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Britney's gonna show her "True Colors" onstage in L.A.!!! And Cyndi and Rosie are sure excited!!! Meanwhile, Wentworth Miller's got his own showbiz concerns...
Britney’s gonna join the True Colors tour in L.A.??? For real? Hey, she knows who her audience is. Plus: Rosie loves her!
AND...
The latest target of internet gay pressure? Prison Break’s star Wentworth Miller... You know how this usually goes... (Keep your eye on People Magazine, maybe?)
Who needs Avril Lavigne? Not the women over at AfterEllen. Fun homemade video!
The Heatherette designers get honored with an artsy award. But no one knows why...
The Advocate’s gonna get a makeover. And Out will get more hair product. Or something like that.
And Foxy Brown got robbed, and got her weave and hearing aid snatched off. Or did she?
And AfterElton highlights an interview with gay Israeli pop singer Ivri Lider. He’s dreamy—and courageous! What’s not to like?
I've posted lots here about the totally fun True Colors tour that's currently charging around the U.S. with Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Debbie Harry, Margaret Cho, the Dresden Dolls and other cool artists like The Gossip, Rosie O'Donnell, Rufus Wainwright and The Cliks. Heck, maybe you've seen it already!
No matter. Either way, you'll dig Shining Through: Behind the Scenes at True Colors, a special airing tomorrow on Logo that takes you backstage during the tour, chats up the stars and offers fun interviews with everyone involved. Margaret Cho hosts and, like I said, it's crammed with fun conversations and concert and rehearsal footage, all shot backstage in Vegas as the tour launched. Dresden Doll Amanda talks about costumes, Erasure talks about being gay pop stars, Debbie Harry talks about fighting for civil rights and Cyndi's just all-around awesome.
Get some video tastes of it above (the teaser/trailer) and below (exclusive excerpts with Cyndi!), and check it out on TV tomorrow night at 8pm EST.
Cyndi Lauper + gays = fab True Colors tour!
"Listen Up:" Murray Hill and NYC cable legend Robin Byrd flank rock roustabout Beth Ditto (who rules the world, thanks) at last night's True Colors concert afterparty. Genius!
Beth Ditto, the completely cool and lovely and out-lesbian lead singer of The Gossip is delightful. Last night at the afterparty which followed her band's performance as part of the True Colors tour at Radio City Music Hall (here in nifty NYC), Ms. Ditto was chatty, charming, adorable, game to meet fans and splash about gabbing with everybody in the house.
From the moment Ms. D arrived, she was sweetly posing for photos and meeting with fans. And she had brought her very nice Mom along, too. I snapped a bunch of pics of Beth with all kinds of festive New Yorkers; folks like the Village People's Randy Jones, cable TV legend Robin Byrd, drag queens galore, Logo staffers, and lots of great peeps from LifeBeat (the music industry's AIDS fundraising group) all whooped it up at the midtown joint LQ, and DJs Lina and Adam provided the tunes. "What the hell are we doing here?" Amanda and Beth wanna know... And above is a video of the super-impromptu performance in which the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer (armed with her ukelele) and Beth do a quickie duet of Radiohead's "Creep," with a special guest appearance from the legendary camp puppet celeb, Madame. Evidently, Madame swings sapphically too, as she and Ms. Ditto get rather frisky. Put that in the center square, yo!
Plus: Go to The Gossip's MySpace page to hear their brilliantly amazing cover of Wham's "Careless Whisper." It's totally my Pride Week jam! GAY!!! More fun, "Gossip"-y photos after the jump! Rock on Beth!
Continue reading "Beth Ditto's True Colors Are Beautiful; Plus "Creep"-y Video!" »
 
"California" here they come... With Kelly!
The Dresden Dolls are busy little bees. They're presently out touring the big gay U.S.A. with Cyndi Lauper on her True Colors tour. And frankly, I wasn't too familiar with them before seeing them on the tour this past weekend, but I sort of fell in love.
Lead singer Amanda Palmer is a lanky, louche, and lovely (and super-talented) musician and chanteuse. Her co-Doll Brian Viglione is tall, stringily muscular and supremely, quirkily talented, too. And he wears a nightie like nobody's business. Together they comprise one of the most interesting, unpredictable and original outfits creating cabaret-tinged, saloon-ready, theatrical pop-rock out there now. See them on the True Colors tour, if ya can.
I wish they all could be Dresden Dolls...
And now, after viewing this David Lee Roth inspired video for their latest, "Shores of California," I love them even more. The clip is truly fab. And watch for the smoochy cameo by Kelly! It's brilliant!
And Margaret Cho pops up, too. Yay!
Cyndi and Rosie and Margaret and Andy and everybody else all see your true colors...
For the finale of Friday night’s True Colors debut show in Vegas the Dresden Dolls, the Indigo Girls, Margaret Cho, Erasure, Rosie O’Donnell and Cyndi Lauper all took to the stage and cranked out a giddily rockin’ version of the Abba classic “Take A Chance on Me.” And, they sent forth about 20 super-huge balloons (which were about the size of a Mini-Cooper each) in rainbow colors bouncing all over the arena. Not sure why Debbie Harry wasn’t out for the finale. And it seemed odd that Andy Bell needed a lyric sheet to sing “Take a Chance On Me”; Erasure did an entire album of Abba tunes. But, nonetheless the result was campy, colorful and er… Yay, fun!
And yes, for the final finale number, Cyndi and her guitarist took to the front of the stage and delivered a lovely, simple, almost acoustic version of "True Colors," which all of the acts joined in on. It was uplifting and poignant, without being cloying or preachy. In fact, the whole night was just one big upbeat, positive statement. It never got gloomy or strident, just a rollicking good time with fab pop stars throwing a party to celebrate how awesome gay folks are. And raising money for great causes in the process.
Yipppeee! More finale pics after the jump!
Continue reading "True Colors Tour: The Big Finish" »
Backstage, this is the home of all things fabulous! Oh, l'amour indeed...
Rosie O’Donnell said that Erasure’s music takes us to “gay church.” And I think she nailed it. But at this church you worship sweeping, melodic, anthemic party-pop, with soaring emotion and twirly fabulousness. I just want to give major props to Andy Bell and his silent partner Vince Clarke. Their stint onstage at True Colors last night had everybody in the arena (gay and straight—and yes, there were straight folks there) on their feet, feeling fierce and dancing up a storm.
Erasure performed some of their totally solid new tunes (like “I Could Fall In Love With You”), but it was their classics like “Chains of Love,” “I Love to Hate You,” “Oh L’amour,” and “A Little Respect” that really made the show transcendent.
And OMG… Andy Bell onstage is a wild, queeny, amazingly fantastic, dancing, preening diva. Yay! Plus, the band’s backup singers are hot and totally on point. Props all around to one of the evening’s truly terrific highlights. 
Andy Bell onstage: Shiny in silver! And bedazzled camouflage!
More Erasure show pics after the jump!
Continue reading "True Colors Tour: Erasure’s Gay Church Service" »
A cozy corner in the Levi's Lounge at True Colors. "You look mighty good in them jeans, boy..."
FYI: Levi's (being those nice supporters of LGBT causes that they are) put together this pretty cool backstage lounge at the True Colors show in Vegas. And lots of jeans were on hand… Swaggy! This isn’t even a full-on plug. I just thought the lounge was way cool. Yay!
More pics from the Levi's Lounge after the jump!
Continue reading "True Colors Backstage: The Levi’s Lounge" »
Deborah Harry serves up some "Necessary Evil" at True Colors.
So, yes, Deborah Harry was one of the True Colors performers. She’s a total rock icon and legend, who back in the late ’70s and early ’80s epitomized cool, punky, hot New York downtown fierceness. Blondie was a hugely seminal rock band, and Harry influenced generations of female rock/pop stars to come (like… Madonna, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani, just for starters).
Harry’s in great voice these days and still has her cat-like moves, and from the sound of the tunes she played at True Colors last night, I think she’s got some good music coming on her forthcoming solo album, Necessary Evil. And I know she wants to focus on and introduce audiences to her new material (like she says in this article). But it’s still a bit of a letdown to not get to hear her sing any Blondie songs at all during the show. I mean… The audience would have gone completely bonkers to hear “Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “One Way or Another…” You get the idea. And since you’ve got Cyndi and Erasure serving up some of their best-loved favorites, that just further emphasized how much one misses hearing some classic Blondie awesomeness.
Don't get me wrong. Ms. Harry still rocks and is a totally major pop icon. It would just be really cool to be reminded why musically during this fun tour, ya know? Especially when the crowd is totally expecting it… That’s all I’m saying.
Diana Yanez and Margaret Cho! Caught all-frisky like in their dressing room!
Here’s a few quick pics of Margaret Cho and folks backstage at True Colors. Margaret’s with her pal and her wisecracking sidekick Diana Yanez. They collaborate on music videos and stuff, including the amazingly great “My Puss” tune (you gotta watch the video). Which they did live on stage at True Colors. I love their shtick as a Chinese martial arts instructor Maureen and her butch, sporty girlfriend. They have lots of La-Z-Boy recliners. 
And the Dresden Dolls (Amanda and Brian) are just hot and festive and adorable. Truly two of the coolest folks around. Yay!
And who doesn’t love Emily and Amy of the Indigo Girls? They're featuring down-home, casual cool, backstage in the Levis lounge, thanks.
The Ecstasy of St. Rosie? She's really happy to be onstage for this big gay show.
Yes, Rosie O’Donnell took to the stage at Friday night’s True Colors tour. Introduced by Cyndi, Rosie strolled out on stage about two-thirds of the way through the show, and people went crazy. “Here are my gays!” she cried happily. “I missed you homos!”
Clearly, she was relishing her reprieve from mainstream daytime talk TV. “Hey, I did the best I could,” she cracked about her year-long View gig. She made fun of Trump and Larry King, referring to them as “the bald billionaire and the human toad,” respectively, joking about how the two are weirdly obsessed with her.
She talked about her kids, including a bit about how her very girlie daughter asked her, “How come I have two mommies, and none of them have high heels?” She explained how she had offered to spend time in jail with Paris Hilton, “as her lesbian protector, nothing else.” 
Rosie & Ross the Intern backstage at True Colors in Vegas. Don't they look like siblings or something? Gay-tastic!
More Rosie dish after the jump.
Continue reading "True Colors: Rosie O’Donnell - TV Mega-Star, Rock-N-Roll Drummer" »
Cyndi Lauper shows her true colors. And yep, they're beautiful. And rather like a rainbow, actually.
Last night it happened. The summer’s gayest rock-n-roll tour kicked off in Las Vegas, as the Cyndi Lauper-organized True Colors tour had its premiere show at the MGM Grand Arena. The show was fun, I’ve got lots of photos and more detailed dish coming. But here’s a quickie…
The show featured Margaret Cho hitting the stage, saying “Hey!” and introducing the Dresden Dolls, who sang their freaky, fun cabaret rock with lots of theatrics and drama. They delivered their own hits like “Coin Operated Boy” and some other gems, like the boozy Jaques Brel tune “Amsterdam.”
Next came the Indigo Girls who always sound amazing, serving up their best, like “Closer to Fine”—a lesbian classic if there ever was one— and “Shame On You” and others. Their harmonies are always sublime, and it’s good to hear some fused with some political, liberal smarts, too. Plus, they have that whole lived-in jeans and T-shirt thing down. They’re great.
Deborah Harry delivered a set of her own tunes, and sounded in great voice. And throughout the show Margaret Cho served up killer comedy, linking all the acts.
Rosie O’Donnell took the stage (more on her to follow) to a big standing O, and dished Larry King and Trump, The View, and then came back to play drums later (really!). Erasure lead the arena in a big, fantastically gay dance party, playing some new tunes and fab classics.
But the total star of the show is Cyndi Lauper. Mainly because her good will, sense of humor and unstoppable voice and talent are the concert's guiding force. She appeared on stage at first to introduce Rosie and a video about the HRC. But when time came for her real set, she delivered big-time. 
Hey, it's the official backstage rundown of the True Colors show! Who knew rock stars had a curfew?
A detailed account Cyndi's killer turn onstage after the jump.
Continue reading "True Colors Tour Launches; Cyndi Lauper = Superhero" »
True Dat! It's a Dresden Doll, and All-American Girl, a She-Bopper and a Nightbird all prepping for tonight's big finale of the True Colors tour. Debbie Harry, the Indigo Girls and Rosie O. will also be on hand.
One thing that happens in Vegas? Hotel room modem issues… Later than planned, here are a bunch of photos from last night’s final rehearsal for tonight’s massive True Colors tour launch at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Like I mentioned before, this show is gonna be fun (if the bits I saw last night are a healthy indicator)…
I’m gonna work backwards here. The image up top is four of the big headliners prepping one of the finale numbers. I won’t tell you what it is, but it will be Abba-eqsue. That’s Amanda of the Dresden Dolls (she’s really fab and fun) on the far left, then Margaret Cho, Cyndi Lauper (duh) and Erasure’s Andy Bell. Yo Andy! What’s with the lyric sheet? Didn’t you guys record an entire Abba album?
More backstage rock glitz after the jump!
Continue reading "I See Your True Colors Tour Sneak Peek Shining Through--And That's Why I Love You" »
 
Ahhh, Vegas... Slots greet you at the airport. And the Eiffel Tower (of the gay-welcoming Paris Las Vegas Hotel) welcomes you on the Strip. Er... Bienvenue?
Greetings from Vegas, folks! Yup, I’m here for tonight’s big debut of the True Colors tour (Um yes, you’ve heard of it. On this blog. Repeatedly.), which will see Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Debbie Harry, the Dresden Dolls, the Indigo Girls and Rosie O’Donnell (Yep, surprise! Ro’s gonna be here tonight!) all take the stage for a big rockin’ concertapalooza, emceed by Margaret Cho. Fun, eh?
More on that soon. So far… Vegas? It’s loopy! I’m staying at the tres mad Paris Las Vegas hotel, which is like the France section of Epcot on steroids (but in kind of an amazingly festive way). I checked into my room yesterday evening just in time to catch a view of the big fountain show at the Bellagio across the street, during which nine zillion gallons of water danced and shot high in the air, all choreographed to a booming soundsystem cranking Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” Ack! These colors may not run, but they do spew geyser-style in the middle of a desert.
A bit of business: The nice folks at American Airlines flew me here. They have a big gay-specific website catering to your queer flying needs. It’s rainbow-tastic! And starting in September, they’re gonna have nonstop flights to Vegas from JFK. Woot woot!
  The Thunder Down Under gets down in Vegas. Eeek! These posters greet you at the airport. And these displays of "big balls" are not at all related, fyi.
Coming next, a glimpse of last night’s rehearsal for tonight’s big True Colors kickoff. Quickly: Cyndi Lauper is still amazing, and has the pipes of a raging, rock goddess. Check back for all that.
 
Erasure's Vince Clark and Andy Bell today; and Andy showing off his gay angelic stuff, circa 1990.
Andy Bell and Vince Clarke of Erasure have been making addictively danceable, gaily buoyant and unabashedly emotional pop music for over 20 years. And they’ve been out and loud about their queer selves throughout. Can you name any other bands who can say that?
Erasure's hits like “Oh L’Amour,” “Chains of Love,” and “A Little Respect” helped define the very sound of 1980s synth-pop, and they’ve been busy whipping up hits (including their legendary Abba covers) ever since. And this summer (starting tomorrow in Las Vegas) they’re on board the True Colors Tour, led by Cyndi Lauper, which will charge around the U.S. spreading love, music and gay rights awareness all over the place. To celebrate their fabulosity (and their perserverance—they’ve got a new record, Light at the End of the World out now, and Andy Bell has a new solo disc in the works, too), I zapped off a bunch of email queries for lead Erasure diva Andy Bell... And here’s what he faxed (yes, faxed) back. You can even click on these jpegs and see his handwriting.  
Click to enlarge and see what Andy wrote, yo.
Or you can just read a transcribed version below. Check out what Andy has to say about pop icons, making out with divas, outrageous stag attire and the color blue. Cheers! So how gay will your show be as part of the True Colors tour? Will you guys out-glam the rest of the performers? What’s gonna happen!???
I think it’s impossible to out-glam the others, because that’s not what it’s about. I’m gonna live and learn and soak up the glamour (fairy magic) from the uber-divas. And we have three back-up singers. There’s Val, who saw a ghost of a Victorian lady in the restroom at the rehearsal studio. Krista, who has a gay dad and was brought up in gay bars since she was four years old. She played Patsy Cline in L.A. And there’s Rachel who has two movies coming out around Halloween. She plays a machine-gun toting vampire slayer.
People are truly excited about the line-up for this tour? Why do you think that is?
I think it’s so great that we have such a glamorous, distinguished line-up: Rock and pop goddesses. More Andy Bell -- dishing on silver leather jackets, classic tunes, straight girls, and more! -- after the jump.
Continue reading "True Colors Interview: Ringing Erasure's Andy Bell" »
 
Left: Margaret Cho collects the award last month for Outstanding Comedy Performance at the 2007 Asian Excellence Awards. Woo-hoo! And she looks good in a rainbow-hued mohawk, too.
Margaret Cho may be the most queer-friendly comedian on the planet. Sure, she’s married, but she self-identifies as queer, and has been one of the gay community’s biggest cheerleaders for more than a decade. And yes, she’s got her own bisexual past, which she’s made no shortage of jokes and told stories about. One my favorite of Cho’s old nuggets? “I’m not gay. I’m not a lesbian. I’m just slutty. Where’s my parade?”
Face it: Margaret Cho is basically every color of the rainbow, and she always sticks up for the gays. No big surprise then that the always festive comic/author/ blogger/activist/designer/actor is on the line-up for Cyndi Lauper’s super-gay True Colors tour. Ms. Cho is gonna act as emcee, but she may also do a bit of rocking out on her own... Have you seen her video for “My Puss”? Ready for the live version?
To get prepped for this Friday’s True Colors tour kick-off in Las Vegas, I emailed the Notorious C.H.O. a barrage of questions about the big show. She fired back and the sassy results are as follows: So why did you choose to sign on for the True Colors tour?
Cyndi asked me! And I am a huge fan and couldn't possibly say no to her... And obviously, you’re loved by gays and you’re a fan of killer music...
Yes, I love all the people on the bill. In fact, I’ll be sharing a tour bus with the Dresden Dolls! What else prompted you to participate?
It is a wonderful cause—a huge tour dedicated to ending discrimination of all kinds. I just love that! People are truly excited about the line-up for this tour? Why do you think that is?
Because it is amazing! All these great people who I would go see separately, but they are all together. It’s like my own personalized Ozzfest! More Margaret Cho chatter after the jump!
Continue reading "True Colors Interview: Margaret Cho's Gay Agenda" »
 
The coolest woman in the universe? Cyndi Lauper, natch. Yay!
Hey Gays! In case you hadn't heard there's a big huge concert tour this summer called True Colors, spearheaded by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, and it's heading your way. The tour features a terribly festive line-up of talent like Lauper, Deborah Harry, Erasure, The Gossip, the Dresden Dolls, the Misshapes, Margaret Cho and special guests like Rufus Wainwright, the Indigo Girls, Cazwell, Rosie O'Donnell and more! It's all a big fundraiser and consciousness-raiser for LGBT organizations and causes and it's getting tons of coverage. All good stuff... (Plus, it's sponsored by Logo so expect to see more about it on the TV, yo.)
I got to chat up the tour's founder, Cyndi Lauper, about all of this, and trust -- she's the PFLAG mom or aunt or sister we all should be lucky enough to have. And she can sing and put on a fun show like nobody's business so this whole event should be more fun than a gay barrel of rainbow-dipped monkeys. The True Colors bash kicks off its month-long nationwide tour this Friday night (June 8th) in Las Vegas (I'm going!), and then it'll be hitting a town near you, so GO.
Anyway, here's sonme of what the always sassy Lauper had to say about gay causes, this big tour and Gay Pride. And drag queens. Plus, there are some fun video clips and links, too. She-bop, already! I know you get this a lot, but how did this True Colors tour come to be?
I’d been bugging my agents about doing a big tour, a big spectacle, for years. And you know, whenever you go out on the road, you want to have a big party. So we went back and forth on ideas, and he said, “Why don’t you do a ‘True Colors’ tour?” And I said, if we do anything called a True Colors tour, we’ve got include the gay community, because of how much that song means. And, at this present time, it’s such a good thing. And then Logo agreed to sponsor and so we all got together with the HRC and some really great other organizations like PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and it just seemed like a great thing to do, y’know? And I always celebrate my birthday during Pride, so why not?
I’ve seen you celebrate. I’ve seen you on a fire truck coming down Fifth Avenue in the Gay Pride Parade a few years back...
Oh wow, that was with my mom! That was the first year we celebrated Pride with my mom; it was the sweetest thing! 
Cyn in the classic "Girls" video way back when. "Me? A future gay icon? Ya kiddin' me???"
More Cyndi chat, and drag queeny video, after the jump!
Continue reading "Cyndi Lauper Interview: Inside the True Colors Tour" »
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