Anchor and news correspondent Steven Romo earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning thanks to consistent and intrepid reporting, to say nothing of the package that comes with it. Last fall he married his partner, Stephen Morgan, in what Romo considered the denouement of a proper fairy tale.
Known perhaps best for some indelible character parts, Paul Giamatti has recently been racking up the awards for his lead performance in one of best movies of the last year, ‘The Holdovers’. I first remember Giamatti on-screen when he shared a cigarette with Julia Roberts in the guilty-pleasure that was ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’. He made a similar subtle-scene-stealing show as the driver in ‘Saving Mr. Banks‘. After a career of fine work, it’s gratifying to see him earn a few more rewards, including this Dazzler of the Day honor.
(See also Da’Vine Joy Randolph in her Dazzler feature here.)
I finally got around to seeing ‘Barbie‘ recently and one of my favorite Barbies ended up being President Barbie, as portrayed winningly by Issa Rae, who never met a character role she couldn’t completely command with her innate charm and talents. She is well-known for her YouTube series ‘Awkward Black Girl’ and writing the best-selling book ‘The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl’. She’s currently making the awards show rounds thank to her performance in ‘American Fiction’. With a full plate of projects ahead of her,she is that ultimate triumvirate of producer, writer and director (and let’s not take actor out of it because she absolutely illuminates whatever screen is lucky enough to have her on it). This marks her debut as Dazzler of the Day here – may it only be the start of future appearances.
‘The Katie Phang Show’ moves to its new time slot – Saturdays at 12 PM EST on MSNBC starting January 13, and now feels like a fine time to crown Katie Phang as Dazzler of the Day. As a successful trial lawyer, she comes armed with more knowledge than the majority of news hosts these days, and offers a refreshingly honest take on news items, backed by facts and law – something many in the media seem to be dismissing as we teeter on the edge of destroying our democracy. We need voices like hers more than ever.
Husband of Kelly Ripa and friend of Andy Cohen, Mark Consuelos has a pretty impressive circle of friends and family, but it’s his own charismatic talent, and current hosting duties on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ that earn him this Dazzler of the Day.
Show-stopping performances seem to come naturally for Jeremy Allen White, who earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning for being the current ambassador of the legendary Calvin Klein underwear brand. More impressively, he’s been part of several cultural touchstones of the past year – ‘The Bear’ and ‘The Iron Claw’ – which simply cements his dazzling status. [See other CK Ambassadors Shawn Mendes, Maluma, and Noah Centineo for further viewing pleasures.]
Continuing our celebration of the upcoming return of ‘Queer Eye’, Antoni Porowski earns his first Dazzler of the Day, thanks to a career spanning all forms of infotainment. Check out Antoni’s website here for a more comprehensive view of his accomplishments, and read the literature found there:
Antoni Porowski is a New York Times Bestselling author, host and executive producer of Netflix’s Easy-Bake Battle culinary competition series and the upcoming docuseries No Taste Like Home from Studio Ramsay Global for National Geographic, and star of Netflix’s award-winning hit Queer Eye. Coming up, Antoni is developing a feature film, entitled Girls and Boys, for Netflix with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. The film is loosely based on Antoni’s real-life dating experiences as a sexually fluid man.
A self-taught cook, Antoni is a four-time Emmy nominee for his role as Queer Eye’s resident food & wine expert. The hit series has won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Structured Reality Program” for five consecutive years, breaking the current category record for most wins.
Antoni brings his lifelong passion for food to Yummers, his pet food brand cofounded alongside Queer Eye castmate Jonathan Van Ness and pet industry veteran Rebecca Frechette Rudisch.
Born in Canada to European emigrants, Antoni is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights everywhere, especially his family’s native Poland where he serves on the board of the Equaversity Foundation, which was established to organize international fundraising to support the LGBTQ+ community there.
The new season of ‘Queer Eye’ debuts on Netflix January 24, and with it the return of Karamo Brown as their “culture expert” – a coveted position indeed, and one that solidified Brown’s place on the pop-culture map (following a turn on MTV’s ‘The Real World: Philadelphia’ back when MTV mattered). Today he earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning for those pioneering efforts, as well as an appearance in Taylor Swift‘s ‘You Need to Calm Down’ video, and his memoir ‘Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope’.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is our very first Dazzler of the Day for 2024, just in time for the football season to reach its crescendo. Along with Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Mahomes has been an integral part of the successes the Chiefs have enjoyed over the past few seasons. According to our resident football expert Skip, he “dazzles not just in dozens of ads for countless products, but also on the field. In only six years he has already been crowned both Super Bowl Champion and the League’s most valuable player twice.”
[PS – I am well aware that Travis Kelce is more than Taylor Swift’s boyfriend – he’s also a previous Dazzler of the Day – it’s just fun to pretend we live in a Taylor World, because we actually do.]
A worthy request, Lenny Kravitz earns an egregiously-tardy crowning as Dazzler of the Day, mostly because I thought for sure he had already received this coveted honor. Based on a search, however, I am unable to find his feature, so let’s honor him with this overdue post. (The only other entry I could find was this shirtless post, which is definitely worth a revisit.) Kravitz has been an often-unheralded musician, singer and songwriter who flies under the radar sometimes for how consistently brilliant he’s been. Here’s to honoring our heroes while they are with us and performing – I can’t think of a more deserving Dazzler to end the year.
What if all this time we’ve been mistaken and the true star of ‘NSync isn’t the currently-problematic Justin Timberlake but actually JC Chasez? It’s worth consideration, especially as Chasez’s under-appreciated 2004 solo effort ‘Schizophrenic’ remains far more interesting and compelling than anything Mr. Timberlake has released in the last five years. For many of us, Chasez was always the heart-throb of the group anyway, and his vocal prowess easily matched (and some might rightfully say surpassed) that of better-known co-singers. In honor of that, and an appreciation post proving that it’s better late than never, JC Chasez earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning here, and the last one of the year.
The latest actor to fill the time-traveling icon Dr. Who’s shoes is Ncuti Gatwa, who made a thrilling first outing, somewhat literally, casually referencing the notion that this Dr. Who may have some queer aspects to him. Gatwa is already winning raves for his charismatic turn in the latest iteration of the venerable series, and has appeared in ‘Barbie’ and ‘Sex Education’. This marks his first turn as Dazzler of the Day, and it looks like this is just the beginning.
All the gays have made Josh Hutcherson the hot new Hollywood name (yes, again, because I feel like we already did this a number of years ago). The new resurgence is mostly from a couple of photos and perhaps a prosthetic penis scene in a recent film, and that’s all it really takes to be a Dazzler of the Day in this purgatorial week before we begin the New Year.
Anyone who lists ‘Dandy’ as part of their social media profile is a Dazzler of the Day in my book. Coupled with Actor, Director and Producer, Emerson Collins checks all the requisite boxes and then some, filling out a career of Renaissance-scope accomplishments as well as he fills out the Speedos, jockstraps and underwear on his Instagram feed. His witty way with words and social media magnificence handily earns him this crowning, and his camera-ready persona and production expertise backs it all up with substance and style. Visit his website here for a more comprehensive look at his long list of accomplishments.
Fresh off the fabulous seasonal finale of ‘The Gilded Age’, Ashlie Atkinson earns this Dazzler of the Day for her marvelous portrayal of the maddening Mrs. Fish. Atkinson has somehow taken this charmless character and made her an icon of the current season, especially that glorious ending in the Academy, where her literally pointing out of people leaving was the final crushing blow to Mrs. Astor and all that she represented.
The first few times we glimpsed Mrs. Fish in season one, I found her entirely abhorrent – and to see her odious comments turned on Mrs. Astor was the culmination of two years watching and rooting for Bertha. Credit must go to Atkinson’s dismissive smirks and scintillating side-eye for crafting a character audiences have loved to loathe, then come to enjoy for all her transparent poses. A woman who said the silent parts out loud at such an age was often maligned, and perhaps that’s why she resonates so strongly now. Atkinson has won a rabid and loyal fandom not only for her work on ‘The Gilded Age’ but also films as varied as ‘Another Gay Movie’, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, ‘Juanita’, and ‘BlacKkKlansman’, in addition to appearances on ‘Happy!’, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’, and ‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’.
