Celebrities Visit Philly for 2012 U.S. Mr. Gay Competition

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Brotherly Love will be packed with star power on November 18 – 19, 2011 for the annual U.S. Mr. Gay Competition, produced in Philly for the second consecutive year by Bruce Yelk and Nightlifegay.com.  Several openly gay and allied celebrities will participate in two competition events during this year's U.S. Mr. Gay Competition – the opening event on Friday, November 18th at Woody's (202 S. 13th St) and the main event on Saturday, November 19th at Voyeur Nightclub (1221 St. James St).  Celebrity judges for the main event on Saturday night include TJ Kelly from LOGO's The A-List: New York, Courtney Thomas (Miss Pennsylvania 2010), Claire Buffie (Miss New York 2010) and Pretty Poison's Jade Starling.

Day 1 includes a welcome reception and opening party hosted by TruTV's Scott Nevins and NY Ink's Rober Chinosi, followed by the introduction of contestants and first round of preliminary competition – Q & A.  During Q & A, each contestant answers one question, which is scored the basis of overall personality, public speaking, audience interaction / response and their ability to effectively convey their position on matters of importance to the LGBT community.  Scores from the Q & A carry-over to Day 2 and represent one-third of each contestant's total preliminary score.

At 9 PM on Saturday, November 19th, the main event will begin with a crowd-pleasing live performance by Jade Starling, followed by the two remaining preliminary rounds – Evening Wear and Swim Wear.  The scores from all three preliminary categories are aggregated to identify the Top 5 finalists.  Then, scores are wiped clean and the Top 5 each answer one final question to determine the winner.    

In addition to naming the overall U.S. Mr. Gay, titles for Mr. Fitness, Mr. Congeniality and Mr. Philanthropy are also awarded at the end of Day 2.  The weekend of events will be hosted by Philly's own drag superstar, Ms. Brittany Lynn.

The U.S. Mr. Gay Competition is designed to identify a well-rounded, respected, accomplished and charitable representative for openly gay men throughout the country.  The winner of the U.S. competition qualifies to compete for the title of International Mr. Gay (IMG) against national champions from all over the world. The IMG Competition is the largest and oldest running international contest to select an ambassador or spokesman to support the mission of the sponsoring nonprofit corporation, the Noble Beast Foundation.

Nightlifegay.com's involvement, as well as the enthusiasm of our sponsors, and a very warm reception from Philadelphia's regional LGBT community created unparalleled interest and visibility for last year's U.S. Mr. Gay Competition. 22 contestants participated, and over 700 fans attended the opening party and main event. The success of last year's competition has set the table for an even bigger and more exciting competition weekend this November.

With a year of experience under his belt, Yelk believes that the U.S. Mr. Gay Competition in Philadelphia will again raise the event's profile and visibility. "We built a lot of momentum in 2010. Philadelphia's regional LGBT community members opened their arms wide and embraced the opportunity to be the first east coast host for U.S. Mr. Gay," said Yelk. "But last year was just the beginning, and 2011 will be bigger, better, and more fabulous."

For more information about the U.S. Mr. Gay Competition, visit www.nightlifegay.com. To book your trip to Philadelphia for the U.S. Mr. Gay Competition and view the local LGBT visitor's guide, go to www.visitphilly.com. 

SOURCE Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation