NO GRACE UNDER FIRE: Brooke White better get a grip is all I'm saying. After Simon Cowell told her that her ridiculous version of Neil Diamond's "I'm A Believer" was "a nightmare." She yelled out: "No! No! Nooo! Absolutely not!" She was going for some kind of groovy 60s chick thing I think and it was painful to watch her on that song. Based on that performance, she'd be voted off tomorrow night. But, she came back nicely on "I Am, I Said" safely behind the piano. Simon told her it was "Well done but reiterated that he "hated the first song."

SLEEPWALKING: Let's face it, if Jason Castro were not so damned cute, he would have been gone weeks ago - certainly before Carly Smithson who was missed this week I must say. Jason sang "Forever in Blue Jeans" and "September Morning" just fine but did not challenge himself one bit. Very safe and maybe that will keep him in. His blue eyes and dreadlocks get him far more votes than his limited vocal range and complete lack of stage presence.

KING DAVIDS: Paula Abdul called David Cook "the American Idol" after his rock solid performances of "I'm Alive" and especially "All I Ever Needed Was You." Cook has passion and confidence and is the consumate professional and that's why I think he deserves the win the whole thing. But he doesn't need to because he's already a really big star and I'd buy his album right now if he had one. As for David Archuleta, how can you argue with that amazing voice - especially when he knows how to use it so well, hitting all the notes on "America" and making the most of lyrics like "let freedom riiiiing!" His first number, "Sweet Caroline" was just fine but I was really excited about the second number. The knock I have on the younger David is that, especially on fast songs, he seems a little awkward standing on stage. He needs to figure out what to do with his body. Castro has the same problem and Brooke is a disaster in this regard. Syesha Mercado and David Cook on the other hand, total comfort with their bodies - on stage - and their gifts.

BEST OF SHOW: Give it up for Syesha Mercado! I'm lovin' this joyous and confident girl who would most certainly be in the top three if we were voting purely on talent and stage presence. I loved her first number, "Hello Again" which she sang barefoot sitting at the steps of the stage. She built nicely to a powerful finish and looks to have hit her stride big-time. Then she went into high gear like she did last week with a theatrical number: "Thank the Lord for the Nightime." :She was in full-flight, utterly confident, commanding the stage, knowing how to move, how to perform. She made Brooke and Jason look as stiff as corpses. Simon still thinks Syesha could be in trouble, didn't think the second song was memorable enough to close the show with. I hope not. She deserves to go on the top four and Brooke or Jason deserve to go home.

We will find out tomorrow!

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

God bless Luke Snyder. He finally realized that his boyfriend Noah Meyer has just put him through too much and it hit him - an epiphany - moments after moving in with Noah and his green card wife Ameera.

"I want to be alone with you Noah, not you and your wife, just you," he said after pulling away from Noah's lips twice resulting in two almost-kisses. (damn, can't he just make out first, get mad later?)

Luke storms out, barks to Ameera "You can have your bed back!" When Noah goes out to try and stop him, Luke says what I have been wanting him to say for months: "All we do is wait! For your father to accept us, for me to get better from the shooting, for Ameera to get her (immigration) papers. I am sick of waiting!"

Hooray! You go boy!

Then he adds: "I want to be alone with you right now but I know that can't happen. Until it can, I can't put myself in a situation that makes me feel worse than I already do."

The clip below plays it all out beautifully. My favorite Noah line is when he says to long-suffering Ameera: "I want you to go! I just want this charade to be over!"

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I snagged this off Kennethinthe212. It's the love scene between Trevor Wright and Brad Rowe in "Shelter." For a pair of straight guys, I'd have to say they do pretty well here. Usually the whole thing fails because straight guys are afraid to kiss each other - they always end up sort of mashing their faces against each other. Gay men know the art of kissing. But these guys do OK, I'd give them a B-minus for authenticity in this scene but a soilid A for their overall performances in this fine film.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It was great to see Tuc Watkins after the awards show and to find out that his character on "Desperate Housewives" will be participating in a commitment ceremony in the season finale with partner Lee (Kevin Rahm).

Tuc Watkins has handsome leading man looks for sure. But he is also a terrific comedic actor who really has a way with a line. My all-time favorite was from an episode of "Brothers & Sisters" when gay TV exec character checked out a hot computer tech guy and said, "Hellllo lunch!" That was a Tuc adlib.

Gregg Plitt, one of the trainers this season on Bravo's "Workout," has stunning eyes in person. They look a little startling here but trust me, thjey are gorgeous - as is he.

Me and my handsome pal, Jim Key. He looks like a movie star but he's really head of communications for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center.

Jim and I with the charming Billy Baldwin of ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money." I feel kinda short standing next to these very tall dudes...

...but that's nothing compared to standing next to John Amaechi. I could be a munchkin from "the Wizard of Oz." I'm standing with John, the former NBA player and author of the great book "Between the Lines," and the terrifically talented actor Wilson Cruz. My new interview with Wilson will be posted in the coming days.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Don't you just love sitting by the pool reading a good, dishy book. I'm reading Julie Andrews' "Home" right now, am looking forward to Barbara Walters' "Audition" out next week and most of all, John Barrowman's new book: "Anything Goes." Love, love , love John Barrowman whose book has been excerpted on Out.com.

Here is part of a story John tells about being invited by The Royal Air Force to be part of the Tattoo launch partly because Captain Jack is in the RAF:

I eventually emerged from the Hawk as if I'd been doing this all my life, which in Captain Jack's world, of course, I had. In my world, though, this was the experience of a lifetime. In fact, I was so high from the adrenalin rush and so in awe of the Hawk itself, I was almost speechless.4

This is what it means to be alive.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...the fabulous Leslie Jordan! The man best known as Karen Walker's nemesis Beverly Leslie on "Will & Grace" turns 53 today. He's one of the stars of the upcoming Logo series "Private Lives" (based on the cult fave movie). I will update this post later today with an interview I did with Leslie a few nights ago at the GLAAD Media Awards.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

He had them at mango salsa.

When Luke MacFarlane's endearing character of Scotty sat down to dinner for the first time with the Walker clan on "Brothers & Sisters," it was a big outdoor party scene where Sally Field's Nora had just humiliated her late husband's mistress Holly (Patricia Wettig). The tension was incredibly high until Scotty piped up and asked, "Is this salsa mango?"

Scotty Wandell and Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) had instant chemistry from the minute the financially struggling waiter-turned-chef walked into his law office on a legal matter. He cut through Kevin's veneer with quirky humor and charm and you knew he had Kevin's heart when he bit into a red velvet cupcake and smiled at the end of one of their early episodes..

"My whole experience on the show started off as just a few episodes and it's just become more and more and more and I'm so grateful for that," Luke told me Monday night when we chatted before the start of the "A Conversation With Brothers & Sisters" event at the Television Academy in North Hollywood.

Luke, 28, was among the 12 cast members who participated as he was recently promoted from recurring character to full-fledged series regular: "They are making a regular for season three. It's very, very nice. We all know in television it's hard to get a gig that lasts for a long time so when the agent calls up and says, 'You're guaranteed these number of episodes you feel very, very lucky."

Luke, who studied drama at Julliard, was previously best-known for his role as Pvt. Frank "Dim" Dumphy in the series "Over There." The Canadian actor had never given any interviews about his personal life until discussing his sexuality for the first time in an interview with the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail a few weeks ago 2008. He decided to share that not only is he playing a gay man on TV, but he is a gay man in life.

""It's been relatively simple for me," he said of the increased spotlight. "I'll say that I decided to do that interview, I decided to answer those questions in an effort to make my life simpler and that's going to contunue to be my motto. So, I'll have to say, it hasn't been that hot a light on me at all."

Even though through much of show's first season the writers had Kevin struggling with commitment issues and go on to have relationships with a closeted soap actor (Jason Lewis) and a minister (Eric Winter), Scotty had been a fan favorite from his first scene and audiences wanted to see he and Kevin together.

Said Luke: "Well, I do know that the fans had a lot to do with Scotty staying around as long as he has so I'm grateful for them."

I mention to him that now that Scotty is getting more airtime, the fans now want to get to know Luke himself a little better. He laughed a bit nervously and said, "In time."

We look forward to it.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't you just love all the drama of that "exclusive" headline? Well, I guess I'm feeling a little over-the-top after chatting-up both Kevin AND Scotty within moments of each other at a Television Academy event in North Hollywood last night. Oh wait! Kevin and Scotty are just TV characters - gay TV characters - played by actors Matthew Rhys and Luke MacFarlane.

I wanted to get their thoughts on this wonderful plot development that has Scotty and Kevin - an on-and-off-again couple since the beginning of the show - tying the knot in a commitment ceremony in the second season finale in a few weeks.

On the commitment ceremony:
Matthew: "It was great, perfectly put together. We didn't get there easily, there's no wasn't an easy road there up to the last few second, just like the turbulent path that we've had. There's a lot of drama before getting there but then you know, it's all resolved. And about time I think."
Luke: "It means that the audience is ready because, you know, in television we make sure people are ready before we foist anything upon them by sort of testing it and stuff. It means that the world is ready and it also means that the characters in their lives are ready too. It's a beautiful thing that's happening but also a very appropriate thing."

On working together:
Luke: Matthew's a wonderful actor, he just oozes charm. From day one it's always been super simple with him.

Matthew: "We do have (chemistry). It's a real joy to work with him, a pleasure. As much as (Kevin and Scotty's) drama came from their turbulence and the conflict in their relationship, being now in this (committed) relationship opens up a world of drama for them to play out. So, it's all exciting times.
"What's great is they really have picked two very diverse characters, the two of us compliment us very well as characters. Kevin can be a little bit uptight at times whereas Scotty, is a little bit too much of a free-spirit. So when the two meet, it makes for humorous times.

On Kevin's growth as a character:
Matthew: "It's been great to over two seasons have this arc, this sort of turbulent arc, and somewhere that he's reached which is what you want. You don't want to be ping-ponging back between old stories. So I'm glad the character's evolving."

On a lighter note, one of the pre-strike episodes had Kevin and Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) joining Scotty and his friends at a karaoke bar. Kevin, tired of being known as uptight, gets real drunk and begins singing to Scotty from the stage. Did Matthew have fun filming such a silly scene?

"It was fun. For me, as a Welshman, to desecrate a Tom Jones song like that, it was I found painful. And then to do the same to a Willie Nelson song, it was painful to be that bad! It came very naturally, of course. What I did was pretty unforgiveable."

Tomorrow: The Walker siblings talk about Kevin and Scotty. I get reaction from Rachel Griffiths, Calista Flockhart, Dave Annable and Balthazar Getty.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The answer seems pretty obvious to me: nothing.

Straight couples enjoy a kiss in public and that's great. If they are making out like crazy then they deserve a few remarks like "Get a room!" But I don't think anyone would call the police on 'em!

Make that couple a pair of guys and it's a different story. Last Friday night, ABC's "20/20" did one of its always intriguing "What would you do?" segments where they hire actors to do something provocative - for hours sometimes - as they film the reactions from passers-by.

Check out the clip:

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm such a sucker for Mario Lopez photos. I mean, c'mon. Look at that smile, those dimples, those biceps. He's so perfect I could slap him! What makes it worse is the few times that I've met him, he's been unfailingly polite and chatty and the first time, he didn't even know I was a journalist!

Mario, weekend co-host of "Extra," "Dancing With the Stars" runner-up and Slater on "Saved by the Bell," is in NYC appearing on Broadway in "A Chorus Line" and is also taking time to promote his new fitness book. It's obvious that he's pretty much the best advertisement there is for the book!

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)