For a season that was the least viewed in the history of Getting Ready, which relied heavily on footage from past stage cabaret shows (for the 16-part The Cat & Judy Collection webisodes) and the series' supporting cast and guest stars, subscribers who cast their votes for Season 7's best of went with a historical choice for Best Webisode and fan favorites for the performance and technical categories.
For the sake of history and from a couple of requests I will list past winners for each category and a statement about the current honoree(s).
For Best Webisode, historically viewer's have gone with the more intimate webisodes as their ultimate favorite for any given season. Three times in the history of the series and awards has a collaborative webisode won the top category (Season 2,4 & 5 winners) or the winning webisode has been one so far off the beaten path of the rest of the season's nominees that it stands out with the voters. Usually, if it is just Cassone and/or Cassone with Miss Bea it has gotten more resonance with viewers. Miss Bea is golden! She is definitely the most winningest pooch we've ever known. Past winners for Best Webisode have been: 17: The Shower Webisode (season 1); 35: The Rum & Pups with Nancy Ross Webisode (season 2); 68: Hump Day Getting Ready (season three); 85: The Madison Avenue Collection, Part Eight (season 4); 116: Breakfast at the Courtyard Cafe (season 5) & 144: All About Miss Bea (season 6). I believe with season 7's winner it was a combination of both elements that really drove it home. The winner was the most viewed by far for season 7 and given the storyline, it defitnitely filled the intimacy bill for viewers.
Best Supporting Player's category was very important for season 7, as the circumstances in the Best Webisode winner showed the entire season ended up relying heavily on the ensemble to carry on - in the spirit of 'the show must go on.' And with the help of Cat & Judy, it did carry on and I was happy to see that at least their webisodes got some play with voters in this category. So much so that it was the closest race in my award's history, producing a TIE! (The first ever in a competition category for the Cassone Channel Honors). Past winners are: Diva Kingsley (season 2); The Lady Fancy (season 3); Michael Bannon/Michelle Andrews (season 4); Nancy Ross (season 5) & Mama Theresa (season 6).
For Best Guest Star it was a runaway win for Season 7's winner. Unlike the Best Supporting Player, which was the closest ever - this category had over 70% of voters in agreement. Past winners in this category are: Nancy Ross (seasons 2 & 4); Tonna McKenzie (season 3); Marilyn Powers (season 5) & Bertha Quake (season 6).
Best Technical Achievement beginning with season 7 is now a competition category. Past winners from when it was a Juried category are: Diva Kingsley (season 2 & 4); David Bork; Gus Sanchez, Sharde Ross, Mike "Smurf" Lennon & Tonna McKenzie (season 5); Mama Theresa & Mark Rosen (season 6).
Now I am proud to reveal to you the winners for the best of Season 7 of Getting Ready.
...And the winner is...
BEST WEBISODE - SEASON 7
*146: DON’T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED
Miss Bea, performer; Walter McCoy, location producer; Bitches ‘n’ Studs Grooming, Miss Bea’s stylist; Antonio Cassone, performer, producer, director, concept & editor.
BEST SUPPORTING PLAYER (tie)
*THE LADY FANCY
*MAMA THERESA
BEST GUEST STAR
*DIVA KINGSLEY, “155: Independence Day, Part Two,” “168: Stompin’ at the Biz, Part One”
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
*THE LADY FANCY, wig stylist/makeup, “The Cat & Judy Collection, Parts 1-16 (various webisodes)”
WALTER MCCOY LIFE LEGEND AWARD
*MISS TWIGGY
CONGRATULATIONS to the WINNERS!
Notes of Interest:
With 6 career Cassone Channel Honors wins, Diva Kingsley is the most winningest individual in the award's history. Steven Albert commented, "Diva Kingsley is the Meryl Streep of drag!" A huge compliment. Now that Bitches 'N' Studs Grooming has a win under their belt, Brianna Bragg is the 'Susan Lucci' of the Cassone Channel Honors with 6 nods and no wins - yet.
Season 8 nominations will be made public here on this blog come Thursday, June 3rd, with voting details.
Search for all the webisodes and so much more at the channel:
http://www.youtube.com/cassone2007
