From Courtney:
When I got the call to perform at Lady Gaga’s birthday party I was soooo excited. Gaga is my most favourite person on the planet right now. I admire her talent, dedication and glamour and the way that she has returned such theatrics and excitement to the world. I went to see her concert in Sydney, clad only in some “Caution” tape and not much else, I was ever so excited when I was told that she had see me in the crowd.

The next night at Disgraceland Sydney I performed Telephone with Gaga’s dancers and crew in the audience, again wrapped in the Caution tape, and no, it was not the same Caution tape from the night before. A few days past and I was rehearsing for my show at Disgraceland Melbourne, I got a call asking if I wanted to perform at her birthday party. OH MY GOD. I was so excited to be performing for my queen, such an honour.

The big day arrived and we headed to Canberra, I did a little walk through of the picturesque Botanical Gardens which is where the party was to be held later that night and then back to the hotel to tizz my self up for the celebrations. I entered just after the main course wearing a gold bubble dress singing Sweet Transvestite. She sat watching with a big grin on her face as I danced through the crowd and played up to everyone. When I got to the second verse I danced over to Gaga and gave her a bit of a lap dance, I then jumped up onto the table and brought the song home, dancing on the dinner table top, for the final moment, her singers and dancers behind me filling in the backing vocals on “Sweet Transvestite”. It was pretty bloody gay! After that number I acted as the MC as the cake was brought out and I lead the crowd in an accapella version of Happy Birthday.

Later on it was my job to lead Gaga and her Dad down a little bush track to an out door cinema that had been set up. The path was dark and slippery and rocky. Gaga looked at me and said “Oh dear, this looks dangerous, should I take off my shoes?”. I was most relieved at this because i was concerned for my  self walking in my heels, let along her in her amazing 6″ Armani Privé, Swarovski encrusted, works of art! I didn’t want to be the person responsible for breaking Lady Gaga. So we took our shoes off and held hands as we walked down the path and chatted. We then arrived at the open air cinema where everyone sat down on beanbags and big comfy chairs and we all watch Avatar on the big screen. Quite surreal.

The whole night was so sweet and fun and strangely very normal. A whole bunch of people getting together to celebrate the birthday of their friend., Gaga might be the biggest star in the world right now, but at the end of the day she is still a fellow human being like you or like me. It was really humbling and wonderful to be apart of and a definite career highlight! I got a vibe from Gaga that was so warm and loving and creative. She seemed so genuine and every bit true to herself and her marvelous creation. She watched me perform with a beaming smile on her face, gave me a most genuine warm hug, and chatted so casually with me. She is a true entertainer and most definitely an inspiration to me and so many others around the world. Thank you Gaga for being you and thank you to the greater-good that I got to sing for you at your birthday party! What an honour!

From Sydney Confidential 15/4/10:

From Fox FM 15/4/10:

For Christmas my friend Penny gave me a DVD of a fabulous new UK TV show that screened on BBC 2 in 2008 called Beautiful People 

So anyway… it is a six part series that is just fabulous. For me it broke the gay mold. Although it is indeed very very gay, it is not as obvious as most gay pop culture. There were so many refreshing moments in the series, I laughed and I cried.

I have just heard from a very good source that season 2 is confirmed for production in 2009 as well! 

 Another gem to come out of the series is a long awaited Kylie and Danni duet. I am not sure if they recorded the song for the show, or if they just used the song on the show, but their version, that’s right, Kylie & Danni’s version of The Winner Takes It All features in the series.  Check it out on YouTube:

 

 Beautiful People was inspired by the memoirs of Simon Doonan from the book of the same name. If you get the chance, get a copy and watch it! It is only 6 x 30 minute episodes so you will have to pace your self if you want to make it last!

Christmas is almost here, so we’ve got an early Christmas present for you – it’s the second session of Surf Camp!The action is starting to heat up in this session, with the harem of 5 gay boys reduced down to 4 in the first ever Surf Camp eviction.But who will go? Will it be chic geek Jesse or lifesaver Josh? Big boy Brennan or lovable clutz Ryan? Or will it be the boy-next-door Ben? You’ll have to watch to find out!Things are Surf Camp are starting to get interesting, including a burgeoning romance between  two of the boys. It’s all happening downunder on Surf Camp: Session 2.

I remember a few years ago looking at all of the amazing icons that emerged in the second half of last century like Cher, Tina, Bette, Michael Jackson & Madonna. I remember thinking how amazing they were and that there has not been anyone in recent time to even come close to that… Until, that is, Beyonce. To me, Beyonce is the only real icon of the 21st Century. Her music, film clips, style, choreography, make-up… everything is just so brilliant. It is so much more than a good team around an average artist. She has an amazing team I am sure, but I think it really comes down to Beyonce’s talent as a performer. Her vocals, dance and performance are just sublime.

You can always be sure you will be blown away when Beyonce is performing at an award ceremony. Her unique concepts and production are always stella. Check out this video of B with X-Factor singer Alexandra. So cool. Such a buzz.

So I might be a little slow on the uptake but I have just finished listening to Cyndi Laupers album Bring Ya To The Brink. I don’t know why, but i wasn’t expecting much. I was thinking it would be a Donna Summer Crayons, but what I got was somewhere between Madonna’s Confessions and Gwen Stefani! It was hot. I have only had one listen so far whilst sunning myself on the roof yesterday. It is far too much of a rockin’ album to listen to laying down however and I will be scheduling it in for an at home alone click and shimmy listen!I saw Cyndi at Mardi Gras this year and thought she was fab, so much energy and an enigmatic perfomer.

Is there anything that house wife from Mooney Ponds can’t do. From strength to strength Dame Edna has put together her own collection for Mac Cosmetics. Mac have a long string of high profile Celebrity collaborators, starting way back at the companies inception with drag icon RuPaul. Others have included Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Colins, Heatherette, Fergie, Lil’Kim and many more.Dame Edna’s collection is packaged in the lilac tone we are so familiar with and embossed with those red glasses that we all know and love. There colours inspired by the gladioli, Edna’s favourite flora, and Kangarouge is reportedly one of her favorites in the collection. With a release date in North America scheduled for the 26th of December Dame Edna is sure to continue her role as our international spokes-person carrying on from where Baz Lurmans Australia recently left off.

The self-proclaimed gigastar says “We came up with a range of colours that not only suit people of my age, but women at the threshold of life. They will be found in the handbags of the young and old very soon. It’s really cutting-edge makeup.”

The lovely people at SX magazine did a fab feature on the cast of FAKE and put our Warholized mugs on the cover. I came up with the cover concept when I saw the video of the show the first time. When the lights went to UV and our makeup lit up I instantly saw an Andy Warhol inspired visual. Then when SX asked us to shoot the cover I thought that perhaps we could shoot the images in UV lights and then Warhol the rest. I watched several youtube tutorials on different photoshop tools and i finally learnt what the Pen tool is for! I totally love the effect! If you would like to read the whole article please click here.

On my list of things to do whilst in London this time was to make it out to G.A.Y., the iconic gay club at the Astoria. Having guest performers like Kylie, Madonna, The Spice Girls, P!nk… need I say more, the place is what legends are made of. Disaster almost struck when I found out that G.A.Y. at the Astoria was closing it’s doors forever. Promotor Jeremy Joseph was moving on from the old and run down Astoria that had housed his disco for 9 years… where was he going? Nobody knew, it was all top secret. The final night of G.A.Y. was to be a celebration of what was, not a party about where it was going. Rumours were rife with who would be performing at the final night. The London street press was touting Kylie to be the final doyen to grace the stage. Performing her opening London concert just up the road at the O2 stadium it seemed like perfect timing for G.A.Y.’s final gong. Having had just been to the Kylie concert I was in the mood for a disco and went for a warm up with some friends on Old Compton st, as I walked past the Astoria I was astounded by the cue. There were people lined up for blocks and blocks and there was such a vibe on the street. There were even portable urinals set up to cope with the swell. Fortunately I avoided the cue and slipped in the back door greeted by Jeremy Joseph and bestowed my fluro yellow sticker that would give me a prime view of the nights proceedings. I scampered up the back stairs, where the likes of Madonna, The Spicegirls and Donna Summer would have scampered before and up to the balcony. The room was so hot and sweaty you could actually see the moisture in the air. It was like being in the steam room at City Gym! The cue for the bar was massive and everyone was ever so sweaty.Jeremy Joseph came on stage to introduce the night. There were nine acts in total but who they were was still a mystery. Even when they came on stage, many, were still a mystery to me as they were UK pop acts that we are not familiar with in OZ. McFly were first up and I must say I really enjoyed them, followed by The Saturdays (the UK’s new answer to Girls Aloud), Sophie Ellis-Bexter, Alcazar, Bucks Fizz, Sam Sparro and the final act… Ms Minogue… Danni that is. She sang a slow and sexy version of All I Wanna Do and then cranked it up with Xanadu. The night pumped on but I went home to bed as I was performing a 40 minute set the next night at the 2 Brewers. I was kind of funny that my first night at G.A.Y. would also be it’s last!