All the News That's Fit to Tweet

Well, the good people at ABC certainly know how to annoy us beyond belief with their stubborn reluctance to admit the obvious already WTF people keep us in suspense, don't they? My guess is they're going to maybe reveal the pro skaters sometime this week--maybe today?--since said skaters are already easily identifiable (yes! That is Denis Petukhov with Sean Young!) in this video posted LAST THURSDAY by Entertainment Tonight:


And then maybe NEXT WEEK after I've chewed off my fingernails halfway up my arm (note to self: remember to use "arm chewy-offy" in a sentence soon), they might get around to announcing the judges as they build the excitement leading up to the first episode of this show FINALLY and sweet Weirsus how many days doth November actually have? Because wow the 22nd can't get here soon enough for me ...

So in the meantime I noticed that there is a little bit of a naysaying storm going on, with a lot of people across the Interwebz scoffing at this whole idea and asking exactly how far did ABC have to stretch the concept of "stars" in order to accommodate those whom they cast, but I am blithely ignoring all that and instead rolling around in this wonderful little writeup from the fine folks at Zap2It and their seven-million-strong monthly readership titled, "A Case for 'Skating With the Stars': 5 Reasons to Get Excited." Because here's what they identify as reason #3, direct from the article:

"3. Johnny Weir

"No, there is absolutely no foundation to this whatsoever, but we'll be dipped in you-know-what if Johnny Weir isn't somehow involved with this series. He's been crouching like a bedazzled puma in the jungle of fringe media for too long. This is just the project to put his colorful personality front and center. If ABC hasn't already locked him down, they best move fast."

Yes yes yes yes.

(Speaking of bedazzled pumas who ought to be front and center, tomorrow we find out whether or not we were successful in getting BGJW a spot on the People's Choice ballot! Here's hoping our power-tweeting paid off ... )

So while we've been waiting and while we continue to wait and did I mention I'm really not very good at waiting for all this potential Johnny excitement in TV-land to maybe happen, all of a sudden over the weekend a bunch of ice-show announcements popped up in various places and so hey! Check these out!

First we have a tweet from Alex Cooke in Australia, who notes that based on his impeccable source--his stepmother, who is organizing the show--he's happy to announce that:

A quick check of the Icehouse website reveals--nothing yet, which leads me to the strong suspicion that the same people who are in charge of announcing stuff for SWTS are also running an ice rink in Melbourne, Australia... How is it that they are not blaring this from the rooftops? Or at least quietly already selling tickets? But no, one must politely wait until next Tuesday, like Popeye waiting for Wimpy, for tickets to go on sale for a scant two weeks before the show. All righty then. (But hey, don't forget that every Wednesday is Glam Night at the Icehouse!)

Anyhoooooo: Next there appeared on Facebook, thanks to alert fan Gary Podschun, this charming poster of a gigantic WREATH. Decorated with oddly out-of-proportion skaters (how is Scott Hamilton this much larger than Evgeni Plushenko? Yes, I get that we're going for artistic perspective here, but honestly it looks like the WREATH could eat Plushenko alive. While a Hagrid-sized Scott looks on congenially).

But one of those skaters happens to be--Johnny!

Now there are several amazing things about this: (1) They're already selling tickets even though this show happens AFTER the Australia shows; (2) Holy Grilled Cheesus this show is right after the Australia shows jet-lag much?; and (3) The tickets are only $15. Wow! FIFTEEN DOLLARS. Even I can afford that without any type of Craigslist advertisement involved. Or this is a misprint that will have the poster producer tied up in litigation for the next ten years. But since I'm still all giddy from the Zap2It article, Imma go with yay! It's only $15! And just 1,100 miles from here! (And also very inspiring because the show celebrates cancer survivorship.)

And then finally we have one of the most frabjous announcements ever:

I dunno what it says because my daughter is already asleep, but I LOVE the graphics and I know what it means: Johnny is skating the role of the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland on Ice," January 2, 3, and 4, in Moscow, Russia! And I can't help but be THRILLED for his Russian fans, who were so disappointed when his Kings on Ice dates didn't work out this fall. Get more info and your tickets here! (Or here, if you want to enjoy Google's whimsical translation of the page.)

This should be an absolutely fanTAStic show! Alexei Yagudin skated the role in the St. Petersburg production recently wearing this costume:

OMG.

Maybe they'll alter the costume for Johnny, but THE HAT. Please keep the hat. This is a hat that could eat the WREATH and Plushenko and Scott Hamilton. And Kurt Browning for dessert.

So there you have it! (plus a quiet little rumor that Johnny may be skating in an upcoming charity event in the US near the holidays ... ) And maybe someday we'll ALSO have an actual announcement from ABC actually announcing that there will be actual judges on SWTS, one of whom maybe could actually be Johnny. Or we could always hope that Alex Cooke's stepmom is in charge and has SWTS firmly under control, in that brisk and friendly Australian way, and Alex will be tweeting about it soon ...

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Designer T. Rains and Johnny have teamed up to raise money and awareness for The Trevor Project! This organization is "determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources." Proceeds from the "Army of One" t-shirt sales will go to The Trevor Project foundation. Order yours today! Your support is greatly appreciated!
For more information, please visit www.thetrevorproject.org.

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Yes! You can own a fine art print of Johnnyperfect for any/every room in the house! Prints of artist Peter Jurik's "Showtime!" are available for purchase from his website.More info here!

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Here it comes: Johnny's quarter-century memoir,Welcome to My World, will be availableJanuary 11, 2011--that's just two months away!And you can preorder it now on Amazon!

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Please remember to register to receivethe JW Art Project's email newsletter!
They have great tidbits to offer,
and you get a special sneak peek at an exclusive photo
from the Artbook when you sign up!

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Special holiday offer!
In exchange for a donation to Toys for Tots,
Trish Aaron-Misiura will send you one handmade,
Johnny-inspired Christmas ornament! More info here!

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Please vote for Johnny as "Must-Follow Personality"in the Fourth Annual Mashable Awards!To vote, enter "@JohnnyGWeir" in the box after "I nominate,"and then choose "Must-Follow Personality"from the pull-down menu.You can vote once a day until Monday, November 29!The top five in each category will advanceto the finalists' round, which begins December 1.

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copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserve