L3 aka Dykefest

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I was sat at my computer last week trying to put off starting an essay for uni when Toni called to ask if I fancied covering the L word convention that weekend in Blackpool. After thinking long and hard about it, for a whole 3 seconds, I eagerly agreed and started planning for the weekend ahead, trawling websites, fishing out back series of the show and phoning everyone possible to share my excitement.

I had heard rumours that Leisha's band Uh Huh Her were going to kick off the event on Friday with a live performance and it turned out to be true. They invited a member of the audience to play the "air drums" on stage as they don’t have a drummer yet. I'm sure more that one person saw that as an opportunity and went home to practice with wooden spoons on their pots and pans.

The L Word - L3 - Blackpool

The convention itself was fairly well organised, to my astonishment there were about 1500 gorgeous girls, a sufficient amount to keep me attentive throughout the weekend! The event was hosted by Adrienne Wilkinson, one of the stars of Xena: Warrior princess, she did a great job of entertaining us.

From the L word cast there were Erin Daniels (Dana - yes, she is really alive!), Kate Moennig (Shane), Laurel Holloman (Tina), Leisha Hailey (Alice), and Eric Mabius (Tim, and star of Ugly Betty). What a transformation from their on screen characters! Kate had longer hair, Erin was blonde, Leisha was taller than I imagined and Laurel is just, perfect, so lovely and down to earth.

The acoustics in the hall were shocking, when Kate was asked whether she would like to start a fashion label she thought she was being asked questions about an automobile and on several occasions they had to ask people to repeat their questions. Along with requests to blow kisses, and the odd marriage proposal, from more than one desperate fan, we learnt some interesting facts about them:

Leisha Hailey - Alice
* Has been pronouncing her characters surname wrong from the very start. It is in fact (as the polish women from row 13b told her) 'peer-shet-zi'!
* Believes that "the 5th series is like the 1st series on crack".
* Looks forward to the end of a season so she can buy the clothes that she wore on set from the wardrobe department.

Erin Daniels - Dana
* Can put on a very *ahem* convincing English accent.
* Would love to be back in series 5. (Dana, you were killed off, dead, the end!).
* Admitted the "drunken Dana dance" is also the "drunken Erin dance".

Kate Moennig - Shane
* Would love for Shane to sleep with Bette on the show, "so they can throw each other around and see who is more alpha!"
* When asked when she is coming out she replied "I am out! I've been here all day!"
* If she was not an actress she would love to carry on her families tradition of making violins.

Laurel Holloman - Tina
* Misses her daughter immensely when they are apart, and gets very tearful talking about her.
* Thinks that Bette and Tina should be together.
* Says Jennifer Beals (Bette) is a good kisser and her ass looks good in anything!

Eric Mabius - Tim
* Didn't experienced any homophobia from doing the show, only positive feedback.
* Says Victoria Beckham’s appearance on the show came about due to a misquote in the press, the writers then thought it was a great idea.
* Also he wouldn't tell us whether he forgives Betty in the next episode.

The L Word - L3 - Blackpool

If you’re planning on going to L4 in March, you need to budget in for the extra's, they really do make the experience more magical. As well as the £90 each for a 3 day pass and any hotels, food, drinks, transportation, there is the cost of the merchandise and photoshoots with the cast members to take into account. The biggest disappointment was that if you wanted to buy a photo of the whole cast for them to sign, you had to buy all the individual pictures of the members present at the event which works out at £50 for 6 A5 photographs.

Thankfully, the disappointment soon fades when you come face to face with them, you get to spend a minute or so getting your items signed and chatting to them one by one. It's then you realise they are just normal people, but the magic doesn't fade, if anything you admire them even more.

Hope to see you all at L4 in March!

If you would like the chance to win the cast photo signed by all 5 of them leave a message letting us know what you would like to see happen in series 5, the lucky winner will be picked at random on Friday 21st December!