RuPaul played host of the night’s festivities and a whole slew of really fun awards were handed out thruout the evening. The show won’t air on LOGO until June 13 so you’re just gonna hafta wait to find out who won all the fun awards ;) I will say, tho, that RuPaul was so awesome as host … she looked FABULOUS and managed to grace us with 3 costume changes thruout the night. Vanessa Williams was a nice surprise … there were just a lot of really fun folks there last night. We had blast. Our table was situated right next to Sia’s table and we bonded with her immediately. She came over to me to tell me that she loves reading my “bloggy” and uses it as her source of all the fun “gossy”. She is just insanely adorable. I have a few fun photos to post in the TV Guide post later on today .. but for now, congrats and love goes out to all the NewNowNext Award winners … and to Cheyenne Jackson for being hot.

[Photo credit: Wireimage]

While rallying for gay rights in New York this weekend, Cynthia Nixon announced her engagement to girlfriend Christine Marinoni, the Sex and the City star’s rep confirms to E! News. The couple has been together since late 2003, shortly after Nixon split from her longtime companion Danny Mozes. The exes share custody of their two children, Samantha, 14, and Charles, 7. Nixon shared the news with audiences during the Love, Peace and Marriage Equality rally in New York City.

The actress and Marinoni became engaged last month and are currently working to support the new gay-rights bill proposed by New York Gov. David Paterson. The goal is to achieve equality for same-sex unions. Access Hollywood first reported the engagement. Nixon and the rest of the Sex and the City gang are set to start filming the movie’s sequel this summer.

This is very happy news. I’m thrilled for Cynthia and Christine. The couple have been together for so long and have previously announced that they didn’t want to get “pretend married”. Now that there are 5 States in the US that have legalized same-sex marriage, with New Hampshire on the verge and NY working towards the same, I guess the time was finally right for the couple to start making plans for their nuptials. Much love and congrats to their entire family! I can’t wait until they’re finally able to get ‘er done.

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

I’m pretty sure that Joaquin’s ridiculously tiresome behavior is being paraded around town to try and inspire people to take notice and mebbe check out this film. For me, the opposite is true. I am so unimpressed by this bullshizz he’s trying to pull … his interview with David Letterman last night only made him look like a complete asshole. Sooo not impressed. I know that I will take a pass on seeing this film … despite all the pretty people who came out in support of it last night. And for the record, the woman in the third photo is NOT Hilary Swank … she’s just a creepy twin named Vinessa Shaw. But anyways, back on topic, I’m not sure if Joaquin’s antics are really resonating with anyone else but I’m not buying it. Andy Kaufman did it so much better … Joaquin, you are no Andy Kaufman.

[Photo credit: Wireimage]

Broadway actor Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu) was named Entertainer of the Year by the magazine for his “stereotype-breaking performances” and musician Sam Sparro was chosen as Breakout Star of the Year for being “an exciting new musician who never considered the closet as an option”. Nikka Costa, Heather Matarazzo (one of the Actors of the Year) and her partner Carolyn Murphy among others were in attendance at last night’s affair as well. Here is this month’s cover of Out magazine which features Out 100 honorees Cheyenne Jackson, Sam Sparro, Katy Perry (Musician of the Year) and director Gus Van Sant (Artist of the Year):

In the spirit of celebration you’ll forgive us for not stopping at 100: Our special awardees, both gay and straight, include Gus Van Sant for his thrilling new cinema paean to our first high-profile out elected official; Dean and Dan Caten for Dsquared2, for their forward-looking menswear; Cheyenne Jackson for his stereotype-breaking performances; Katy Perry for her unfiltered ode to sexual experimentation; Bishop Gene Robinson for leading the fight for equality in our houses of worship; and Sam Sparro, an exciting new musician who never considered the closet as an option.

Click HERE to see some of the other folks who made this year’s Out 100 list and see if any of your faves were honored. Much congrats to this year’s honorees … having seen the list, I can honestly say that Out did an amazing job picking this year’s batch of honorees. Woot!

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

Everyone looked amazing on the red carpet … I love that Xanadu’s Cheyenne Jackson had to show up on the red carpet in a tux and then had to strip it off to don his shorty jean shorts for the live performance and then had to get all dolled up in his tux again — and he wasn’t even nominated for an award! That’s dedication, y’all. I cannot stress enough how fun and inventive both Xanadu and Macbeth are as Broadway productions … and I’m convinced that is why neither show took home any awards. Tony voters seem to love being mired in the past (South Pacific), bucking the new and innovative and choosing instead to stick with the traditional, tired yet true (the same thing happened last year when Legally Blonde got the shaft).

The Tony Awards show itself, tho, was really fun to watch (it normally isn’t fun to watch at all). Here are a few pics from some of my fave parts of the show:

“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific” dominated Broadway’s top honors, the Tony Awards, with seven prizes on Sunday, followed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “August: Osage County” with five wins. “South Pacific,” nominated for 11 Tonys, picked up awards for best musical revival, best musical director (Bartlett Sher), best leading actor in a musical (Paulo Szot), scenery, costume, lighting and sound. Sher said audiences seemed to find contemporary resonance in the show’s themes of racial tension at a time of war — issues of heightened interest in the U.S. presidential election campaign with black candidate Sen. Barack Obama winning the Democratic nomination. “The reception was completely overwhelming,” Sher told reporters, adding the show happened “to hit this weird crease in the culture around the election.” “August: Osage County,” the Tracy Letts play that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama this year, won Tonys for best play, best featured actress (Rondi Reed), best leading actress (Deanna Dunagan), scenic design and direction (Anna D. Shapiro). Cast members signaled that the sprawling drama about a dysfunctional family in rural Oklahoma could transfer to London’s West End later this year. Broadway veteran Patti LuPone won best actress in a musical for her role in “Gypsy,” while her co-stars won best featured actor (Boyd Gaines) and featured actress (Laura Benanti). The show is a revival of a musical suggested by a stripper’s memoir with Stephen Sondheim lyrics. It was the second Tony for LuPone, who last won for “Evita.” “Shut up, it’s been 29 years,” she yelled as the orchestra began playing at New York City’s Radio City Hall. “It’s such a wonderful gift to be an actor who makes her living on the Broadway stage and then once every 30 years or so pick up one of these.” Rock musician Stew, whose real name is Mark Stewart, won best book of a musical for “Passing Strange,” the show’s single award from seven nominations. “It’s incredibly insane to be up here,” he told reporters. “Our goal was to put music on stage that people are actually listening to, the music people actually listen to on subways or when at they’re at home getting stoned.” “In the Heights,” a musical about a largely Dominican northern Manhattan neighborhood, won four awards, including best original score for creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda. It had led the Tony nominations with 13. “I used to dream about this moment, now I’m in it,” Miranda, 28, who thought up the show during his second year in college and worked on it for eight years, said in a speech he rapped to the crowd. “I wrote a little show about home.” “Boeing-Boeing,” the classic farce which is the most performed French play, won best revival of a play … Around 750 people from the theater industry — from actors, to directors to journalists — vote for the Tony Awards. Sondheim, who wrote music and lyrics for such shows as “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Sweeney Todd” was given a special Tony for lifetime achievement.

I do have to send out huge props to August: Osage County. Altho I’ve yet to see it (David has), I hear it’s a stunning play and well deserved the accolades it received last night. In fact, I don’t want to take away from any of the winners — they are all deserving. I just wish that the fun, new Broadway shows that are bringing in the dollars on Broadway could get a little lovin’ too. Meh. I’m over it … but I will continue to sing the praises of shows that I LOVE and know that others of like mind will love as well :)

While I’m glad they squeezed in time (what felt like 1 1/2 mins.) for The Little Mermaid to have a performance, I was upset that it was so … bare. I get that the show wasn’t one of the big nominees but a flashy, sorry, splashy performance might’ve helped with ratings. The Rent performance was touching … but fell flat for me. I love Jonathan Larson and his masterpiece but a better celebration of his life and work would’ve been the Original Broadway cast coming out in full costume to put on a raucous performance. I dunno, that’s just what I would’ve loved to have seen. Click HERE to watch the somber Rent performance that we did get. All in all, I guess it’s impossible for all the shows to win awards and maybe I’m a bit miffed that my faves didn’t win … but eh, I can be miffed if I want to. I can’t even begin to guess what poor Cubby Bernstein is feeling today. Click HERE for a full list of this year’s Tony Award winners.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin, Wireimage; Source, Source]