THEGAYUK

Author: Jake Hook

  • BOOK REVIEW | Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

    Coming out is still a huge deal.

    No matter how many people cry out, “it’s 2015, why does this matter anymore?” It does. The stress and worry surrounding sexuality and self-discovery can lead to horrendous consequences. Suicide, lengthy battles with depression and feelings of alienation are still prevalent for many LGBTs in our community.

    Last year a staggering one in ten men who phoned The Samaritans were concerned about their sexuality showing that coming to terms with your own sexuality can be one of the hardest things in life.

    That’s why when books this powerful come along we must pay attention and remember, while things are getting better, we’re not there yet.

    First-time author Becky Alertalli hits the nail on the head with her brilliantly observant story of Simon, a 16-year-old schoolboy who’s just on the cusp of coming out. Not quite there… but nearly.

    Falling deeply in love over emails with an unknown schoolmate only known as ‘Blue’, whom he finds via a random post on the school’s gossip board on Tumblr, Simon is about to learn what it means to come out… Out out.

    A brilliantly confident book which shines the light on the age-old genre of coming of age and taking those hesitant steps in telling the first person, and for once about a boy meets boy and falls head over heels, brilliantly questioning why the white, heterosexual middle classes are always the default.

    Achingly honest and socially awkward; readers will melt for junk food obsessed, mobile phone yielding, indie music loving Simon, who picks his way through sexuality and schoolyard politics to find his true self. They’ll cheer with sheer joy as he takes his small steps out of the closet and laugh heartedly at his first giant leap to his drunken evening out at a gay bar.

    A non-stop page turn-over for those wanting or needing reassurance ahead of their own coming out that it will be okay, or for those who want to fondly remember their first outing with a massive smile on their faces.

    Pre-order from Amazon now. Out April 2015

  • COMMENT | Why I Am Team Perez

    Okay, this may be slightly controversial, and by the time you read this the show will be over, but I am Team Perez Hilton. In what can only be described as the apex of Channel 5’s existence, Celebrity Big Brother has brought together the nation in a way that hasn’t happened in an age – and at the centre of this ‘community glue’ was the relationship between Perez and Katie Hopkins, Perez and Big Brother, Perez and the Great British public and Perez and himself.

    The outpouring of what I like to call homo-homophobia has been astounding. The hate from the ever expletive laden, venom filled tweets and Facebook posts levelled at Perez was disheartening and vile in itself. It wasn’t just the straights having a pop at the infamous celebrity self-proclaimed gossip queen, it was us gays. Even newly appointed LGBT Editor of Buzzfeed Patrick Studwick had a pop, calling him a ‘stain on the gay community’, and ‘a despicable human being’, sorry but who are you to make such an assertion?

    Yes, his claim that the isolation he felt was like ‘being diagnosed with AIDS in the early 80s’ was despicable, but clearly the man doesn’t have the words or the vocabulary to express himself in any other way than in shock-tactic American News-esque soundbites. The man has built his entire fame and brand from this.

    Why are we acting surprised, his offering has been out there for ten years? What he has to say is crass and often at times offensive, there’s no denying that, but look at his notorious blog, made famous with monosyllabic words and doodles drawn over the pictures of the rich and famous. Doesn’t that tell you a little bit about the man?

    Thousands of us took to social media to decry and effem-i-shame Perez. Many echoing that well-trodden sentiment that he puts back the gay community fifty years, thanks to Michelle Visage’s impassioned diary room moment. It’s the same line we use whenever a gay guy says or does something that isn’t the stereotypical heteronormative or ‘straight acting’ way we seem to like our community to act in the public arena, less we be judged to be lesser than human.

    You only have to look at the hate heaped on the likes of Louie Spence, Rylan Clark or Alan Carr to see that we do this all the time. If an openly gay guy doesn’t ‘act straight’ or ‘talk straight’, then he’s setting us back.

    Bulls**t.

    Well, he doesn’t, they don’t. Perez doesn’t put anyone back fifty years – only himself and after all it’s his life to lead.

    The only people putting us back fifty years are those who shame other guys for expressing themselves in the only way that they know, and if they’re putting it on as an act for their career then so be it, but they don’t represent us.

    The homo-homophobic’s disdain says more about our community than it does about Perez’s way of dealing with his surroundings. His attention-grabbing and self-centred view of the world isn’t anything to do with his sexuality, let’s not confuse the issues here.

    If we want to live in a world where we’re not judged for the people that we love, then we had better stop judging people for the way that they act. Every last overactive, poofy, queer boy, cross-dressing, non-binary, non-clone, bull dyke out there has the right to act and be however they like. If you don’t like it, then as Perez said, leave. For each of us have a colour in our fabulous rainbow.

    If you agree or disagree, take to our forum to have your say.

    So in this month’s issue we’re jam packed we have a Cucumber overload, which does sound painful, but we’ve got interviews with the cast of Russell T. Davies’s acclaimed new series, we have a word with Louie Spence and Joey Essex about their Jump experience, we share cocktails with RuPaul Drag Race’s reigning champ Bianca Del Rio and then there was Pam Ann. We also have an EXCLUSIVE with Barbara Hulanicki, famed iconic designer of the 60s who can call Cher, Twiggy and Freddie Mercury amongst her lifelong friends and clients.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • AUDIO REVIEW: SonicSport Ath Sport 2 by Audio Technica

    The bright yellow wiring provides a distinctive, playful and sporty feel to Japanese designed Audio Technica’s leap into the in-ear bud for the fitness fan.

    Perhaps better known for their On-Ear, enclosed and noise cancelling earphones, for which they make with an engineering prowess to rival Bose and Sennheiser, ATH Sport 2 provide a viable option for the serious sports fanatic who want a fuss-free listen.

    As with any in-ear bud, the quality of audio is compromised, with a slightly tinny top end and a bass that is slightly muffled. This can be fixed a play around with your device’s EQ settings, which can see the little speakers deliver a punchy bass, however, AthSport 2 is not ready for a plug and play without a little manipulation. However, this more present, un-coloured mid boost, lends itself to more spoken word content, such as podcasts or talk radio – especially good if you’re more likely to be listening to this type of programming as you run or workout, meaning you never miss another word because of outside noise sources.

    The earphones are provided with four sets of rubber in-ear pieces to ensure the best fit possible, meaning you get a good sound isolation experience. However, annoyingly the product doesn’t provide inline controls or a microphone, meaning you will have to remove your device or phone should want to skip tracks or answer a phone call – a bit of an oversight on Audio Technica’s behalf as the majority of music is now played on smartphones rather than iPods or other MP3 players.

    Brilliantly these earphones are IPX5 Waterproof Certifed, which could mean the end of ruined in ears because of sweat – yes, headphones can be irreparably destroyed with a few drips of sweat from your hair.

     

    The Good: Bright colours are attractive and the ear moulding provides a good fit for the ear – even when jogging. Strong brand Waterproof certified.

    The Bad: Strong mid, lacking in bass. In inline controls or microphone.

  • TV REVIEW | Cucumber, Banana, Tofu

    ★★★★ | Cucumber, Banana, Tofu

    He’s a clever bugger that Russell T. Bloke – you know the one who is basically is the godfather of Gay TV.

    Forget Kim Kardashian breaking the internet, Russell T Davies’s Queer As Folk broke terrestrial television with many asses back in 1999 and it looks as though he’s about to do it again with a brand new interwoven, multi-platform series that celebrates sexual and gender diversity, like no other writer or broadcaster for that matter, has ever done before.

    The erect penis has been studied, not just in this office, but scientifically, yes money has been spent on measuring how hard penises are – and they (the scientists) came up with a scale of hardest – from Tofu to Cucumber. Meet Henry, the story which Cucumber, the terrestrial offering from Channel 4. He’s a man in his late forties who hates the gay scene. Absolutely loathes it. It doesn’t resonate with him anymore, the young’un with their apps and inability to hold a conversation longer than their ejaculations. He’s been in a sexless, long term relationship for years and is having a bit of crisis of his placement in ‘the community’; fifteen years on is this how Stuart Jones would have turned out?

    But let’s get this straight, as best we can, Cucumber isn’t Queer As Folk 2.0. It’s a different story, a different set of characters. It’s gay-centric, but packs huge laughs, sex and asks the big questions: What do ‘WE’ want? That’s the big ‘WE’ of course – and while Cucumber focuses mainly on a gay man, Banana delves into the world sexuality and gender and rips it open in a way that could break the digital channel.

    Banana is the other side of the story. The young guns with their apps and their multi-sexual and gender identities and how these can collide. If Cucumber is generation gay, Banana is generation ‘Whatever’.

    Boxes and labels are so 1997/2004, so BBC 3… Generation just-get-on-with-it, are about to have their say, and while viewers on e4 probably won’t bat an eyelid, their parents might just be a little confused at the ever changing landscape.

    Then there’s Tofu an on-demand series, this is where the beauty of interwoven, multi-channel programming come into its own. Prepare to see people, yes real people, from all demographics talk about their sex lives. Even legendary Corrie actress Julie Hesmondhalgh talks sex – and as we heard at the press conference, “you heard it here first…”

    Potentially not a groundbreaking as QAF, (times have changed) but certainly just as necessary. It is about time than the LGBT demographic had something more than a storyline here and there. We want our own series dammit and Cucumber, Banana and Tofu deliver this in loads… (wipe the smile off your face, you dirty bugger).

  • FILM REVIEW | Erebus: Into The Unknown

    ★★★★ | Erebus: Into The Unknown

    In 1979 257 people perished in an Air New Zealand flight in which an aircraft slammed into Mount Erebus in Antarctic, becoming one of the world’s worst air disasters.

    The flight was a sightseeing excursion that left Auckland in the morning and was expected to return that evening. Sightseeing tours were a new and exciting breakthrough in the world of air-based tourism. Passengers were treated to breath-taking views, being wined and dined as a sub-zero, frozen world passed seamlessly beneath them.

    When the DC10 aircraft failed to return alarm bells started to go off and operation Overdue was mounted. Within hours the lives of thousands of people would be changed forever, in New Zealand’s worst aviation accident to date. The nation was in shock for 200 of its citizens that died. Countless families, friends and a nation mourned for those lost on the inhospitable mountain side.

    In this film, the story focuses on eleven ordinary police officers who were called upon to retrieve the shattered bodies of those victims. Eleven ordinary men who faced an extraordinary harrowing and life-changing battle against the bleak, forbidding landscape that forms Mount Erbus experiencing mass death on a massive scale.

    Operation Overdue was the New Zealand police operation to lead a recovery operation. The first of these officers left from Christchurch on the 29th November 1979. It included the Chief Air Accident Investigator, Ron Chippindale, who led the site investigation, and the New Zealand Police search and rescue coordinator, Inspector Robert (Bob) Mitchell, who led the recovery operation. Just 11 New Zealand Police officers were selected from squads that included members of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team and Search and Rescue. Accompanying these men was a handful of mountaineers. By the 10th of December, their job of recovering, bagging and repatriated bodies was complete. The DVI managed to recover 114 intact bodies, 133 bags of human remains and countless personal belonging back to the victims’ families.

    Using a mix of archive and re-enactment, Directors Peter Burger and Charlotte Purdy have created a powerful documentary that uncovers the power of the human spirit. That even against the greatest odds, courage can overcome fear.

    Although short, this documentary film manages to capture the emotional rollercoaster faced by those directly involved with the disaster.

  • INTERVIEW: La Voix

    INTERVIEW: La Voix

    Having been on the scene a number of years now, La Voix won the nation’s hearts on Britain’s Got Talent this year performing with the London Big Band, sadly losing out at the Semi-Finals, but concreting her career as one of the UK’s top drag acts. Of course, there was only one question we could ask first…

    Has the cheque become bigger?

    Of course it has, I’m not gonna lie. I mean, two years ago I was working as a makeup artist and I was doing the odd gig here and there. Now two years later La Voix is full-time. It’s what I do. I’ve got an office space I rent, a PA for bookings and invoices and It’s crazy, It’s like the world of camp gone mad.

    Do you get a lot of gigs with the London Big Band or do you now work alone?

    The immediate after-mass, the band took a break because it was a long rehearsal, you can imagine trying to get twenty-five of us together for rehearsal was hell because they’ve all got jobs. Next year we’ve got lots of exciting bookings together. We’ve got theatre tours all up and down the country, but this year for me has been majority solo.

    Is there any bitching from the other queens on the scene, since your new found fame?

    I get a mixed reaction. I think I’m half loved, half hated. I’m very ambitious and I’m not scared to let people know that. Sometimes people think that It’s a bit of a bitch but I think I’d say I’m a bit of a diva, but not a bitch, I think there’s a difference. I just think It’s about time, if the drag scene is gonna move forward, like it has done in New York with Ru Paul’s Drag Race, we need to step it up. I think it can be a little bit ropey over here. Like I said on Britain’s Got Talent I think you can get a bit of a naff vibe and there’s some great acts out there and some great talent but it just doesn’t get the light of day really.

    Drag had been fading from the public consciousness but seems to have come full circle with popular TV drag shows. Was there a fear in the drag community that the art was dying out?

    I came into the cabaret scene quite late off the back of wining Drag Idol in 2012, so I’ve really only been on the gay scene as an act for two years, which is quite short compared to a lot of the names who have done ‘20-25 years darling’, to quote Danny La Rue. When I joined I didn’t realise there was such a big scene and it opened my eyes. You’d imagine going to Soho and it’d be dripping with drag shows and drag bars but there’s a lot more on the outskirts with your Clapham, your Camden, your Brighton. I thought drag was definitely on its way out but I think its gone a bit more main stream with Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and it’s bound to come over here in some form at some point.

    Well, we know that Ru Paul’s Drag Race is coming to the UK, so what are your thoughts on that?

    Do you know what? I am more than prepared for it. I’ve been preparing for this for more than a year. I’ve taken sewing classes. If that comes about without a doubt I’ll be going hook line and sinker to get on that show. I like a competition.

    Are you any good at sewing?

    No, I am one of those lazy ones that has everything made for me. I literally, no word of a lie, started an evening sewing class. I’ve got a sewing machine and this is literally all in preparation for whet Ru Paul’s Drag Race comes to the UK. I think it’s such a great opportunity to get the drag back out there. I mean, just look at the work those guys get for being on that show, why on earth you’d be a drag queen and not be on it I do not know.

    Do you think that Simon Cowell would make a good drag queen?

    No! He’d be horrendous I mean look at his style as a man. Imagine what he’d be like as a woman. No.

    Taking in his shape and size, is there any advice you’d give him if he was looking for a moment in drag?

    Oh My God. He’d just have to wear a huge cover all and lots of ostrich to try and cover that shape but he should definitely keep his flat top hair style. He could maybe be the first lesbian drag look.

    You came about during Drag Idol in 2012, so were you doing drag at all before then?

    Yeah. I was a resident down at Madame Jo Jo’s on a saturday for seven years, but I don’t think people knew I was down there really because it’s very much a non-gay crowd now, like all stag and hen nights. It was very choreographed and stylised and I was quite snobby about the cabaret scene for a long time. I didn’t want to be part of that ‘singing in a pub’. I came from a theatre background and had my degree and I very much wanted to be a serious actor for a while. The drag thing, it sounds corny, kinda found me. I was working as a make up artist and also a singer and it just happened, I put the two together. I didn’t realise how lucrative it was and how much work you could get otherwise I would have done it years ago. So I’m absolutely loving it.

    So where did the name come from?

    I was really inspired by a retired lip syncer in America who, although I’m a live singer, I was just amazed by his You Tube. He had red hair and a 50s look and I was always very honest that I literally stole that image because it was so iconic and I think gay men are so intrigued by your Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, but there’s not many acts that actually embody that 50s era. With his name being Lip Syncer and what he did was lip syncing, I quite liked the the idea that his name told you what he did and I thought my point of difference was that I sing live, which is not that different in Britain but it certainly is in the States. We were just playing around with the voice, singing and different languages and we just came up with that really.

    Where are you from originally?

    I’m from the North East, Stockton-on-Tees

    And do you ever get to go back?

    Yeah, It’s a very small scene because Newcastle is 45 mins up the road and Leeds is about 45 mins to an hour the other way, so you’re in between two quite prolific cities really that have got quite good scenes. You’ve got the odd one or two bars, the one that’s gay on a Tuesday night, so It’s very small. However, what was wonderful was this year, off the back of telly, I headlined the Middlesborough Community Pride, which is one of the first gay prides they’ve ever done in the North East.

    Did your folks attend?

    Yeah, they walked the gay parade march with me this year and that was lovely. My mum tries my dresses on. The first thing she does when she comes to london, oh let me try this on, let me try this one on.

    So you haven’t just burst from no-where, you’ve almost got one foot in the older more established drag queens camp and also a foot in the new crop of queens that have come about, because of TV, so looking back at the ‘heritage’ queens, the Dave Lynn the Titti La Camp, is there anyone who’s your favourite?

    Well Titti La Camp, who hosted Drag Idol, was a wonderful support for me very early on. I remember having this phone call with her and she went through every single cabaret venue in the uk from the North to the South saying this stage is like this and this town’s not very good, this town’s good, this is the money you need here this is the money you’ll get there, you wont get any higher than that there and she was really, really lovely and supportive and I’ve always had a soft spot for Titti La Camp. I think without him I wouldn’t have won the competition and still been a little bit snobby about it all and not done as much work as I would have. He basically said, take the money, take the booking, say yes to everything, just do it, and it was the best advice he gave me. It exploded me onto the scene.

    From the new batch has anyone caught your eye?

    I like Myra Dubois, he’s very original and quirky. He hosted the Cabaret Awards last year and I was just in tears with laughter as he was just so clever. He can’t sing a note for toffee but his comedy’s great. [Laughs.] To be honest I think we need a new school. We need some fresh blood there.

    Do you think the idea of a drag girl-band works or do you think there’s just too many personalities?

    I think with the age group of some of those acts they’ve got in, what spills across the footlights for me is the politics in the group or the problems with rehearsing. If you were to do a girl group of Dave Lynn, Miss Jason and Titti, straight away what you’d get is triple the energy, you’d get fun and any politics and jokes would be thrown to the audience to laugh at.

    How do you think you’d fair in the executive realness? What kind of look would you pull?

    I’d go for Ann Widdecombe.

    Oh dear, that’s an image. Tell me the very first time La Voix came about, where were you?

    We came up with the name and the look and I decided I wanted to be with a live band, even though now that’s few and far between because of the logistics, but I hired Madame Jo Jo’s myself, and Shadow Lounge, and did a ticketed show with a live band, which was brave as I had no following – which showed in the ticket sales! We literally launched like you would a new product. Looking back it was a little too premature, however it certainly prepared me for a couple of months later when the whole Drag Idol came up.

    Do you have a partner?

    No.

    In La Voix’s life does she have a partner?

    Oh, that’s a very deep question. No, I don’t think she does. She’s been married before. She’s got kids but she lost them somewhere. She put them up for adoption when she got gigs because she didn’t want to lose her record deal for being pregnant.

  • Interview | Dolly Parton: Welcome To Dollywood

    Rarely does an artist evoke a reaction like the one Dolly receives. I told a number of people I was going to interview Dolly and young and old alike knew exactly who I was talking about. You see she’s an artist who transcends demographics, she’s loved by all and sundry. This is fact. Having recently finished a sellout World Tour, headlined at Glastonbury and become one of just a handful of women to top 100 million world wide record sales, a number of journalists were invited to a press conference with the star, here is what we learnt. Dolly is an unstoppable, loveable and relatable force of nature and she’s one of the nicest ‘town tramps’ we know.

    Your connection to the gay community is strong and undeniable, is there a song or album over the years that you’ve heard from your gay fans they particularly connect with?

    Oh, I think a lot of my fans relate to different songs, a lot of them like Light Of A Blue Morning, it’s a very uplifting song, it’s really a song of overcoming different things, but I think they just relate to my songs just in general. Hopefully, I think, they relate to me more than any particular song, although, at some point, I would like to do a dance record and I have several songs that are targeted towards the gay community, like a fun little song called Just A Wee Bit Gay, it’s a great little dance tune. I do write a lot of songs along those lines for people that are different and unusual and for people that are, you know, just themselves.

    I have a lot of those good positive uplifting songs and hopefully eventually I will get (them) out there.

     

    Can you update us on Doggie Parton?

    YESSS! …We gotta call with the main people with the government and they told us that the true owners did come forward. They had reported the dog missing. It was a language barrier. I think they were from another country and they got the dog back. Everybody feels good about it. I do not get to take her home, I was looking forward to it. I was going to rename her Glassie because of Glastonbury. I was gonna say Glassie comes home, but they want her and they feel good about that and I have been very instrumental in making sure that the dog is taken care of all the way through. So now they have her back. She’s 15 years-old, they thought at one time she was seven, but she’s 15, so everyone’s happy that she’s back where she belongs. I’m a little sad, because I was looking forward to taking her home, but I’m glad she’s back where she belongs.

    On your newest album Blue Smoke, Lay Your Hands On Me and Miss You Miss Me are great songs about strength and comfort, can you talk about the background of those and what you would say to kids who are feeling broken or rejected?

    Lay Your Hands On Me, I just always loved that song and when I first heard it years ago it just sounded like a gospel song ‘cause I grew up in the church where people did, you know, lay hands on just to pray for the sick or just to make you feel better as a spiritual thing. So I just thought it’d make a good song to turn into a gospel song – just having a conversation with God. I asked Jon Bon Jovi and Richie if they’d reconsider reworking it and working it into a gospel tune and they were willing to do that and it’s actually one of my favourites and as far as the Miss You Miss Me track I actually had a niece who was going through a divorce and my little grand niece who was part of that whole divorce, was feeling like she didn’t quite understand why there were such problems between her Mum and her Dad and that’s what inspired that particular song. I just think that so many children get caught up in the divorce and children are left to be made to feel like they’ve done something wrong when two grown people, even if they can’t get along should be more considerate where the children are concerned.

    You mentioned being disappointed about not being able to take Doggie Parton home with you, do you think you’ll get a new dog to adopt from the Happy Landing Shelter?

    Well, no, I don’t believe we’re looking, I have a big responsibility at home. My heart went out to this particular dog, because of the way, it was like it was meant to be somehow. It was just so touching to me, that she got lost there at the festival where we were. I would definitely want to make sure when we all became aware, that this dog was lost and found. It just really broke our hearts, that someone could abandon it, but I’m not looking to adopt another dog. This one was the one I was definitely going to make sure she was okay, no matter what. I would have not been able to take her had they not found the owner, because she was not in great health. They thought it would have traumatised her. So I guess God knows what he’s doing. Everything is back in order and I’m thankful that everyone played their part and I was not going to drop the ball nor the dog… (laughs)

    We heard that you shipped your buses from Australia to Europe for this tour, what prompted you to do that?

    Well, because I love living on the bus. We’ve been on tour so many times through the years, I found that I just love living on the bus as opposed to going in and out of hotels. I can always keep all of my things on the bus so we have two buses running all the time on these tours. If we have to fly from point A to point B we have one of the buses, which are almost identical; that are stocked almost the same way, so it just gives me a feeling of being home all the time. I can scatter my stuff and I don’t have to carry all that luggage in and out of hotels. I’m just a gypsy this is my caravan (Laughs).

    Is there a significant difference between overseas’ audiences and American audiences? Perhaps in the way they react or respond to certain songs?

    Yeah, I think the main difference is in America they’re great, I mean I love all my audiences and they’re all wonderful. But in America they know they’re going to get to see you because you’re there all the time. The main difference is when we’re overseas, you don’t get to come that often and they really, really go out of their way to let you know how much they love you, how happy they are to see you and if they don’t see you again they remember that they appreciated you being there. So there’s an excitement that you can’t hardly describe. It’s really just the time and the space I suppose. ‘I don’t know when I’ll see you again so let’s just make the absolute most of it’ and that’s how I respond to them. I try to give them everything I possibly can, incase I don’t get chance to come back for years and years or ever… But they’re a wonderful audience and we just love them all. Don’t take nothing from my American audience though… Them also!

    How would you, Dolly Parton, get over a heartbreak?

    Laughs… The way everybody else does. You have to let time heal all wounds. I’m one of those people – I wound easy, but I heal fast. I always thought that a broken heart is like a broken bone. I wrote about that in a song. It’s like a broken heart is like a broken wing, it must have its time to mend. It’s like any other injury. Usually a terrible, terrible heart ache takes about a year to really heal, but some of us can heal a little faster. You just gotta look at it like an injury and just try to think positive, try to live above it, try to live beyond it. But you gotta wallow in that sorrow while it lasts – You can’t out run it, you got to roll with the sorrow too.

    How have you sustained an abundant positive energy for almost five decades of your career?

    I have a good attitude. I love my work. I think it’s important that people be busy, stay busy, try to be creative and I don’t think the years matter so much if you really make yourself busy. Of course you see yourself getting older, you notice little things as the years go by, but that doesn’t mean that you should stop. You just need to take care of those things as they come along. But keep a good attitude above everything else. I just keep myself creative and busy. I have good doctors – good makeup – and a good attitude and whatever it takes to keep myself looking better and better. That’s what I’m gonna try and do from now on…

    You just performed Jolene at the Glastonbury Festival, 40 years after its release in 1974. How does it make you feel that this song is still so recognised?

    Well, Jolene, a lot of people don’t realise is the song that is recorded more than any other song, by other artists throughout the world. I still enjoy singing it. It makes me feel great. I think it’s just so easy to sing. It’s got that bouncy little feeling. I think a lot of people relate to it. So I’m very proud of Jolene. I’m glad that people are still liking it.

    Any future plans for touring after this summer? Working on any new music?

    I’m gonna take off for a little while, I’m doing my life story as a musical. I’m also doing my life story as a movie, which also has a lot of music in it. I may possibly do some television, and some producing so I’ve got a lot of business stuff in mind, but I do not plan to do any more touring in the near future. We’ve done this world tour and we’re winding that up pretty soon, I’m sure as years go by we’ll be doing other things, but for now I’m gonna concentrate more on the business end of things and the creative stuff like the musical, the movies and the TV.

    You talk about the movie business and you had a part in From Hollywood To Dollywood, but we’ve not seen you in a movie since Joyful Noise, is acting something you’re likely to get back into?

    Well, only if I get good scripts. I’m not opposed to it. I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to do, but I do hope to do some more movies. I would like to do, as I mentioned, some TV things as well. Maybe some TV movies. If I get a great script for a movie, I’m certainly not opposed to do it. Always looking for a good script though!

    We’d like to know how it felt to perform to a staggering 100,000 people at Glastonbury at this point in your career?

    Well, there were a lot of people there. It was a sea of people, but to me I enjoyed it. It didn’t scare me. I’ve worked in front of a lot of people before – and that was a lot of people, but to me I look at those fans, and I just love them all. There can be 100,000 or 10,000 and I’ll just play to them all the same… But looking out, I have to say, at Glastonbury, it was more people than I’ve ever seen at one time. We had a really good time. They seemed to enjoy it. Got a lot of great, positive press, I was really shocked and surprised we did as well as we did! I wasn’t expecting anything other than just to go out and do my show, but it’s turned into something really special and it makes me feel real good that they accepted me that well.

    You’re about to go Platinum with your Cracker Barrel exclusive: An Evening With Dolly Parton, how does it feel to still be putting out a Platinum album?

    Well, you know, anything good that happens to me I’m just grateful for it. I don’t care how old I get. Any little award I get or any kind of acknowledgement, the fact that people still love my music, and the fact that I still want to do it. I always said that I’d still be doing my music, even if I had to sell it out the top of my car… So it makes me feel good, and my relationship with Cracker Barrel has been great. We make a great team.

    You said that the town tramp was a fashion inspiration for you, and you’ve been such a fashion icon for many people, what is it about the town tramp you like so much and are there any fashion icons today that you’re excited about?

    Well, I actually love anything that glitters and shines. I love a lot of colour and close fitting clothes. I always say I buy my clothes two sizes too small and then I have them taken in… I just love my clothes to fit me good and that was the thing about the town tramp – she had a lot of colour, a lot of flare. She showed her legs, she showed her boobs, she showed her waist line, she had her nails, she had her hair all piled up, she was just really beautiful – and that’s the way I felt inside. I’m not a natural beauty, so I have to kinda paint n’ powder and put it all on, so that the way I dress kinda fits the way I feel. I’ve always been very comfortable with that, it honestly is the truth that I patented my look after that, because I was impressed. To me that was what beauty was. And that just fits my style. and I still love the flare and the gaud.

    Did you ever keep in touch with the town tramp? Does she know how much she inspired you?

    Oh absolutely not. I knew her name, but I would never ever ever use it. I didn’t know if her folks knew that she was the town tramp! I don’t even know if she knew she was the town tramp! That’s just the way everybody saw her, she probably wasn’t a tramp! She may have been very much like me, just somebody who wanted to be more…

    They always say less is more, I always thought that was the biggest crock I ever heard. More is more, Less is less… (Laughs…) I want more!

    What did you think about all that nonsense about whether you were miming or not at Glastonbury?

    Oh you know what, every-time I go on tour I hear that. I just like people to come and watch what I do and then you tell me what you think… But they say that about every artist. I’m not getting into that. I’m there, I’m Dolly and I’m singing. Someone’s always gotta have something negative to say, so I just roll with the punches.

     

    You’ve been crossing over into pop for decades. How do you straddle the country music image where the media portrays them as this kind of conservative, right wing, anti-Obama, anti-abortion… Verses liberal left-wing Hollywood – how do you straddle that line and how do you suggest other artists to do the same?

    Well, I don’t usually get into any of the political stuff, I’ve been Dolly all the way through, people know who I am. They know that I’m very open and loving of all people. Accepting of all things. I’m an American girl, I’ve got the freedom to do whatever, and I’ve always been blessed with that. So I just write my songs, I just do my thing and say what I say and either people accept it or don’t. I’ve been around so long people just kinda think of me as a family member and I think they know I’m not out to do any harm, nor to get too political on anything. I’m just a living human being, trying to do the best I can.

     

  • Michael Lucas The King Of Porn Turns His Lens On A New View

    Michael Lucas The King Of Porn Turns His Lens On A New View

    You may know him as the King Of Porn, having built up an empire called Lucas Entertainment. Russian born, Israeli by parentage and American by heart Michael Lucas is in the midst of a rebrand. King of the documentary. We catch up with Mr. Lucas to talk about what’s on his mind and the power of the camera.

    (more…)

  • INTERVIEW | Paul Burston

    If you don’t know who Paul Burston is, you’ve clearly been living under a rock. A stalwart of the gay scene, ACTUP activist, one-time editor of TimeOut’s LGBT Section, a writer for multiple magazines and newspapers including the Guardian and author of 4 best-selling novels.

    In your time you must have had some incredible brushes with the rich and famous – who has been your favourite?
    I’ve been a journalist for 25 years and I’ve been lucky enough to meet a great many famous people I admire, including Debbie Harry, Victoria Wood and Princess Diana. But if I had to pick one, I’d say Elizabeth Taylor. I met her at London Lighthouse in the mid-90s. She was so tiny – and every inch a star. I’d always loved her, and she didn’t disappoint. She was one of the first stars to speak out about AIDS and a true original. Watching Helen Bonham-Carter play her in that TV drama recently only highlighted just how unique she was. Nobody does Liz Taylor like Liz Taylor.

    We love that you call her Liz, like totally on first name terms. Bravo Gay stripes.

    Finish this sentence: Champagne is…
    …Great fun while it lasts, not so much fun the following day. Champagne hangovers are the worst!

    We hear you, Paul, we hear you!

    Ultimate girl band: Rihanna, Katy Perry and Miley or Kylie, Madonna and Belinda Carlisle?
    I’d have to go with Kylie, Madonna and Belinda. But only because Kate Bush, Debbie Harry and Stevie Nicks weren’t an option.

    Ooo you’re ultra old skool, (and you’ve made us spell School in that kooky way…) Excellent.

    The campest moment of your life?
    Introducing Celia Imrie at Polari last year. We managed to keep her surprise guest appearance a tightly guarded secret, although a few of the regulars had their suspicions. As soon as I announced her, there was pandemonium! If you’d asked me before then, I’d have said it was introducing Fenella Fielding – also at Polari. Both are fabulously camp women, beloved by gay audiences. And both are great supporters of the LGBT community. It was a privilege to introduce them.

    You are kind of like Cilla Black, matchmaking the gays with their icons. We love it.

    What do other people think your most attractive feature is?
    I’d like to say it was my cheeky smile and sparkling personality, but it’s probably my legs. I was a keen cyclist for years, so I have well-developed leg muscles. And yes, I’m familiar with the saying, “nice legs, shame about the face!”

    Ooh He’s got footballers legs and self-effacing. Are you single by any chance?

    If you were PM for a day what would be your first ruling…
    I’d bestow honours on Bette Bourne and David Hoyle. Dame-hoods, naturally.

    Natch.

    What are the two things you couldn’t live without?
    My husband. He’s the love of my life and I can’t imagine life without him.

    My iPhone. I’ve written most of my new novel on it. I no longer carry a notebook everywhere. Everything is written in Notes on my phone and backed up onto my desktop. Now I can actually read my own notes!

    You are ridiculously modern. Furthermore, you managed to plug the fact you’re working on a new novel. The man is a professional.

    Most embarrassing drunken moment?
    Meeting David Bowie at an after show party. I’m a massive fan and got hideously drunk on free Champagne. When he arrived, I launched myself at him and announced that when I was 15, he saved my life. He smiled knowingly and said, ‘really?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘And you’re still the man!’
    I couldn’t believe the crap coming out of my mouth. I mean, ‘you’re the man!’ Who says that? He must get it a lot. He’s David Bowie, after all. But he was very gracious, a perfect gentleman.

    We know exactly what you mean, we did that with Kelly Osborne once. Well, we think it was Kelly Osborne. It was dark.

    Is there a gay Mafia?
    Not really. But some of us like to dress the part.

    Snaps.

    Liza needs to do… next?
    I love Liza. She’s been written off so many times, but she’s still here.
    She’s a living legend. She just needs to keep on living. That’s enough for me.

    Gotch ya, long live Liza. May she stumble from party to party forever.

    Check out Paul Burston’s monthly Polari Literary Salon at: www.polariliterarysalon.co.uk

  • THEATRE REVIEW: Urinetown, Apollo Theatre, London

    With a terrible title, something that the writers are keen to point out, Urinetown is the anti-musical- musical and it’s bloody brilliant.

    (more…)

  • INTERVIEW | Sinitta

    If you don’t know who Sinitta is then we can only ask one question, which rock have you been sleeping under? We talk to X FACTOR’s favourite guest… Sinitta.

    So… So Many Men So Little Time, we’re getting a theme here with your hits – all to do with man loving, (girl after our own heart)… So what are you looking for this time, someone Macho? Toy Boyish? or other?
    Actually now I’m looking for someone gorgeous with a big big BIG heart!
Lips that are juicy and chewy, a touch that is firm but gentle… I’m crazy and emotional, I need passion, warmth and soul. I want eyes that I can melt in and a chest I can lie on and weep on and sleep on and a body I can feast on. Forever… Sorry Did I say that out loud?

    5/5 She’s an animal. Someone get this woman a man… Stat!

    What’s your feelings about grown men in Onesies?
    Hmmm I actually got to see quite a few this year and they were men of all different shapes and sizes. They looked ridiculous but comfortable, so it was kind of sweet really.

    4/5 Come on now Sinitta, ridiculous is the word… Comfortable and fashion are two words that should never be heard together… You should know that!

    Do you know what ‘Sounding’ is?
    NO!

    Explain to Sinitta that it involves men’s bits and a metal rod…

    Even with the clues – just NO! No idea!

    2/5 The naive mind is a precious place. Once you’ve seen it – you can’t un-see it.

    Have you ever given or tried to give fashion advice to Simon Cowell?
    Of course!

    3/5 And does he listen? We think you need to take scissors to his high wasted jeans and cut cut cut.

    What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever read about yourself?
    Oh dear, ok latest one is that Simon has me gagged so I can’t talk about stuff. How can you GAG THE MOUTH?!! Anyway, it’s not true, I actually exercise my own censorships and discretions, it’s Louis who needs a Gag! And a Bit, and a Bridle!

    6/5 Love that she’s referred to herself as THE MOUTH. Extra points for the capitalisation but we’ve deducted some points for the mental image of Louis in a gag, bit and bridle.

    The biggest pain in the world is… a) Simon Cowell b) Child birth, or c) Getting a tropical plant’s leaf stuck in a place that it shouldn’t be?
    This one’s easy, a Broken Heart. That thing can just ache and ache and ache for such a long time, you wonder if you will EVER be the same again. But TRUTH is, eventually you will get better and it will be ok.

    4/5 White wine heals all wounds darl, white wine and Tramadol.

    Is there any possible way to out camp the leaf dress?
    I really do hope so, though I must admit I haven’t thought of it yet… Imagine if I have “peaked in campness” now, with so many years left to live – nightmare!

    4/5 Perish the thought – Can we suggest you in an oversized champagne glass, served with 4 topless hunks, wearing nothing but the labels of a well known champagne brand?

    You seem to be the nicest celebrity that ever graced the earth! There must be an inner Diva? Ever had a stand up argument with another celebrity? Who, What, When and did you patch it up?
    Aah, that’s really sweet of you to say that… Hmmm I did have a very famous fight with Pete Burns back in the 90s – we were performing with Kylie. Playing the Tokyo Dome he is about 6ft 2 and me 5ft 4 and he thought I was babyish and said, “Here she is-LITTLE MISS SHOWBIZ” in a catty voice and tried to fling me off of the stage! I think we were fighting over a boy, I can’t really remember what triggered it, so I grabbed him by his weave and shook him until all of his rings fell off and threw him onto the ground and stood on him in my red patent leather heels! 
Ok, now the truth -
I was pretty lame I must admit, I think I just let some big man pick me up and carry me away and then started yelling back at him from a safe distance! We are good though Pete and I, we actually get along well if we see each other. He’s actually a big softie!

    10/5 – Automatic 2 extra points for mentioning Kylie. Two more points for the over active imagination and the visual of grabbing Pete by the weave and 1 more for the truth fairy…

    What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
    Best advice I have ever been given – gosh so much good stuff… Be true to yourself always, then at least you always know who you are and where you are at. That may have been me who said that. Or, if you are going through Hell, just keep on going and don’t stop until you get the hell out of there – and no matter how hurt you get never give up on Love… Love fiercely, even when you fight… Love each other

    4/5 This is very Celine Dion. We like.

    What are you doing, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday night? Aren’t you knackered?
    Knackered!!! Actually when not being a disco diva or being Mama, you can find me on my lover’s chest watching House of Cards. On Netflix! It’s incredible… After that I will be watching Scandal. Kerry Washington! Sounds so normal right? But, I will be wearing Westwood heels and a Chanel feather jacket…

    7/5 Sinitta you kill us. Long live the Leaf wearing campness that is Diva Mamma Sinitta.

    So Many Men, So Little Time is out now via all good digital retailers.