JOAN RIVERS
It's Charlie Sheen's turn to sit down, shut up for once and listen to other people ramble on about silly stuff. Except sadly, the speakers do not have to dig up much crap to put him on the spot.
The disgraced actor who publicly and officially went, well, nuts this past year is once again getting another chance to expose his special self. Charlie Sheen is getting his very own Comedy Central Roast. Well, the whole world knows he's a maniac, at least now we make Charlie bashing an official hobby.
Former Comedy Central Roast celebrants include Bob Saget, Joan Rivers, Flavor Flav, Jeff Foxworthy, and many others. In general, the show's goal is to showcase the roastees' good sportsmanship despite the incessant jabs at them. Even through nonstop insults, the selected individual must keep calm and collected. Two words that completely describe Mr. Sheen, right?
She was scheduled to appear on the channel with her daughter Melissa to promote her new reality show Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, but Fox canceled her visit.
Why? Because when TMZ (the celebrity gossip website) asked her this weekend what she thought about Sarah Palin, she partially blamed the Arizona shootings on her, and said she was "stupid and a threat"...
As a response to this cancellation, she posted on Twitter: "As a result, our appearance on the Fox News Channel tomorrow morning has been cancelled. Outcome: DON'T PISS OFF SARAH PALIN. She’s apparently 'very powerful,' and is obviously still smarting from the end of her reality show."
So did Sarah Palin asked for this? Or did Fox take the initiative to ban Rivers from the program?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
New York Women in Film & Television will host the 11th annual Designing Women Awards at Macy’s Herald Square. The ceremony will honor the creative work of hair, make-up and costume design created by women in the entertainment industry. RSVP Required. Macy’s Herald Square; (6:30pm-9pm)
While CSI and Criss Angel Mindfreak are still going strong (one obviously more so than the other), there hasn't been a good new show based out of Las Vegas in a while. Las Vegas ended two years ago. Top Chef was great and all, but everyone knew that wasn't going to last. Pawn Stars is generating some good buzz, but is that it? Think of all the excess of shows based out of LA, New York. I mean, hell-even Chicago got The Good Wife this year!
Nothing's been easy for the headliner of the new show, Divas Las Vegas. This year marks the 25th year as a Vegas headliner for the person who has been called "the hardest-working showgirl on the Strip." Those 25 years make for over half of 45 year-old Frank Marino's life spent entertaining Las Vegas audiences in drag. And as you can probably guess, being the Queen of Vegas is a whole lotta work.
"The only that that came naturally for me in this job is that I was born with a small foot, so I fit in a woman's shoe and I can buy one anywhere."
"Everything else is hard. I'm Italian, so I have that blue-black beard I get 5 o'clock shadow in 15 minutes."
Too keep up his feminine appearances, Marino has spent the past quarter of a century shaving his face up to four times a day, keeping his family jewels well protected from searching eyes, and donning nails, wigs, gowns, and sexy high heels.
The effort it takes for Marino to transform into his stage persona can be a totally drag (get it?) when it comes to making appearances out of his nightly gig.
"I mean, it's not as easy as just calling Lance Burton and he shows up with some doves up his sleeve. You call Clint Holmes, he gets dressed nice at home, he goes, does the function, and then he can continue his day. I wish I could just show up like Clint. People don't understand that this takes hours and hours."
Marino spent nearly 24-year as ringmistress of An Evening at La Cage at the Riviera, but the show was unexpectedly cancelled last year. After briefly considering retirement, a nice option kept open by Marino's conservative budgeting, he decided that his reign as a Vegas queen wasn't over yet. Unfortunately, it wasn't all glitter and sunshine coming back.
"You're gone five minutes, they forget who you are. I didn't have to get Botox and a nose job-the door hit me in the face so many times it would have flattened itself out."
Then, fate struck. While at Terry Fator's opening night, Marino met Harrah's president Don Marrandino who eventually set it up so that Marino did a one-off performance over Labor Day weekend. The show went so well, it was decided that Divas would be the late show at the Imperial Palace, after Matsuri and Human Nature.
Divas Las Vegas includes many drag impersonations of celebrity icons including Celine, Cher, Beyonce, and Diana. Though, Marino prefers not to play the impersonator himself. He does open the show as the MC, doing a sharp Joan Rivers impression-one for which Rivers sued him for $5 million in $1986.
"Thank God she settled," Marino jokes, "'cause I was about $80 short."
Marino believes that Las Vegas is probably the only city where a drag show like his could be successful on this large of a scale. He does say that his audience is more varied than would be assumed.
"Here's what happens. The men come in, reluctantly, with their wives who have seen me on Oprah or some talk show. You see him holding her hand very tightly. By the time Britney and Cher come out, he's let go of her hand, and by the end of the show his wife is hitting him on the shoulder, saying ‘you're paying too much attention to these performers!'
"I'm not selling audiences a lifestyle. I'm selling a form of entertainment, an art form that goes way back to Kabuki and Shakespeare and Milton Berle and Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire."
Unlike Robin Williams, Marino doesn't just stick to using drag as a comedy shtick. Divas ends with a powerful ballad of Charles Aznavours "What Makes A Man a Man?" while a drag entertainer removes his makeup and regales the audience with tales of his banal offstage life.
Marino's life offstage in reality is also pretty mundane. Though his working wardrobe includes more than 1,000 gowns, including 50-or-so custom-designed outfits by Bob Mackie, Marino's real life wardrobe is strictly removed of flash.
"In my house, there's not one piece of drag. There's not an eyelash, a nail or a feather. If a robber broke into my house to steal something, they would think they were at Elton John's house. I have so many boy clothes. I get in different moods."
In need of a little retail therapy? Before making a beeline to Suburban Square, help others while you help yourself and shop at these socially-conscious boutiques instead.
The Wardrobe Boutique is a new store run by the nonprofit organization, Career Wardrobe, which has helped more than 15,000 women enter the workforce over the last 15 years by offering free professional clothing, job training services and more.
A spiral staircase brings you up to the oversized boutique decorated with fixtures donated by Eileen Fisher and posters of women dressed in the store's stylish collection. Racks are filled with gently used clothes donated by local women and hand picked by a team of fashionistas. The selection includes $10 jeans and $90 fur coats. A smaller couture room includes labels by Isaac Mizrahi and Ralph Lauren. Many of the jewelry and accessories were donated by Joan Rivers' QVC line of products.
They reportedly began their new high-profile careers last October, but the cagey members of the elite media stuck by promises to keep the cast a secret. Luckily for us, NBC finally popped the lid off the news today and we discovered who we’ll be watching struggle through Trump’s dastardly maze to success this season. Celebrities desperate enough to appear on television this year are “Baywatch” babe Brande Roderick, country music’s Clint Black, Khloe Kardashian, Dennis Rodman, Joan and Melissa Rivers, Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton, singer Brian McKnight, comedians Andrew Dice Clay and Tom Green, football star Herschel Walker, TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, “Deal or No Deal” model Claudia Jordan, “Monster Garage” host Jesse James, and ‘sport’ stars Annie Duke (poker) and Natalie Gulbis (golf).
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