DINA JACOBS CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN SHOW BUSINESS TONIGHT!

Tonight, a major hormonal convergence descends upon Houston, Texas to celebrate Dina Jacobs' 50 anniversary in show biz! An array of pageant title-holders from Dana Douglas, Sweet Savage, Tiffany Arieagus and Tasha Kohl will turn it out for the beloved diva. Since the theme is Disco-Lish-ous, I hope Sweet Savage will electrify with her ridiculously energetic version of Bohannan's Let's Start The Dance. And many of us are familiar with Tiffany's iconic Macarthur Park. I first met Dina in Atlanta, where RuPaul and I both were enchanted and starstruck by her beauty and stage presence. When the bitch did Natalie Cole's Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and opened her hands to display rhinestones glued over all over her hands, we literally beat the walls! A friend of mine saw Dina perform this number in Provincetown a few years ago and said that it was the best drag number they'd ever seen and they actually believed that Dina was singing it. (Despite the fact that there was no microphone in sight.) And 50 years into the business, as my sisters from then and now can attest, Dina has still got it like that. I think Larry Edwards, Electra Jimbuff, Lily White, Charlie Brown, Gilda Golden, Diana Coney, Tisch DeWiliams, Billie Jean Beetem, Cezanne Blincoe, Mimi Marks, Kara Dion will all agree!

I've had the pleasure of getting to know her over the years and Dina has always been a hoot. She's had her share of life's challenges but always comes out smiling and on top. I'll never forget being booked at Honolulu's gay pride and getting to hang for a few days with Dina--Dina is puerto rican but originally from Hawaii. She took me all around to show me great fabric shops, jewelry stores and of course, fried donuts. And you know you've gotten to be good friends with someone when Dina tells you: "I look like a real woman who's a local. Now we're going to take you to the roughest part of Honolulu and I'm going to scream that you called me the hawaiian version of the N-word and let the gangs attack you in my defense." I mean, who gets THAT kind of eclectic tour of Honolulu?

50 years in the fickle entertainment business is nothing to sneeze at. It's a testament to Dina's talent, staying power and loving personality that she's around this long. And she's still knocking them dead in her new home of Houston. I was so very honored to be asked to join the cast for this event but travel plans prevented it. All the best to you, Dina! You know I love you dearly and will close my tribute to you and your timeless magic with Natalie Cole's opening words from Lucy In The Sky. You've entertained so many with this song and this part suits you and your anniversary to a t.

"As we continue along on our journey, in our time machine. Out our window, we pass through many different eras of time. Times when ladies were very, very special. Like Cleopatra. Helen Of Troy. Venus, the goddess of love. And who do we have for the future?"

DINA F#CKING JACOBS, Y'ALL! KNOCK 'EM DEAD TONIGHT! (That's just an expression. Don't actually die, you old heifer!)