As a matter of fact, Shannel has been a staple at such Sin City favorites as La Cage for years. There she honed her mastery of make-up, illusion, and -- as Shannel told us time and again on Season 1 of the hit LOGO reality television series -- 39 characters and impersonations. "I do everything from old Hollywood to Disney," she described when we met.

Of course, on the series Shannel came off about as shallow and cold as her piercing blue eyes. Upon meeting her recently before she performed at San Francisco's Thursday night, 18-and-over LGBT hotspot The Crib, she proved to be much more . . . three-dimensional . . . than her on-screen counterpart.

Witty, engaging and genuinely personable, she not only provided insight about her own experience on the show, she disses the only girl she "absolutely could not stand" on the show, explains why she says "Fuck RuPaul!" at every club gig, and offers insight which could prove invaluable for anyone considering throwing their wig in the ring for future editions of the series. [As 10th in the country of more than 800 hopefuls, vying for spots on Season 2 of the hit series, I'm certainly taking notes!!!]

Since avidly watching the show, I’ve now met BeBe, Tammy, Ongina and you. Ongina told me he learned more from you than anybody else.
Yes, Ongina is just amazing. When he walked in, I thought, “Wow! You’re just the cutest little thing.” I also looked at him and thought, “But the make-up is really, really bad.” I was able to work with him, teach him, show him how to contour his face, get a foundation that would actually cover his beard and things like that. It was the same with Jade. I really helped Jade out, too, which is kind of funny. I’d been working a lot with Jade, and then he ended up winning the make-up challenge. It’s kind of interesting.

One thing they really emphasize with the application process is showing photos and video of yourself out of drag. Most of you are very attractive men. Was there any sexual tension?
There was no sexual tension at all, because I think we all knew we were there to do a job. I was very attracted to Jade. As a boy, I think he’s just the cutest thing in the world, but sexual tension? No. Nothing at all. The thing is, we were put up in a hotel and not allowed to converse with each other at all, under any circumstances, while filming was going on. It really wasn’t a situation which was conducive to going and chilling with each other at all. They wanted to save everything for on-film. That’s why I think this season, which is supposedly going have everyone in a house, will be a lot different.

Have you had work done on your butt? It’s so…full.
I have never had any work done, except some botox on my forehead. I’m completely natural. My mother is very overweight and my father is heavier set. They both have bubble butts, so I think it’s something I inherently have. My mother, when I was a little kid, would grab my legs and say I have “mashed potatoes.” All through my schooling years, I was very overweight. I got up to 217 lbs. I’ve always just had a big ass and large thighs. After having lost the weight, fortunately, my ass and thighs stayed. As a boy I’m kind of self-conscious about it, but for drag purposes it worked out well for me.

You wouldn’t have to worry about your weight so much if you wore clothes!
(Laughing) Probably not, but I find that the more naked illusion I give, the more money I make. The audience likes it because it’s a mind-fuck. For me, it’s a gag. I know I’m a man. When I look in the mirror, I still see Brian – even through the make-up.

On the reunion show, there was a lot of drama. You were part of it. How accurate was day portrayed?
You know, the reunion show was very accurately portrayed. I believe in holding people accountable. I believe in giving praise where praise is due. If someone asks me honestly for my opinion, I’m going to give it – not because my opinion means anything, but because if you’re going to ask, I’m going to tell you. Basically, I felt Santino was very shady toward me basically the entire show. I felt he criticized me more than anyone else. And I wanted to let Rebecca know she was very much a backstabber. I also wanted her to know, ‘I didn’t lose to you; I chose to go home.’ It comes across as very arrogant and very self-centered, but to me, it’s about being assertive. I’m not one to take a backseat. I will always put my opinions, my thoughts and my mind out there. I just wanted to be able to let the world know my feelings on the show when something was asked of me.

Here earlier in the night, you said “Fuck RuPaul.
I said “Fuck RuPaul.” I felt like RuPaul had something against me from day 1. I don’t know if it’s egotistical to say maybe there’s a bit of jealousy there or maybe a bit of competition. I don’t know what it is. I say it not trying to be nasty. It ends up being fun. I say it at every club I go to because so many people come up to me and say, “I can’t believe you didn’t win. I think you should have won” or “It should have been you and Nena in the Top 2.” It’s more or less just a catty, stupid remark to say, but there were moments when I felt like RuPaul was not as fair with me. I felt he was a little more in tune with wanting to be friendly with a lot of the other girls, and he put me as the “outsider.” I don’t know why that is. I will never know why that is, but that was my feelings in the moment.

How do you feel about BeBe and Nena being the final two? What are your feelings about the outcome?
BeBe and Nena are absolutely amazing. They are amazing to me in my life as friends. They are both very dear friends of mine. BeBe had actually done my show three or four times over the years, so I knew BeBe. I’d heard or Nena. BeBe is absolutely amazing. She represents an entirely different type of drag from what I do – as well as Nena represents an entirely different type of drag from what I do. They are both exceptional in their fields. They both brought a great package. They brought professionalism. They are kind. They are both genuine people. They are not backstabbers. I really appreciate not only their friendship but what they have to offer in the world of drag.

Also in the final three was Rebecca, who was portrayed in a very specific way – one that was far less flattering than even you. Since you say you feel you were inaccurately portrayed, how do you feel she was shown?
I don’t think Rebecca was portrayed accurately at all. Rebecca was very two-faced and very fake and very shady! She would pace the floor before a competition. She would put her headphones on and just walk up and down 100-times, all in her own world. She would snap on a dime at certain things. I just felt she was the outsider of the group, but she ostracized herself. She put herself and made herself out to be that…That queen that everyone thought was so innocent, so sweet and so pretty – which I never understood, because I never thought she was any of those things. Off-camera, and when the cameras weren’t on her, she had a very villainous side to her. I don’t think – no, I know for a fact, that wasn’t shown. Later in the episodes, I think people could kind of start to see that other side of her start to come out when the pressure was one. I think she thought, “Everyone just thinks I’m so beautiful – and RuPaul and Santino think I’m so pretty – I’m just a shoo-in to win!” The thing everyone needs to understand is that is not a competition about being beautiful. I don’t even think it’s a competition about being a drag entertainer. It’s about being able to let all of your inhibitions go to a lot of things most of us never do – like sewing, singing. I don’t sew to save my life. I don’t sing. I’m an impersonator who lip syncs, but when you go on that show, you have to bank on the fact you’re going to be doing things you never thought you’d have to do. In reality, I don’t think the show actually means “What is the next drag superstar?” I don’t think you have to necessarily sew to be a drag superstar. The fact that Rebecca could sew, I think, made her feel like she had power. I just think it’s crazy. I loved everybody on that show. I loved Akashia! I loved everybody on that show, but I could not stand Rebecca. From Day 1, I did not like her!

"The Queen of San Francisco Media" Pollo Del Mar is presently ranked #10 in the country in her efforts to be cast on Season 2 of RuPaul's Drag Race. Vote for her HERE

You've got to love Lady GaGa for loving the gays. Time and time again she's has told anyone who will listen it was the LGBT community who supported her career long before debut single "Just Dance" recently spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. As she embarks on the "Fame Ball Tour," her first as a headlining act, it seems the New York-born diva is drawing further inspiration from gays or, more specifically, drag queens.

When GaGa played Mezzanine Saturday, March 14, she wisely borrowed a page from the drag queen playbook and incorporated shiny dancers’ tights under fishnets into her oh-so-fabulous, self-designed wardrobe. It's not a moment too soon either. During two of the first four Lady GaGa shows I attended, which included twice hosting her at venues around town (as seen above, taken at The Crib), the budding Pop Princess’ bikiniline was hidden by more bush than Dick Cheney!

Since she's as a bona fide top-of-the-marquee superstar now, maybe somebody called GaGa's attention to both these issues. Thank God! With not a single pube -- or stage dive -- included, audiences could focus on the show's immensely catchy hooks and fantastic performance rather than flailing bodies and her serious need for a Brazilian (and I'm not talking the sexy kind found in Kristen Bjorn videos, OK?!).

For two back-to-back, sold-out SF gigs, GaGa cut one back-up dancer, added two opening acts (Chester French, The White Tie Affair), built in multiple set and costume changes and more than doubled her set-list. During the hour-plus show, she performed the majority of her absolutely brilliant self-titled debut while introducing an entirely new track and serving a cabaret-style interpretation of current hit “Poker Face,” which I refer to as “the Razz Room rendition.”

Of course, the place was packed with enthusiastic GaGa fans. Still, even the most casual observer could see this girl has the stage presence, voice, talent and now following -– considering the line snaked the length of Jessie Street, wrapping around onto 6th Street -- to be in it for the long haul.

Even after experiencing her live five times, it was still as good as the first. With scene and set changes and a slew of spectacular costumes, GaGa put on a phenomenal stage show without making it feel clumsy or production heavy. And of course adding the tights helped.

It goes to prove she realizes when it comes to what you give audiences, sometimes less really is more.

The first time I saw Elvira, I was maybe ten-years-old. Captivated by her beauty, bulging bosoms and campy responses to some of the worst movies we had ever seen, my sister and I would stay up every week to watch her midnight Movie Macabre, trying not to wake our parents as we giggled like naughty school girls late into the night at Elvira’s Valley girl-inspired commentary and bawdy sense of humor.

As a bona fide fan, I followed Elvira throughout my teen years. When she finally made her absolutely hysterical big-screen debut in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, I rushed to see its 1988 theatrical debut. Later I owned the laugh-out-loud-funny feature on VHS (that was the video format that came before DVDs, for those too young to remember it first-hand). Throughout high school, I slept with the movie poster above my bed.

It's been 20 years since the release of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and I've since interviewed Cassandra Peterson, the pretty redhead behind the gothy make-up and black bouffant. Peterson and I even met once, when her film screened last summer at San Francisco's Bridge Theatre. My first meeting with Elvira, though, came just this past weekend when drag superstar Peaches Christ debuted her Midnight Mass film series to Los Angeles.

Here Elvira shares about her career, role as a gay icon and why discussing Vampira makes her uncomfortable. She also talks about her upcoming star turn in All About Evil, the feature-length debut by Christ. (Find out how you can get cast as an extra in the film, too!)

Back then, LGBT exposure was so minimal. Until I discovered Divine much later, you were the closest thing I had ever seen to “drag.”
That’s funny. I know Elvira is very much a drag queen in the things she says, the way I dress. It’s not surprising to me because I always tell people I was “raised by a pack of wild drag queens.” I was around so many drag queens and gay men when I was young. I was actually a drag queen at a bar in Colorado Springs, CO, at a bar called The Purple Cow. These other two drag queens, Mr. Bobby and Tawny Tan, had me dress up as a woman – which I was – and we’d do The Supremes. The scary part about that, though, was I also had to do blackface. Oh, my God! I was performing every night in a black light as The Supremes. Guys were always amazed by how much I looked like a woman, which, in fact, I was. (Laughing.)

I’m a huge fan of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. One of my favorite scenes is when you finally debut your Vegas show. Did you incorporate a lot of your own experience into that scene?
I’ve kind figured out that Elvira is me as a teenager. When I was a teenager, my dream was to become a showgirl. I wanted to be like Ann-Margret in Viva Las Vegas. Since Elvira is me as a little kid, that would be her ultimate dream – to be a showgirl in Las Vegas, which is setting the bar pretty low. (Giggles) But to Elvira, that’s the pinnacle of fame and success, and we used that out of my real life.

You will star in All About Evil, the feature-length film debut by San Francisco drag star Peaches Christ. The cast mixes some real up-and-coming younger stars with performers who are simply iconic, especially to gay and lesbian fans. There’s you, of course, and Mink Stole…
Mink Stole, who I’ve known really well for many years.

Darren Stein, who wrote and directed Jawbreaker, is also on-board. It seems like a fun project.
Oh, yeah! I’m really looking forward to it. Just because Peaches is doing it, I know it’s going to be fun – not so serious and gross and weird.

You’ve developed a relationship with Peaches Christ through Midnight Mass, but what attracted you to All About Evil?
Well, mainly that Peaches is doing it, and I know it’s going to be campy and fun. It is also kind of…yuck…gruesome. Just the fact that Peaches is doing it, I know it will have excellent camp value. I like getting to do something as myself in an underground-y camp film. Peaches just sort of talked me into it. He can talk me into anything. I adore him!

The first time you put on the Elvira garb did you ever think that, more than 25 years later, it would be so iconic?
Oh, God no! When I first did it, I was like, “Oh, my God. I’ve got such a cheesy job.” I thought I’d make a few bucks a week. I couldn’t believe it would last 25 minutes, much less 25 years. I was kind of shocked when it started happening. I was like, “What’s going on?” It was weird. I certainly never approached this job like, “Well, now I’ve finally made the big time!” Not at all.

During your career you’ve done everything from WrestleMania to drag events. You seem to bridge gaps which would never, otherwise, be bridged.
Yeah! The first big show I went to that was a convention had like – no drag queens – but it had heavy metal rock stars, wrestlers, horror people. I was like “What the hell am I doing here? Are these people my audience?” I found out later they are. Elvira appeals to these different little niches. I’ve done lots of Harley conventions. People really into tattoos like me. I started getting invited to introduce all these rock bands – Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, of course. White Zombie. It’s funny how Elvira falls into all these weird categories.

You do plenty of meet and greet type events, where people ask you all kinds of questions. What is the most awkward question you’ve been asked?
(Laughing.) There are no “weird” questions for me. I don’t even care. The most common one, of course, is “Are they real?” I’m like, “Oh, yeah…Snore. Snore.” No, there are no awkward questions for me. I answer everything. Maybe there’s the Vampira thing. People ask me about that, and I feel sorry for Vampira, who is now deceased. I felt sorry for Vampira, because she never made any money or did anything with her character, which is a great, iconic character. She was very angry and blamed me, I guess, for her not getting famous. People ask about that, and I don’t want to be a total bitch about it, because I genuinely liked the Vampira character. That’s always a little bit uncomfortable, but nothing’s really off limits. I don’t have anything to hide!

San Francisco residents interested in being cast as "extras" in All About Evil are encouraged to visit Peaches Christ's Website for complete details.

With a MySpace profile that has been viewed nearly 60 million times, the most popular merchandise line available through mall favorite Hot Topic and a summer spent on the Van's Warped Tour already under his jewel-encrusted belt, Jeffree Star has turned internet fame into international success. And to think, the multi-media mogul is barely drinking age!

Most recently, Star unveiled his hot new EP Cupcakes Taste Like Violence to retailers across the country. Days after its Dec. 2 release, the MySpace legend hit San Francisco 18-and-over hot spot The Crib as part of a major tour planned to promote the collection of electronic dance tracks. As the waifer-thin, tattooed (he has 75 and counting, if you must know) performer and his small entourage waited to take the stage by storm, we chatted casually backstage.

Though he doesn't consider himself a drag queen -- "I like to be a question mark," he told me -- we still connected girl to girl, glitter-to-glitter. From telling why he had to prove himself on the Warped Tour and explaining why he doesn't drink, Star shares about success, talks shit about Tila Tequila and explains why he thinks Paris Hilton is a role model for today's youth in this exclusive interview.

At what point did you take that from being this internet celebrity to doing personal appearances and performing?
Everyone was like, “You should selling T-shirts.” And I was like, “I don’t know.” All my friends are musicians, so as a joke, I wrote this song one day called “We Want Cunt.” I was talking about my nickname, which is “Cunt” -- not vagina. That’s just horrifying. It was kind of like, “We Want Jeffree.” We recorded that just to put on MySpace. It got way bigger than I ever expected. I was like, “Hmm. We should do something with this.” Then Hot Topic approached me. I started playing live shows, and I didn’t even know what I was doing. I was a good actor. (Giggles.) People were like, “We want to book you for this and this and this.” I was like, “Oh, yeah, I’ve played a million shows before!” So it was a lot of lying at the beginning. (Laughs.)

You just came off of the Van’s Warped Tour with Katy Perry.
Which was so fun!

What was that like for you?
It was really good to go on there and prove myself. There were a lot of shit-talkers. It’s funny, because I feel like because I’m gay and I look different, I was the only one people talked shit on. People were like, “You’re not punk rock enough to be on Warped Tour!” You know, it’s old-school back in the day, but that music’s not popular any more, so of course the Warped Tour’s going to go with what’s happening now. They’re not stupid! You know, Katy Perry’s not punk rock, and nobody said one thing about her. You know what I mean? I feel like I was kind of singled out in the beginning. Once I went onstage, and there were thousands of people there, and I was selling more merch than everyone there, everyone was like, “Well, you’re still a fag, but you’re cool.” But, whatever, it was really cool.

Did people actually say that to you – about being a “fag”?
Yeah.

Name names.
It was just random people. It wasn’t anyone in a band or anything. I would have had them killed. (Giggles.) It was like, “You’re still a freak, but it’s pretty cool what you’re doing here.” They can’t ever give you a 100-percent compliment. They always have to throw in that dig.

I can imagine those might be the same people who would be head-over-heels for Marilyn Manson, we’ll say, who’s doing something not entirely different.
Mmm-hmm.

How do you keep challenging yourself?
I’m always trying to do new things. First it was music. I just want to keep putting my hands in everything to see or prove to myself if I can do it – or if people will let me. At first people were like, you know, “I think you’re a niche” or “We don’t want to work with you.” Even Hot Topic was scared at first. They put in one shirt, and now there are 40 items, because I’m the #1 seller. That’s cool, though, because I’m not on radio or TV.

You mention Tila Tequila, a fellow internet success who turned that into a TV show. By the way, that show is ridiculous.
Oh, I know. The people they cast on there are the ones who are funny. She’s so boring. I think people tuned in to watch the cat fights or drama, obviously. I’m working on a TV show, but I don’t want it to be a joke where I’m like, “Oh, I’ll pretend to date people.” It’s obviously all scripted just to make you look like a joke. I want mine to be more real, candid, behind the scenes stuff.

If you had your choice, what kind of reality show would you want to do?
We’re pitching one where it’s like me and my family. It’s different than all that other “dating” crap or game shows, because I don’t want to do that. I feel like it’s a one-trick pony. I mean, Flava of Love and I Love New York? Where are they now? I want to come do one where I come in and fix my family. I might look a little crazy, but I’m the most grounded of all of them. They’re in and out of jail. They’re alcoholics. They’re crazy.

Are you sure we’re not related?
Right?! (Laughing.)

Isn’t that the way it always is? I just look insane, but I’m really not.
It’s true! Everyone thinks I do drugs and drink because I have orange hair. I don’t know. I don’t drink. I’m too crazy.

Without all that?
Oh, yeah. I’d like shoot up a preschool if I had a drink. (Laughing.)

When you’re out performing like this, what kind of response do you get? I mean, it’s one thing to MySpace with people, but it’s totally different to meet them live.
I do various things. I do appearance like this or the Warped Tour, where it’s 100 degrees, and everyone is fainting around you. It’s pretty cool to go onstage and think the songs I wrote in someone’s bedroom in a few hours can bring me all the way here.

Is this something you want to do for the rest of your life?
Now that I’m so involved with all the music, I’ve sort of fallen in love with performing. I didn’t really know what I was doing before, but my CD just came out on Tuesday. With that, I actually got the chance to go into the studio with real producers and real money instead of just fucking around and having it sound really low quality.

Is this performance part of the promotion of that?
Yeah, I’m playing a lot of shows this week to promote it and have some in-store [appearances] with Hot Topic. I’ve done a lot of press. I’m on the cover of MySpace today, Blender.com, MTV and all that stuff, so it’s fun.

That has to be insane. This started in your bedroom, from being bored…
Yeah, and then here we are. I want to be the Paris Hilton of the indie world. I’m working on a perfume. I’m pitching a TV show. I want to do everything.

I’m aghast that you used Paris Hilton as a role model.
Well, she turns herself into a brand, you know? Who else has done that?

I’m 35, so yes I’m aware that I’m old by your standards, but I come here to The Crib, and Paris Hilton is a role model to them. That scares the shit out of me! To me, she’s just tragic, really – with a lot of money.
The thing about her is, she’s really intelligent, and she has everyone fooled. I’ve hung out with her before, and she knows it’s all a character – just like Marilyn Manson. We all play off who we are. When there aren’t cameras around, she’s perfectly normal. She talks normal. She doesn’t have that little five-year-old voice act on. You know what I mean? She’s sitting there making millions of dollars while everyone is calling her stupid and ugly. She knows what she’s doing.

So how are you different when you’re not on-camera?
I think we’re all kind of our personas. When I’m out at a club, of course I’m going to act crazy. Everyone else is drunk around me, so it’s just funnier for me. But I sit at home in sweat pants and watch Cops. (Giggles.) I mean, we’re all normal sometimes, right?

For More Information, Visit Jeffree's Official MySpace Page.

Pollo Del Mar is San Francisco's reigning Miss Trannyshack and hottest new drag diva. Send her a Friend Request at her official MySpace Page.

A week later, Ellis is on the phone, brewing a pot of coffee when she calls. Despite the fact it's midday in her native United Kingdom, the brand new voice of Bimbo Jones is struggling to stay awake. The night before she was out until the crack of dawn, performing for a wildly responsive crowd in Cologne, Germany. So goes the life of an international disco music sensation, I guess!

After nearly 20 years as a dance music favorite, Ellis joined fellow Bimbos Lee Dagger and Mark JB. The result is Harlem 1 Stop, available now through Tommy Boy Records. Between the three, they claim more than 30 chart-topping hits around the globe -- including the album's lead single and first Billboard #1 club smash "And I Try." Not only does the multi-talented Ellis glide seamlessly from belting house diva to jazz-inflected chanteuse on the 12 tracks, she cowrote the entire album.

No stranger to the LGBT community (Ellis not only employs a gaggle of gays to style, dress and design for her, she says her "long-suffering assistant" Stewie is out, loud and proud...well, not in those exact words!), the singer and I recently enjoyed a diva-to-diva chat. While sharing her philosophy about writing hit records, she also drops a few secret nuggets -- including one of her favorite hits to jam to on the dance floor and how a particularly delicious sandwich helped cement her place as the voice of Bimbo Jones.

It must feel good as a performer. One would imagine that with the success they’ve had around the world, many people would have loved to become “the voice” of Bimbo Jones.
Yes, but you could also say the reverse. I’ve had much success around the world with many of the top dance producers such as Roger Sanchez, Joey Negro, Tom Stephan. I’ve been making records since ’91, so I’m one of the biggest voices in house [music]. I think it’s a good match.

You’ve recorded and written for other artists before Bimbo Jones, and you cowrote all of the tracks on Harlem 1 Stop. Is it different when you’re writing for yourself?
No, not really. I don’t do commercial writing for other people in that sense at the moment. It pretty much is all for me. My writing methods [is] I stick the track on and the first time I listen to it, I set my studio up and just start singing over it. I have a ‘jam’ and see what comes out. My writing is very instinctive. I very much respond to the music and see how it grabs me. In the case of working with Mark and Lee, I have written some of the tracks like that. In some cases, I’ve given them a capellas and they’ve built the track around them. Some of them, Mark and I sat down. He played guitar and we worked it out. For “Come On” we did that, with him on the guitar, and then finished it off with Lee. That has been nice. It has been very varied, lots of different approaches to it.

I wondered if when you’re writing, you think, “This is going to be a huge hit, and I’m saving it for me.”
(Laughing.) I never really have those thoughts, like it’s going to be a hit. I spent years working on an album with Paul Inda, who is the son of Lemy from Motorhead. He’s an amazing guitarist. We had a big record deal. We had The Eurythmics’ management. We put everything into it, and it was a fantastic album. For one reason or another, it never came out. I think it’s some of my best work. Equally, there have been things I’ve done really quickly, like “Dreaming,” which I did with the Ruff Riders. It was a huge hit over here. It was #1 in Spain and the biggest Ibiza hit of ’98. I performed the song last night in Cologne [Germany], and everyone went crazy. It’s kind of an anthem. Who knows what is going to be a hit isn’t? I just do them and see where they fall, really.

Dance music groups seldom bodies of work like Harlem 1 Stop. How did you decide to release an entire album?
I think we just kept writing songs, really, because we enjoyed working together…What has been fantastic for me personally, in the past, trying to get deals and stuff, people have been like, “Who are you? What’s your sound?” As you can hear, I’m a versatile singer and writer…With some albums, if you’ve heard one track, you’ve heard them all. It’s like, “What’s the point? You’ve just rewritten the same song ten times.” Some of [our songs] don’t even sound like the same singer, but it’s very cohesive. It hangs together with the same thread of quality and there’s a sort of depth and feeling to it which ties it all together.

This has become my new favorite album to get in drag to. The CD starts with “And I Try,” and by the time I get to “Fuq U,” I’m painted and ready to go.
(Laughing.) That’s fantastic! You should make a video of that, of you getting ready to the album. “And now I’m ready! ‘Fuq U’! I’m off.” I think it is strident. My writing is clear. Some of it has ambiguity, but I’m a very clear communicator. I like to be understood. I like to be precise in what I mean and what I’m saying and what I mean and what I’m talking about. When I’m writing my songs, I try to hone in on a particular point, emotion or word and distill that. I try not to cover too much ground in one song. It’s quite dramatic, I suppose. Each one is a little story.

“And I Try” has been such a huge success here in the U.S. Was the song going #1 in the U.S. expected?
Personally, I don’t expect anything any more. Having said that, I think Tommy Boy [Records] is doing really great things for us. We’re just expressing ourselves and enjoying our talents. So was I expecting it? No. I know that the album is good, and I know that the song is good. Like I said before, it doesn’t always figure it’s going to do well. There are so many other factors involved beyond your control, so I was delighted to watch it every week going up and up and up. It’s fantastic, really, watching it go #1. Thrilling, really.

Sometimes success is disproportionate to how good a project is.
There’s a lot to be said for having the money to promote things. I think if you’ve got enough money, you can get anything to do anything. It’s nice when something makes it on its own merits and everyone really loves it. Like you said, it comes on, everyone shrieks and runs to the dance floor. I have songs like that myself. “Precious Love” by Barbara Tucker. That’s one where I can really get on the floor and strut and sing. I can have fun with other people on the floor, singing, throwing shapes and just being silly. I like that. That’s what I’m into. That’s what I figure I do. I write to please me. I figure if I like it, maybe other people will like it. (Laughing.) Everybody has their opinions, and mine is as valid as anyone else’s. So if I’m writing it, then I need to please myself. I can never set out to please everybody else. Nobody knows what other people want. I know what appeals to me, so I’ll just write for me. If I’m satisfied with it, then I’ll let it go. And if other people like it, then I can genuinely think, “Good! Because I did something I liked and am happy with it!”

For More Information, Visit: http://www.BimboJones.com

Pollo Del Mar is San Francisco's reigning "Miss Trannyshack" & SF Bay Guardian's Celebrity Blogger. She can be found most Weds. nights hosting BRAIN FARTS, the "2008 Best of the Bay" award-winning "Best Trivia Show" at Lookout Bar, 16th & Market, in The Castro. Send her a MySpace Friend Request.

As we later partied into the night, my skillfully trained eyes could see through the glitter, lashes and silver sequin. It was obvious to me at least that beneath all the bedazzlement was one incredibly sexy, strapping young man . . . and now, sitting across the booth from me in a diner in downtown San Francisco, next to his mom nonetheless, there he was.

For as fierce as Martinez is as Flava, lip-syncing to high-energy remixes of dancefloor divas for circuit parties, gay cruises and Pride festivals around the world, he’s equally charming, friendly and captivating out of drag. Here we talk about his role in the biopic about slain San Francisco Supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, hitting local theatres this week, chat about the iconic Sylvester and gossip about James Franco’s butt and kissing Sean Penn!

What kind of research did you do to prepare?
There’s a book called The Fabulous Life of Sylvester that was sent to me by all my friends when I got the role. I literally had a week to pull it together, but I was also turning 40 and had a big, huge gala I was putting together. Then they also sent Sylvester’s 40th birthday video. It was so monumental to me.

What did you find out about Sylvester that you never knew?
I never knew he lived in L.A. (Laughing.) Going back to your previous question, Jeanie Tracy was a big, big part of the information. I basically interviewed her on the last days of Sylvester. I didn’t know how it happened, how he died. I really didn’t know Patti LaBelle was a big part of his [life]. I didn’t know she actually went to his house the last couple months he was alive. I didn’t know he had a lot of close, very, very influential friends who supported him.

You worked very closely with Sean Penn. What is he like?
The actual taping day, I literally had to put out of my head that it was Sean. He is so committed. He’s 1,000-percent committed, and he’s very internal. He doesn’t talk a lot, but he looks a lot. During the whole taping, Sean kept staring at me. I didn’t know what was going on. The assistant director came up and said, “Sean has decided he’s going to kiss you in this scene. Just be excited about it.” That’s when I got nervous! That scene got cut.

This wasn’t like a full-on tongue kiss, right?
No, no, no! He grabs my cheeks and kisses me. As soon as I got the information, I knew my heart could go like crazy. I could get really nervous. I didn’t even let it enter my head until he’d actually grabbed me and kissed me. When we were done, I said, “We need to tape it again.” Gus was like, “You were fine.” I said, “No, I really don’t think I was any good. We should tape it again.” And I turned to Sean and was like, “What do you think?” He started laughing.

The film is amazing. You completely believe Sean Penn is Harvey Milk. It’s so inspiring. The thing I took way from it most, though, is how unbelievably hot James Franco is.
I was into James Franco in all the Spiderman movies. I was infatuated with his ass. When Gus was introducing me to everyone on the set, James was in a conversation at a table. I literally made James Franco stand up and show me his ass in front of everybody – just because he was so cute! I didn’t want to be like I didn’t want to be like “Oh, my God! He’s so cute!” and just stand there and be stunned. So I thought, “What would Sylvester do?”

Well, everyone gets to see it in the movie. He’s got a great butt!
It is great. He’s so beautiful. Then at the premiere, he asked what I thought, and I said, “Honey, I didn’t even have to look at your butt to tell you it’s good, although you have lost a little weight. You need to put that weight back on.” (Laughing.)

The other morning at breakfast you said you’d been a Chippendales dancer. Let’s face it, Chippendales is super gay -- right or wrong?
No, you’re wrong. (Laughing.)

What?!? Those people are straight?!
There were a couple who knocked on my door, but pretty much I would say 85-percent are straight. Trust me, I’ve done my homework. I’ve tried to make them cross over or be a little curious. It was the best years of my life. I did it for about ten years. I traveled all over the world for Chippendales. That’s how I started Flava. That’s how I started my whole performance artist career.

Straight. Hmm…That explains the bad hair. Fantastic bodies . . . bad hair.
They do have bad hair. Uhm…Yeah. (Laughing.) Chippendales were that: great body, bad hair. I haven’t been involved with Chippendales for quite some time, but the boys in Vegas are pretty cute. They’re tall, gorgeous and have good hair. They can’t dance, but they’ve got good hair.

Even out of drag, you’re tall. Did you dwarf everybody on the set?
I did overpower Emile Hirsch. I didn’t even know where he was. So finally one day, Emile was on his Blackberry to my left, and he literally looked like a kid. He was like 4’1”, and I was like, “Where’s Emile Hirsch?” He grabs me, pulls me by my kimono, and was like, “I’m right here!” He was pretty small. Even Sean wasn’t that small.

It’s been over 20 years, but I admit I still think of Sean Penn as “Madonna’s husband.”
I think a lot of people do, too. It got on E! News that Sean and I kissed. People heard that and were like, “Oh, my God! You kissed Madonna.” I was like, “No, I kissed Sean.” They were like, “Yeah, so you kissed Madonna because Sean kissed Madonna.” I was like, “Ohh…” I look at him as the father from Mystic River who loses his daughter and just cries. That’s who I see him as, because that was a very, very good movie. It moved me.

Even before you started performing, you knew you never wanted to do “traditional drag” – female impersonation like I do. Describe your drag.
It’s definitely performance art. I love to shock people. I recently painted myself silver and put mirrors all over my body, coming out as this sort of mirrored ball with all these laser effects coming off of me while I performed this great, big circuit song. I love that, “What is that? Is it a man or a woman?” I love the androgynous factor. I call it performance art. Sometimes I will give you a big ponytail with hair on my head. Sometimes I’ll put a lampshade on my head. Somedays I’ll put chopsticks on my head. It all depends on whatever mood I’m in.

You mentioned Jeanie Tracy. Flava is moving more into performing original material, your own songs. One of those, you said, will be with Jeanie?
I’ve been so afraid to throw my vocals out. I have three songs. They’re great but not phenomenal. Jeanie has been a catalyst. She’s been, basically, pushing me forward. I’ve been working on my vocals, taking lessons. I had a meeting with DJ Manny Lehman and DJ Wayne G. We’re going to work on my next two singles. I’m really excited about it. It’s a scary scene. I’ve been so safe lip-syncing to a black, female. I knew she could carry it away. Now my vocals have to carry it. Jeanie said she would be on vocals with me. She said, “I believe in you that much as an entertainer.” We’ve got our first performance Thanksgiving weekend.

You not only play Sylvester, now you’re taking a page out of his book with Jeanie Tracy, one of his back-up singers, at your side.
I feel like everything has been pushing me forward to play this character and bring him back. They could have cast anyone in the world to play Sylvester in this movie, and they cast me. I feel so honored, so blessed and so chosen to play this person who laid down the pavement for me to do what I do. I’m excited to see where we go from here.

Mark Martinez brings “Flava” to San Francisco Weds., Nov. 25, for a performance at Club Papi, 550 Barneveld. For more information, visit: http://www.ClubPapi.com

Add Pollo Del Mar on either MySpace or Facebook. Pollo_DelMar@yahoo.com

In town for Project Inform's Evening of Hope Condom Couture benefit and fashion show, in which he crafted a wedding dress from more than 2,500 condom wrappers, the muscular, HIV-positive designer sent home early by staph infection two seasons ago on Project Runway remembered our telephone interview months before. Hell, before the night was out we even swapped a little spit! Totally hot!

Hours later, he was off to Atlanta for the AIDS Walk and to promote his relationship with HIV/AIDS education program Living Positive by Design. With Season 4 cohort Kevin Christiana (the totally hot straight Italian), Jack is now shopping a new TV series which combines elements of popular redesign shows, Queer Eye's make-overs and even Project Runway.

Between traveling the country as an HIV/AIDS educational and inspirational speaker, dressing celebrities from The Young & The Restless star Heather Tom and transsexual Dirty Sexy Money star and close friend Candis Cayne and writing a sarcastic new autobiography, Jack the Mack called me for a long, long chat. In addition to giving the low-down on his Runway castmates, for nearly an hour we swapped drag horror stories. Be sure to stop by Cliff's Variety in The Castro to see Jackie's fabulous condom couture wedding gown, on display through Sun., Nov. 9, and read the best -- and bitchiest -- of our conversation.

Well, you’d better read this, bitch! I’m going to write awful things about you.
[Laughing.] Oh, I hope so! Terrible things get so much more press than anything nice, so write that you hate me. I’m a terrible bitch. That you’ve hated me from the moment you met me!

Before you knew I did drag, you explained Chris March by saying, “Well he’s a drag queen. That’s kind of hard to be around all the time.” I understood what you meant. Drag is expected to be funny, bitchy and catty. If that’s how I am everyday – and my friends reading this will probably say, “But you are, Blanche!” -- it would get tiring quick!
Right. I think Chris has some great qualities, but I think deep down, he is insecure about a lot of things. I think he is a performer. He has all these one-liners. On the show, you see 18-24 hours of footage condensed into 40 minutes on TV. So when he cracks a joke, it’s hilarious. But if you’re living with that, and you’re stressed and exhausted, you’re like, “Really?” There are parts of Chris I really like. There are parts of other people from the show I really like. I just don’t hang out with him, and I don't know anyone from the show who does. I think that says more than anything I could do or say.

I thought Rami was super hot!
When I first saw him, I was like, “Mmm…” I remember thinking, before I got to know anyone, “Wow! Our season’s hot!” I thought Rami was good looking. Stephen from Chicago was handsome in his own way.

Kevin is hot too!
Kevin is adorable in the straight, Italian way. Carmen, the black girl, used to be a model. Alissa, the crazy girl who spit on her fabric, was 43 and still looked really good. Sweet Pea was really adorable. Vyctoria is pretty. Jillian was cute. I think Kit is adorable. I just love her. Rami is really hot. Then you get to know people. Rami and I just have very different personalities. He’s got this whole . . . he’s from Jerusalem. I’m a big ol’ queen, and he’s not. I think for a while he was even trying to pretend that he wasn’t even gay. We wouldn’t be friends. I’m friendly with him. When I see him out, I give him a big ol’ hug and say “Hey.” When I go to L.A., though, I call Kit and Sweet Pea. He’s just not someone I’d be close friends with, but I still like him.

I could care less about his fashion. To be honest, I’d prefer to see him without anything on at all.
We all got to go to the gym together once. I was working out with Rami, and he has a good body.

So Vyctoria is not the bitch they made her out to be?
No, no, no. If anyone was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs on our season, it was Carmen. I mean, she’s bat shit crazy in real life! I’m scared of her, and I know so are a lot of the cast! If anyone is a bitch on that season… Oh, my God. That’ll probably come back to haunt me. She’ll probably come stab me! Vyctoria, she just has a side of her that’s very, very stubborn. She’s really, really smart – like genius smart. She used to be a journalist.

Journalists are totally smart. I mean, always.
Always! [Laughing.] She’s just very cerebral. She has a blog where she writes these really intense critiques of people’s collections. They just made her out to be an opinionated bitch. She is opinionated. And she is stubborn. But she’s also one of the nicest people, if you want to grade someone. She’s totally sweet.

It sounds like if I watch the show Kevin and you are shopping, I’ll be up at 2 a.m. trying to redecorate my kitchen with scraps of an old dress.
For the pitch meeting, I had to go down to 14th Street and go into one of those hideous store where they sell dresses for like Puerto Rican prom…

Quincineras?
Yeah! They’re like $50. I had to buy two identical ones, then remake one. I dyed it. I completely took it apart. The before and after is shocking. Anything that is remotely similar to a Project Runway challenge gives me hives.

My first drag outfits were catastrophic, fabric-glued messes of sequin and feathers.
When I first moved to New York, for about eight years, I would do drag every Halloween and Wigstock. I have scary pictures. For my very first pictures, I bought two silver lame dresses in Size 14 that were so hideous. Then I took pink feather boas and basically glued them all over. My friend and I went to the Roxy Halloween party, and Donna Karan was there. I have this picture of the two of us and Donna Karan in the middle.

That could have ended your design career before it ever started!
I started making my own clothes when I was in high school. I was a little club kid. I would go into the bathroom and cut my hair for like two hours straight. When I came out, my mom would be like, “Oh, my God!” I’d have a total Flock of Seagulls hair. Scary. I was always destined to be a little freak.

The Stop AIDS Project just published these photos taken two years ago, when I first started drag. I’m in a handmade dress with the safety pins showing. At the time, I thought it was fabulous!
One year for Halloween, we were majorettes in New Orleans. There were four of us. All together, we had six batons each – two in our wigs and two in each hand. I made these 1970s majorettes outfits. That was the Halloween where I got so drunk, and it was raining. On the way back into the hotel at 4 a.m., I slipped across the marble foyer in front of 50 queens dressed as G.I. Joe. I was like, “Oh…That’s…not…really…cute.” I crawled into the elevator, pushed my floor and that was that.

[Both are laughing.]

A few weeks ago, I was leaving a party wearing 8-inch platforms. The heat inside the party unsealed one heel. As I was running across the street, it came loose. I totally took a nosedive in the middle of four lanes of oncoming traffic. It was horrifying.
Oh, another drag mishap I had was with latex. I developed an allergy to latex when I was like 25. I hadn’t really identified it yet, until I was putting on eyelashes. The glue is latex, and it got in my eye. So my eye swelled shut! So I’m trying to take like 17 Benadryl and still put on my make-up with my eye swelled shut. I was like the malformed, Bell’s Palsy drag queen that year. It was so not cute.

People don’t realize drag is a dangerous occupation.
It should be an Olympic sport! Well, they have synchronized swimming, so that’s basically the same thing. [Giggling.] I don’t think there are any insurance plans which cover that!

For More Information, Visit Jack's Website.

All that changed with chart-topping first single “We Break the Dawn,” a staple on San Francisco’s KNGY Energy 92.7 and dance radio around the world, and Williams’ new, shockingly good full-length collection of dance/pop tracks. Not only has the Chicago-born singer found her voice, she seems to poke fun at stepping from her famous bandmates’ massive shadows with the album’s title.

Now Williams is preparing a one-two punch of follow-up singles – ballad “The Greatest,” which has already landed on Billboard club charts in remix form, and instantly familiar up-beat confection “Hello Heartbreak.” Just before the multi-hyphenated (singer-actress-HIV-activist--Broadway star) performer returned to San Francisco for an Oct. 31 performance at the Adonis circuit party -- hosted by yours truly -- she called in for a delicious phone chat.

The first time we connected several months ago, the diva and I gabbed as if we were old girlfriends. The second time around, exhausted by a 4 a.m. wake up call and series of interviews promoting the stellar new collection of solo work, things got off to a slow start. Luckily, she was her playful, peppy, absolutely flawless self by Halloween night. Here we chat about the album's success, the gay men she has met throughout her career and the best part of performing in the club scene.

“We Break the Dawn” has turned you into quite the dance diva, which you tasted, of course, with Destiny’s Child. What is it like being out there on your own, with everyone knowing your song?
It’s exhilarating. It’s very, very exciting. I can’t wait for the coming months when more and more people start knowing the songs.

One of your two follow-up songs “Hello Heartbreak” is a great spin on the break-up song. It’s that optimistic, “So I fell in love and got hurt. That’s not the end of the story.”
“Hello Heartbreak,” to me, is about that first step to admitting… The first step to solving a problem is admitting you’ve got one. To me, “Hello Heartbreak” is analyzing you. On “Hello Heartbreak” I analyze myself. It’s like, “I have a strange connection to pain. I can’t seem to walk away from harm. I’m always running into danger’s arms.” You take those first few lines, and you’re like, “Why do I always do that? Why do I always pick the wrong one?” Then “Hello Heartbreak” talks about when that relationship might just be going a little too good, and you already know it’s not going to last. We’ll be in a relationship, and it’s going good, but we ruin it with the negative thoughts that it’s not going to last.

Is it hard as a performer to find songs, especially if someone else writes them, that you connect to and feel really give the voice you want to have?
With my last – actually, all my solo projects – I’ve never had that problem. I’ve built such a good chemistry with my producers. If I don’t feel a chemistry with you, I don’t work with you.

Maybe I’m misinterpreting here, but you say with all your “solo” work that wasn’t a problem. Does that mean there were times with Destiny’s Child when you didn’t feel a connection to the music?
Oh, no. If we’re talking about my solo work, you know. But with Destiny’s Child, this last album was when we really worked with the producers hands-on. The last album [before that], we just took a lot of tracks, and it was written. This time it was the three of us writing and working with the producers. With my solo project, I was more hands-on.

In addition to your music career, you’re a long-time supporter of HIV/AIDS awareness and testing. Part of that involved Camp Heartland, a group for children infected with and affected by the disease. Tell me about that experience.
It was an awesome, awesome, awesome experience! Now you’re dealing with innocent children who got it because it was transfused to them. There were even children at the camp who did not have it but whose parents died from it or who are dealing with someone close to them who has it. It was awesome to see all those children there. They were still running around. They were so, so strong – and they’re still optimistic about life.

You were there with Lance Bass, at approximately the time he was coming out. Are the two of you friends?
Mmm-hmm. N’ Sync and Destiny’s Child, we were all kind of rising up together. As for how close we are, there were times when we would go over to his house. He would have us over to his house for dinner. I know Lance and Kelly were really close. We exchanged information and would sometimes text each other. I don’t remember who changed numbers first, but we kind of lost touch for a while, but whenever we see each other, it’s always love. We have mutual friends, so it’s always love when we see each other.

When he came out, I can’t imagine the pressure he felt. You were out there making music, because that’s what you love, and then had to make his personal life very public.
Right, right! I understand. You’ve got people who are scared to come out because they’re afraid to come out because they’re thinking it’s going to affect their career. It’s a shame people have to think about that based on who they love.

On UPN series Half & Half, you costarred with gay San Franciscan Alec Mapa. He’s just so funny and sweet. What was your experience like with him?
He was Huh-LARIOUS! I mean, he was one of the ones who just put me at ease when I was on the set. I just love, love, loved working with him. If I could work with him again on something, that would be great. He’s just great! He’s such a natural. He’s so quick with his wit. He’s just great.

When we first agreed to speak, I was trying to figure out what we’d talk about – other than the appeal of your music to gays. Then I read your bio. When you did Celebrity Duets, you were paired with Jai Rodriguez. You have gay men scattered throughout your career!
(Laughing.) Yes. That was fun, and Jai is so cute! (Laughing.) He told me of all the times straight women tried to hit on him. He’d be like, “Uhm, I’m not quite on your team.” You know you’re hot when people know you’re gay and still hit on you, thinking they can “convert you.” (Laughing.)

What is your favorite part of club appearances like your Halloween night performance at the Gus Presents…Adonis Party?
Just how everybody is always up and they’re dancing. Everybody’s always excited. Everybody’s like, “Wow! Michelle is coming!” They know my music. It’s been the best. I just feel so much love all the time. Nobody’s judgmental. Everybody’s excited. I’m really appreciative of that.

For More Information Michelle, visit: http://www.MichelleWilliamsOnline.com

Pollo Del Mar is a San Francisco drag celebrity, journalist, columnist, blogger and party hostess. She returns to The Crib Weds., Nov. 25, to host the girls from hip-hop/pop group Danity Kane and Making of the Band 4. For more information, visit Pollo's MySpace.

Photos Courtesy of Plezures Photography.

According to Jim Croce, there are a few things in this world you just don’t do. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape. Don’t spit into the wind. Don’t take the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger. And you definitely do not fuck with a drag queen’s wig. Actually, I added that last one myself, but one pathetic creature almost learned this fact of life the hard way last night at The Crib’s Pussycat Dolls CD release party!

Waiting to make my hostessing debut at the Gus Presents 18-and-over Thursday night club at 715 Harrison at 3rd Street, one minute I was looking gorgeous, dancing and enjoying the company of a couple very sweet lesbians. The next thing I know, I was bald, furious and on the verge of assault-and-battery, honey!

What made that wafer-thin, bleach blond bitch decide to snatch my wig off, I’ll never know, but I damn sure bet he’ll think twice before pulling that shit again! I pounced on that nasty Chris Crocker knock-off faster than you can say “super-tranny-beatdown.”

Once I’d put myself back together and actually apologized to my attacker for an aggressive response to his transgression -- or was it tranny-aggression!? –- it was back to business-as-usual. After all, hunger can drive a person to insanity, I thought, and that silly manorexic had obviously existed on a diet of nicotine and vodka for far too long.

Boy, am I glad I was able to regain my peace of mind. I really had a fantastic time with those kids! The place was packed with the Bay Area’s 18-to-25 set shaking their asses to DJ Twist on the club’s huge main dance floor and DJ Kidd Sysko in the front room, which they call Disco 3000.

Later in the night, I hosted a dance competition to give away copies of the new PCD album Doll Domination. As a sign of goodwill and forgiveness, I even allowed that peroxided poof to enter. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit a twinge of pleasure watching the crowd’s blank stares as the overly-intoxicated travesty flailed around centerstage.

Other than a smattering of pity claps, the audience went completely dead when I brought him up for our applause-o-meter judging. Guess I wasn’t the only one to think she outstayed her welcome.

Ahhh… Sweet revenge!

SF BayGuardian "Promosexual" blogger Pollo Del Mar returns to The Crib Thurs., Oct. 16, to host Energy 92.7FM favorite Lady GaGa who performs her #1 dance single "Just Dance."

Several weeks ago, when asked to interview Carol Channing about a then-upcoming series of San Francisco charity performances, I agreed immediately. Who wouldn’t want to meet an entertainment industry legend? After all, how much longer Broadway’s original “Dolly Levi” might perform is anyone’s guess. Oh, who am I kidding? At Carol’s age, performing is the least of her concerns. She could drop dead at any second!

Still, even more exciting than possibly etching my mark in the history books as the last person to ever speak to Miss Hello Dolly! on the record, I wanted to ask Channing about her reported 2006 off-color and potentially inflammatory comments regarding the LGBT community. As an entertainment journalist with significant gay readership in the country’s LGBT mecca, I hoped to provide the mush-mouthed performer an opportunity to refute, explain, clarify or apologize for – whichever is most appropriate – an interview published by Gay People’s Chronicle alleging anti-gay comments by the one-time Oscar nominee.

Personally, I am uncertain who to believe. While I have spoken to enough stars to realize that, even though a celebrity might publicly support gay causes they can harbor personal feelings to the contrary, I am unconvinced Channing said the things reported. I mean, she might be “ditzy,” but you don’t survive hundreds of years in the entertainment industry by being downright stupid!

What’s more, as a journalist, much of the reporter’s story does not jibe for me. He contends he’d spoken to Ms. Thing for nearly 45 minutes when she made the comments in question, yet he has no recording of the conversation. Instead, he is reporting from memory and his “copious notes.” This, at a minimum, is extremely sketchy. Who trusts a 45-minute conversation to memory and notes?! If that cheap bitch had sprung for a $30 digital recorder from Walgreens – I have an extra I can loan him – there would be no question what was said!

Either way, I hoped to get to the bottom of the situation – or at least allow the author of The First Eighty Years Are the Hardest to tell her side. When made clear I expected to ask about this still-festering drama, I was promptly informed Channing would not discuss the matter.

Instead, the ol’ gal wanted to exclusively promote a planned Sept. 25 performance at the Herbst Theatre, the Dr. Carol Channing & Harry Kullijian Foundation for the Arts, and her career retrospective exhibit at the Museum of Performance & Design. In fact, these were the only topics I told she would cover.

Off-limits, I was told, was any discussion at all of perceived personal and political subject matter including but not limited to gay marriage, the afore-mentioned interview or how old carbon dating has, in fact, proven her to be. Per the publicist, all discussion on these fronts – particularly the anti-gay flack -- was covered by an exclusive interview published by IN Los Angeles Magazine (to which I have contributed with a fair amount of regularity, I might add) not long after the allegations arose.

Granted, perhaps Channing feels at her age she hasn’t a moment to spare repeating herself. However, last I checked, nobody responds to scandal with a press release (issued by her openly-gay publicist almost immediately upon the supposedly-tainted feature hitting print) and single interview in a regional publication. It simply doesn’t work that way, Carol!

In the late ‘80s, disco diva and gay uber-icon Donna Summer faced equally troubling allegations of anti-gay sentiment. Though she expressed extreme displeasure earlier this summer when I asked questions about the matter, saying it had long since been resolved, she was still wise enough to realize for some the near-20-year-old misunderstanding might remain a point of contention. Rather than avoid the subject, Summer addressed it directly, succinctly and without hesitation. As a result, I sensed she holds no shame or secrets about it, only a sincere desire to move forward.

Meanwhile, Carol’s reps were adamant the subject -– far more recent, and thusly newsworthy, than Summer’s publicity nightmare -- remain closed. Since I felt it a glaring omission to side-step the subject (can you say “elephant in the room”?), surely at least a fraction of my readers would have felt the same. Rather than compromise my integrity by not asking the questions many (myself included) most want answered, I declined the interview altogether.

To me, it’s unacceptable for Channing to pander to an audience – in this case the gays whose idolatry has supported her career far longer than any talent or reasonable heterosexual – if she is unwilling to discuss a topic which stands to alienate her from even a portion of those fans. Rather than insulting my readers’ intelligence (and my own), I told them send a press release to my media outlets or find another journalist to cover the piece instead (they did both).

Of course, it all proved to be for naught. As I’m sure most are aware by now, while shuffling to stay two steps ahead of The Grim Reaper, Channing recently fell and broke her hip. According to her reps, the injury caused the multiple Tony-winner to cancel her first performance in something like 150 years.

Poor thing! As legitimately one of show biz’s longest- and hardest-working stage performers, that’s a tough pill to swallow for sure. Hopefully Channing addressed that problem a bit more proactively. A broken hip doesn’t heal without proper attention, Carol, and let’s be honest here, neither does a bruised reputation.

Pollo Del Mar is a San Francisco drag personality, celebrity journalist, columnist and SF Bay Guardian blogger. For more information, search for her on both Facebook and MySpace.Email: Pollo_DelMar@yahoo.com

Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like Jessica Sutta? The long-time member and sometimes co-lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls is one sultry siren! The former Miami Heat cheerleader-turned-pop star returns on the leaner, meaner all-girl group’s sophomore set Doll Domination Sept. 23.

With MTV Video Music Award-winning lead single “When I Grow Up” having already joined “Buttons,” “Stickwitchu” and, of course, the group’s inescapable first release “Don’t Cha” as a Top 10 single, Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts, Melody Thornton, Kimberly Wyatt and Sutta (minus Carmit Bachar) are back with a vengeance.

On the cusp of the album’s release, not to mention the Dolls’ Jan. 2009 world tour, Sutta rang me for a chat. Ecstatic about having her first solo single on the album’s “Deluxe” edition, we discuss everything from the group’s avid gay following to the “Pussycat Dolls Present…” reality shows blowing up TV.

My second thought was, “This is going to be the only song this group ever has.”
I know. Everyone thought that. Everyone thought we were going to be a flash-in-the-pan or a one-hit wonder. I am glad we proved everybody wrong.

Now you’ve got a string of hits. My favorite so far is “Buttons” with Snoop Dogg. He’s only one of many big names PCD has worked with. Who has been your favorite?
I’m going to have to say Snoop Dogg. I’ve always wanted to work with him. He’s my favorite rapper ever and just one of the coolest guys ever. He’s really a great energy to be around, and I just love him. Also, he rapped my name in “Buttons,” which is one of the coolest things to ever happen to me! (Laughing.)

You’re living the dream you sing about in “When I Grow Up.”
Absolutely.

People know your name. You’ve got groupies…
I don’t know that we have any groupies.

What? You don’t have groupies?
I guess I think of groupies differently. The boys can have groupies differently than girls can have groupies. We have really good fans.

I think of “groupies” throwing themselves at you, looking for the sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll.
We don’t have that, but we’ll see in a year from now.

Tell me more about Doll Domination. Is the sound different?
I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised. It is a little bit different than the first album. The first album was really pop. This album is a lot more mature. There are a lot more ballads which are just heart-wrenching. There’s one song called “I Hate This Part,” which is the potential second single, and it’s one of my favorite songs on the record. We also delve into R&B. There are different sounds. I think people are going to see how well-rounded The Pussycat Dolls are with this next album.

You have been with PCD since the Viper Room days as a cabaret/burlesque act. Was there ever any expectation you’d crossover into pop stars?
Honestly, I had no idea. I always loved the Pussycat Dolls. I thought it was so cute. I started, and was acting, and it was a fun side job I was doing. Carmen Electra was part of it. It was a big thing in Hollywood. I didn’t happen with group have any expectations because I didn’t realize what was going to the. This is so beyond what I ever thought or imagined could happen. I’m so grateful I’m a part of it. There were moments there when there were like 30 girls, and they were catty, you know? They were mean girls. That’s just the industry. I was like, “I don’t want to do this any more. This is just ridiculous!” I’m glad I stayed, because I’m in a group full of amazing girls who are my sisters. I can’t imagine my life without them.

I expected the winner of “The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll” on this record. She’s not though.
Asia decided to go her own way. She decided to go do her own solo thing. We wish her the best of luck, but she’s not part of the group.

What happened to the girls from “The Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious”?
They’re touring in Canada right now, opening for The Backstreet Boys. I think they’re adorable and are going to do really well. The thing in America is they don’t take on girl bands very easily. It took us three hit singles to get people’s attention. I think the second album, people are going to really start liking us. In America, they’re hard critics. I think in due time, the Girlicious girls are going to write very well in America.

So many of the people behind-the-scenes with Pussycat Dolls are gay men, as seen on shows like “The Pussycat Dolls Present.” How has your career been impacted by gay/lesbian audiences?
They’re the best audiences in the whole, wide world. You know you’re successful if you have a huge gay following. They have the best taste. Growing up, in high school, all my friends were gay because all the girls were mean. I love it. I think it’s amazing.

You were on the line-up at the Dinah Shore Weekend. The Pussycat Dolls music isn’t necessarily what I’d think of for lesbian audiences.
Yeah, the lesbians love us – and we love lesbians! (Laughing.) What do you mean lesbians wouldn’t like The Pussycat Dolls? Come on! Whatever they like, we like too.

Tell me about the extended album which has solo tracks from each of the girls?
Yeah, we all have our own songs on the extended album. Mine is called “If I Was a Man.” During our break, I did a song with Paul Van Dyk called “White Lies.” I want to do more of the dance music. I have aspirations to be the next Kylie Minogue, that stream of mind. So it’s definitely that route. Ashley has a great ballad. Mel has a great ballad. Kimberly has a great throwback to a ‘90s sound. I love the fact we’re able to really showcase ourselves on this album and have that opportunity. I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people.

Many people anticipated Nicole would have solo success. Turns out, you were the first one to have a #1 solo single. Two, in fact! What was that experience like working with Paul Van Dyk to have a #1 club single with “White Lies”? You mention enjoying a gay fanbase. Certainly the club charts reflects what many gay men are following.
You know, it was an amazing experience with him. It really kind of put in stone what I want to do after this. I love electronic music. My best friend is a gay man. He gives me the best advice ever. He’s in Miami and calls me at three o’clock in the morning and is like, “They’re playing your song!” It was so exhilarating for me. I love going beyond what I know, going beyond the artists I know. It’s like the gays accept you for who you are, and that’s really the hardest thing. It was an incredible experience.

Tell me more about “If I Was a Man.” I haven’t heard it yet.
You’ve got to hear it! (Giggles.) It’s really fun. It’s like if I was a man for a day. It talks about… (She begins singing.) “I’ll get to know you better. I’ll get your friends fall in love with me. It just happens so easily. Ea-Si-Ly.” It talks about how, if I was a guy, I’d treat you because of how guys treat girls or guys treat other guys. It’s just a fun spin-off of messing with the guys, exchanging role playing. It’s really fun. I can’t wait to share it with the world.

As a drag performer, I get that experience of what it’s like for a woman at least once a week.
Really? Maybe you can do my song. (Laughs.) That’s so much fun! I’ll come see you.

"Promosexual" Blogger Pollo Del Mar Hosts a Pussycat Dolls CD Giveaway Thurs., Sept. 25, at The Crib, 715 Harrison, San Francisco. 18 & Over Allowed with ID.