Clay Aiken, who made headlines earlier this year after he fathered a child he named Parker with is friend Jaymes Foster and then came out of the closet as a gay man, was honored by the famed NYC eatery Sardi’s with his own caricature that will be hung on the restaurant walls with the other famed caricatures of Broadway stars from days of yore. Here are a couple pics of Clay proudly showing off his Sardi’s caricature in NYC earlier this week:

“American Idol” finalist Clay Aiken, who currently portrays Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot, was honored Dec. 23 with a caricature that now adorns the walls of the famed eatery Sardi’s. As a recording artist, Aiken has sold six million albums. His latest, “On My Way Here,” was released last spring. He co-authored the best selling book “Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life” and has played six sold-out concert tours since rising to fame on the second season of “American Idol” in 2003. Aiken made his Broadway debut in Spamalot in a Jan. 18-May 4 limited engagement. He returned to the show Sept. 19 and will remain in the role through Jan. 4, 2009. Spamalot, which will end its Broadway run Jan. 11, 2009, plays the Shubert Theatre at 225 West 44th Street.

Honestly, it is quite an honor to be honored with a caricature that will hang at Sardi’s … not quite sure that Clay Aiken’s Broadway talents are really worthy of such an honor (IMHO) but it’s very nice that he got one nonetheless. After the jump, check out a larger version of his Sardi’s caricature so that you can compare it with the real thing … (more…)

At last … I am finally able to share some very exciting and fun news with all y’all. Earlier this year, I was asked to do a guest appearance on the insanely funny LOGO animated series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All The World and I immediately accepted. At the time, I hinted that I had “a thing” to do but couldn’t talk about it until now. The new season of Rick & Steve premieres on LOGO this coming Tuesday November, 11 at 10PM and an animated version of me (with my voice) will appear in that season premiere ep. Here is a screencap of what I look like in the animated world of Rick & Steve:

LOL! I’m cute, right? I’ve already been able to see the clip of my cameo and I gotta say, I think it’s really freakin’ awesome. I can’t wait for y’all to see it. I have some fun behind-the-scenes stuff to share from my experience taping my voice work. Woot! I’m so glad the new season of Rick & Steve is nearly upon us! Make sure you tune on next Tuesday night at 10PM on LOGO to watch my world premiere as an animated character ;)

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Yesterday I blogged that I have been fortunate enough to get an early look at this year’s Treehouse of Horror XIX Simpson’s Halloween Special that will air on FOX on Sunday November 2 at 8pm. I mentioned that the ep is NOT TO BE MISSED and I cited the very funny political vignette that opens the episode. It turns out that the political vignette that I was talking about has already made its way to the InterWeb … which I present to y’all here for your viewing pleasure:

OMG, seriously HORRIFYING! As you can tell by this very funny video, this year’s Simpson’s Halloween Special is really great. Make sure you tune in/set those DVRs on November 2 to catch this ep. I promise, it’s a must see :)

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Earlier this month I stumbled upon a 3-minute video on You Tube that showed us what the failed Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series looked like and I lamented the loss of such a cute idea for such a fun-looking series. Today, there is new hope that Buffy: The Animated Series might not be totally dead after all … apparently, that little You Tube video sparked a fire underneath fans of the animated Buffy and there is new talk that the series might actually make it to air:

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has been many things — so much so that creator Joss Whedon jokes, “I got to make a comic book out of the TV show out of the movie out of the T-shirt out of the opera of the song of the bumper sticker of the shoe line that I love.” One of the things he left out in the absurdly long list is an animated series — which was actually in the pipeline once upon a time, and looks to find new life once again. Back in 2002, Whedon and Jeph Loeb came up with the idea of doing an animated version of Buffy that would take place somewhere in season one. “We liked to call it episode seven-and-a-half,” Loeb joked. “It was a much simpler time. Angel had been introduced, but he was not yet Angelus. We could retrofit Dawn as a ten-year-old, so you can really play the older sister gag. Their mom is alive.” And because it was animated, “no one has to grow up.” “Buffy the Animated Series” was meant for a more general audience than just regular Buffy fans — you didn’t need to follow the show religiously to get what was going on. “It was a very simple entry point,” Loeb said. “There is a girl in high school who has been chosen to fight evil, and there’s a great deal of it in her town. Here are her friends, and here is her watcher.” With special effects costs no longer a concern, they were able to do in the animated series what they couldn’t on the regular TV show (and what they do now in the comics). “We could have thousands of vampires,” Loeb said. “They could fight an army of the undead. In the pilot, the vampires raised a dragon, a 120-foot wingspan dragon, and Buffy ends up riding it across Sunnydale, and as it’s shooting fire, she looks down and says, ‘Hey, I can see my house from here!’” With many original cast members such as Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendan, and Anthony Stewart Head aboard to do voiceovers, and Eric Wight aboard to do the animation, you might have thought this would be an easy sell. “We had an opportunity to do something about how animation changes and affects how things look,” Loeb said. “For me, ‘Batman the Animated Series’ drew a line where everything that came after would be compared to this particular show. ‘Buffy’ would have been the next generation of that.” But despite taking it to “every outlet in television” — including MTV — Loeb said, they had little luck. “We’d take to one network, and they’d say, ‘How can we make this more mature?’ Well, do you want more violence? To have the language like it is in the show? To have the actors do the voices so it sounds like the show? We had all that. We would say, ‘This is what we have: big piles of money and gold, and it’s sitting in the street and you can come out and take it.’ They would ask, ‘But you do have copper pans?’ No, we have money, and gold! But they would want copper pans.” Eventually, Fox Family signed on to air the show on Fox Kids — but when that collapsed in a Disney buyout, the show went nowhere. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, a three-minute version of the pilot just leaked to YouTube earlier this month. An online petition just started to get it on the air. Somehow, there’s fresh hope that this project may find a home after all — just as Buffy has found new success as a comic book series. “The best Buffy stories are ones of resurrection,” Joeb said. “Everything still exists — the designs, the scripts. It’s such a ‘no-duh’ project, so why the hell not? All you need is to draw it. Eight years ago, there was no fascination with ‘Family Guy’ or ‘Robot Chicken,’ but there’s an audience now that could drive to it. You can’t stand in the way of pop culture.”

Yes! I love the whole vibe of this new animated series. It’s meant to be cute, it’s meant to be fun … it will allow us to see the Scoobies in a different, more innocent light. I FULLY SUPPORT this new series and I really hope that it will eventually make it on air. After the jump, check out the *very cute* 3-minute You Tube vid (in case you missed it the first time or want to give it a second look) that managed to reignite interest in reviving this animated series … (more…)

This week new photos of an overly beefed up Jake Gyllenhaal (on the set of his new movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which he is currently filming) popped up on various sites and the amazing site Pretty on the Outside took notice. Here is a cute caricature of Jakie poo in the guise of He-Man, the Most Powerful Man in the Universe:

LOL. The pic is not a bad likeness of what Jake Gyllenhaal looks like these days. After the jump, check out a pic of the lad on set of Prince of Persia in the guise of the very beefed up Prince Dastan for comparison … (more…)

How’s about a bit o’ cuteness this afternoon … with the 2008 Olympic Games underway in Beijing, China I thought it would be nice to introduce the official mascots of the 29th Olympic Games. This year, a collection of 5 mascots collectively called Fuwa will serve as the messengers of peace, sportsmanship and goodwill to all the children of the world. Here are pics and an overall description of the 5 mascots that make up Fuwa — Nini, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Beibei:

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace — and good wishes from China — to children all over the world. Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow — and the Olympic Flame. Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow. When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games. Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation. In the ancient culture of China, there is a grand tradition of spreading good wishes through signs and symbols. Each of Fuwa symbolizes a different blessing — and will honor this tradition by carrying their good wishes to the children of the world. Prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck will be spread to every continent as Fuwa carry their invitation to Beijing 2008 to every part of the globe. At the heart of their mission — and through all of their work — Fuwa will seek to unite the world in peace and friendship through the Olympic spirit. Dedicated to helping Beijing 2008 spread its theme of One World, One Dream to every continent, Fuwa reflect the deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Games — and to invite every man, woman and child to take part in the great celebration of human solidarity that China will host in the light of the flame in 2008.

Aww, this is so cute. And I love that by saying their names together you get the greeting, Welcome to Beijing — clever idea. I’m curious to know what Fuwa’s stance on human rights and environmental issues is … er, just kidding ;)

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