VANCOUVER'S NEXT GAY TOP MODEL
And The Winner Is... CALAN!!!!!!

Calan is the winner of 2009's Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model!

That's right kids, it's time to give ginger snaps to somebody who I'm thinkin' is the happiest redhead in Vancouver :-)

Here's the look on Calan's face at the very moment his name was announced as the winner (he's in the middle with Joel and Adam on either side of him):

There must be a good reason the old saying, "May the best man win" rings true through the ages. Tonight was proof.

We had a great time at the show and I'll be posting a complete wrap of the event later today. Check back for that... in the meantime if you're interested in getting to know a little more about the winner of Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model 2009, here's a bit about Calan- in his own words - from the official Gay Top Model website

Age: 22
Ethnic roots: Scottish
Height: 6' 2.5
Weight: 175lbs
Shoe Size: 12
Hair Colour: Auburn/Red
Eye Colour: Hazel
Education: Completed High School
Vancouver… is the best city in the world - travelling tought me that!
Favourite place: the view from Grousse Mountain on a crystal clear day, or night.
Favourite quote: "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." - Janis Joplin

Not satisfied with that? Need to know more about Calan, winner of Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model 2009? Here's more about the man, again in his own words, but this time from his MySpace page

About me:
Hey I'm Calan, welcome to my page. I like going out with my friends and having an all around good time. If you look up the work "Aquarius" you will find my picture right next to it. I’m usually the one who randomly walks off and then you find me 10 minutes later talking to some random about almost anything. I’m a pretty confident guy but I have my shy moments around people I like, it’s rare but it happends. I’m not afraid to speak my mind when I feel strongly about something or when it comes to defending my friends. Friends and family mean the world to me and I would do pretty much do anything for them. I’m pretty laid back and easy going doing just about anything, bad drivers is the only thing that really gets me going. I feel comfortable in my own skin and in knowing who I am, not everyone will get the chance to find out who they really are so I’m glad I have. I’m nowhere near naive but I always believe the best in people and in second chances, people make mistakes, change and move on. As long as you learn from it that’s all that matters. I’m not into drugs and I’m only a social drinker, meaning once ever month or two and most of my friends are the same. I like to surround myself with people who have the same philosophy on life as I do, we’re only on this Earth for so long and I don’t want to waste anytime on pointless drama or being emo. Life is about enjoying it and being your own personal best, you only have to live up to your own standers and not everyone else’s. Coquitlam is my hometown and I love living here and so close to Vancouver, it’s one of the best places in the world. I'm currently traveling all over Europe for 2 1/2 months but after I will be living in London for about 2 years! Anyway, Peace!

I'm definintely happy for Calan - it's really great for him that he won this contest. Danny and I had the pleasure of meeting him back in January at Score and he is quite the charmer. Let's go back in time a few months, shall we, and remember our first meeting with Calan, the new winner of Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model.

The grand finale at Celebrities was a packed house (at least for most of the night) so I'm hoping that translates into alot of money raised for Friends for Life, the beneficiary of VNGTM.

I look forward to hearing what the numbers are once Mr. Costa's had a chance to get a little shut eye ;-)

Way to go, Calan! You worked hard and totally deserved to win. Besides, it only stands to reason that anything "made in the 80's" will do well ;-)

VANCOUVER’S NEXT GAY TOP MODEL
IT’S GOSSIP, GIRL

Our winter tour of all-things Gay Top Model continued at Gossip Night over at the ol’ 1181 in the wee gay Davie Village.

Danny and I had dinner in front of the fireplace at Moxie’s where I found the wait staff to be extremely nice and friendly. Yeesh, I sure wish more food and beverage establishments in this town would adopt such an attitude … because sometimes, truth be told, there is enough attitude from barista’s and bank clerks to wilt a Valentine’s Day bouquet of roses.

We paid the bill and popped over the road to 1181 where we thought we’d be walking in late for the Gossip Night event, but oh no … in true Gay Standard Time style, our very late arrival time was still – luckily for us – well ahead of the official start of any festivities.

Like a complete tool, I forgot my camera at home. So much to my chagrin, I have none of my own photos to endlessly review under the covers late at night... every night. And of course that also means I have none to share here with you.

So in the interest of showing you some good pics from Gossip Night, I’ll take the liberty of including some of David Sandford’s photos of Vancouver’s Next Gay Top Model’s Gossip Night (thx to David via Mirateca).

While I was looking forward to this event, and enjoyed myself while I was there, I have to say that I find 1181 to be a very awkward space. Not because of the decor... that I like. Spending time in there makes me feel like the design sensibilities of Oslo and Manhattan are competing for my attention. And that's a good thing :)

But what I find awkward about it is that it’s a very long and skinny corridor of a night spot… which makes it a somewhat difficult venue, especially for an event like VNGTM.

You walk in the place and there’s a cool space for lounging and chillin’ and having a drink with your peeps. Then in the elongated centre-portion of the place there’s the bar. And then, at the back of 1181, you find another sittin/chillin space with comfy seats, tables, and well-selected videos playing on the back wall. Par example, last time Danny and I were there we had way too much fun watching The Brady Bunch and Wonder Woman classic episodes.

So, with the entrance and back-end of the place so distinctly separated from each other, I find 1181 to really be one of those “liquor in the front, poker in the rear” kind of party places ;-)

Here’s a pic of the crowd crowded in front of the bar (there’s only, like, 5 or 6 feet between the edge of the bar and the wall opposite the bar) watching all those fabulously excellent Gay Top Model wannabe’s tell their “stories”.

Yes, it was story time for the VNGTM contestants whereby 2 minutes was allotted to each dude to tell a story about himself to the excited, interested, gathered masses. The task given to the crowd, on the other hand, was to indicate by way of general loudness whether we felt the “story” we heard was truth or gossip.

A fun idea, for sure. But unfortunately I don’t think it came off as well as it could have and by all means should have. That’s because the guys didn’t keep to their 2 minute story-telling time limit.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how easy it is when you’re excited and trying to put your best foot forward to prattle on and on a bit… especially with a microphone pointed at your mouth. But again, unfortunately, the crowd didn’t really stick with it and completely tuned out the vast majority of each contestant’s story. Including me. From what I could tell, the stories just went on for too long. Simple as that. I’m sure it’ll be a good lesson for these guys that “short n’ sweet” really can be a virtue.

But all that aside, here's some fun pics of the contestants starting with Calan. He continues to exhibit his penchant for eye-catching T-shirts. While I do like this one, it's really the one he wore at Score that completely rocked my world

GTM contestant Adam was rockin' a look which I thought evoked a boy-version of Britney's Baby One More Time video. And it looked great:

Cutie-patootie Reese (Reece?) did his best imitation of Kevin Spacey at the 1996 OSCAR AWARDS by bringing his Mom to the show. And that, my friends, makes me think he's one step closer to quite possibly becoming the winner of Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model:

And, here we have GTM contestant Stephen (left) with Gossip host Ryan Steele (who is clearly after my own heart due to the fact that he reads Entertainment Weekly, according to his MySpace page)

Did you know that Stephen's shoe size is 13.5? That's pretty big! And you know what they say about big feet...

... BIG SOCKS :)

In the end, everyone waved a fond farewell to Joel G who was eliminated from Vancouver’s Next Gay Top Model.

I couldn’t help but notice him make a beeline for the exit within minutes of his elimination. I don’t blame the dude, I would have done the exact same thing – but I definitely applaud his intestinal fortitude for entering the competition in the first place.

Same goes for all the guys, including not only those who remain in the competition but also those who were in it from the get-go. In tribute to them all, here’s a pic taken at the early auditions back in January. My how a month can change things, n’est-ce pas?

A fun-loving pair (or was it a trio) of guys were collecting $5 votes from the party-goers to vote on your favourite contestant in hopes of getting him further along in the quest to become 2009’s Vancouver’s Next Gay Top Model.

All the proceeds from these events benefit those good people over at Friends for Life. That’s a very large part of why I’m particularly interested in supporting VNGTM 2009.

Plus, as the lyrics go from the theme to The Flintstones, “We’ll have a gay ol’ time!”.

VANCOUVER'S NEXT GAY TOP MODEL
Come on down, you're the next contestant on...

So last night was pretty fun, after all. Turns out that Danny didn't bail on me, so off we went to Pulse - from this point on to be known as (Anything With A) Pulse - in the good 'ol Davie Village for Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model "Winter Wonderland" event, in support of the Vancouver Friends for Life Society.

First of all, the venue. As you may or may not know, the real estate at 1138 Davie Street in Vancouver has undergone a few changes in recent times. After a decades-long stint as a 24-hour cafeteria-style eatery (the name of which escapes me at the moment) with totally groovy half-moon shaped booths, the location experienced an impressive metamorphosis in 2007 an became The Majestic lounge, managed by Joan E. The Majestic was for a time the home of live comedy, cabaret, rollicking drag shows and a really fun Sunday brunch. Alas, it didn't last... and soon the Vancouver gays became once again on the receiving end of a new venture in our community. This winter, The Majestic has relinquished its short-lived stateliness for a somewhat redesigned and generally better-looking, (Anything With A) Pulse.

Without all the dinner tables and chairs, the place actually seemed a bit smaller to us for some inexplicable reason. But it looks good and I hope it does well. Davie needs another night spot for the Vancouver gays to hangout in. I think it'll do a better job of catering to its certain niche in the market than The Odyssey (also known as The Audacity) will do if it relocates to Denman Street. To me, that plan deserves a vomit smoothie. I just don't agree that the Denman neighbourhood is a good match for a place like The Audacity. But, time will tell and we'll see what happens with that. I digress.

Pulse was where we were last night for Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model and I took some pics of how it went down. Like most events in the Davie Village, the 10pm start time was subject to Gay Standard Time, which means it started about a half-hour late. No worries though, Absolut patience sustained me through the wait time.

When things got rolling, our appetites were whetted by a solo performance by, I think, Starlen Gold. I hope I have the performer's name correct, but it was hard to hear the announcements on the club's public address system. At any rate, here's a pic of him:

I'm not feelin' the footwear and I prefer stronger choreography, but he was clearly enjoying himself as Britney's "Kill The Lights" provided the soundtrack to his move bustin'.

After we got to see the go-go boy strut his stuff, then we got to see the contestants for Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model. Last night's event, Winter Wonderland, encouraged all to celebrate winter by wearing white. Personally I think it's a great idea in theory, but in my typically self-contradictory nature I'd rather deny winter (as a Canadian nonetheless) and focus instead on remembering year-round what sand between the toes feels like (not to mention sand in your scalp and under your fingernails). So with that in mind I totally didn't wear white at all. But all the contestants did - and that's what *really* counts.

Here's some more pics of some of last night's Gay Top Model hopefuls:

It's unclear how many West Highland White Terriers died for the footwear in the next photo:




I understand Bo Derek is honoured to learn her '10' do is making a comeback:



This contestant (Brett? Brent?) had the best shoes of the night:

And here are a few more pics for you. The contestant wearing the hoodie had a great, casual attitude toward the whole thing and the other contestant in the white oxford and black belt presented himself well (and if I'm not mistaken, last night was also his 22nd birthday):

Well done to all the contestants. It definitely takes alot of guts to get up there in front of a bunch of strangers in a dimly-lit club and expose your body, personality, hopes, dreams, failures, disappointments and aspirations all at once. I could never do it so for that reason alone they get my respect.

And since it's all for charity, the very idea of Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model also gets my respect. It's not too often we get these ingredients - a solid idea, fun-lovin' contestants, selfless volunteers, a bit of naughtiness & hotness - all wrapped up in a charitable effort. That makes Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model the next best thing in Vancouver as our fair city educates itself on how to put on a good show.

The two guys on the stage in that photo - the one on the left who had already changed out of his outfit and the one in the middle - are on the stage together there because unfortunately they were cut at the end of the night. Too bad really, but kudos to them both for having the balls in the first place. The guy on the right (Brett? Brent?) was rockin' some seriously fun & fine footwear and I have a feeling we would have seen more of that if he had stayed in the competition. But in the end, we bid them both a fond farewell.

The next public event for Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model is Thursday night at Score. Once again, the ads claim that the event'll be hosted by Aaron Ursacki, but that's also what the Winter Wonderland ads had claimed. Although I didn't see hide nor hair of him. Not sure why, though - I don't think his absence was addressed to the gathered masses. At least not that I heard anyway. Hopefully the hottie is alright and not sick or anything. Lawdy knows there's lots of bugs going around again this winter!

Make sure you get out and support Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model because not only will have yourself a bit of fun but you'll also be supporting Friends for Life.

VANCOUVER'S NEXT GAY TOP MODEL
Winter Wonderland Revisits Our City

As I watch the red-carpet coverage on E! for this evening's Screen Actors Guild awards and wonder to myself if Angelina Jolie could possibly become any more beautiful (and as I also wonder why Mickey Rourke has his left hand partially down his pants as he's interviewed), I'm getting excited to head out to Pulse later on to check out Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model's WINTER WONDERLAND show.

Tonight's Winter Wonderland show is going to be the first chance I've had to try to see or do anything related to 2009's hotly-anticipated run of last year's funnest event in Vancouver's gay community, the Gay Top Model competition in support of the Friends for Life society.

I don't think I've ever actually seen Miss Cotton live, so I'm kinda looking forward to that part of the show, too. But most of all I just really wanna lay my eyes on all the dudes that have been selected as contestants for this year's VNGTM contest.

The show's going to be hosted by the 2008 winner Aaron Ursacki. He's rather yummy and he had a great story leading up to his win last year, as someone who overcame obesity to achieve not only healthy physical conditioning, but also his own fair share of hotness.

I actually bumped into Aaron last summer at the Aquarium and couldn't resist saying hi and introducing myself to him. Not something I normally do since I'm a bit shy around boys, but he was really sweet and left me with the distinct impression that he totally deserved to win.

There's a series of public events leading up to the crowning finale in early April, so that means there's lotsa fun to come. As you consider checking out these events PLEASE keep in mind that the proceeds from the cover charges, etc. for the events or shows you might go to are going straight to Vancouver's Friends for Life Society which, according to their mission statement: serves as a catalyst to enhance the wellness of individuals living with a life threatening illness by providing complementary and alternative health and support services.

Chances are we all have someone in our lives who has had their life touched by something that means one day they - or you - might need to call on an organization like Friends for Life for a bit of support or assistance. Think about it...

Meantime, my fingers are crossed that Danny doesn't bail on me tonight to come with me to Winter Wonderland, and that we get to have a great time.

See ya there, eh! And good luck to all of the Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model contestants tonight and throughout the competition ;-)