The New York Cool Liza Contest www.drgrecords.com We Have Our Winners!

New York Cool has gone to camp and we now have the winners of the New York Cool Channeling Liza Contest. Our three winners will each receive a 2CD "Liza! Liza! The Capital Collection" set AND a set of two tickets to Karen Finley's (the darling of the National Endowment of the Arts) show "Make Love" where Finley "channels Liza Minnelli in song, dance, glamour and glitter" on September 8th - 10th at the Cutting Room (scroll down to the listing at the bottom of this article).

The contestants were asked to write one paragraph about "What Liza Means to Me," giving examples like how channeling Liza gives them the courage to shop at Bergdorf's, wear stilettos to the grocery store, continue to get married against all odds, etc. etc.

So here are our three winners (see their entries below): Diane Del Priore; Suzanne Konopka; and Maya Unger. Be sure to scroll down for the three honorable mentions: John Pelham; Kathleen Warnock; and Joan Wile. And if you didn't win (or did not have the courage to channel your inner Liza and enter), you can always go to the free Liza concert in Brooklyn on August 17, 2006 - see http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Press/2006/jun30a.htm for details.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Put your hands together for the three winners and the three honorable mentions. Long Live Liza!

Diane Del Priore: I had always been a great Judy Garland fan -- even though I am female and straight. In 1969 I had just completed my first year of college as a theatre/performance major, and I was working in Manhattan for the summer. When I heard that Judy had died and that her wake would be in the city, I did one of the nuttiest things that I have ever done (and that includes three marriages): I stood on line for three and a half hours at the Frank E. Campbell's Funeral Home to pay my respects. Liza had made all the arrangements for the funeral and decreed that the yellow rose was to be its official flower. Street hawkers stood clutching bouquets of single yellow stems yelling at the queue on East 81st Street, "Bring a flowa to Judy. Only a dolla." My own mother had died when I was a kid, and I had those 210 minutes or so while snaking toward Campbell's side door to ponder how very together Miss Liza Minnelli was. After all, she was a singer, dancer, actor AND could produce A FUNERAL! I was hoping so much that she would be greeting all those who stopped by, but I never had the chance to give her props (or whatever it was that we did back then.) So, from that day I always thought that Liza was more than the performance triple threat that I could never quite be. She was a really great daughter.

Suzanne Konopka: When I think of the name Liza I automatically think of our town, New York, New York! I also think of the time my mom was with us and we went to see "Liza with a Z" on Broadway. (I still have the big souvenir book they were selling in the lobby). After the show we went to Tad's Steakhouse. The steaks were still as tough as the last time we were there and the line was still out the door! That's New York for you-and that's Liza for you-one tough broad who still belts out a song and still has us coming back for more!

Maya Unger: Whenever I look at a pair of red, bejeweled ballerina shoes, I think of Liza. Whenever I see spider eyelashes and red lips, I think of Liza. Whenever I see a drag queen version of the star, I can't help but think "Wow, it's Liza reincarnate." Where would our society be without her? She defined the word diva. Her romantic life almost trumps the excesses of her career. She has given the world enough fodder for comedy, drama and seriodocumentary. And the true beauty of this personality is her humility. She has never tried to fit inside the narrow folds of Hollywood's celluloid. And thanks to her fans, she never will.

Honorable Mention:

John Pelham: I don't dress in drag that often. But as seldom as the moon is blue, I find the inspiration to flaunt my size sixteen stilettos and wicked black wig, as i proudly display what every gay man wishes to be...LIZA! "Life is a cabaret, old chum, so come to the cabaret" only begins to entice those in desperation of what I have to offer. With jazz hands intact, I belt every last note, and whether Liza would be proud or not, I sell every last ounce of my being to the passion, perfection, and pizazz that is....LIZA! Of course, she's the only one I'd embarass myself for.

Kathleen Warnock: I think of Liza as a survivor, a wounded by valiant soul with big brown eyes and two bad hips, who keeps chugging along, hoping for the best. For that reason, we named our bearded dragon, a rescue who's been badly damaged by life, "Liza." Also, because the dragon runs like a drunk.

Joan Wile: Liza has liberated me from my phobia. As a long-time professional singer, although never having attained the fame that Liza has, I worried a lot about losing my "chops" as I got older. I fretted that I would be embarrassed if I hit a sour note. It was a constant nagging anxiety. But, when I heard Liza sing
at Mayor Bloomberg's inaugaral ceremony outside City Hall last year, all such
worries completely vanished. As I listened to her vibrato wide enough to
sail a ship through, as I noted the hilarious off-key notes she murdered, I
realized that I had nothing to fear.....no singer alive could be that bad! And,
she didn't even look embarrassed!

Here is the listing for the Karen Finley Show: