It has been awhile since a grand gala premiere was being held here. At lunch time, Red Dot Diva spotted several fans already staking out their choice spots along the barricades on the ground floor outside of Shaw House. Many of the familiar geeks were also out in full force that evening. Each with their own signs and personal items in hope of getting them autographed by the actors as they stroll down the very Mystique-blue carpet.
By 5:30PM, the number of people around the Blue Carpet had grown exponentially, as everyone waited patiently for the X-Men stars to arrive.
Other than a few semi-known local talents walking down the carpet, no one else managed to stir up much excitement from the crowds except for the three main guests.
Due to some PR snafu concerning the setup of media platforms, Red Dot Diva wasn't able to get a preferred spot near the main stage. Together with other journalists and media, she was on the other side of the blue carpet, across from the public fans area. Despite the weird positioning of the platforms there, she manage to get a good view of Hugh Jackman, Peter Dinklage and Fan BingBing making their way down the walkway.
No, she did not manage to get selfies or autographs, and she did not expect to do so that night. (If she wanted to, she would have already lined up at the barricades since noon!) Also, understandably, the actors were focused on giving back to the fans and so they took time taking selfies and shooting goodies from X-Men t-shirt guns. Their willingness to engage with the excited fans along the way, however, was a pure joy to watch.
First to arrive at about 7:10 PM was The Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. In person, Hugh - all beardy and buff - cut a very suave and handsome figure in his light grey (or is it camel?) suit. He took the longest time to get through the line because he was being his usual charming self with the crowd. Such a great guy! :D
Next to arrive was Peter Dinklage, who also had his hand on several selfies with the fans, usually taking on an exaggerated villain's snarl. He was surrounded very protectively by bodyguards and minders at stops along the Blue Carpet, and they practically blocked almost every shot that most of the media was hoping to take. So Red Dot Diva considers herself lucky enough to get even one semi-decent photo of Peter on the move. Red Dot Diva heard that there were many fans waiting at the barricades who were waving "Game of Thrones" books at him for autographs.
Last was pretty Fan BingBing, sweeping her way onto the blue carpet in a long flowy flowery gown. Across from where Red Dot Diva was standing was a bunch of avid BingBing fans with signs and gifts, so the actress mingled with them longer than usual. She was also quite patient and took a few cute selfies with the fans there.
Here's Red Dot Diva's video montage of Hugh Jackman and Peter Dinklage on the Blue Carpet:
Official video highlights of the Blue Carpet in Singapore:
Then, they were off to the main stage to greet the fans in the mosh pit and those who happen to have a good view of the stage. By then, it was already about 8:15 PM and the body heat and humidity were getting difficult to bear.
Red Dot Diva attempted access to the stage area again but nope, there were in fact double barricades, which makes no sense whatsoever. It was a good thing that fellow geekstress SarahColdheart managed to grab a few stage photos because she was one of the cosplayers for the event and had been stationed inside the mosh pit.
If you have missed catching the cosplayers at the Blue Carpet, here's a group photo of them, courtesy of MovieMania:
Red Dot Diva did not manage to follow what went on at the stage, but she knew that Hugh Jackman was still raving about kaya toast he had that morning, and said this about his movie-making experience: "It's incredible. It's the biggest X-Men movie we've ever made, and the biggest cast." Peter Dinklage said it was good to be here and travelling to Asia for the first time, while BingBing - who has many China fans who live and work here - greeted fans in Mandarin and English.
Here are some of SarahColdheart's stage pics:
At 9 PM, the preview screening of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" was slated to begin. The celebrities were seen taking the escalators up to Shaw Lido theatres, and Red Dot Diva guessed that after a round of greetings with a select group of invited guests at one of the main auditoriums, they probably called it a night.
Later on, Hugh Jackman posted an instagram pic of himself and BingBing walking down the Marina Bay area, with the message, "Thank you Singapore! Amazing night. Awesome fans. See you soon! HJ x". And with that, it looks as if Peter Dinklage might have gotten his wish to see "that boat on top of that hotel" (i.e. MBS' Sky Park) after all!
This was great!!!! good job, my friend =)
ReplyDeleteawww thanks, Sheindie!
Delete