LOS ANGELES—Less than 24 hours before tonight’s AVN Awards ceremony, Kira Noir faced a maddening conundrum.
She couldn’t determine what to wear. Outfit after outfit, pose after pose … as the final dress rehearsal approached Friday evening, Noir wasn’t making any progress. So she gave up. Instead of arriving at AVN studios with just one dress, Noir brought five of them.
“I’m going to show them to everybody and have them pick what I’m going wear,” she chuckled. “Because I can’t decide.”
This year more than ever, Noir wants to look her best.
In what she’s dubbed as the highlight of her career to date, Noir will co-host tonight’s awards show presented by MyFreeCams with one of MFC's top models, Skyler Lo. The virtual event begins at 8 PT on AVN Stars.
Noir, who has served as a presenter in the past, admits to getting stage fright when she’s in front of big, live crowds. So the fact that tonight’s ceremony is online will help her stave off some of the butterflies she may have had if the show were in Las Vegas, as usual.
“It will be a lot easier doing it in front of the camera, because I’m used to cameras,” Noir said during an Adult Entertainment Expo panel held via Zoom on AVN Stars Friday afternoon. “I’ve been around the crew before. I know the people, so it won’t be like speaking in front of a crowd of strangers.
“I feel like this gives us a little more freedom to make mistakes. If I have a wardrobe malfunction, I don’t have to turn around and walk off the stage. I can keep my back to the camera and it’s fine. There’s a little more wiggle room with shooting it and streaming it rather than doing it live in front of anyone.”
Lo agreed.
“I’d be terrified to be on stage,” she said. “I think it would be a really cool experience—but this is definitely this is going be a lot easier.”
For both performers, the opportunity to host tonight’s ceremony is something they never would’ve envisioned when they were breaking into the industry four or five years ago.
Noir was working as a stripper in St. Louis in 2015 when she met legendary performer Bonnie Rotten, who was in town to feature dance at her club. Rotten introduced her to a friend who was starting a porn agency. He flew Noir—who was camming and filming amateur content at her home—to Los Angeles to shoot a few scenes. Immediately, she was hooked.
“I fell in love with porn,” Noir said. “My first scene was with Damon Dice. He was so sweet. I was really nervous so he started eating me out before we started making the video—just to make sure that I was really into it. It set the tone of the rest of my career.
“I had so much fun. I didn’t want to stop. I sold everything in St. Louis that I couldn’t fit in my car and drove back to LA. I’ve been here ever since.”
Noir’s career has been on a steady ascension ever since. She’s nominated for Female Performer of the Year—and a slew of other awards—for the third straight year. She looks forward to the day when she can make an acceptance speech and thank her agent, Mark Spiegler. Noir on Friday told an amusing story about her first-ever meeting with the iconic agent.
“I was super nervous,” she said. “I went to his apartment and we were talking about what I wanted to do (with my career). I wasn’t even sure I was talking to the actual Mark Spiegler, because I didn’t know what he looked like until then.
“But Asa Akira and Abella Danger just casually walked into his apartment and sat on his couch. I think they had just come from a workout. I knew who the both of them were. They were famous to me. That’s when I knew he was the real deal.”
Lo, who is one of the top cam performers in the industry and nominated for the Fan-Voted AVN Award for Favorite Female Cam Model tonight, said her career started “as a total accident.”
“It’s something I didn’t think would blow up like this,” Lo said. “I knew nothing about camming. I just built my brand on being me. I instantly fell in love with it. I really enjoy writing my own scripts and coming up with all the outfits and stuff. It’s cool. I love making all my fans happy. I take a little bit (of advice) from what everyone says. I also get a lot of my inspiration from porn.”
Indeed, even though she has no plans to transition into hardcore porn, Lo is very familiar with the business and many of its stars. She’s attended the AVN awards the past four years and was excited for the chance to get to work with Noir.
“I’d seen her on PornHub and thought, ‘Wow, she’s really hot,’” Lo said. “She always had this really cool, chill vibe and I loved it.”
The feeling is mutual, as Noir had been a fan of Lo ever since seeing her on the cover of the AVN's CAMStar magazine.
“When I first met her, it was on a Zoom call,” Noir said. “On that Zoom call, I just saw her face from (the neck) up. I thought ‘Wow, this girl is really pretty. She’s really nice.’ But then I met her in person and saw her tits for the first time. It really registered to me that her body is just insane. So I had to stop what we were doing and address it: I’m sorry I can’t stop staring at your boobs.”
As much chemistry as they’ve built, the performers couldn’t be anymore different in their personal lives. Noir is diehard follower of the Juggalo subculture and rap groups such as Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid and Boondox. Lo lives in Texas and is an avid motorcyclist.
“I’ll walk into a bike shop and they’re like, ‘What are you here for?’” Lo said with a laugh.
One thing both performers share, however, is a passion for making tonight’s AVN Awards as successful and entertaining as possible.
“I’m proud of the kind of show that we’re putting on,” Noir said. “I’m hoping everyone tunes in to see it.”
