage was a little further to the back, which also made for worse light and there was more scaffolding and such in the way. Not an ideal situation to hear what was being said and/or making pictures, so what I'm jotting down here is just what I think was being said:
- We got a general trailer to start with, a trailer for the next episode somewhere halfway the panel and the panel closed with yet another trailer. I tried not looking at those because I don't like to be spoiled too much so I'm avoiding trailers and previews.
- Johnny answered most of the questions and it looked like the girls were quite happy to have him do this. Katie was talkative though and Angel as per usual the most quiet, but at least she said more than with the boys there.
- When talk came to the whole situation with Gwen, Lancelot and Arthur, Katie remarked, 'what's wrong with a girl snogging two different guys?!' Hahaha! I loved how that came out and how she started giggling right after going, 'oh boy, I'm going to get into trouble for this'.
- There were quite a bit of questions we've already had a couple of times such as, 'who is most like their character' and when Angel got all backtracking when pointing out Gwen's good and noble character, saying she wasn't as sweet and nice as Gwen, Johnny added 'And obviously Angel is modest like Gwen'.
- Angel's favorite cheese is Dutch cheese (hey, I'm Dutch, so that stuck out for me!).
- In the series Arthur is supposed to be 21, Gwen the same age although behaving a bit more mature, Katie is supposed to be the oldest of all four, and we didn't get Merlin's age :(
- Katie got some sort of candy (jelly bears/beans?) from a fan to whom she'd said at an earlier occasion that she loved those.
- Katie said she once got a bottle of Merlin liquor which she still has.
- According to Johnny the girls keep asking the writers to put in more fight-scenes, because they love doing those.
- Angel thought maybe Lancelot would fit better with Gwen because they're more on the same social level but she would be more attracted to Arthur because of the good heart she sees in him (to which I thought, 'but Lancelot has a good heart too!').
- When asked how Arthur will react when he finds out about Merlin's magic Johnny obviously said he couldn't answer that question because he didn't want to give it away.
- When asked if Merlin would get a love interest Johnny said to keep watching the show (the person asking obviously hasn't seen the trailers or has read/seen all of the interviews).
- There was a question about the beer cans on the table in episode 2x4 and Johnny said this could either be a wink at the observant fans or something they missed in their hurry to get the episode ready. It was up to us to decide which it was.
- On that note; last Saturday's episode (2x5) had been rushed to the BBC on Friday evening, that's how close it gets sometimes.
- Apparently a lot of discussion goes into the names of the characters. They try to come up with names from the Arthur or related mythology that have something to do with the actual character (so the names are picked deliberately) and they also try and pick names they can pronounce.
- They had a great time discussing just how disgusting the troll was supposed to be and what the farts should sound like and such.
- The girls were asked if they had any advice for someone who aspires a career in acting. Katie said that most of all you have to be passionate about what you do, because it's more hard work than glamor. Angel said 'don't do it for the money', which Katie agreed with. They also said you have to be able to take a lot of rejection because auditioning is tough and nerve-wrecking. Johnny added to this that it's important to have a tough skin, but also not lose your sensitivity because that's essential for the acting. That it's important to find a balance in that.
- Katie complimented someone one their beautiful Morgana dress.
- When asked if the boys pulled a lot of pranks on the girls, Katie and Angel mostly looked at each other sniggering and Johnny said they managed to keep Bradley in check quite nicely.
- Should something else come to my mind later on I'll add it to this list with a + instead of a -
+ For those aspiring a career in acting Katie also adviced going to drama-school.
+ I made a 15 second clip of Angel and Katie arriving at the panel and then I stopped filming because I had to get myself and my camera up so high I was getting in the way of the people behind me and that just seemed too rude. So here it is at YouTube and in case someone wants it a download at MegaUpload (.avi, 16 MB).
When the panel was over everyone left for the autographs. There were two girls behind us who didn't have tickets but when they found out they needed them one of 'm could go to the information desk and still get them. Somewhere in front of us the camera man was filming and interviewing one of the queuing fans. Merlin sticker books were handed out to the kids in the row. mrs_leary joined us after she had gotten her autographs so we got a chance to chat while waiting. During the signing there was no room for pics because the queue was set up in such a way you couldn't see the table and you only saw them when you got around the corner and then you were already there. We got a promotional picture to get signed and were allowed to let them sign one personal item. I hadn't brought any because I thought it would be the same as in May, so I asked Angel and Katie to sign my backpack, which they did :D
I have a whole bunch of buttons and stuff pinned to my backpack and hanging from it (all people I fangirl and/or admire) and Katie checked them out and then said she loved one particularly. It's a big button with this picture. It's Jan Wolkers, a Dutch writer and artist, with his wife and muse Karina.
So that was that. I quite enjoyed the panel and I'm very pleased that even though Bradley and Colin weren't there it drew quite a crowd and Johnny, Katie and Angel must have felt the love.
We walked and talked a bit more but then I had to leave to make sure I would get to Heathrow in time so loreley_se and I had to say goodbye to mrs_leary and it was train, underground, bus, saying goodbye to loreley_se and some more underground to catch my plane.
A nice conclusion to a lovely and relaxed weekend :D
So yeah. loreley_se and I had decided not to try and get to the Expo as early as we'd originally planned so we arrived about 10 minutes before the doors opened for the early ticket holders. When the doors opened the line went very quickly so it didn't really matter that we were last in line, especially because when we got inside and went to the information desk to ask where we could queue for autograph tickets for Katie and Angel they said: 'Oh, you want Merlin tickets? Here you go...' and we got nrs. 40 and 41. The lady at the desk thought that there was no queuing this time because they opened later than last time (???), we thought it had something to do with the boys not being there, but what do we know ;p
Anyway, since everything had went so quickly we now had almost 4 hours to kill until the panel. We walked around the Expo looking at all the Merlin merchandise that wasn't there. Twice. Honestly, whoever is responsible for promoting the show, someone should wake them up! We searched for the Geek Syndicate people but couldn't find them either even though we had a map and everything. At some point we met up with bigtitch, which was nice. We had some snacks and coffee and water and amused ourselves looking at all the dressed up people, some of whom were very much in character. Lots of people with 'free hugs' signs, some of whom were very picky about who to show their signs to, hahahah!
At 13.15 we went to the stage because the Warehouse 13 people were on next and we thought we might as well see them plus be there in time for Katie, Angel and Johnny. It was clear that a lot of the people in the audience were doing the same thing as we did.
Next came on the same host as we had in May. Lovely and enthusiastic guy that one! And since they didn't have Bradley with his camera, they had someone specifically to record the event. We were asked to stand up and shout 'We love Merlin!' so it could be filmed for the behind the scenes footage. Not a lot of encouragement was required for that part; there was a decent crowd, all clearly there for Merlin specifically and we were more than willing to shout a bit for our show, so that was fun :D
Then came Angel, Katie and Johnny to loud cheers. Now I must say the acoustics were even worse than last time because the stage was set up in such a way that the room was bigger and I think also higher, the stage was a little further to the back, which also made for worse light and there was more scaffolding and such in the way. Not an ideal situation to hear what was being said and/or making pictures, so what I'm jotting down here is just what I think was being said:
- We got a general trailer to start with, a trailer for the next episode somewhere halfway the panel and the panel closed with yet another trailer. I tried not looking at those because I don't like to be spoiled too much so I'm avoiding trailers and previews.
- Johnny answered most of the questions and it looked like the girls were quite happy to have him do this. Katie was talkative though and Angel as per usual the most quiet, but at least she said more than with the boys there.
- When talk came to the whole situation with Gwen, Lancelot and Arthur, Katie remarked, 'what's wrong with a girl snogging two different guys?!' Hahaha! I loved how that came out and how she started giggling right after going, 'oh boy, I'm going to get into trouble for this'.
- There were quite a bit of questions we've already had a couple of times such as, 'who is most like their character' and when Angel got all backtracking when pointing out Gwen's good and noble character, saying she wasn't as sweet and nice as Gwen, Johnny added 'And obviously Angel is modest like Gwen'.
- Angel's favorite cheese is Dutch cheese (hey, I'm Dutch, so that stuck out for me!).
- In the series Arthur is supposed to be 21, Gwen the same age although behaving a bit more mature, Katie is supposed to be the oldest of all four, and we didn't get Merlin's age :(
- Katie got some sort of candy (jelly bears/beans?) from a fan to whom she'd said at an earlier occasion that she loved those.
- Katie said she once got a bottle of Merlin liquor which she still has.
- According to Johnny the girls keep asking the writers to put in more fight-scenes, because they love doing those.
- Angel thought maybe Lancelot would fit better with Gwen because they're more on the same social level but she would be more attracted to Arthur because of the good heart she sees in him (to which I thought, 'but Lancelot has a good heart too!').
- When asked how Arthur will react when he finds out about Merlin's magic Johnny obviously said he couldn't answer that question because he didn't want to give it away.
- When asked if Merlin would get a love interest Johnny said to keep watching the show (the person asking obviously hasn't seen the trailers or has read/seen all of the interviews).
- There was a question about the beer cans on the table in episode 2x4 and Johnny said this could either be a wink at the observant fans or something they missed in their hurry to get the episode ready. It was up to us to decide which it was.
- On that note; last Saturday's episode (2x5) had been rushed to the BBC on Friday evening, that's how close it gets sometimes.
- Apparently a lot of discussion goes into the names of the characters. They try to come up with names from the Arthur or related mythology that have something to do with the actual character (so the names are picked deliberately) and they also try and pick names they can pronounce.
- They had a great time discussing just how disgusting the troll was supposed to be and what the farts should sound like and such.
- The girls were asked if they had any advice for someone who aspires a career in acting. Katie said that most of all you have to be passionate about what you do, because it's more hard work than glamor. Angel said 'don't do it for the money', which Katie agreed with. They also said you have to be able to take a lot of rejection because auditioning is tough and nerve-wrecking. Johnny added to this that it's important to have a tough skin, but also not lose your sensitivity because that's essential for the acting. That it's important to find a balance in that.
- Katie complimented someone one their beautiful Morgana dress.
- When asked if the boys pulled a lot of pranks on the girls, Katie and Angel mostly looked at each other sniggering and Johnny said they managed to keep Bradley in check quite nicely.
- Should something else come to my mind later on I'll add it to this list with a + instead of a -
+ For those aspiring a career in acting Katie also adviced going to drama-school.
+ I made a 15 second clip of Angel and Katie arriving at the panel and then I stopped filming because I had to get myself and my camera up so high I was getting in the way of the people behind me and that just seemed too rude. So here it is at YouTube and in case someone wants it a download at MegaUpload (.avi, 16 MB).
When the panel was over everyone left for the autographs. There were two girls behind us who didn't have tickets but when they found out they needed them one of 'm could go to the information desk and still get them. Somewhere in front of us the camera man was filming and interviewing one of the queuing fans. Merlin sticker books were handed out to the kids in the row. mrs_leary joined us after she had gotten her autographs so we got a chance to chat while waiting. During the signing there was no room for pics because the queue was set up in such a way you couldn't see the table and you only saw them when you got around the corner and then you were already there. We got a promotional picture to get signed and were allowed to let them sign one personal item. I hadn't brought any because I thought it would be the same as in May, so I asked Angel and Katie to sign my backpack, which they did :D
I have a whole bunch of buttons and stuff pinned to my backpack and hanging from it (all people I fangirl and/or admire) and Katie checked them out and then said she loved one particularly. It's a big button with this picture. It's Jan Wolkers, a Dutch writer and artist, with his wife and muse Karina.
So that was that. I quite enjoyed the panel and I'm very pleased that even though Bradley and Colin weren't there it drew quite a crowd and Johnny, Katie and Angel must have felt the love.
We walked and talked a bit more but then I had to leave to make sure I would get to Heathrow in time so loreley_se and I had to say goodbye to mrs_leary and it was train, underground, bus, saying goodbye to loreley_se and some more underground to catch my plane.
A nice conclusion to a lovely and relaxed weekend :D