Nine DJs. Five Davie St bars. Five charities supported by your buying a $10 pass. Bitch, please. If you are doing anything tonight, it's this:

Now this is the first part of a two-month competition that culminates in a Vancouver Pride weekend battle on August 2. Up for stakes: a two-year management contract, a cross-country promotional tour and the kind of exposure a newbie DJ famewhore could only dream of. This is another Terry Costa/Mirateca production (the boys who brought you Gay Top Model) so entertainment of some form or another is guaranteed.

Tonight, you find the nine contenders taking shifts at Oasis, 1181, Celebrities, J-Lounge and Score. You can find a complete schedule for who is playing here. If you want to do some homework before you go, you can find sample mixes from all nine DJs here.

I'm doing double duty this week and covering the event for Xtra Vancouver. I'm interviewing the nine candidates and they had until Friday to respond to me. As of last night, only six responded in time for me to write this blog, so as far as I'm concerned, here are the six to watch, in the order they got back to me:

DJ Marc Tattoo

Describe your sound in three words: "happy upbeat hiNRG"

Personal connection: None, though this guy sent me seven emails in two days. In three words: too many emails. 

DJ Marty Funkhauser

Describe your sound in three words: "funk fuelled mayhem"

Personal connection: I've known this guy since I moved to Vancouver. Sure, he's a total piece of shit, but rumour has it he's going to be wearing the same silver lamé Elvis suit tonight that I once saw him in at Shambhala a few years ago. Oh yeah. He spins vinyl and is damn good at it. Excited to see him in a large venue.

DJ Jeffery Michael

Describe your sound in three words: "hard and dirty"

Personal connection: Celebrities Nightclub's wunderkind is a young risk taker and knows how to move an audience. You gotta appreciate that. He's also been subjected to a community-wide slanderous online campaign by someone desperate for attention, something I can personally relate to quite well.

DJ Christoker

Describe your sound in three words: "vocals baseline disco"

Personal connection: His preinterview was the funniest of the six. DJ-stylist, yes, DJ-deadbeat, totally...but I haven't met any DJ-comedians yet. Eh? EH?

DJ Lisa Delux

Describe your sound in three words: "multi-genred undeniable dancing"

Personal connection: DJ Delux has put in her time at venues across Vancouver and knows her way around a DJ booth. She's got name recognition and has the cred to deserve. Excited to have a chance to hear her do her shit.

DJ Mitchell Bederman

Describe your sound in three words: "dancy fancy unicorn"

Personal connection: I went on a weird date with this guy last year. When he told me he was in a rock-style band but produced electronic music and DJ'ed on the side, I instantly thought he fell into the I'm a photographer-DJ-promoter, "I'm-full-of-bullshit-and-wear-striped-tank-tops" category of gay guy. Whoopsie! It turns out he was serious!

Remember: with a $10 pass, you will be able to vote for your favourite DJ and won't have to wait in line at any of these venues (not that there are lineups at four of the five anyway). More importantly, you'll be supporting Friends for Life Society, HIM (Health Initiative for Men), Qmunity (BC’s Queer Resource Centre), Team Vancouver and the Vancouver Pride Society with your purchase, so get out and get judging.

The Olympic clock is ticky-ticky tick tocking away and the first ever Pride House (the welcoming place for gay Olympians, coaches, family and entourage in Whistler) is making headlines (see here and here)

Want regular updates on Pride House and Olympic activities in Whistler? Follow them on Twitter: @pridehouse2010 and @gaywhistler (and while you're at it, you'll follow me to if you know what's good for you: @seanhorlor)

Still not sure what the hell I'm talking about? Here's a summary from the gaywhistler.com site:

The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are coming to Whistler and for the first time in Olympic history there will be a venue available to our Gay & Lesbian athletes, coaches, family, friends and allies.  A venue we call - PRIDE House.

PRIDE House is located in the centre of Whistler Village at the award winning boutique hotel of Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre.

PRIDE House will be a hip lounge with a cocktail bar with TV monitors to watch the Olympics, hang out, trade pins, a media area to do interviews, and a venue to just have fun.  PRIDE House will be designed with the core values of celebrating authenticity, diversity and inclusiveness. 

PRIDE House will be open from February 8th through to March 21st.  The hours of operation is scheduled from 10AM to 10PM daily. (Subject to Change)

If you get the chance to check out Pride House during the games, you'll be greeted by the following sculpture by Edmund Haakanson:

Called "Slapshotolus", it is, according to Haakanson: "a symbolic expression of the concept that one who lives a life of noble ideals does not require protection, does not need to cover because there is nothing to hide."

Marry me!

In other news, Qmunity will be the gathering spot for gay athletes in Vancouver during the Games and you should plan on heading to Score to share a beer or three with said atheletes or to catch coverage of the games on their dazzling array of TVs.

Are you in the know on LGBT Olympic events during the Games? If yes, contact me at vancouvergayblog@gmail.com and give me the low down so I can share the good news with the rest of the city.

Although this guy's voice makes me want to punch him in the face, the fact remains: whilst out and about doing things for Xtra West and Xtra.ca, I eat chicken wings a couple times a month, at varying locals like Score, Fountainhead, Junction, Speakeasy and sometimes even my very own apartment.

Does that make chicken wings gay?

You bet.

Does that mean I know how to eat them without making a complete mess of myself?

Certainly not.

Which is wanted to share this:

Did you catch me on QueerFM tonight talking about Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model 2009? The Terry Costa Experience landed me a semi-regular gig as a behind-the-scenes correspondent on 101.9 FM. The host is a riot. Here's when you can catch us next:

**Tune in to 101.9 QueerFM on Sunday February 15th between 7:30pm and 8:00pm for a complete Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model recap and Sean Horlor's thoughts on who's going to make it to the final. Hosted by Heather Kitching.**

And now for your weekly instalment from:

On Thursday, January 29, the Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model 2009 hopefuls came out to Score on Davie for Sports Night. This event was standing room only, this time fans came in droves to vote for their favourites. And a reminder: your votes count and may actually help your favourites avoid elimination at future VNGTM events.

As far as theme nights go, this one was pretty straightforward. The models were asked to dress up in their favourite sports kit and then participated in a light-spirited Q&A with last year's winner Aaron Ursaki, whom it turns out is quite the smart-mouthed comedian when given a microphone and a captive audience.

Here's some news: British Airways came on board as a sponsor, which means the winner of the competion is going to receive a round-trip flight to London. And that's England, people, not Onterrible.

Roughly halfway though the night's proceedings, one thing became clear. The majority of our model hopefuls favour ball sports (surprise surprise). I, for one, was personally hoping for more crowd-friendly sport/sex double-entendres from the contestants. After all, what tennis players doesn't like to take it deep and hard in the back of the court? I mean, really...though I guess there's something to be said for keeping it clean and safe. Good sportsmanship and all that. With the exception of Adam, who plays full back for the Out for Kicks Vancouver soccer team, and I quote: "My position on the field is full back and for the record, my position on the field is the same as my position in bed."

That's what I'm talking about, boys...BAM!

Which brings me to my next point: there are a couple of models (Adam, Joel F, Reese) who have an easy way with the microphone and from what I can see in their photos so far, this charisma comes out loud and clear in their photos. On the other hand, you have models like Stephen and Micheil who have a definite "look" that separates them from the rest of the pack. We have eleven models left. I'm hoping everyone makes a conscious decision to step up their game in preparation for Gossip Night at 1181 on Davie and help make this thing HOT.

We also said good-bye to Stephane and Will. Here's a photo from the VNGTM 2009 site, courtesy of David Sandford:

"Stephane (with tennis racket) and Will (with yoga mat) were eliminated from the competition, while Stephen (the tallest of the bunch) can continue to live his life of extreme sports including VNGTM2009 experience..."

As noted above, the next VNGTM night is taking place at 1181 on February 12 at 8pm, so mark your calendar. See ya there.

**Reminder: come down and check out the next round of Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model 2009 tonight at Score. The contestants will be modeling sports wear and I've heard there may be additional eliminations, though no promises. Show starts at 8pm. And on separate note, afterwards, come down to Celebrities to see who gets crowned "Entertainer of the Year"**

Last Sunday, Vancouver's Next Gay Top Model 2009 held a Winter Wonderland night at Pulse and this year's hopefuls were required to wear white (see my previous coverage of VNGTM 2009 here and while you're at it, check out Trevor Ellestad's reviews here and here. He's a fantastic writer and will be covering VNGTM on his Stinkwallet blog for the course of the competition). Photos follow below and come courtesy of Terry Costa, Mirateca and the mad photographic skills of Chad Walters.

The bold, beautiful, ballsy and, in some cases, bespectacled young men took the stage to DJ Marty Funkhauser's superior spinning skills and regaled the audience with quick Q&As. We were also treated to a Go-Go performance by the saucy and delicious Starlen Gold. For the record, Miss Cotton killed it as our MC. I am falling in love. You are gorgeous, baby! GORGEOUS! 

DJ and fellow audiophile Marty Funkhauser. First this guy will take over your club...and then your heart. Sigh.

Damn that Starlen Gold straight to sexy hell!

Just when I was thinking there weren't enough saucy minxes in this town, Miss Cotton tumbled into my life. Oh, sexy she-devil in heels...Take me, but be gentle.

Now I'd like to give you a little snapshot of what my life is like somedays. To judge or not to judge. Judge lest ye be judged, which therefor makes judging just for those who are both jurisprudent and unapologetically judgemental etc etc...so on and so forth. Amen.

Unfortunately, this week we lost Daniel:

and Brent:

And finally, here are your semi-finalists: 

Haha - just kidding.