Earning the first Olympic medal for the United States at this Winter Olympics, Breezy Johnson also earns her first Dazzler of the Day thanks to all that gold. I will never not marvel at what it takes to earn any Olympic medal, or even to make it to the Olympics at all. The hours of hard work, dedication, and obsession to excel to such a level is impressively astonishing, and Breezy Johnson is living proof of this.
PS – How awesome is the name ‘Breezy Johnson’? Hint: very.
Sometimes all it takes to be a Dazzler of the Day is the right song selection. This one goes out to Kevin Aymoz, who is skating to Lady Gaga at this year’s Winter Olympics – and while that alone is enough to dazzle, making it to the Olympics in any capacity of more than worthy of a Dazzler crowning. Congrats to Aymoz on excellent musical taste, and excellence in skating.
The Winter Olympics, given their wintry nature, do not typically lend themselves to shirtless moments (unlike their bulge-tastic summer counterpart), but Benjamin Karl turned that frigid, rigid tradition on its head by doffing shirt for his celebratory victory moment following his gold medal win. Karl has been a perennial champion in snowboarding, and this marks his incredible fifth time at the Olympic Games, where he just won his second gold medal for his home country of Austria. This Dazzler of the Day goes to Benjamin Karl for reminding us how it’s done after the age of 40.
It’s strange to think of how influential the NBC Daytime lineup was to me back in the 80’s, and it was on those soap operas where I found expression for my love of drama and intrigue and over-the-top lifestyles and behavior. While my grandmother introduced me to ‘Days of Our Lives’, it was ‘Santa Barbara’ that caught my interest (rather helpfully, as at that time we didn’t even have a VCR to catch a show, so a 1 PM airtime for Days didn’t work well with school – ‘Santa Barbara’ was just getting started when I usually got home, so I didn’t have to rely solely on Soap Opera Digest to keep me up to date.
One of my favorite characters, Julia Capwell, was a no-nonsense lawyer who held her own with Mason Capwell and just about anyone who crossed her path. It was a performance grounded by the natural presence and power of Nancy Lee Grahn, who has made a lifelong career in an industry where only the strongest and most talented survive. She just won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series. More impressive of late, and the main reason for this Dazzler of the Day crowning, is her online voice against the current fascist administration. She tells it like it is, and isn’t afraid to take a stand for what is right and just – she has more spine and integrity than the majority of those in Congress right now.
My fanatical devotion to Kathy Griffin began with her bit part on ‘Medusa: Dare to be Truthful’ and the riotous way she so defeatedly muttered, “I’m so broke.” That was a brilliant spot-on spoof of Madonna’s ‘Truth or Dare’, and ever since then Griffin has been slowly ascending the pop culture mountain, and experiencing all the peaks and valleys such a journey entails. She was one of the first, and at the time only, celebrities who fully embraced a funny yet cutting critique of the awfulness that is our current President, and she got burned for doing what everyone now views as precisely what that monster deserves. After a widespread blacklisting and being almost entirely written off in Hollywood for several years, Griffin is finally getting the recognition and appreciation she has always deserved, and she’s taking that rightly-earned cachet to further point out the evils of this administration, and inspiring others to do the same. For all that, and her resilient hilarity in the face of those challenges, Griffin is crowned Dazzler of the Day. Check out her website here and see one of her live shows as they are always a good time.
It should go without saying that my favorite Dazzlers are those whom I’ve actually met in real life. My very favorites among those are family members (see Mom, Paul, and Dad) and my super favorites among those are the chosen family who aren’t forced to be here (see Andy and Suzie and now today’s recipient). That means choosing Landrie Leone as Dazzler of the Day is a very happy moment, and long-overdue. As mother to Jaxon Layne, she will always hold a special place in my heart, and in addition to that she’s become a surrogate Mom to the twins, keeping a home together no matter how challenging things get. It’s not always easy coming into the Ilagan family, and sometimes you just need the right people to make things click and fall into better place.
Today is Landrie’s birthday, and until we can make it through the snow to deliver her gift, this Dazzler of the Day crowning will be a placeholder present. Happy Birthday Landrie!
The road to Milan, Italy and this year’s Winter Olympics is studded with luminaries such as our Dazzler of the Day Erin Jackson, who heads there having already broken all sorts of speed skating records, including being the first black woman to win an individual gold medal in a Winter Olympic sport from the last games in Beijing, China. She looks to add to that, and numerous other championships, in Milan next month.
Fashion illustrator, author and designer Hayden Williams earns this Dazzler of the Day for not only talking the beautiful talk, but walking the beautiful walk, as evidenced his own sense of carefully curated style. His debut publication, ‘Hayden Williams: The Fashion Activity Book’ is available now, allowing all of us to color within the extraordinary lines of his designs and drawings. Check out his Instagram page here for further evidence of his brilliance.
Heading to the Winter Olympics as part of the USA Speedskating Team, Conor McDermott-Mostowy earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning for exceptional speed and agility. His Instagram profile quotes a motto that has seen him all this way: “A loss is only a failure if you learn nothing from it.”
Watch him whiz by in Milan next month.
When you choose Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ as the music to your short program, you’ve already won my heart; when you add in technical prowess and bravura technique, and become the first woman to land a Triple Axel in this event, you win the whole program and the US National Championship for the third year in a row. Amber Glenn accomplished that recently, setting her up for a run at an Olympic medal. That alone is enough to crown her as Dazzler of the Day as we continue on the road to Milan, Italy and this winter’s Olympic Games. (Bonus: that short program was the highest scoring program to date for a woman at the US National Championships.)
Thus continues our road to Milan, Italy and this year’s Winter Olympics! Alysa Liu, at the time of this writing, just slayed at her short program in the US Ice Skating Championship. It was a performance made more remarkable for the fact that she had retired a few years ago, and coming back in such powerful form, when athlete years equal decades, is more than enough reason for this Dazzler of the Day crowning. She’s got some brilliant competition, as will be seen in future Dazzlers, but she has a newly-found attitude of acceptance and enjoyment from the sport, which is the real reason for doing anything.
Chronicling the world’s most fashionable, and spiritually wise, elders sounds like a dream job, and Ari Seth Cohen has been doing that in books, in print, on the web, and in his life with his ‘Advanced Style’ brand. That earns him the very first Dazzler of the Day crowning for 2026. The doyennes of fashion that he captures are an inspiration for all – and I’m almost in that age-bracket where gaining wisdom meets not giving a flying fuck. The awe-inspiring characters he finds exemplify living life to the fullest at all its stages. Bonus: he’s no stranger or shrinking violet when it comes to personal style and pizzazz, and he has yet to meet a hat that was high enough. That’s a hero.
Check out the Advanced Style website here.
Joining his ‘Heated Rivalry’ co-star Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams earns his own Dazzler of the Day, crowning thanks to his portrayal of Shane Hollander in the smash hit series. Since Storrie had his own assets objectified yesterday, it’s only right and fair that Williams gets his turn in the sun’s-out-buns-out category. See below – and enjoy this very last Dazzler of the year 2025!
It’s been a while since we’ve had a Dazzler of the Day, and we return to the dazzling fold with the steamy star of ‘Heated Rivalry’ – a series that you’ll demand my gar card for having slept on (I’ll get around to it, I swear – I’m just off the television in service of writing and relaxing in a more nature state). Hastening my return to the boob-tube may be today’s Dazzler, Connor Storrie who brings a love story to ice as hockey-player Ilya Rozanov. If I knew anything at all about hockey, I’d insert a bunch of hockey puns here. Failing that, below is a tantalizing glimpse of Storie’s assets. Check back tomorrow for the next Dazzler, also from the ‘Heated Rivalry’ ranks.
A shout-out to my pal Janet for introducing me to the wonder that is Dominique Crenn – the first female chef in the United States to earn three Michelin stars, and now our Dazzler of the Day. An immigrant from France, Crenn carved out a path of culinary excellence while pushing the boundaries and possibilities of a sustainable way of cooking and eating. She’s written two books appeared in multiple televisions shows, and, perhaps more impressively than anything else, has battled breast cancer while maintaining a rigorous work schedule. A personal and professional marvel, Crenn is precisely the sort of inspiration the world needs right now.
