The Best of Binky's Johnny Weir Blog: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Ave Maria: The Creation of Beauty

Love of beauty is Taste.

The creation of beauty is Art.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Johnny takes the ice at FOI

for his performance of Ave Maria,

bathed in blue spotlights and wearing a gorgeous costume

designed by Gilles Mendel of J. Mendel.

Photo © David Ingogly
Hi-def video of Johnny's performance
available thanks to the fabulous Nicole Davis,
my partner in media adventures!
Another excellent video here from
Bendonna on YouTube.

And now, in our continuing series of picspam from Johnny's breathtaking Fashion on Ice performances, we come to the second half of the show, which featured all J. Mendel designs and had a very different vibe from the Betsey Johnson first half--though both sections were equally stunning. Act 2 was all understated retro elegance evocative of the 1920s, and my lovely friend Karen Burke observed with pleasure that Johnny's look here seemed very Rudolph Valentino.

Karen, who has watched him skate this program maybe a million times on video (this was her second time to see it live) also said, "He obviously loved the costume, and it was a very passionate performance." Yes, it was--quite intense, and so poignantly beautiful that I don't want to clutter up the photos with a lot of words.

So without further ado, please wander through these, click on any photo twice for full-size view, and be prepared to hear "Ave Maria" begin running through your head as you scroll down--and to stay with you, attached to these exquisite images, for a very long time afterward...

The work of art must seize upon you,

wrap you up in itself and carry you away.

It is the means by which the artist

conveys his passion.

It is the current which he puts forth,

which sweeps you along

in his passion.

-- Pierre-Auguste Renoir

All photos © David Ingogly.

From Our "When He's Bad, He's Better, and In Either Case, WAY Too Good for You" Dept.: If you happened to miss it, another dear friend, Deb Walsh, left this wonderful comment on Wednesday's blog after seeing the FOI Bad Romance pictures:

I actually have tears in my dorky eyes ... I'm so proud of him I can't even put it into words.

I want to take that picture of Johnny, with the crowd reacting to him in the background, blow it up to the size of a billboard, and just jam it into the faces of all the judges, spectators, commentators and federation execs that felt he wasn't right enough to represent the sport of figure skating... shortsighted fools, Johnny Weir IS figure skating! I'd flip them all a massive bird on the way out, too.

Johnny has "it"; that undefinable combination of talent, brains, savvy, looks and flair that demands attention and recognition. And, he has remained the great person he always was... what a star he has, it's like a supernova....!

ITA, Deb! BRB checking out billboard rental fees... :D

Yes! Holiday Dreams On Ice returns,

this time to Philly!

VIP tickets are already on sale!

Get yours today via the Holiday Dreams On Ice website!

Big news in Eric Alt Land!!

Eric is teaming up with The Imperial Court of New York

(and if you don't know who they are, go there now!

ICNY president Gary Cosgrove is made of awesome.)

to host his own runway show

for New Jersey Fashion Week--starring Johnny!

Click the poster to read all about it,

then get your tickets here!

VIP tickets also available!!

OMGIDIE. BRB now moving to Orlando...

More info from MAC here.

New Q and A!! Go read it now!

Still tix available!
Or see the ITNY website for more info!

Yes! Johnny's dresses are now available
for purchase only on eDressMe.com!

At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!

Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!

Johnny tweeted recently:

"Buy my single,'Dirty Love' via iTunes.

Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold

takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!"

THE WORLD NEEDS THIS VIDEO
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.

You know what to do.

Please buy the song from Johnny's website,

or just click the "Buy" button on the player

at the top of the blog!

Hey, Welcome to My World also is available

as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!

OMG. Finally caught up on all six episodes of Husbands.

Laughing out loud at my desk.

Thank you @GoCheeksGo @SeanHemeon

@JaneEspenson @TeamHusbands!!

If you haven't seen this yet, go check it out now!

Then please "like" them on Facebook

and sign up for their insider newsletter!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Want Your Bad Romance? Why Yes. Yes, We Do.

Johnny performs Bad Romance at Fashion on Ice

in his Betsey Johnson costume created specially for this event.

This was one of the best performances I've seen him give

of this program--so much attitude on top of his

always-spellbinding artistry and athleticism.

Absolutely loved it!
Photo © David Ingogly.

So he did Bad Romance during Act 1 of the show, and as many attendees have already reported, his scorching-hot performance brought the house down. It was beyond-words brilliant.

Seriously. I have no words.

I kinda used a lot of them on Monday, and then I got these pics from Davey, and ... yeah.

Fortunately I have a few that I borrowed from my dear friend Mimi Dzyacky (so good to see you, Mimi!!), who said his costume and performance "brings to mind ... Edward Scissorhands and Moulin Rouge ... breathtaking and spirited ... wonderfully spectacular!"

Yes. That works.

Oh BTW speaking of words, I forgot to mention that I might have shrieked the word, "JOHNNY!" at jet-engine-decibel level when we were suddenly surprised by his presence while we were milling around outside the Disson office backstage on Saturday. I'm still wincing about it. But when I asked Nico if it was as ridiculous as I feared, she said she has no memory of that at all because she's been too busy wincing about the "spastic hug" she gave him (I have no idea what she's talking about. She's lovely and the hugging was adorable. Although he probably couldn't hear anything she might have said to him at that point because of the aforementioned shrieking...)

Anyway.

Here you go. Please be sure to click on the photos for glorious full-size view. And if anybody finds any words after scrolling through all this picspam, please throw some in a comment in case I might need them for the next blog entry...

But hey, here's some math:

Johnny + Betsey Johnson = A Bad Romance gone tremendously, wonderfully, crazy-sexy Good.

From the moment he came gliding out onto the ice,

the audience knew this was going to be

something really special...

About 25 seconds in, he tossed the motorcycle jacket off

toward the audience to reveal the fishnet underneath.

I find the logo in the background--eclipsed as it is

by his sizzling performance

that brought the crowd to its feet--

deliciously ironic.

One of the best moments in the program:

At about halfway through

(around 1:44 in the video below),

during the chorus, he stopped

and flipped the ruffly skirt thingy up...

...and then he gave us face.

The crowd went wild.

Walk walk fashion baby.

Absolutely love his strut...

...and the delightedly dazzled faces in the crowd.

More face.

And all too soon it's over.

Johnny acknowledges the roars of the crowd

at the end of his performance.

I think he had as much fun as we did.

I hope so. He was amazing.

Yes, we have video! Really excellent video!!

Many thanks to Suzanne Larson for posting this

on Johnny's Facebook fan page!

It's wonderful, and I love her reactions

while she's filming. :)

Bonus pic! This is the uncropped version

of his strut above.

Please click on it for the full-size view

so you can see the crowd reactions.

All those smiling faces, people of all ages,

cheering and applauding and thoroughly enjoying
what he's doing out there.

Love it.