words  Rachel
with contributions by Melonie and Jeffrey

The day started out somewhat stressfully. Because of a silly (and annoying) hotel policy, we were unable to call room to room, making the amazing transformation from humans to elves and hobbits (prosthetic ears and feet) slightly longer than usual (our two hobbits took over two hours to transform - thanks to Shawn and David for all their hard work!).  Additionally, our hotel only gave us one key per room and the first half of the group to leave for the party took the key to one of the rooms, causing a big hassle trying to get back into the room for part of Tami's costume!  Still, as stressful as it was, we finally arrived at the party in good spirits. We were set up in the room dubbed "The Dead Marshes," complete with fog effects and mood lighting.

We did some warm-ups while waiting for a sound check (and I admit I was very worried about some of the vocals, due to my uncontrollable coughing from the lingering effects of pneumonia), and the always amiable Quickbeam came in to welcome us and find out the correct way to pronounce our group name. We were introduced to the stage managers of the evening (Aris and Josh) around 3:45 p.m. They were really great and took good care of us. We were finally instructed to start playing as people entered the party. We were surprised at how few people were actually in the room, but then we were told that our music was being piped throughout the entire building! Apparently, Quickbeam gave us a really good introduction, though we couldn't hear it in the Dead Marshes. While playing, a small camera crew consisting of a cameraman, boom mic operator and interviewer, came in to record us for a piece or two. After our first set, we found out we didn't have that much time left to play, so we skipped ahead to the third set, starting with "Concerning Hobbits," which those in the room seemed to appreciate!

They took very good care of us at the party. The food was divine! I didn't realize potatoes, vegetables and salad could taste so heavenly! We were all amazed we didn't gorge ourselves, even when the splendid-looking desserts were brought out. (In all honesty, I think it was excitement that kept me occupied and away from the food!) After a most tasty meal, Melonie and I were headed towards the stairs when a woman called out, "Galadriel! Galadriel! Can we interview you?" I was thrilled, and I could tell Melonie was jealous. I wasn't sure if she wanted to interview me as an obsessive, costumed fan or as a musician. It turned out to be for the latter reason, and thankfully Melonie had waited for me by the stairs and the rest of the group  was easy to find. We assembled in the interview room with the very same camera crew that had taped us playing earlier! We were interviewed about our music, how we got started, our costumes and makeup, and how long we've loved Tolkien. The team was very friendly and we ended up chatting long after the camera stopped rolling, as well as during several other parts of the night! (HEY CODY! Are you guys out there? Are you ever going to write to us??)

Jeffrey and I took off to go check on the instruments. As we were headed down the small staircase, a guy in a tux was headed up. I saw he was looking at us so I glanced at him briefly, did a double-take because I noticed he was a staff member, and lo-and-behold, it was Josh (staffer Sarumann), who we had met at Bowlmoot last August! Apparently, he was the one who really pushed for us to be there. Bless his ten toes! We were so glad to see him, and so thankful to him for being our advocate.

After more mingling, the Oscars were finally over and it became a waiting game to see which cast and crew members would show up to our party. And wait we did! Shawn, Jeffrey and I took one side of the top of the staircase, Mel and Gina took the other. And we waited, and waited, and waited!