Nikki Blonsky Has Another Movie And An Album On The Way!

Nikki gets back to her roots as a former Cold Stone employee.

As much as I enjoyed her in Hairspray, I'm so happy to know Nikki Blonsky won't always be known as Tracy Turnblad.

Although that was definitely the Great Neck, Long Island native's breakout role (and she's been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance), she already has new work beyond Hairspray on her agenda. And she's only 18!

Supposedly, Nikki will begin filming for a new movie as soon as Hairspray promotions are done. Wow - when did she even have time to audition? Also, this role won't involve any singing or dancing, so it does look she's saying goodbye to Tracy, at least for now.

But that voice couldn't go to waste forever - Nikki said she also has an album coming out and still hopes to do Broadway someday since that's always been her dream.

Good morning, New York!

Daily Buzz Bits: HIV Cure News & Other Less Life-Saving Info

I'm forecasting a great summer weekend! Go to the beach! Get outside! And check out the news below about HIV, Streisand, Romney, the Diana Tribute Concert... And swimsuits. Splash!

Possibly big HIV News... A potential cure may have been discovered.

AND otherwise...

Barbra Streisand gets big national artsy medal of the Legion of Honor (or something like that) in France.

Howard Stern’s cohort Joey Boots is totally gay. For real.

Conservative Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney doesn’t just dislike gays. He’s mean to puppies, too!

VH1 is gonna be broadcasting live the big Diana Tribute Concert this Sunday. Hopefully there’ll be lots of live cute Prince action...

Bored? Go create your own Simpsons character. Avatar-riffic!

It’s like really officially beach season... Refinery 29 offers some tips on what’s hot in swimsuit-land.

And just so you know, here’s what Madonna looks like today in cute blue workout gear.

Happy Weekend!

Rufus Wainwright: Video Premiere Tonight, Tour Underway, Movie News & "San Souci" Clip

Rufus: Shot at MTV/Logo studios last week.

Rufus Wainwright is going to town! Meaning, he's busy and all over the media right now. He's begun touring the U.S. doing shows for his new album, Release the Stars. He kicked off this current batch of shows this week with Seattle and then San Francisco, and by all reports, it was pretty fantastic. This weekend he does Coachella, which you can watch live on AT&T's BlueRoom site, if you're unable to hit the California desert yourself.

And tonight at 8pm, he's gonna be all up in Logo's grill when the "Making Of" special for his "Going to a Town" video airs on the channel, accompanied by the world broadcast premiere of the video. Cool, right?

Here's a little preview:

More on Rufus and a pirate video of him doing the tune "San Souci" from Release the Stars after the jump!

McGreevey: Rolling With Rivers For Real?

McGreevey: On the go between Oprah, his upcoming tour and... A talk show with Joan?

Today, former New Jersey governor (and self-proclaimed "Gay American") James McGreevey is in Chicago taping his episode of Oprah, pushing his new book (juicily titled The Confession) and talking about his secret/not-so-secret gay life for all across the land to enjoy. The episode is due to air next Tuesday, September 19th. And next week, to coincide with his national book tour, he’s planning to appear on Today, Fox News and The View. But that’s not his only TV gig on the horizon.

Not so long ago there was buzz that McGreevey might be among a panel of gay guys being lined up to host a talk show with comedienne Joan Rivers. Buzz about the show touted it as being something of a gay version of The View with Rivers playing the grand dame/Barbara Walters role, and then surrounding her with about three or four opinionated, entertaining gay men. Supposedly, the whole affair is to air on Bravo.

Today, New York Post gossip maven Cindy Adams reports that she's heard from Joan Rivers, and it looks like (almost, kind of) that McGreevey's a "go" on the project. Adams reports that right now, the show it to be called Straight Talk (get it?) and that it’s being groomed for a January debut, and it would be a weekly series, following the Wednesday-night airings of Project Runway. Evidently, Rivers had to really coax McGreevey into considering doing the show. She called and called, and they even met up at Rivers’ apartment and got along like old girlfriends. So, as Rivers tells Cindy: “The deal is he's our current events expert but won't do every single show. This you can understand since being on cable means, if he's lucky, he'll get $40 a week."

So, it’s looking like McGreevey’s gonna have an even busier public life very soon. Watch out Lance & Reichen!

Buzz Bits: Supergay, Scissor Sounds, and Robbie Vs. Guy!

Could Superman have been gayer? Director Kevin Smith thinks so...

Kevin Smith wanted a gayer Superman. Seems he expected more homo-ness from queer director Bryan Singer. Who’s to argue?

Is Robbie stirring Guy & Madge's pot?

Is Robbie Williams trying to start a row between Guy Ritchie and Madonna? He’s all up in their business, sort of.

Another Gay Movie, another prison....

In cinemas, gay Survivor champ Richard Hatch is showing his all in a full-frontal nude scene in Another Gay Movie. In real life, he’s shuttling from one prison to another, from Massachusetts to Oklahoma. Yikes!

Wanna hear Jake and the gang's latest?

The Scissor Sisters' new tune is up online. Whatcha think? Feel like dancing?

Christina cleans up?

Xtina ain’t so drrty anymore. Not sure how I feel about that…

And lastly...
Scottish Firefighters recruit in gay bars. Which is cool. Actually who cares why they’re there… Firefighters are just kinda hot.

Been seeking a gay point of view about all of the Hezbollah news stories? Then here you go.

Notes from NewFest

So a week into the 18th New York LGBT Film Festival (also known simply as NewFest) and here’s some word on films that are hot/worth seeing/weirdly unique & smart/distinctive. Look out for these when they hit your arthouse cinema—or a gay cable channel—near you!

Strangers With Candy
The movie spin-off of the wildly popular Amy Sedaris TV series is fun. It’s not amazing, mind you, but if you’re fan of the show, you’ll love the movie. Full of wrong humor, a brilliant turn by Stephen Colbert, some deliciously wicked non-P.C. zingers (including all kinds of “fag”-related jokes, all done at the expense of straight folks, basically) and the usual Sedaris-fueled ridiculousness. Fun! (Getting a release from ThinkFilm on June 28th!)

Rag Tag
A totally unique, interesting love story taking place in London and Nigeria between two black British men. A glimpse of a culture very different than most folks here in the U.S. have encountered. Impressive. And with a killer hip-hop soundtrack.

The Lost Tribe
A winning, very emotional extraordinary doc about an Australian Mormon lesbian comic (for real!) who goes to Salt Lake City to speak at the gay Mormon conference. And it’s funny!

Songbirds
This flick bills itself as the first documentary musical—and they’re probably right! Women in a U.K. prison (some of whom are pretty dangerous characters) sing haunting tunes which exemplify their personalities. It’s a completely unique way to examine the culture of women in prison. Talk about jailhouse rock!

In The Blood
A horror-loving friend of mine called this one, “The first good gay horror film I've ever seen. Really awesome. It’s suspenseful, well-made—and sexy.” A gay college boy starts seeing visions of his sister all bloodied up. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose on campus! First-time feature director Lou Peterson scores!

Say Amen
A warm and accurate portrait of modern-day working class Israelis dealing (or not dealing) with their son/brother being gay.

East Side Story
A funny and smart feature about coming out and gentrification in East L.A., at heart this one’s a charming romantic Latino family comedy that overcomes its obviously shoestring production values by sharp writing, winning performances (the women in the film are great!) and good, cleverly witty heart.

Cabalerno
This super-short short film by Jarrah Gurrie (it’s only 5 minutes long) may be my favorite short of the NewFest. A grainy B&W flick about a boy who likes to watch the hot skater dude in his ’hood. Simple and gorgeous, and with a wryly smart grasp of desire and humor. Score!

Jack Mitchell: My Life Is Black & White
Very PBS. This charming bio-documentary serves up the career of noted NYC photographer Jack Mitchell who spent the 1950s-1990s shooting the most talented performers (from the dance world, Broadway, Hollywood—and literati like Truman Capote and Edward Albee) for publications like The New York Times and the classic underground, gay-ish magazine After Dark. John Lennon. Stephen Sondheim. Andy Warhol. Meryl Streep. Leonard Bernstein. Gloira Swanson. Rudolph Nureyev. Merce Cunningham. Every seminal artist from the last half of the 20th Century glowed in front of Jack Mitchell’s lens. And Mitchell himself? A low-key, charming, gifted gay artist. It’s the kind of movie that’s totally gonna want to make you move to NYC and hang out with artsy photographers and Broadway types. Ah, showbiz!

Check more of Jack Mitchell's famous pics below...

John & Yoko, 1980

Edward Albee

Gloria Swanson.

Dancing with the Mates

Think you're a good dancer? See if you can compete with the genius, lanky mover (who I'm thinking is G.J. Echternkamp) who whipped up this totally brilliant home-made video to the Mates of States (pictured above--Hi Kori & Jason!) tune "Goods (All In Your Head)." You can view it on the Mates' website.

P.S. The Mates of State's latest, "Fraud in the 80's" is visible on LogoOnline. That's cuz the clip is now playing in this week's installment of NewNowNext Music, the foxy video show on Logo.

Anyway, I don't know if Mr. Ecthernkamp is a gay... But he sure can move, eh?