Party monster

The
9th annual Unity party (Sat, Jun 28 at Koolhaus) is a little scaled down this
year, but its main show promises to be as fierce as last year’s. Sofonda, the
club diva du jour and choreographer, tells Xtra that the show, entitled Spiral
World, will be something completely new and even hotter that last year. Thirty
dancers join Misakiu and NYC’s Kitty Hiccups in a battle of the bitches during
a big budget 12-minute sure-to-be masterpiece (www.unitytoronto.com). Sofonda
is also the reigning Miss El Convento Rico and hosts the very hot Best Legs
contest midnight every Saturday at Woody’s. Last year’s Unity show had three

scenes involving Sofonda spinning through the air and massive pyrotechnics. It
was one of the most incredible club shows I’ve ever seen. Not to be missed!

Meanwhile, the biggest lesbian event of Pride, All Women’s Weekend, is
happening mostly outdoors and is expected to attract thousands throughout the
weekend says co-producer Meera Dhebar. Her main beer garden, in George Hislop
Parkette, will be Pride’s biggest with a 500 capacity. As well, an
entertainment stage and volleyball court will be set up in Norman Jewison
Parkette (at Isabella, east of Yonge). Produced by Big Wig Productions and Girl
Toronto, AWW festivities start on Friday with a performance by Shebang Crew, an
all-female breakdancing crew and a bevy of hot music including DJ Lytes
(www.allwomensweekend.com).

The first two were strictly private events, but Bump 3 is hoping to attract a
huge crowd on Fri, Jul 4 at The Opera House for a massive dance party featuring
circuit music and performances by Sofonda, Robin Loren and Misakiu. This event
sounds like a great deal as tickets are only $25 at the door or $20 in advance
– expensive door prizes will be given away, including a digital audio home
theatre system and 10 prize bags worth more than $650 each. Too good to be
true? The event is being produced by new promoters Peter Barry and John. And,
as I’ve seen this a hundred times, new promoters are always so eager to make
their first party a hit, they usually go all out.

Barry tells me that a portion of the proceeds will go to the Toronto People
With AIDS Foundation and that he’s also hoping to attract lesbians as well as
gay men who wouldn’t normally go to this type of party. Inclusive? Giving money
to charity? Giving away expensive door prizes? Cheap cover and a hot NYC DJ? Is
this a gay party in Toronto? This easily sounds like something worth
supporting. Tickets now available at Glad Day Bookshop.

The city’s best drag MC Crystal Lite has just started her own talk show for

PrideVision TV. The Crystal Lite Show tapes live at Zipperz every Thursday
night from 9pm to 10pm. Crystal tells me she’s having a ball as the show will
feature local and national celebs in front of a live drunken audience.

Tonight (Thu, Jun 26) in New York Shirley MacLaine is expected to make a live
appearance at the hot gay martini bar XL along with the Golden Girl’s Rue
McClanahan and Queer As Folk’s Sharon Gless and Gale Harold as honourees for
the New York State Senate Pride Awards. Patsy and Eddy from AbFab won last
year.

Bend It Like Blondie? You’re about to hear more from that seminal 1970s band as
Blondie’s “Atomic” is on the soundtrack for the sleeper hit of the year, Bend
It Like Beckham. The band is about to release a new single any day called “Good
Boys” with a remix by disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder. A new solo single with a
band called Blow-Up featuring Deborah Harry and the legendary Lydia Lunch has
just been released. It’s called “Exploding Plastic Pleasure.” Blondie just
launched a world tour (no Toronto dates as of yet) to promote their new album
due out this fall called The Curse Of Blondie. And if that wasn’t enough, Harry
performed this week at Carnegie Hall in a tribute to Peggy Lee that also

featured Shirley Horn, Nancy Sinatra, Rita Morena (from the show Oz), Eartha
Kitt, Petula Clark and Bea Arthur.

Cher’s current farewell tour, which is now a year old, is getting extended once
again with more western Canadian dates in August. Her shows continue to sell
out and her latest greatest hits collection has become one of her best selling
albums ever. Released at the same time as Madonna’s American Flop, Cher is
still in the top 15, whereas Madge has fallen completely off the charts. Mind
you, that will radically change as Madonna released a glam new video this week.
Cher’s brilliant TV special of her farewell tour that aired in February is
re-airing on Sun, Jul 6 on NBC. I’ve never been that huge of a Cher fan, but

this special was impressive, especially since it included so many clips of old
Sonny And Cher shows from the early ’70s.

Deep Dish’s Global Underground: Toronto CD debuted at #1 on US dance album
charts last week. The progressive house CD was recently recorded at The
Guvernment, considered one of the world’s top five best clubs. The club has
also just released their own compilation called All Access mixed by Mark Oliver
whose Saturday night Spin party is billed as the biggest dance party in the
country, attracting a sizeable queer following as well.. Ultra Naté has just
released an electro-retro-funk version of The Pretender’s classic “Brass In
Pocket.”

Local queer pop band The Hidden Camera’s new single “A Miracle” just debuted on
the UK mainstream singles chart, as there is nothing mainstream about this
fabulous band, their latest chart success is huge.. Seminal electronic act
Kraftwerk will release a new album called Tour de France in July. It’s their
first all-new album since 1986.. Elaine Stritch, the singer who put the broad
in Broadway, has been attracting large numbers of fags all week at her show at
The Elgin, which continues to Sat, Jun 28.

The owner of El Convento Rico has taken over Church St’s Red Spot bar and will
re-open it as Papi’s Lounge. Not sure what it’s all about but there will be
tapas food and supposedly hot waiters who take their shirts off after 11pm.

The small but visible queer contingent at last week’s annual Much Music Video
Awards show seemed more interested that Queer As Folk’s Gale Harold showed up
and sported a very sexy beard then dishing about Ashanti’s dress featuring a
leopard skin train. Harold, by the way, is currently promoting his new film
Particles Of Truth. Meanwhile the entire QAF cast are busy shooting films or
appearing at various Pride festivities in the US. Peter Paige is gearing up for
his directorial debut in a film called Donut Hole set to shoot next spring.
Meanwhile Randy Harrison’s latest flick Bang Bang You’re Dead is being released
on DVD in September. The QAF cast will head back to Toronto mid-September to
begin shooting the series’ fourth season.

As soccer star and hunk David Beckham recently made headlines about his move to
Madrid, he was rumoured to be negotiating with Calvin Klein to be their newest
spokesmodel. I can imagine that CK underwear sales will skyrocket. Meanwhile,
his no-talent wife Victoria, aka Posh Spice, is screen-testing for the film
version of the mega-hit Broadway musical The Producers. This is so hilarious
considering what the musical is about – a scam artist who gathers the worst
musical cast ever to make a Broadway show so horrendous that it will close
immediately. In other hard-to-believe model news Nicole Kidman is being wooed
to become the new face of Chanel.

It would be his third gay role in a row as Colin Farrell is apparently
considering acting in the movie of Charles Casillo’s book Outlaw where he’d
play gay sexual renegade, hustler and writer John Rechy. Now that, if it
happens, would be the closest Farrell would come to starring in a gay porno.
Yummy! And with that bit of hot gossip, I’ll leave you now. Have an amazing
Pride Day and remember don’t get hitched to the first hottie you see this
weekend, wait at least until the Victory Party. Ciao.