Boy George came back first and talked about his do-it-yourself lifestyle project, which he dubbed as "the anithesis of Martha Stewart," encompassing singles released under the name "The Twin" and a related Rude fashion line/DVD. He thinks the New York scene gets over music too fast, yet is full of too much "nostalgic music" saying that he's heard Michael Jackson's "Thriller" enough times. George finds the assimilation of gay culture quite humorous with shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy all presenting the same image of gay men with no real diversity. He refuses the mold and labels himself queer.
When asked about his makeup, Boy Gorge said he left his makeup kit in Larry Tee's DJ booth so he went to Walgreens' and bought everything. Walgreens proved to be a common theme of the night with Lady Bunny mentioning that "Someone said they saw Paris Hilton in Walgreens, can you believe that? And then I tried to get condoms and they were all out." Paris, winning for best celebrity DJ, said that she wears "Pink MAC nailpolish" when she DJs. As a DJ, she plays all her favorite songs off Madonna, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears CDs and that her new single "Screwed" is like "Cyndi Lauper meets Blondie." Boy George, ever the witty DJ, added that the DanceStar lineup was strange saying that he "never thought I'd be put underneath a hotel."
Lady Bunny kicked off an interesting topic of discussion saying that she would "have loved to see a black diva on stage tearing it up" like "Barbara Tucker, Vernessa Mitchell, Crystal Waters, Ultra Nate or Kristine W." She said that the music nominated represents "what straight white people" are listening to. Gramma Funk chimed in saying that "it's ironic that black women are so strong as vocalists but not represented on this stage." Frankie Knuckles ageed, saying that the missing element made the event seem "a little homogenized for a lack of better description." Lady Bunny said that the artists are not the focus because there were no dance artists on major labels in this country and that dance music is so producer-driven that "artists aren't groomed and their song is being played everywhere but you never know who the artist is." Gramma Funk furthered this saying that DanceStar "being on a major channel could open the eyes of the mainstream people to our music." If dance music didn't take off like hip-hop music, it will still live on, Frankie added saying that he survived the rise and fall of disco and is still here.
The next group was producers Gabriel & Dresden, Moby, Paul Van Dyk and Carl Cox, who got a bit more political. Dave Dresden started off, saying that "making an impact on peoples' life positively through music has always been a dream of mine and it's becoming a reality." Paul Van Dyk talked about his involvement with Rock the Vote, saying that being a German citizen and politically engaged helps him get the point of voting across to people. When he "started DJing, the DJ was the geek in the corner while the people are having fun and now things have changed and people are interested what I say." Electronic music artists becoming spokespeople for Rock the Vote and other political/social groups is essential because "people in the US are not interested in politics and that's why something like the RAVE act could pass." Moby quoted figures that only 15% of people aged 18-24 voted in the 2000 election. He added that "people are complaining but not voting." Carl Cox compared the US politics to the UK political scene 10 years ago that it was absolutely essential that "young people get involved for change."
