Cybersocket Web Awards: The Show
As mentioned last time Jack Manly had a great time last night at the Cybersocket Web Awards and there was lots to cover before, during, and after the actual show. Again we'll get to the recapping all the pre-awards & after-party stuff AND providing more pics--but first let's take a look at the awards themselves.
Given the amount of nominees and awards it was a pretty-fast-paced presentation because as they've done before Cybersocket lists the nominees on a big screen rather than having all of them recited by the presenters. As you recall the awards were held at the Eleven Club in West Hollywood which is a big open space that features two "mezzanine" style levels opposite each other. The smaller of these upper levels served as the stage for the presentation while the other upper level was the "VIP" viewing area.
Chi Chi LaRue & Jason Sechrest co-hosted the awards with delicious trophy boys Mason Wyler, Cody Cummings, Tommy D, and Rod Daily standing there shirtless, wearing tight black pants and handing out the awards. There were several guest presenters and they, along with the winners, ascended to the upper level stage via a spiral staircase. It slowed things a bit but for the most part the speeches were kept to a minimum length. Given the fact that the awards took place in a bar and drinks were flowing there was a bit of a Golden Globes feel to the event but no one got "slurry", thank goodness. As co-hosts Chi Chi & Jason worked well together, keeping it humorous, semi-bitchy, and fun.
Handsome & muscular rising star Josh Griffin opened the awards and frankly he could have stayed up there all night. He's not just good-looking but he's bigger in person. HOT. Had he and Samuel Colt (more on him soon) hosted EVERYONE would have stopped talking and just stared. The first few awards were went rather quickly because of they were relatively "celebrity free" except for the Best Porn Blog category where porn star blogs were included. As you recall Jack Manly was nominated but the award went to Queerclick for the second year in a row. Again we are very honored to have been nominated -- it obviously wasn't as wonderful as winning but we were in mighty fine company.
The first guest presenter was handsome & talented Steve Cruz who presented the award for Best Amateur Video Site. Steve is really one of a kind ---a commanding presence to be sure but also a very down-to-earth guy. As mentioned last time Cocky Boys was the winner and while several of the people behind the site were present it was director/performer Wolf Hudson who accepted. Decked out in leather and dark shades Wolf was certainly a presence. As noted before Wolf Hudson is a master at self-marketing and there's nary a false note involved.
The next crop of winners were accepted by site owners including Brent Everett who was announced as the winner of Best Amateur Webcam. Everett is VERY cute & sexy in person and he seemed genuinely happy to win again. We were slightly disappointed that none of the Bel Ami Online guys were on hand when their site won for Best European Theme Site. In fact had the Peters Twins been present, there might have been a mob scene.
There were some head-scratching moments at the awards when many of the ethnic-themed winners turned out to have owners or moderators that were NOT of that ethnicity. We're not saying this is wrong or anything---just odd.
Mike Dreyden presented the award for Best Fetish site and he seemed absolutely thrilled to be there. The crowd wasn't as surprised as we were when it was announced that Men At Play had won given that it's a bit more genteel as fetish sites go. That said, this has been a consistently high quality site and we're glad to see it get recognition.
If you have already looked over the list of winners you saw some surprises as well as expected winners. As someone noted during the show many nominees used a variety of methods (social networking sites, for example) to get votes and some sites and individuals were more proactive than others. In some cases we thought that many deserving sites suffered by other sites' aggressive campaigns. In other cases we thought that some sites were incorrectly grouped together.
Jeremy Bilding was on hand to present the Best Original Theme Site Award and you could tell how proud Chi Chi was to have him as an exclusive. The winners were Straight Boys Fucking and Bare Adventures but we have a feeling that the votes were pretty spread out.
Since both were nominated in the same category Chi Chi & Jason went over the list of nominees in the Best Personality and had a good time dishing each other. The winner was Wolf Hudson and again we were impressed with his well-spoken speech and attitude. Wolf means business when he's nominated and he really works to get a win. He's a whiz at marketing himself. By the way, it's worth noting that the trophy studs weren't just mannequins up on stage. All four guys were gracious and applauded the winners---even though 3 of the 4 were nominated in the Best Porn Star category.
As for the Best Porn Star award we had a feeling where it might be going a few awards prior to this. Randy Blue won for Best Original Content and as usual Randy brought his photographer and a group of his hot models. However, it was longtime exclusive Reese Rideout who led the pack and was again a crowd fave. He was back on stage once again a little bit later when he was announced as Best Porn Star his acceptance speech caused a stir. Right after thanking his fans and RB he announced loudly that he was setting the record straight--he's gay! Now, knowing his penchant for humor (and the fact that last year he said he was straight & married) we're still weighing this proclamation and waiting for some follow-up.
Later it came time for the Movie of the Year and the winner was Men of Israel. Michael Lucas & Mr Pam accepted and the surprise was that there was no controversy. Lucas was dressed exquisitely (probably the best-dressed in the place) and was as classy in his acceptance as he looked. Mr Pam was so bubbly & excited to win and it was very refreshing to see.
The Industry Awards portion of the show went by in a very business-like manner, reflecting the nature of this part of the awards. However, Chi Chi livened in up by introducing her latest discovery, former Big Brother star Steven Daigle. We saw the sweet & handsome new porn star earlier and when he went up to announce the Company of The Year he really cut a handsome figure. He was endearingly nervous and charming. Wanna bet the pre-orders on hisdebut movie skyrocketed after this?
After the Free Speech Coalition Award went to Corbin Fisher the awards show ended and the party started. We'll have more on this and all the other fun stuff from the evening next time.
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