Gettin' Up Close and Personal

A strange thing happened at the Xena convention in Cherry Hill; we did not take the hotel. Last year, the Hilton's lobby, lounge, and restaurant were full morning, noon, and night with Xena people. Not so this year. We were a much smaller group, and space was given way to the heart surgeons and the wedding receptions.

But on the good side, and maybe because we were a smaller group, we got a lot more interaction time with the guest stars. Creation was less strict about contact with the guests. Stars were staying at the same hotel; lobby and elevator run-ins were frequent. Gone were the dorky costumed security guards; the only security people in the autograph lines were volunteers to keep lines from getting tangled. The attitude was a world of difference.

I had a fantastic time lounging and yapping with fellow fans, but that's not the part y'all care about. Here's the scoop on what each of the guests had to say over the weekend:

Sharon Delaney (Fan club president)


Robert Trebor (Salmoneus)


Claire Stansfield (Alti)


Bruce Campbell (Autolycus)


Jacqueline Kim (Lao Ma)


Breakfast with the Stars


Creation cut back on the number of music videos, which I was just as happy about. They started each day by showing the Renee O'Connor introduction that will be put on the fan club #3 package. It's a cute piece done in her season five costume, with a leather patchwork duster. Renee says hi, introduces bloopers to come, then provides a few of her own, including the director's voice telling her to start while she's stretching against a table, the director again telling her it's a wrap, and a convincing pratfall on her way out the set door. The new bloopers were not shown, though (bummers!).

The dealer's room is ever-growing: tons of shirts and photos, lots of knick-knacks (toy Xena swords sold out in the first few hours), and a hefty table of expensive, elaborately-framed autographs, chakrams, and statuettes. Going to a convention is starting to become like going to Vegas: don't leave your hotel room with more money than you're willing to lose.

Creation had a new video: a 40-minute show of the ten favorite scenes from Xena, based on Internet votes. The show was fun - it was great to listen to a few hundred people scream each time Gab struck a guard in Ides - although sadly it had a lot of video problems that hurt the mood. A very quick-witted person started whistling the "Joxer the Mighty" theme while Creation people scrambled to fix troubles. The ten favorite scenes were (and I'm trying to keep these descriptions generic in case people haven't seen the episodes yet):

10	Between the Lines: the mehndi painting & action mehndi poses
9	Ides of March: the final battle
8	Altared States: stoned Gab in the cave
7	Bitter Suite: the "Forgive Me" song
6	A Day in the Life: the hot tub scene
5	Callisto: the campfire scene
4	Ides of March: the prison scenes
3	One Against an Army: Gab's vision & the "even in death" speech
2	The Quest: the kiss (when this started, someone behind me asked in disbelief "then what's number one?")
1	Doctor in the House: the CPR scene ("Ohhh.")

All told, everyone got a much better chance to rub elbows with the guests than in conventions past, and I didn't see too much fan monkey business going on. Folks mostly kept their requests quick and respectful, so hopefully Creation isn't regretting those policy changes.

Return to the Rate-A-Xena scrapbook.

	Web www.bethgriese.com