[Diva Week] I Can't Forget The Classic Divas!

For Diva Week, we've been focusing on the new wave of gay icons. But it's not really fair to push aside the old gaurd. Old school glamour and posh never dies, and if you took a glance around my apartment you'd find a large print of Audrey Hepburn's classic Breakfast At Tiffany's pose, peering into the window with her large shades and coffee cup. You'd find an reproduction of a oil painting of Madonna, used to cover the thermostat. You'd probably notice the collection of Marilyn Monroe photos, and a collage I made in high school of newspaper clippings from her death. A print of classic scenes from "I Love Lucy" hangs near that collection, and a vintage picture of Elizabeth Taylor sits on a shelf in my bedroom. I also have collected a large amount of vintage pictures and statues of the Virgin Mary, and I'm not even Catholic. (I don't know if that's a "gay and his diva" thing, or just really weird...) My CD collection contains discs by Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Cyndi Lauper and Whitney Houston. I have Julie Andrews soundtracks on LP. I could never ignore these classic divas.


I choose to focus on new gay icons because so much has already been written about these fabulous women that I wanted to shine a light on some fresh faces. But I would never forget these legends, these women who have inspired drag queens and gym bunnies alike. There is room in this world for more than one diva. Maybe next year, we'll go old school.

[Diva Week] Does VH1 Read My Blog? Because Divas Live Is Back!

Apparently Pictures & Conversation's Diva Week is starting a trend, because VH1 has annouced the return of the best program ever on the channel, Divas Live! The current divas are my girl Kelly Clarkson (you may hear more about her later this week... wink), Leona Lewis (because "Bleeding Love" is every diva song ever rolled into one and covered in extra runs and histrionics), British soul-pop singer Adele (I'm not sure about "diva" but I kinda love her), and my sworn frienemy Miley Cyrus. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! x infinity.

I have a serious love/hate relationship with Billy Ray's spawn. I wanted to hate "See You Again" but the crazy club beat and surf guitars sucked me in. Then came "Seven Things" and I was back in hate. "The Climb" almost had me, it's simple melody and lyrics lulled me into thinking Miley was more than a moppet who liked to show her bra strap in MySpace pics. The I realized a 16-year-old (who was dating a 20-year-old underwear model) was just repeating the ancient maxim of "It's not the destination, it's the journey." I already know this, I based my David & Bathsheba sermon on that very idea. Then the facts she's already writing her memoirs makes me roll my eyes, seriously. Only Drew Barrymore can write a life story worth reading while still in her teens. (Seriously, read Little Girl Lost. It's epic.)

Anyway, I'm excited for the other three. I'm hoping for a "Moment Like This" sing-off between Leona and Kelly. Who's with me?

Related video:



Above:
Kelly Clarkson - "Moment Like This"
Leona Lewis - "Moment Like This"
Miley Cyrus - "See You Again"
Adele - "Hometown Glory [High Contrast Mix]"

Read This! "My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them" - Edited by Michael Montlack

Just in time for Harrisburg's Pride Fest, we're talking divas all week! And what better way to start out the week with a review of the brand new book that inspired the theme, My Diva.

Gay men and divas go back as far as pop culture history. From Billie Holiday's male assistant who would borrow her furs and clothes for a night out on the town to Lady Gaga's massive gay following, gay men love women who are larger than life. But My Diva covers more than the "Liza-Judy-Barbra-Bette, these are names we shan't forget" gaggle of Divas/Goddesses/Icons. In fact, Judy Garland and Barbra Striesand don't even get an entry, instead the focus is on the ladies with whom the authors felt a personal connection with. Bjork, Nina Simone and Sade take their place, as well as authors like Virgina Wolfe and chefs like Julia Child. There is more to being a diva than sequins and hysterics.

We hear the memories of a little boy locking himself away from his troubles with Bewitched reruns in Richard Blanco's ode to Endora. We identify with the heartbreak that leads Patrick Letellier to draw strength from Queen Elizabeth I. While we may not know the same cultural circumstances that lead Kenji Oshima to idealize Margaret Cho, we get a better glimpse at the childhood of a young Asian gay man.

And some of the classic divas do stroll in: Cher, Liz, Miss Ross. But no one descends into yippy fangirling. These real men found a muse, a mother figure or a heroine in the women whose varying degrees of fame don't distract from the devotion and worship of their divas. Some have personal connections to the ladies they love, others have only seen them breifly, and many only know them through the magic of the page, radio or screen. Fictional charactors can be divas, too. Wonder Woman, Princess Leia and Auntie Mame each inspire without being real.

Each entry is but a few pages, making My Diva a swift and breezy read. Even though it's not a paperback, I'd even recommend it as a beach read. Because of the shortness of the stories, when you hit a strangely paced bit like the artsy Anna Moffo bit, you'll get to another sweet, funny, poignant or bittersweet tale of a man and his diva. 65 divas, 65 men who love them. What else do you need?