Torchwood Dominates Gay Visibility Awards

AfterElton.com, a site that covers gay men in the media, and its readers have always been strong supporters of Torchwood, and this morning, we learned the GLBT-friendly sci-fi series won three categories in the 2008 AfterElton.com Visibility Awards:

Favorite TV Drama
Favorite TV Character (Captain Jack Harkness)
Favorite TV Couple (Captain Jack & Ianto)

Notably, Torchwood‘s star, actor John Barrowman, was also rewarded for his literary prowess: his dishy autobiography, Anything Goes (co-written by his sister, Carole E. Barrowman), was named Best Book of 2008. In the category of Man of the Year, Barrowman came in a close second to “The voters who protested after Prop 8 passed.”

In other news:

• The Screen Actors Guild award nominations were announced this morning, and Skins star Dev Patel is up for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Slumdog Millionaire. To me, this is the greatest indication thus far that Patel will get an Oscar nomination; there’s a lot of overlap between SAG and voters in the Motion Picture Academy. Go Dev!(E!)
• Slumdog Millionaire leads the London Film Critics’ Circle award nominations.(Variety)
• Catherine Zeta-Jones is one of Russell T. Davies‘ picks for the next Doctor Who.(Guardian)
• David Tennant is too injured to return to Doctor Who, say The Sun‘s mystery “medics.” Tennant doesn’t seem to want to sit things out: he’s chomping at the bit to do a musical episode before he leaves the series.
• Last of the Summer Wine has been axed, says a producer. Not so, says BBC.
• Gavin & Stacey‘s James Corden is so “besotted” with X Factor winner Alexandra Burke that he has given her a £4,000 Cartier watch. A source tells The Sun: “Although they are texting each other, I can’t see her falling for his charms. He’s not really her type.”
• Ruth Jones says she often argues with James Corden, but never when they’re writing Gavin & Stacey. “We do have an argumentative relationship. We’re so different, he’s so petty. He will wind me up like a younger brother. One time I got upset, I could feel myself having a tantrum. And he started filming me on his phone!”(The Sun)
• Morrissey will be U.S. labelmates with Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Van Morrison, and Elvis Costello.(Yahoo!)
• Morrissey has announced U.S. tour dates in support of his new album, Years of Refusal.(Stereogum)
• Estelle slams Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman for “disrespecting” Dizzee Rascal in a post-election interview.(BBC)
• Brian Eno will score Peter Jackson‘s film adaptation of The Lovely Bones.(Pitchfork)
• Boy George credits David Bowie for giving him the courage to come out. “When I was a little queer boy I was very confused. Then along came this man – David Bowie – and everything seemed to make sense for me, and a lot of other people too, I suppose. I think I had the same impact to people a few years later. I’m very proud of that.” If only he followed Bowie’s lead in staying out of jail and off the rock.(Contact Music)
• Anyone with ears knew this eight years ago: Chris Martin admits Coldplay ripped off the late Jeff Buckley.(NME)
• The world’s most fashionable family is back in London. And Victoria tagged along, too.(The Sun)
• Simon Cowell says he wishes he could have helped Paula Goodspeed, Paula Abdul‘s stalker who committed suicide a few months ago. “You’re talking about a human tragedy. It hit us like an express train. It upset me a lot. My regret in all of this is that we didn’t know how troubled this person was. If I could have gone back in time and known what she was going through, I wish we could have spent time trying to help her. We genuinely didn’t know.”(Daily Mail)
• The Times lists the top 50 British footballers of 2008 – with links to YouTube clips so you can check out their skills. Or just ogle their thighs.