It’s at this point on Saturday night that I thought I’d finally see the crazy fans I’d been aching for all day. Now, there were people there dressed as Angela’s cats, which were odd in only a sad way. And there was a really great couple dressed as Pam & Jim, looking the parts perfectly. But mostly the competition consisted of winners who really had the character down as well, and even though someone created a life size Bobble-head Dwight they didn’t win. The competition suffered from the same disorganization that plagued the entire convention. But when Leslie, Phyllis and the CFO got onstage to judge things had some semblance of entertainment.
The problem with the competition was that the contestants were not prepared to commit to the character. Often times when asked a question as the character they were portraying contestants floundered and sputtered something inane. It wouldn’t be a look-alike competition without the real thing showing up, and the cast didn’t disappoint me here. Amidst a lineup of Angela’s the real Angela walked onstage and joined in the judging. One of the girls answered what type of girl would enter a beauty pageant with, “A religious one.” Perhaps she has never seen The Office, because the next girl in-line answered properly by proclaiming pageants “whorish.” Angela herself approved of this answer. Ed Helms also joined the Andy’s onstage to give his approval of people pretending to be a fictional character he portrays.
Juxtaposed to that was a set by the Scrantones, the guys who play the theme song for the show. Comprised of Bob Thiele (Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed) guitar/vocals; Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Cracker) bass; Brian MacLeod (Sheryl Crow, Madonna, Tears For Fears) drums; and Roger Manning (Beck, Blink-182, Jellyfish) keyboards, the Scrantones were a big highlight for Saturday evening. Of course, that was helped by some great guest appearances. Kate Flannery (Meredith) accompanied the band in The Office theme song (above) and a few other songs. She was really having a good time, as you can see from the video of her singing “Suspicious Minds.”
Creed joined Kate onstage to perform “Pennsylvania Polka,” a song that is grating on the nerves. Him performing a few other songs with the band quickly alleviated the pain. What was odd about the whole thing is that at the end of the mediocre costume contest the auditorium was about half-empty. Come on! Meredith is singing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” people, how can any real fan choose to miss that? And this was the last event of the night, starting at around 10pm. So there’s just no excuse to miss something so fun, and a true representation of the few things that made the convention great.
For more on our Office Convention coverage click here.
