Reports – “And The Nominations Are” – The Boyz Annual Awards – Thursday 14th February

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We’ve had The Grammy’s,  we’ve had the BAFTA’s and we’ve still got the OCSCAR’s to come, but before that there of the BOYZ awards, the annual appreciation of the capital’s clubbing & gay circuit achievers that always attracts amazing attention, we looking into the why’s & wherefores of this yearly awarding accolade, also hinting towards our own celebratory ceremony

 

 

With 2012 seemingly a distant memory, it always intrigues us as to quite why the major awards ceremonies take place well into the following year, just last weekend seeing both the music awards amazement that is The Grammy’s taking place stateside, while here in London, it was the BAFTA’S that stole the headlines, marking the best in a year packed with truly fantastic (some phenomenal) films in an industry hat seems to be going from strength to strength. Yet while the biggest & most prestigious ceremony is yet to come, The Academy Awards, better known as The OSCAR’s, marking the end of this short season of celebrations for the best in the business, films or otherwise, the capitals clubbing & gay circuit get their own annual awards too, courtesy of Boyz Magazine, who can’t quite match the 85th OSCAR’s season, but can boast a respectable 15 plus years shouting out for the most popular performers, promoters & others across a wide range of categories that celebrate the achievements of those who, in the eyes of its readers, make the eventual winners the cream of the Boyz magazine crop. So, as we find ourselves having adored the BAFA’s last weekend and look forward with excitable anticipation to the OSCAR’s next weekend, we thought it only right & proper to give a reporting big up, what we are calling, the BOYZ’s, running through the process and picking on some of the categories, giving you our view on who should be in the nominee running, while we will also hint towards our own new awards ceremony, the TICKLES.

 

 

So, let’s delve into the BOYZ’s and first share what the team behind the most popular annual scene awards by far have to say, the concurring with us by beginning, “…with the awards season upon us on both sides of the Atlantic, the UK gay scene’s most coveted gongs are up for grabs again…” then exclaiming, “…The Boyz Scene Awards – won by many, wanted by many more…” while they look back to last year with pride when they say “…2012 saw some of the best events the gay scene had ever experienced and, despite the recession, was a time of pure creativity, something all those who partied on the gay scene should be proud of…” we drawing short of “ever experienced” while agreeing that there were some exceptional events, captivating new clubs, prolific promoters & dynamic D.J.’s. Indeed the Boyz team recap on some previous award accolades, “…previous winners in the bar categories include The Edge, The Two Brewers, & Ku Bar. In clubs, Room Service, G.A.Y. and WE Party have all walked away with golds, while individuals with gongs hanging from their walls range from Chrissy Darling & Jeremy Joseph to Titti La Camp & The Sharp Boys…” we hoping to share a whole load more names to help you make your choices. And with these BOYZ’s covering 1/1 to 31/12 2012, there is much to digest, while the team finish by saying, “…so think carefully about who you want to bag one of this year’s Boyz awards and cast your vote now. Voting should take no more than five minutes…”, more on that in a minute. 

Right, well that what the Boyz team have to say, now let’s dig into some of the sections & categories, the section list made a little more straight forward this year with just five, “Gay Bars, Pubs & Late Night Venues”, “Best Entertainers”, “Clubbing, Festivals & Events”, “Specialist Club Nights”, and “Club Promoter/DJ”, although there are no less than 29 BOYZ’s up for grabs within these categories. So, let’s focus first on “Clubbing, Festivals & Events” and give you some hints & ideas on names in the nominations frames, Deelooded sure to ride high in “Best New Club Promotion Or Venue” while others such as DISH, WAR, Tramp, Super Electro Party Machine & SPQR are sure to give Fat Tony’s creation a run for its money, while with the monotone weekend clubbing calendar, choosing “Best Regular Weekend Club” rears usual suspects such as Beyond, XXL, G.A.Y. & a smattering of others. However, 2012 did see weekday clubbing blossom, so “Best Regular Weekday Club” should be hotly contested, Gigolo knocking on the door of Room Service, while we reckon Popcorn has a great chance of scooping a BOYZ this year, while for “Best One-Off Party, Visiting Club Brand or Returning Event”, we reckon WE Party stands a better than fair chance of lifting the crown here, while Matinee did make a splash in 2012, as did Hustlaball. As for “Best Pride, Festival or Outdoor Event” , with London & World Pride a complete wash-out, Summer Rites lack-lustre & even Soho Pink Sunday recording a poor turnout, the good old British Summer didn’t help much, although Lovebox is probably in the running again, while Brighton Pride definitely gets our vote.

 

 

Onwards to the “Club Promoter/DJ” category and there are a veritable feast on nominations for both, “Best Club Promoter” an open playing field in 2012, our tips extending to Tom Stephan & Borja Pena for DISH, Kris Di Angelis for WAR & Tramp, Fat Tony for Deelooded, Jodie Harsh for Room Service, David & La. Hart for Gigolo, Christopher Selby-Rickards for Popcorn, Larry Tee for Super Electro Party Machine & Suzie Kruegar for Hard On!, while in our books, one of the hardest working & most dedicated promoters has to be Steven React Sharp, he having steered A:M & Later during 2012, as well as both Orange & As One for part of the year, so you can probably guess where our vote is going. All that said, probably the most hotly contested BOYZ will be for “Best Club D.J.”, a longer list we couldn’t summon if we tired, last year’s winner Steve Pitron surely very much in the running again, while a whole host of relative newcomers &/or young blood are more than just pretenders to Mr Pitron’s crown, not least the amazing Adam Turner or the brilliant Zach Burns, both who have had stellar 2012’s and very much on the up & up, Matt Bogard another contender, as should be Sam DMS. But the within established & experienced enclave, there are plenty that have had a yardstick year too, Pagano having made it huge both home & abroad, while Jamie Head has been on fantastic come phenomenal form. But our list could easily extend to Hifi Sean, Severino, Tony English, The Oli, The Sharp Boys, Tom Stephan, Kris Di Angelis, Phil Marriott, Jim Warboy, Paul Heron, & Nathan Six, while there are plenty more where they came from. So, it comes as no surprise that we are left in quite a quandary and we have still yet to decide on what, despite all these names, is a three horse race, the one question remaining, does our heart rule our head and if so, is it Adam or Zach?

 

 

Of the other four categories, our BOYZ’s picks are “Best Bar Central London & Westminster”, “Best Bars or Promotions Team In London” & “Sexiest Bar Staff In A Gay Bar, Pub or Late Night Venue”, the common denominator in all three cases for us, being Profile/Lo-Profile, sadly lost to the scene early in January this year, but, in our humble voting view, clearly deserving an awards accolade to recognise just how brilliant it was for the scene and how badly & sadly it is already missed. But with loads more to vote on besides, we reckon you should grab this week’s edition of Boyz (issue 1120) where you can see all the categories laid out and where you can vote in the good old fashioned way, on paper & by post. But for the twenty first century minded, you will probably prefer to cast your votes online, by heading to http://boyz.co.uk/index.php?p=boyzawards, either on your computer, tablet or even smart phone, the online forms expanding the nomination suggestions significantly, while for us leading you down a path you may not want to follow, our advice being for you to simply go with your favourite in each of the sections & categories, which will make for not just a fair, but open (and probably close) BOYZ award set results, those results going public of 14th March, while all votes need to be in by midnight on Friday 1st March. So get casting your votes to make this the best BOYZ’s yet, while also watch this space for our own awards ceremony, the TICKLES, which will come hot on the heels of the OSCAR’s and combine both film and clubbing, but crammed with categories with a difference, our nominations hitting publication this weekend (Sat 23rd Feb) and the awards accolades following the next (Sat 2nd March), perhaps hinting towards who we think may score a BOYZ two weeks later, while either confirming or confounding both the BAFTA & OSCAR winners.

 

 

So, as we prepare to cast our votes, marking a year that we, for lots of reasons, would rather forget, by making our choices we can in fact celebrate some real highlight happenings & incredible individuals that made our tough 2012 very much easier to bear and, whether your year was amazing, awful or merely average, you too can celebrate in a scene that, through good times or bad, is one of the best in the world, the Boyz team exemplifying that through their enthralling awards. (DISCO MATT)

 

 

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About discomatt

The History........................................................Created in 2008 after a short period of blogging under his real name, the pseudonym, “Disco Matt”, was born on the back of a reputation for being London’s original party boy having partied and clubbed across the London gay scene since in mid 1990’s.........................................................Through his series of blogs via individual blogging pages which soon morphed into a full blown website (http://discomatt.com), Disco Matt established himself as an independent journalist come columnist who quickly gained a reputation for supporting & promoting one of the world’s most prolific clubbing scenes. He previewed, reviewed & recommended London gay clubs, as well as the diverse gay/metrosexual London club/bar culture, linking to & reviewing the scene top D.J.’s and generally covering the gay scene including international gay events....................................................Regularly reporting on the top events across the scene, Disco Matt’s reviews, over the years, developed a strong following, not just by clubbers, D.J’s, promoters, music producers & scene faces, but people far and wide that were looking for an insight to the incredible scene that was London. He also previewed upcoming events that signalled, either a major change or update of existing clubs, new ventures on the gAylist/metrosexual scene, or where he considered events that deserved more comprehensive coverage to that provided in other posts.............................................However, having pretty much reached the top of his game in his chosen specific field, due to a number of personal predicaments, challenges & changes in his life priorities, Disco Matt parked his writing and operation in February 2014. While the burning desire to continue remained, what this much needed period of inactivity did provide was the time & space to re-think & re-focus his activities on a broader spectrum of media and entertainment............................................................So, following this long two year lay-off, he built up the foundations for this diversification into the areas of film, theatre, radio & television where his reviewing, recommending & reporting was to be replicated & resurrected, also pointing his promotions through more visuals & video's linked to all these areas along with his core activities and passions ................................................................................The Present....................................After another (shorter) period of lay-off from mid 2016, a life changing event reignited his passion and early into 2017, Disco Matt has delivered on his promise for a new, more modern look to his website, shedding the old & tired skin in favour of something far more in keeping with the times and with his blogging roots. And he has waived a fond farewell to his clubbing days, this having also been ditched from his site & activity, rather now just focussing on the genres of film, theatre, radio, television, video and of course, music, in so doing, aiming to broaden his appeal to a much wider audience interested in the latest most cutting edge areas of media & entertainment.............................................................................His aim is to be highly regarded across the industry for his writing in these fields and ultimately become a full time critic in film &/or theatre.