Best In Drag Show Celebrity Judges Announced: Lisa Rinna, Harry Hamlin, Kathy Kinney

Photo: Aids for AIDS

Best In Drag Show – the outrageous and long-running annual fundraiser for Aid For AIDS – has announced that Lisa Rinna (Days of Our Lives), Harry Hamlin (Army Wives), Melora Hardin (The Office), Kathy Kinney (The Secret Life of the American Teenager), and Judge Alex Ferrer (Judge Alex) will be part of the celebrity judging panel for the show’s 10th anniversary.  Additional celebrity judges will be announced soon.

Best In Drag Show will be held on October 7, 2012 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.  After a two-year hiatus, event co-founder Patrick Rush will return to host the show.  Jeffrey Drew, long-time lead star throughout the history of Best In Drag Show, will once again direct, choreograph and helm the 2012 production. 

“All of us at Aid for AIDS are grateful to the wonderful celebrity judges who dedicate their time and talents to this very special event.  Their star power helps us raise funds for our programs that serve our Los Angeles neighbors who are suffering with HIV/AIDS,” says Terry Goddard II, Executive Director of Alliance for Housing and Healing, the umbrella organization of Aid for AIDS.  

The 2012 contestants include: Carlos Martinez (Miss California: Fruta Fresca), Lawrence Lucero (Miss Hawaii: Tiny Bubbles), Matthew James Carlin (Miss Louisiana: Miss Clawdette), Keith Lamont (Miss Massachusetts: Anna Robix), Christian Satrustegui (Miss Washington: Tipsy Rose Lee), and Victor Montoya (Miss Indiana: LaFonda Jackson).

Best In Drag Show was originally founded by Alexis Pittman with a small group of friends in his West Hollywood living room in 1989. Then called Battle for the Tiara, the event raised $300, collected from 20 people.  Due to its increasing popularity, the show was moved to subsequently larger venues and has grown into a large and highly-anticipated annual beauty pageant spoof that makes fun of itself, while keeping the focus on giving back to the community.  The current version has run since 2003, and has raised over $2.2 million dollars for Aid for AIDS, in support of the work of the non-profit throughout Los Angeles County to prevent homelessness and hunger for men, women, children, and families with HIV/AIDS.

To purchase tickets, visit: www.bestindragshow.org or call 323-344-4880.