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Community Corner

D'Amico Wins Who's Who Award [Photos]

The councilman is one of 16 honored by local gossip blog Weho Confidential at its first ever awards show.

Councilman John D’Amico, The Abbey, Revolver and Fiesta Cantina were some of the winners at Weho Confidential's first annual Who’s Who Awards Monday night.

About 150 people came out to Robertson, a nightclub behind the Factory on N. Robertson Boulevard, for the ceremony, hosted by drag queen Jackie Beat. The 16 awards, voted on by readers of the Weho gossip website, included "Freshest Face," "Coolest New Business," "Favorite VIP Gayte Keeper," "Hottest GoGo," and "Most Beloved Weho Council Member."

The ceremony was lighthearted. Beat told the crowd the only reason she was there hosting was because “they promised me a foot-long meatball sandwich.” Even the trophy handed out was tongue in cheek – a 40-ounce bottle of Miller Light spray painted gold and glued to a block of wood.

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The crowd seemed to have fun, dancing and getting into the spirit of the occasion. Several people said they were there for the party and to support Weho Confidential founder Lucas John.

“This was the best party to come to on a Monday night,” said one attendee. “Lucas was smart to do it on a Monday.”

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The awards also brought out three city officials – Mayor John Duran, Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Prang and D’Amico, all three of whom were nominated for "Most Beloved Weho City Council Member." The other two council members – Abbe Land and John Heilman – were also nominated, but did not attend.

Duran greeted the crowd with a mock State of the Union address, jokingly telling attendees there was a severe shortage of tops and an oversurplus of bottoms in the city.

Weho Confidential’s Lucas John was delighted the three council members showed up, saying it gave extra cache to the evening. One of nine people who ran for the three open council seats last March, John said it was a result of that election campaign that he became friends with Duran, Prang and D'Amico.

“We brought in all facets of the community tonight. We had three council members, we had drag queens, we had the young kids and longtimers too,” John told Patch. “We had the future of America all under one roof tonight and it was brilliant. I couldn’t have asked for anything else. Tonight is the best night of my life.”

Most award winners did not make a speech other than to say thank you. Beat told the crowd, “There are no losers here tonight."

However, founder David Cooley did take his time at the podium upon winning "#1 Night Club," the final award of the evening. He urged people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election.

“Don’t forget when we have those elections to get out there and vote and keep Barack Obama and those Democrats in office,” Cooley said. “Focus everyone. Put your drink down election night. Get out of the bar and vote.”

For his part, D’Amico seemed truly humbled by the win for "Most Beloved Weho Council Member." He merely thanked the crowd when he took the stage to accept his trophy. However, afterward, he did tell Patch, “I think Lucas John is a superstar. I’m honored that his website and the people who read it thought enough to vote for me.”

When asked why the Weho Confidential site, which started in April 2010, decided to do the awards ceremony, John told Patch, “West Hollywood, I’ve learned through analytics on our website, is very poll driven. They love to vote, they love to be nominated, they love the ceremony.”

He went on to say, “A lot of us missed our high school years. We couldn’t bring our gay date to the prom or we didn’t know how to ask one. This is us, reliving our high school, reliving our glory days, taking back those times we didn’t get.”

John reported that his site had 522,000 readers in December. He added that more people voted for the Who’s Who Awards than voted in the West Hollywood City Council election in March.

Below is a list of the winners of the evening:

Freshest Face

  • Shawn Smith

Coolest New Business Award

  • Revolver

Favorite VIP Gatekeeper

  • Lanny Leyda of Here Lounge

Hottest Go-Go

  • Steven Dehler

Best Downtown Personality

  • DownTown Melissa Brown

#1 DJ

  • Brynn Taylor

#1 Street Personality

  • Rosas Lady

Favorite Local Performing Artist

  • Mike Munich

Most Beloved Weho Council Member

  • John D’Amico

Favorite Gay Bar

  • Fiesta Cantina

Local Porn Star

  • Travis James

Best Bartender

  • Pawel of The Abbey

Favorite Weekly Event

  • Stripper Circus at Here Lounge

Weho’s Fiercest Queen

  • Willam Belli

Top Weho Socialite

  • JP Calderon

#1 Night Club:

  • The Abbey

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