Jerry Curl

Cher made a surprise appearance at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles to honor Chaz with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award.

The Huffington Post reports : "Here's some cool news," Neil Patrick Harris tweeted yesterday evening, directing fans to the news that he will return as host of the Tony Awards this year. His tweet linked to a New York Times footnote announcing that he will run the show for the third time. Harris first hosted the Tonys in 2009, and again in 2011, injecting new life into an awards show not typically followed by a TV audience. His efforts in 2011 were mostly well-received -- the Los Angeles Times called the How I Met Your Mother star a "wickedly witty" host, in a show "sprinkled liberally with TV stars to keep mainstream audiences interested." The show roped in 6.9 million viewers, which, while not a big increase over the year previous, saw a 9% increase in younger audiences (the 18-49-year-old crowd). "I'm thrilled to be a part of this year's Tony Awards,” Harris said in a statement. “Not only will I be shining a spotlight on the best t...

The Huffington Post reports : The 2012 GLAAD Media Awards were kicked off on Saturday in New York City with a gala event hosted by Glee stars Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith. The first of three events -- the other two will take place in Los Angeles on April 21 and San Francisco on June 2 -- included a who's who of the LGBT community and its allies like actress Dakota Fanning, hip-hop icon Russell Simmons, Top Chef star Padma Lakshmi, Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, the Food Network's Ted Allen, Wendy Williams, Jay Manuel and Isis King from America's Next Top Model and more. ( Ed. note : AKA a lotta nobodys). GLAAD's acting President Mike Thompson noted in a blog he penned for HuffPost Gay Voices : "The events, which help fund GLAAD's storytelling and media advocacy work, not only celebrate and recognize the best of the best in LGBT-inclusive journalism, film, music, television, and more; they also serve as a benchmark for the media industry, helping to impr...

Towleroad reports : Another takeaway from last night's Oscar's was Angelina Jolie's bizarre presenter pose on stage, when she thrust a bare leg out of her dress, placed an arm on her hip, and laughed uncomfortably. The pose was so ridiculous and instantly iconic that it was mocked shortly thereafter by Jim Rash (and got a huge laugh) as he was accepting his Best Adapted Screenplay award for The Descendants . Said Rash later : "I had just seen her pose and thought it was bold and fun. And you know what? We have exactly the same legs! Really, it was a loving tribute and nothing but." Jolie's leg now has its own Twitter and folks are now trying to make legbombing a meme . The ever-poignant Michael K writes: Bitch stuck her right leg out like her pussy was on fire. Bitch stuck her right leg out like she was getting into the birthin' stance just in case a newborn needed to fall out. Or just in case an orphan stowed away in her UNICEF crotch during one of her ...

Photo caption: Thomas Langmann, producer of The Artist , accepts the Oscar for best motion picture. [ Editor's note ] The Academy Awards ceremony is perhaps my least favorite of all the award shows and this year's show did nothing to change my mind. In an almost 4 hour mind-numbingly boring broadcast, the Academy gave away their top honors to the most deserving of their peers. Unfortunately, it was a snooze fest. Billy Crystal tried to be funny, Cirque du Soleil tried to excite the crowd, and Hugo tried to win the night's top award. Alas, tried is the operative word in all of the above. Still, it could've been worse-- James Franco could've been there. Anyway, the full winners list can be seen here . A very special congrats to Bret McKenzie for his Best Original (Muppet) Song win!

--> In related news: Adele won Album of the Year at the Brit Awards, but producers made host James Corden cut her off moments into her speech. She responded by flipping them the bird. Adele said her gesture was aimed at "the suits, not the fans". Towleroad has the video. --> In more related news: Adele also celebrates the one-year anniversary of the American release of 21 with her 21st week at No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart. From Feb. 13, the after the Grammys, to last Sunday, 21 sold a remarkable 730,000 copies, Billboard reported, citing data from Nielsen SoundScan. That was by far Adele’s biggest one-week sales take, bringing the album’s total sales in the United States to just less than 7.4 million. Adele’s nonconsecutive run of 21 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart is also the most of any album since 1991, when SoundScan began collecting accurate sales figures from retailers. Last week 21 hit 20 weeks at No. 1, tying The Bodyguard soundtrack, which fe...

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy will present at this year's 84th annual Academy Awards, it was announced Friday. The appearance marks the Muppets' fifth time at the yearly movies kudosfest, taking place Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Additionally, 30 Rock star and Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey has been added to the growing list of presenters. They join previously announced presenters Halle Berry, Rose Byrne, Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich, Ellie Kemper, Jennifer Lopez, Melissa McCarthy, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Ben Stiller, Emma Stone(!) and Kristen Wiig. The Academy Awards will be broadcast live coast-to-coast on ABC. (Via the Hollywood Reporter )

Logo's NewNowNext Awards are turning 5 this year, and this morning Adam Lambert announced on VH1′s Big Morning Buzz Live that he’ll be one of the performers on the show. He also talked Queen rumors, Nicki Minaj, and his new album: Clips of the Logo interview can be seen here .

Nico Lang, Co-Creator and Co-Editor of In Our Words writes a terrific article in the Huffington Post on how the Grammys failed on the Chris Brown controversy. Below is an excerpt: This year, the Grammys did give us something complain about, a win that says troubling things about their priorities and about ours as a culture. In case you missed it, the Grammys awarded Chris Brown with "Best R&B Album" on Sunday, almost three years after he very publicly assaulted his girlfriend, the ubiquitous R&B singer, Rihanna. I have many issues with awarding Brown's newest album, F.A.M.E. , with any sort of artistic merit -- first off, because the album isn't very good. F.A.M.E. wasn't critically savaged because Brown beat his girlfriend, although that surely didn't make him a darling with the critical community. Critics took issue with Brown's inability to artistically mature after the incident, his seeming unwillingness to grow. The album was divided betwee...

"We've had a death in our family." Photo caption: Jennifer Hudson performs “I Will Always Love You” in memory of the late Whitney Houston during the Grammys. [ Editor's note ] Music's biggest night had a big cloud hanging over it last night. The suddenly unexpected death of legendary singer Whitney Houston weighed heavy on the collective consciousness of everyone at or watching the 54th Grammy Awards. Host LL Cool J and the Academy did good by addressing the loss immediately. Leading the audience in prayer LL said, "Although she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit, and to have the legacy of her music to cherish and share forever." Despite it being read off of a paper, it was genuine and sincerely needed. For the most part, the rest of the show did what it's supposed to do: celebrate music in all its forms and across the decades. From Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to Chris Brown, from Coldpl...

The Marquee Blog reports : Three years after the infamous pre-Grammys incident that still makes headlines, Chris Brown is returning to the Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy has announced that Brown, 22, has joined the lineup for Sunday's awards show, along with new additions Tony Bennett and Carrie Underwood, and Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt. According to MTV , this appearance will mark the first time Brown has been present at the ceremony since the altercation with his then-girlfriend Rihanna, the night before they were scheduled to perform at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Although Brown has since been nominated - he received three Grammy nods last year, and has received three nods this year, as well - he's been absent from the events, MTV reports, Nominated for album of the year, among other honors, Rihanna will perform at Sunday's show with Coldplay. Other previously announced artists to perform Sunday include Adele; Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson; Glen Campbell with The B...

This will be the British pop singer's first live televised performance since undergoing vocal chord surgery in November. Adele broke the news to fans over Twitter today.

Photo caption: Cast of The Help The Hollywood Reporter reports : The biggest and brightest stars of film and television came together on Sunday, Jan. 29 to honor their peers at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer took home the evening's first awards for supporting actor and actress, while Alec Baldwin, Kate Winslet, Betty White and the casts of Modern Family and Boardwalk Empire were among the others earning nods during the ceremony. Receiving the night's top honors were Jean Dujardin for best actor in a leading role, Viola Davis for best female actor in a leading role and The Help for best ensemble in a motion picture. Mary Tyler Moore accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from Dick Van Dyke midway through the show, taking the opportunity to explain why she chose to use her middle name to separate herself from the six other Mary Moore's already on SAG's roster in the early stages of her Hollywood career. So much more ...

Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure Hugo leads the Academy Awards with 11 nominations, among them best picture and the latest director slot for the Oscar-winning filmmaker. The Artist ran second with 10 nominations, including one for Best Picture Also nominated for best picture: The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris , Moneyball , The Tree of Life , and War Horse . The best actor nominees are George Clooney for The Descendants ; Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ; Brad Pitt for Moneyball ; Jean DuJardin for The Artist ; and Demian Bichir for A Better Life . Bichir's nomination all but came out of nowhere, as his film has not been widely seen. [ Ed. note : Where's Leonardo DiCaprio's nod?!] The best actress nominees are: Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs ; Viola Davis for The Help ; Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ; Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady ; and Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn . The entire...

The nominees for the 23rd annual GLAAD Media Awards have been announced. According to GLAAD , "The awards recognize outstanding images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in news coverage and entertainment media. The awards complement and fund GLAAD’s work to share the stories of LGBT people through the media." There are 151 nominees in a variety of categories. You can see the full list here . Towleroad , one of my favorite and frequently-cited blogs, is among the nominees for Outstanding Blog. Other blog nominees include Mombian , The New Civil Rights Movement , Bilerico Project , and Rod 2.0 . The awards will be held in New York City on March 24, in Los Angeles on April 21 and in San Francisco on June 2.

The Grammy Awards has announced that actor/rapper LL Cool J will host this year's 54th annual ceremony. The performer (whose rap initials stand for "Ladies Love Cool James") is a two-time Grammy winner and has hosted the Grammy Nominations Concert since it began in 2008. LL (whose real name is James Smith) is promising viewers of this year's telecast a big night. "I'm thrilled to be part of music's biggest night," he said in a statement. “I will always have fond memories of my first Grammy Awards, and to now be hosting the Grammy show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true. Great performances and great music — it's gonna be a great night!" It's been a few years since the show has had an official host. Queen Latifah hosted the 47th Grammy Awards in 2005, and Jon Stewart hosted the 43rd and 44th telecasts. Other hosts have included Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell. (Via The Marquee B...

[ Editor's notes ] There was a time in my life when I lived purely for the joy of watching award shows. With bated breath I waited to watch the glitz and glam of these self-acknowledging pageants. But that was a long time ago. I haven't enjoyed an award show in a long time. Sunday night's Golden Globes were no different. But I watched anyway. Highlights of the entire broadcast? Madonna winning, Sofia Vergara's bi-lingual speech , and Morgan Freeman's intro. Das it. A full list of winners at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards can be found here . In related news: Apparently not everyone is as happy with Madonna's win as I am. Elton John, who was in the running for Best Original Song, had some fighting words for Madge .

Reuters reports : Harry Potter cast a spell at the People's Choice awards last night on a night that also saw big wins for singer Katy Perry at the start of the Hollywood awards season. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 -- the last installment of the hit movie franchise about the British boy wizard -- won four awards, including best movie and favorite ensemble cast. The Harry Potter stars did not make the trip from Britain to the awards show in Los Angeles so none of their wins were announced on the two-hour televised ceremony. Perry won five trophies, including best female music artist, favorite song for "E.T." and favorite tour headliner. But the perky "Firework" pop star pulled out of last night's live TV ceremony at short notice, following her split with British comedian Russell Brand two weeks ago after 14 months of marriage. Female romp Bridesmaids won best comedy movie and Johnny Depp picked up the best actor award. Emma Stone, 23, took...

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA) announced its picks for the annual Dorian Awards yesterday. The Dorians, passed out since 2009, honor not only LGBT-exclusive entertainment, but also movies and shows widely enjoyed by the LGBT audience. For film of the year, Midnight in Paris , The Artist , The Descendants , The Skin I Live In , and The Tree of Life were all honored. For best LGBT-themed film of the year, Albert Nobbs , Beginners , Pariah , Tomboy , and Weekend made the list. Nominees for the best television programs of 2012, split between drama and comedy, include American Horror Story , Modern Family , and Downton Abbey . Actors Rooney Mara and Bryan Cranston were also nominated for their work. The winners will be announced January 16. Click here for more of the nominees.