STORY AND PHOTOS BY VINCENT LAMBERT
We continue our coverage of the 10th-Annual GAYVN Awards with more exclusive pictures and dish from the show, which was held last Saturday at the Giftcenter in San Francisco. Sirius Radio personalities Derek and Romaine hosted, filling the big shoes of last year’s host Kathy Griffin (who interestingly booked the Castro Theatre, where the awards took place in 2007, on the same night to perform her comedy act. Our spies tell us that Griffin had faux protesters outside the theater carrying signs that read, “You want an awards show? Suck this!”). The duo decided to answer their very vocal critics (especially the guys at Naked Sword who compared them to potted houseplants) by bringing two actual plants on-stage to start the show. It took the audience a while, but eventually they caught on.
Before that, Lady Bunny performed one of her hysterical song parodies geared especially to the crowd (“All That Jazz” became “All That Jizz”). Later, the NYC drag queen and DJ returned with a string of one-liners that skewered her XXX-rated audience (Sample joke: “I told Michael Lucas to act his age, so he died!”). Chi Chi LaRue, a former host of the show, also took the stage to hype the crowd for the beleaguered new hosts and to ask that the industry come together, even if just for that one night. Overall, Derek and Romaine acquitted themselves nicely, offering up some bitchy barbs and (in the case of Romaine) an intentional nip slip. But when all was said and done, their participation was kept to a minimum and, thanks to some of our fellow judges who rarely stopped yapping throughout the show, we could barely hear the leafy duo!
Some of our favorite moments: the entrance of porn It Couple of the Moment
Jesse Santana and Guy Parker, both tan beyond their years and chomping gum in unison; the introduction of Hall of Fame presenter Gino Colbert with his name spelled out on the ass cheeks of Falcon’s exclusive power pair Aden and Jordan Jaric; the well-deserved induction of longtime porn superstar
Rod Barry into the GAYVN Hall of Fame;
Amazonia: Capture and Release director Dennis Bell mentioning its late star
Danny Roddick when he accepted the award for Best Ethnic-Themed Video (Latin); and
Grunts’ Chris Ward thanking “all the skinny people who make these movies possible” when he won Best Director with Ben Leon.
However, not everyone was completely satisfied with the results. The morning after the awards, Lucas Entertainment president and CEO Michael Lucas sent out a mass e-mail to GAYVN judges and media wondering why his hit sex comedy
The Intern (which was named Best Renting Title of 2007) won four awards but his glossy
Gigolo, a more serious bid for award approval, received none. “So what went wrong with
Gigolo that it got nothing?” Lucas wrote. “If you praised
Gigolo as a groundbreaking film, then acknowledge it.
Gigolo is a serious feature that was raved about.
The Intern is a cute comedy. What went wrong? Where is the common sense? I want the answers.”
Do you hear that, people? Lucas wants answers! What can we say? There’s nothing like a sore winner.
Seen (
from top):
Brent Corrigan and
Chad Hunt; Titan Media exclusive
Dean Flynn; Francesco D’Macho and Matthew Rush; Ridgeline Films founder Jason Ridge; COLT men
Ricky Parks and
Mitch Branson;
The Intern team Tony Dimarco and Michael Lucas; Hall of Famer Lucas Kazan with presenter Gino Colbert; Barrett Long; Dominik Rider; and Lady Bunny down for the count.
