December 17

Celine Dion, She Went On and On

By MELENA RYZIK

New York Times
Published: December 17, 2007

LAS VEGAS — For the final performance of “A New Day,” Celine Dion’s show at Caesars Palace here last weekend, M J Wylie, 49, a health-care consultant from Denver, decided to go formal.

She wore a floor-length black gown and a sparkly white shawl; around her neck was a silver pendant in the shape of the show’s first logo, an elongated figure of a woman.

Inside her $3,400 Judith Leiber clutch, bought at the gift shop adjacent to the theater and also bedazzled with the logo, were several autographed photos of Ms. Dion with Ms. Wylie.

It was an undeniably elegant ensemble; the only problem, Ms. Wylie said, was that her dress hid her commemorative “New Day” tattoo.

It was her 62nd time at the show.

On Saturday night about 4,000 fans bid farewell to “A New Day,” which has been running in the custom-built Colosseum theater at Caesars since March 25, 2003.

November 19

Gay Mexican cowboys still semi-underground
Vaquero contest is largely an outlet for immigrant men to express themselves without fear

By Alison Satake, Bay Area News Group correspondant

Backstage in the dressing room, the nervous energy was high as each cowboy primped before a vanity mirror.

For some, like "Antonio Rios," the nerves came from more than a little stage fright.

"Antonio Rios is 24," said the worker from the avocado orchards of Michoacán, Mexico, who is actually 21.

He assumes the fake identity when he goes to gay clubs. "I don't like using my personal name because my family and straight friends don't know I'm gay," he said. "People might come looking for me at work, too."

Despite his coyness, there's one thing Rios is not shy about: his quest for the title of Mr. Gay Vaquero 2007.