Awards show hosted by Candis Cayne recognizes talent of tomorrow according to LGBT audience; Janet Jackson to be honored.

NEW YORK, NY – May 1, 2008 – Logo, a division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks, today announced that it will air the first-ever NewNowNext Awards on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 9:00 PM ET/PT on Logo and LOGOonline.com. The event will be hosted by Candis Cayne (Dirty Sexy Money) and will feature a number of special guests and performers including Janet Jackson, who will accept the Always Next, Forever Now award. The awards will draw attention to what is new and next in the best of LGBT pop culture across a wide array of mediums including the internet, film, television and music. The event will put a first-ever spotlight on openly gay artists as well as all performers beloved by the LGBT community.

“The NewNowNext Awards provides a first-ever original stage to recognize a new generation of artists living their careers out and proud from the beginning,” said Brian Graden, President, Entertainment, MTV Networks Music Group, and President, Logo.

The groundbreaking NewNowNext Awards will be the first truly multi-platform awards show. Viewers will be able to experience different aspects of the event across a number of platforms, including on-air, online at the event’s principal website and on mobile devices. The tentpole event will air on Logo, and stream simultaneously on LOGOonline.com and its sister websites AfterElton.com, AfterEllen.com and Downelink.com. Special online components include running commentary on the awards and a special online only post-show.

An academy of voters made up of editors from national gay weeklies and newspapers, artistic directors of gay film festivals, musicians and bloggers will vote on the winners for many of the categories. Visitors to NewNowNextAwards.com will have the ability to review the nominees and vote for their favorites, which may be different than those chosen by the awards academy. Additional categories will be hosted on third-party blogs and sites including AfterEllen.com, Downelink.com and Towleroad.com.

The NewNowNext Awards offers the LGBT perspective on what’s hot and hip in popular culture by honoring emerging and established artists with such awards as the Best Future Feature, Totally Most Rad Sickest Blog Ever and Brink of Fame: Music Artist awards.

Unlike other awards shows, the NewNowNext Awards will not look at the year past, but will instead focus on what is up-and-coming in popular culture in 2008 and beyond. The 90-minute telecast will feature musical performances by The Cliks, Lady GaGa and Dangerous Muse and presenters will include filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell (Short Bus), actress Heather Matarazzo (Exes & Ohs), designer Christian Siriano (Project Runway) and musician Cyndi Lauper.

The awards build on Logo’s acclaimed NewNowNext franchise, which includes a music show identifying emerging musicians popular with the LGBT audience and a pop culture blog.

A full list of nominees for the categories awarded on-air, online and on affiliated websites and blogs is below. For more information, visit www.LOGOonline.com or NewNowNextAwards.com. The on-air event is being produced by Line By Line Productions and executive producer Frank Garritano.

BRINK OF FAME: ACTOR

* Candis Cayne
* Cheyenne Jackson
* Ellen Page
* John Barrowman
* Michelle Paradise

OMFG INTERNET AWARD

* The Fail Blog
* I’m F***ing Ben Affleck, The Jimmy Kimmel Show, ABC
* Planet Unicorn

BEST SHOW YOU’RE NOT WATCHING

* Bad Girls, Logo
* Greek, ABC Family
* Mad Men, AMC
* The Sarah Silverman Program, Comedy Central
* Torchwood, BBC America

MOST GUILTIEST PLEASURE

* 3Way, AfterEllen.com
* A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, MTV
* Dante’s Cove, HERE!
* Janice Dickinson’s Modeling Agency, Oxygen
* Xanadu, (theatrical musical)

MOST ADDICTIVE REALITY STAR

* Christian Siriano, Project Runway
* Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt, The Hills
* Jackie Warner, Work Out
* New York, I Love New York
* Ronnie Kroell, Make Me a Supermodel

TOTALLY MOST RAD SICKEST BLOG EVER

* DListed.com
* Dorothy Surrenders
* Queerty.com
* Towleroad.com

CAUSE YOU’RE HOT

* Candis Cayne
* Cheyenne Jackson
* Jensen Atwood
* Jill Bennett
* Tina Fey

BRINK OF FAME: COMIC

* Billy Eichner
* Bridget McManus
* Julie Goldman
* Scott Ryan
* Vidur Kapur

ALWAYS NEXT, FOREVER NOW AWARD

* Janet Jackson

BRINK OF FAME: MUSIC ARTIST

* Chris Garneau
* Eric Himan
* God-des & She
* Missy Higgins
* The Cliks

BEST FUTURE FEATURE

* Another Gay Sequel
* Breakfast with Scot
* Finn’s Girl
* Milk
* Out at the Wedding
* The Gymnast

BRINK OF FAME: FILMMAKER

* Ash Christian
* Carter Smith
* Dee Rees
* Jamie Babbitt
* Maurice Jamal
* Soman Chainani

THE KYLIE AWARD: NEXT INTERNATIONAL CROSSOVER

* Leona Lewis
* Robyn
* Sia
* Duffy

BREAKOUT DESTINATION

* Bahia, Brazil
* Granada, Nicaragua
* Tel Aviv, Israel
* Reykjavík, Iceland
* Nuuk, Greenland

BRINK OF FAME: AUTHOR

* T. Cooper
* Perry Moore
* Robert Leleux
* Christopher Barzak
* Tom Dolby

BECAUSE YOU DESERVE AN AWARD

* Ari Gold
* Luke MacFarlane
* Margaret Cho
* Gossip Girl
* Andre J.

GAYGAMER.NET: BEST UPCOMING GAY GAMING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL

* Jeb Havens
* Kyle Gabler
* Brian Sharp

ARJANWRITES.COM: BRINK OF FAME: SONG

* Heloise and the Savoir Faire, “Illusions”
* Hercules and the Love Affair, “Blind”
* Semi Precious Weapons, “Magnetic Baby”
* Chester French, “She Loves Everybody”
* Janelle Monae, “Violet Stars”
* Lady GaGa, “Just Dance”

TOWLEROAD.COM: MOST IMPACTFUL NEWS MOMENT OF THE YEAR

* Al Gore speaks out about same-sex marriage
* Ellen DeGeneres speaks out about the Lawrence King murder
* San Diego mayor says daughter is gay, reverses gay marriage position
* Larry Craig declares he is not gay
* Sally Kern’s taped video: gays worse than terrorists

AFTERELLEN.COM: BEST.LESBIAN.VLOG.EVER

* We’re Getting Nowhere
* Brunch with Bridget
* What’s Your Problem
* She Made Me Watch This
* Come With Me If You Want to Live

AFTERELTON.COM: BEST GAY KISS

* Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and Captain John (James Marsters), Torchwood
* Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd), Torchwood
* Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty Wandell (Luke MacFarlane), Brothers & Sisters
* Shaun (Brad Rowe) and Zach (Travis Wright), Shelter
* Jonah Hill and Andy Samberg’s dad, Saturday Night Live
* Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) and Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann), As The World Turns

OUTSPORTS HALL OF FAME: BEST COLLEGIATE COACH

* Kyle Hawkins, lacrosse coach; Hamburg, Germany, formerly of University of Missouri
* Jenny Allard, softball coach, Harvard University
* Kirk Waller, softball coach, Oregon State University
* Shannon Miller, hockey coach, University of Minnesota at Duluth

DOWNELINK.COM: HOTTEST DOWNE & OUT CHARACTER ON TV

* Rose Rollins (Tasha, The L Word, Showtime)
* Paul James (Calvin, Greek, ABC Family)
* Michael Silas (Step It Up & Dance, Bravo)
* Brad Virata (Survivor, CBS)
* Tila Tequila (A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila, MTV)

Technorati Tags: Logo, NewNowNext, Awards Show, Janet Jackson, Candance Cayne, LGBT

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