Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie tells us that he’s rejoining the strange, wonderful world of Celebrity Autobiography on Friday, June 26.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Celebrity Autobiography, it is just as it sounds: comedians read, word for word, from autobiographies of celebrities.

Nightline did a story about it last year, and Urie was one of the people featured:

Hi-larious.  It’s kind of a funny push-back from our “tell and show everyone everything all the time” reality society.  I believe I remember where Urie once read from Miley Cyrus‘ book, which would have been so funny you couldn’t see straight.

Joining Urie at The Gramercy Theatre, 127 East 23rd Street (at Lexington) are B.D. Wong, Kristen Johnson, Jackie Hoffman, Rachel Dratch, Frank DeCaro, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, and they’ll be reading from fellow celebrities like Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Ivana Trump, Star Jones, Burt and Loni, Tommy and Pamela, Zsa Zsa and more.

The show starts at 9:30 pm, and you can get Orchestra cabaret table seating for just $25 (normally $40).  See Urie’s blog for more details.

Here are a couple of pics of Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams at the 2009 Logo NewNowNext Awards.

Vanessa doesn’t wear black much in these public events (forgive me if her dress is navy). The pattern is really interesting, but doesn’t distract from the overall look.

The NewNowNext Awards (produced by cable network Logo),  are celebrate the best in pop culture from a GLBT point of view.  From the website of the awards:

The NewNowNext Awards are bringing you another celebration of fresh, freaky and up-and-coming pop culture, celebs and saliva-inducing stuff. Every year we hand out awards to the new, now and next stars of film, TV, music - and your iPhone.
This year, the awards will air on Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. The event is hosted by none other than the legendary drag racer RuPaul, and will feature tons of special guests and performers like Vanessa Williams, Britney Spears, Cheyenne Jackson, Morningwood, and more.

I have no doubt they will be absolutely fabulous.

As for Vanessa, and her character Wilhelmina, I didn’t think they could pull it off, but the writers of Ugly Betty were able to bring the character back to the scheming, clawing, evil character we knew from season 1 and parts of season 2, almost seamlessly.  I found it interesting that they also added a bit of intrigue with the search for Connor. It reminds me of the intrigue in season 1 with the Fey Sommers mystery.

As an aside, I don’t think the man Wilhelmina hired was a “hit man” per se, but y’all are probably right- he’s not a private detective either, because killing Connor may or may not be part of the deal.  For now, we’ll just call him a “shady character”.

More great pics of Vanessa after the jump!

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A couple of weeks ago, when this flashed on our TV, my family made me rewind the DVR to view it again.  Sure enough, it was Ugly Betty’s Daniel Eric Gold starring in a commercial for McDonald’s dollar menu:

Hey, if you’ll remember, David Blue had a killer Subway commercial.

Gold is really starting to grow on me.  I think where his real comedic talent lies is playing it straight while ridiculous things are happening all around him.  Sort of like Bob Newhart back in the day.  There’s no better environment for that kind of comedy than the world of Mode and Meade, and the Suarezes.  Throw in a dysfunctional, rich family, and Gold has a, er, goldmine of opportunity to look confused and bemused.

I thought they went overboard in Ugly Betty episode 3.20, Rabbit Test, with Matt’s “disappointed” look.  But, I think Gold’s stint on the show can produce some great comedy, if the producers use him correctly.  Just put him in a room with Marc and Amanda and let them go!

Oh, and the commercial is funny – I love the spot of spray tan!

This past Wednesday night, there was a special “Ugly Betty Is Back” event with many of the cast and crew of Ugly Betty.  There was an early screening of episode 3.20, Rabbit Test, and a Q &A session afterward.  Some folks you probably know - members of “The Getty Girls”, who post at Mode Girl, Sandwich Guy (a Gio/Betty “ship” and general Freddy Rodriguez fan site) - several of whom comment here, were in the audience. 

Pictured are Miss_T, the fabulous Becki Newton, and Meg.  Strike a pose, ladies!

Anyway, a LOT was revealed during the Q&A.  It’s all recapped nicely at the Futon Critic, but they requested that other sites link only (no quotes), and I always honor that type of request.  So I’ll only summarize what was discussed:

• Vanessa Williams will be singing “The Man that Got Away” with Christine Baranski in an upcoming episode.  Woot.
• The musical episode (according to Silvio Horta) will happen next season.
• The mode set was inspired by the iPod.
• We’ll discuss these in depth soon, but upcoming guest stars will be Rachel Dratch (as twins), Tommy Hilfiger , Billie Jean King, Rachel Maddow, Adele, and Antonio Sabato Jr.
• The wedding (which we now know will be Daniel’s) was filmed at The Planetarium.
• Tony Plana would like to release a cookbook entitled, “Ugly Recipes for Beautiful Food”.
• There will be a “new boss” at Mode, and it will be someone who has already appeared on screen.  I say it’s Betty.
• The braces will come off next year.
• Pat Field finds many of Betty’s clothes at consignment stores and Century 21.

There was, of course, much more.  I am told that the Getty Girls in attendance REPRESENTED, and that Silvio Horta knew of their existence.  How could he not?  The GG’s are nothing if not persistent. 

What an awesome night, and we’ll be discussing some of these things for months to come!

Ugly Betty’s Vanessa Williams is going to be a part of A Capitol Fourth, the annual 4th of July Concert/Fireworks show in Washington, DC celebrating US Independence Day. She will be singing, and will no doubt include a couple of songs from her new album!

According to EOnline, Williams will be performing along with Natasha Bedingfield and the legendary Barry Manilow, along with several characters from Sesame Street.

Jimmy Smits will be hosting.  Awesome!

The same EOnline report mentions the lineup at the DC Memorial Day Concert.  At that shindig, Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna will be hosting, and Katie Holmes will also be taking part!

The fireworks at the DC Independence Day celebration are some of the best you’ll ever see.  I really wish I could be in Washington that day, to see diva Vanessa Williams and take in the fireworks.

Apparently, Vanessa did this same gig in 2006.  Here’s video (although it’s a little rough) of her singing a duet with Elmo at that year’s Capitol Fourth celebration:

Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera continues to grace the cover of many magazines - the most recent being Gotham Magazine, the upscale New York area magazine.  The magazine held a party in Ferrera’s honor, and many Ugly Betty stars were present.

Beautiful!  America is stunning in this light blue Malandrino Resort 2009 dress.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear a dress with such a plunging neckline, even at the Emmys.  And, the cover photo behind her is quite beautiful as well.

Also present were Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum Alexis Bledel , along with Chrishell Stause, and of course, Becki Newton, Vanessa Williams, and Tony Plana.

Newton wore 3.1 Phillip Lim winding zipper ruffle dress, which looks wonderful on her, but kind of makes me dizzy.

Vanessa Williams wore a Matthew Williamson Ambroise georgette dress.  It’s one of those prints that only Williams can get away with. 

You can find an in-depth view of the fashion of the event here.

More pics after the jump!

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Here are some photos of Ugly Betty’s beautiful Vanessa Williams, (and her equally beautiful daughter), at the Hollywood premiere of Hannah Montana, The Movie.

Vanessa and daughter Sasha both look quite spring-like (which kind of gives me spring fever).  In case you didn’t know, Williams plays Miley Cyrus’ pushy agent in the film.  I think most of her part of the story line occurs at the beginning of the film, but I do know that Vanessa spent some time in Tennessee (where the bulk of the movie was filmed), so perhaps she has a bigger role than I am imagining.

Also at the premiere, which occurred at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, were the members of Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and of course a plethora of the usual Disney Channel stars.

It’s funny, my daughter has kind of outgrown Hannah Montana (so she says), so that takes away my cover for wanting to go see this movie.  Having had the television show on in the house for three hours each day for over two years, I’ve become quite attached to the characters, and would like to see what becomes of Hannah and her friends. 

More pics of Williams after the jump!

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USC has opened a beautiful new complex at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and since George Lucas gave $175m toward the construction, he got to host a private party to celebrate the occasion, with a few of his friends.  Amongst the celebrities and Hollywood power brokers was Ugly Betty’s own America Ferrera, along with companion Ryan Piers Williams.

It sounds like a wonderful time, hosted not only by Lucas, but also Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, and Mellody Hobson.

Attending were a who’s who of celebrity-dom: Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, Barbra Streisand and James Brolin, Diane Keaton, Robert Zemeckis, Jay Roach and Susanna Hoffs, Hugh Hefner, Holly Hunter, Christina Applegate, Rosario Dawson, Ron Howard,  Samuel L. Jackson, John Singleton, Viola Davis, Maria Bello and Peter Guber.

The guests toured the new complex, had dinner, then were serenaded by James Taylor and Carole King. 

Variety has a pic of Ferrera and Williams here (along with many of the other celebrities).  Yes, it’s the same dress America wore to the Kids’ Choice Awards. It was on the same day; she must have hopped from event to event!

IMDB still has Ferrera listed as “studying for a double-major in International Relations and Theater at the University of Southern California”.  That was a few years ago - I don’t know if she completed her studies.  Probably not; mega-success and the move to New York got in the way, I’m sure.

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Here are some pics of America Ferrera making her annual appearance at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards on March 28.

This is a very, very good color for Ms Ferrera.  Wow. 

Just as a side note, I wonder if Ferrera will attend next year’s awards.  Considering the fact that iCarly won Favorite TV Show, and Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) won Favorite TV Actress, perhaps at 25, Ferrera will be considered  “old”, at least for the Kids’ Choice Awards.  But then again, Dwayne Johnson hosted, and he’s, like, ancient :)  .

If you want to know the full list of winners, you can read them here.

If they ever have one of those makeover reveal scenes on Ugly Betty (which will really tick me off) – but if they are going to do one of those scenes, I hope Betty emerges looking something like this.

More pics after the jump!

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Here are some pics of Ugly Betty’s Mark Indelicato at The Broadway Concert - A Celebrity Benefit For Equal Rights at the Gershwin Theatre (the current home of Wicked). What caught my eye is Indelicato with Sally Struthers, a paring I thought I’d never see.

Also in the picture is Kerry Butler.

The event was hosted by Judy Gold and Carson Kressley. There was a special performance by Wicked composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz and Cyndi Lauper, and a video message by Sir Elton John.

The guest list was huge and impressive. I will say that Michael Urie was on it, but somehow he avoided the cameras (at least I haven’t found anything so far). I have no doubt Urie will put something about it on his blog soon.

Indelicato, like his cast-mate Becki Newton, really seems to enjoy being out and about, and in the spotlight. I seem to find more paparazzi photos of him than any other Ugly Betty cast member.

On the show, I like the fact that Justin was the most grown up concerning the whole Elena situation. He was a refreshing change from all the siter-drama the past few episodes.

Image: Newscom