LAS VEGAS—The AVN Awards are known for never having a dull moment, and while the pacing of the show might not have been as crisp as in year’s past, this year’s show was one of the most memorable.
On a night where the adult industry puts its best foot forward, this year was no different, with well more than 2,000 stars dressed to kill and eager to celebrate the best in the business at the 2011 AVN Awards, which took place yesterday at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort.
After an exciting and incredibly active red carpet that stretched the length of the Palms, the stars filed into the sold-out auditorium to begin the show. Raunchy host Lisa Lampanelli had the audience in stitches within moments joking about giant penises, the lack of Asian men in porn, the taste of ass and handicapped porn.
“People don’t understand how hard it is to host the AVNs,” Lampanelli said. “They sent me a huge box of porn to watch to prepare. I gotta tell you somethng—you men have huge dicks! If I had one of them in my face I wouldn’t know if I should suck it or feed it a peanut.”
The evening’s first unscripted moment came courtesy of the larger-than-life Evan Stone, who announced that he had found a performer’s ID card in the lobby. The girl just happened to be seated in the second row and she was able to retrieve it from Stone while on stage. Stone would later take home the trophy for Male Peformer of the Year.
Moments later, in an intriguing case of art imitating life, Jenna Haze, who won the award for Best All-Girl Couples Sex Scene with Monique Alexander from Jennaration X Studios’ Meow, told the audience that Alexander had been her real-life girlfriend and confessed to Alexander “thanks for letting me eat your pussy.” Haze said she’d been nominated in the category eight times and never won.
Co-host Riley Steele also solicited some laughs from the engaged audience when she described the weirdest gift she ever received from a fan. During one of the show’s clip packages, Steele told the tale of attending a store signing in Alaska and a particularly passionate fan brought her a hunk of fresh, bloody deer meat as a sign of affection.
Adult superstar Tera Patrick made a grand return entrance at the Peal Theater to present an award with director Chi Chi LaRue and director/performer Rocco Siffredi. To the delight of onlookers, the power trio is planning on working with each other in March. That’s right, Patrick is reuiniting with LaRue who will be directing her in Sinner Takes All, the same title of her best-selling autobiography. She’ll also be performing with Siffredi.
Also noteworthy was Bluebird Films' English sensation Gemma Massey revealing she'll be diving into performing with men for the first time this year.
Later on, Rocco Reed, Jesse Jane and Alexis Texas introduced a video clip that chronicled the genesis of 3D adult movies from The Stewardess to the industry’s first polarized 3D movie, Octopussy 3D: A XXX Parody. The audience was instructed to put on their 3D glasses, graciously provided by Funky Monkey Movies, and were taken on a journey from the Golden Age of adult cinema to today’s technological marvels like the 2011 AVN Award winner This Ain’t Avatar XXX (Hustler Video).
Sometimes the hottest scenes happen spontaneously. Such was the case with Asa Akira who won for Best Double Penetration Scene, and as she told the tale, the entire d.p. happened by accident.
A few other interesting moments occurred when awards show co-host Tori Black won Female Performer of the Year for the second year in a row, a first in the show’s 28-year history. Will she three-peat? Come back next year and see.
Also, interestingly, Andy San Dimas and India Summer tied for Best Actress for This Ain’t Glee XXX and An Open Invitation: A Real Swinger’s Party in San Francisco, respectively.
The evening’s only gaffes came when Brad Armstrong accidentally thanked the Vivid Girls in the heat of the moment after accepting the trophy for Best Director—Feature for Wicked Pictures’ Speed; and the evening’s musical guests, Speaker Junkies, had technical difficulties that nixed the traditional “Dance of the Starlets.”
However, it was John Stagliano who said it best while accpeting the Reuben Sturman Award for his obscenity victory: “Be proud of what you do or don’t do it.” Looking out on the crowd, you could tell the message reached the thousands of smiling faces who stood together at the adult industry’s crown jewel event of the year.
