CENTURY CITY, Calif. - In a night that sparkled with booze and most of porn’s top crop of stars, the X-Rated Critics Organization held its 21st anniversary awards show at a private club here on Thursday.
The casual yet very cool evening was deftly hosted by KSEXRadio.com host Wankus along with AVN Hall Of Famer Taylor Wane. The two traded jokes about rimming, their mutual love of Taco Bell and all things Jenna Jameson, and generally kept the night moving along. Scantily-clad Heart-On trophy girl Holly Wellin in a diaphanous white dress shared the stage with the comic team.
The first set of awards, presented by three ClubJenna contract performers were Unsung Siren and Swordsman presented to Katie Morgan and Brian Surewood. While Morgan was present to accept even though she admitted “not having that much to say,” Surewood accepted via performer Kyle Stone’s cell phone.
Not being present to accept awards was a bit of a theme for the evening with the biggest female winner—Digital Playground contract performer Teagan Presley—not showing up to collect any of her three awards: Teen Cream Dream, New Starlet and for sharing the 3-Way in Jules Jordan/Evil Angel’s Flesh Hunter 7. The starlet’s awards were accepted by former AVN staffer Gram Ponante who jokingly cautioned the crowd about the dangers of drug usage.
Evil Angel Public Relations director Karen Stagliano, along with photographer Kevin Moore, accepted Best Gonzo Series for an absent Joey Silvera for his Service Animals series. The pair also accepted Jules Jordan’s award for the evening--Best Director—since the director was shooting in Montreal.
Wicked Pictures contract director Brad Armstrong accepted Single Performance—Actor for Randy Spears, who won for his role in VCA’s Misty Beethoven The Musical and Eva Angelina accepted Best Stud for AVN’s Best Male Newcomer Tommy Gunn. Roxy Jezel was not present to receive her Orgasmic Oralist award. No one from VCA Pictures came forward to accept the Best Comedy Or Parody award for Misty Beethoven The Musical and none of the girls in the Girl/Girl scene winning The Violation Of Audrey Hollander came forward to accept their hearts, leaving JM Productions publicist Tony Malice to accept the stack of trophies.
AVN Female Performer Of The Year Lauren Phoenix proudly came forward to accept the Orgasmic Analist and Female Performer Of The Year awards, making her way up from the bar both times, accepting the anal award saying, “Oh my God, my mother is so proud—two years in a row anal awards at XRCO.”
Pure Play Media’s publicist April Storm accepted the Best DVD award for Private U.S.A.’s Millionaire.
The Mainstream’s Adult Media Favorite award was a tie and the first of Jenna Jameson’s many trips up to the stage. She was honored for her autobiography How To Make Love Like A Porn Star along with Seymore Butts for his Showtime Entertainment series, recently renewed for a third season, Family Business. Butts wasn’t present to accept the award but Cousin Stevie filled in for him. Of her book, Jameson told the crowd, “I want to thank everyone that I shit on in writing my book. I know honesty is something that’s very foreign to a few of you but it’s something that I pride myself on, so thank you for being in it and for buying it.”
The next batch of trophies were presented by Adam & Eve contract performer Austyn Moore, Black Widow Productions contract performer Malou, Sunny Lane and Vicky Vette.
Wicked Pictures contract performer Jessica Drake simply thanked the crowd for her Single Performance—Actress award for her performance in Fluff And Fold.
Ariana Jollee, who sucked her thumb all the way up to the stage, was proclaimed Super Slut. First protesting her stage fright, Jollee thanked the critics and said, “Every woman in this business is a fucking inspiration.”
The next group of presenters included Cousin Stevie, Justine Joli, Flower Tucci and Nicki Hunter.
Stevie told the crowd to go fuck themselves before Joli accepted the Best Video award for Ninn Worx/Pure Play Media’s In The Garden Of Shadows on behalf of director Michael Ninn.
Tee Reel accepted Best Pro-Am Series for the Red Light District series, Breakin’ ‘Em In, thanking the crowd for their support.
AVN Male Performer of the Year Manuel Ferrara accepted the Male Performer award, thanking the room and thanked his fellow nominees before baring his ass for the photographers near the stage.
AVN Hall Of Famer Bill Margold tried to get a moment of silence for the late XRCO co-founder/VCA Pictures director Jim Holliday, but failed and instead moved on to induct the late Bill Liebowitz, Golden Apple Comic Books owner and onetime XRCO production manager. into the XRCO‘s Hall Of Fame, along with Holliday, to the applause of the room.
“He was the soul of the XRCO,” Margold said of the late legend.
Margold surprised AVN Senior Editor/XRCO Chairman Jared Rutter with a trophy and Rutter’s induction into the Hall Of Fame, calling him “the brains in the XRCO” and “the sanest member of the organization.” Margold shared it was Holliday’s last wish that Rutter be included in the Hall Of Fame, “because he justly deserved it and we wouldn’t be here without him. Holliday and I were too big assholes to run this organization by ourselves, and he helped us through the tough times.”
Rutter calmly accepted saying, “Thank you for this honor and I wasn’t expecting it. I am truly speechless….My sanity has been sorely tested over the years but it’s held firm. Thank you for this.”
AVN Hall Of Famers Christy Canyon and Randy West went on stage to induct Jameson into the XRCO Hall Of Fame with Margold. Jameson was stunned by the emotional impact of the award.
“For the first time in a long time, I am nervous. I’ve been in this industry for about twelve years now and that’s a long time. I feel very humbled. This has been a long wild ride for me,” Jameson said before she and West reminisced about her first on-screen appearance with him in an early Up and Cummers.
West delivered the most heartfelt compliment of the evening to Jameson, “We were talking before that first scene and Jenna said to me. ‘I’m going to be a star. I’m going to be a star in this business.’ And I gotta tell you, you fucked up. She never was a star. She blew right by star and went on to be a superstar and you’ve earned every bit of it, baby—every bit of it.”
Jameson proclaimed her love for performing in adult and said she is “concentrating on building an empire for women in general in the business” and told the crowd to look for great things from ClubJenna in the coming year.
Wicked Pictures contract performers Stormy Daniels and Keri Sable took the stage to give the Sex Scene Couple award to Lexington Steele and the not-present Katsumi for their work in Mercenary Pictures’ Lex Steele XXX. Steele humbly thanked the audience.
A newly-brunette Missy Monroe happily accepted the awards for Best Group Scene for her appearance in Platinum X Pictures’ Baker’s Dozen 2, along with performer/director Brandon Iron.
Confetti showered down when it was announced that Vivid Entertainment Group’s The Masseuse had won Best Film, and Jameson hit the stage again to accept it.
“This is one of the best movies I have ever made in my career and that’s a long career, right, P.T.?” Jameson said, acknowledging the film’s director Paul Thomas seated in the crowd. “We worked very hard on The Masseuse and P.T. is an incredible director. I was lucky to be cast beside my incredible husband [Justin Sterling] who is an amazing actor. I taught him everything he knows. Hopefully, we get this [award] next year too.”
Hostess Wane lured Jameson back on stage to accept her Girl/Girl scene award from the year before for her sizzling performance with Carmen Luvana in Digital Sin’s My Plaything--Jenna Jameson 2. Wane insisted that she wanted to kiss the icon and lured her backstage with Wicked Girl Daniels trailing behind at Jameson’s invitation.
Nothing says good night like a bunch of chicks making out in a room out of view from everyone else and the crowd headed to the bar and/or to the club’s valet.
-courtesy of AVN.COM
-written by the incredibly-observant Heidi Pike-Johnson