Peter Jurassik (of Babylon 5) was suppose to host but he wasn't feeling well. Peter David and George Perez filled instead. I must confess, not being a comic book fan, I had no idea who they were. They didn't seem to establish a good relationship with the audience nor did the handle several audio problems well. Several acts were so awful they got booed off the stage: All these two could come up with was, "What, the Hell, was that?" Luckily were weren't there to see them, because the costumes and skits were awesome.
Anne Brunsgaard won for Best Fantasy Costume for her interpretation of the Snow Queen. It was an amazing feather piece.
The judges kept asking the contestants if they made their costumes themselves. Leah Levin who won for Best Star Wars came onstage in a beautiful red Princess Amidala outfit carrying a live baby, which was explained to be the newborn baby Luke. When the emcee announced - "Yes, she made it herself - even the baby" her victory was assured.
But the best part was a Star Wars spoof called Star Wars - the Sith Who Shagged Me. These guys had no idea how funny they were or how good their costumes looked. When they left the stage there was a standing ovation and everyone was chanting and bowing over and over. They could have ended the evening there. Throughout the remaining contestants, chants of "Evil - Evil - Evil (As in Dr. Evil)" could be heard.The funniest was "Devil in a Blue Dress", which consisted of nothing more than a fat guy, painted red, dancing to the song of the same name - I ran out of batteries when I tried to take his picture - a big loss for us all.
Shag Me - An Interview with Steve DeVore - Dr. Evil of "The Sith Who Shagged Me"
Obey Me - An Interview with Leah Levin - Best Star Wars costume: "Queen Amidala and Luke"Cool Off - All about the Snow Queen
During the break, while the judges were totaling up the votes, we were entertained by the singing of Julie Caitlan Brown and Maggie Egan, both of whom were regulars on Babylon 5. I really enjoyed their singing. Apparently Maggie isn't an actor but a professional singer. She did the TV Announcer - Jane Nostlastname - in Babylon 5 as an audio role that turned into an on screen slot. Lucky for her!
After the awards were given out we waited hours for the bands to be allowed to start - How totally lame.
In Atlanta - July 4th is celebrated with a morning race called the Peachtree Run. It's a 6K road race run mostly on Peachtree street in downtown Atlanta. It was really amusing to ride the train into town with all these people in running outfits. When I got off and looked around - I saw the most interesting mixture of jocks, goths, and spectators coming in with their children for the parade. What a sight!
Of course, once people started checking out of their rooms, the convention was over. I didn't expect there to be many people in costume. Who wants to travel home in costume anyway. Still there were a few nice things to see and do.
 | Peter David, who hosted the costume contest has written episodes for TV and drawn several comics including the incredible Hulk. A saw him on Sunday with John De Lancie performing a reading from the new Q book. Although I'm not a big Q fan I guess I'll buy the book now. It sounds really funny. |
 | It was 11am in the morning. Claudia Christian was trying to look awake, but none of us were. |
 | The ever beautiful and happy Yvonne Craig of Batgirl, Star Trek, and Elvis movie fame. |
The last stop before going home was the Ed Kramer wrap-up panel. Ed offered some information about the Con, some observations, some information about next year, and answered questions.
This year was the largest ever DragonCon - 20,000 people. Ed says that they think that is probably the limit this facility can hold, so next year they will stop selling tickets at that number.
In 2000 everything will be in the Hyatt and adjoining Marriott Hotel - No more apparel mart. People won't have to leave the building. However there is another convention in the hotel and only 600 rooms will be available for DragonCon - book early!
The contests will be broadcast live on the hotel close-circuit TV so more people can enjoy the shows.
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| Started July 2, 1999 © 2001 Stefan Oestreicher [email protected] Updated Jan. 26, 2001 |  |
