Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Lexi Ainsworth comes from a father who is a dentist and a mother who is a teacher. She is definitely armed with a brilliant smile and natural intelligence. She more than likely achieved those on her own. While attending an acting boot camp in Los Angeles she caught the attention of an agency who sent her out on her first national commercial audition which she subsequently shot for Barbie. After other commercials and industrials she acquired the roles of Caroline in the AFI short film Caroline Crossing and Grace Budd, the child lead in the independent film The Gray Man. She has also co-starred in the NBC television series Medical Investigation with Kelly Williams and had the recurring role of Tille on WB's Gilmore Girls. Most recently she won the role of Molly in Universal's Feature film Wild Child where she plays Emma Roberts' little sister. Nowadays she appears on the small screen as General Hospital's Kristina, the offspring of two of the show's more powerful characters. Lexi lived up to her great reputation when she unexpectedly came to POZ's fundraising event last week in Hollywood. This young lady who holds much promise lit up the evening.

Making a seamless transition from SOAPnet's General Hospital: Night Shift into Pine Valley Amanda Baker joined the cast of All My Children in the role of Babe Carey in October 2007. This charming belle from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina certainly knows how to make an impression. Charity must be her middle name, because she devotes a lot of her time to a variety including: Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and L.A. Works. Her performances in March 2008 at Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS with many of her colleagues from ABC Daytime attested to her vocal talents. Her rendition of "Impossible" is a stand out from the evening. It's all about sweet charity.

Website: Official Amanda Baker

Brandon Barash is armed with a certain kind of panache that could not but give bright life to one of General Hospital's many bad boys, Johnny Zacchara. Brandon fell in love with acting while still in high school and this love for his craft has blessed us with his presence on television from The Gilmore Girls to 24, NCIS and now General Hospital. His dedication to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is well known and indicates a dedicated and kind individual. He has actually found time for POZ's efforts to raise funds for AIDS Walk Los Angeles. This is his second year in a row that he will be with the event. Many will be looking foward to his appearance in the company of co-star Lisa LoCicero. His fans will get the chance to greet the disarmingly charming Mr. Barash at Hollywood's H-Wood.

This native of Eugene, Oregon is also a native of the very intuitive and creative sign of Pisces who admits to having a crazy imagination since childhood. Still he didn’t seriously consider acting until much later. Instead, he played sports in high school and earned small scholarships to several colleges for track. However, upon graduating he opted to forsake higher education in favor of heading to New York when a modeling agency offered him work in the fashion industry. Although it paid the bills, Beemer felt unfulfilled by the strike-a-pose scene and began taking acting. His legions of fans are very happy that he did. No sooner did he leave the hour glass town of Salem on Days of Our Lives than he landed on The Bold & The Beautiful. Bold and beautiful indeed! Having this talented young man with us for the second year in a row will make it more than memorable, a landmark evening with a good man for a good cause.

Visit his official site here!

The beauty of Thom Bierdz is that he has evolved from a TV teen heartthrob into a consummate artist. The journey has taken him beyond tragedy and into a new life as an award winning author and a recipient of the Thalians' "Key to the Light" award.

What this says about him is that he is a survivor and a survivor is exactly what this event calls for. On his coming out of the closet: "I'm no hero here because I did not come out when my career was going strong and I could have made an impact. I came out when my career was at its lowest and I did it for sanity -- my sanity in order to make my world mesh with the 'real' world, I had to find equilibrium. I had to find my truth and stand for all that I am. And a big part of me is being gay. I've have always been more comfortable in the gay world." Well, Thom is back on The Young and The Restless in a landmark return. He may not be a hero in his own mind, but this brave and gentle soul's life has evolved into one that can inspire. We're glad that Thom will be joining the POZ team at H-Wood on October 15th.

The strikingly beautiful Nadia Bjorlin has mighty fine references from a couple of might fine people: Patrika Darbo (ex-Nancy, Days) has seen firsthand the closeness of the Bjorlin family. Darbo attended a family get-together, and was amazed by the talent in the house. "They are absolutely incredible people who have graciously taken us into their family. There's a lot of love there." Adds Kevin Spirtas, who played Craig on Days: "Nadia knows where she's at and where she's headed. She has great inner strength...I think she has a big future if she chooses to keep doing it. She has quite a gift." Love Out Loud West has the good fortune of having this extraordianry person with us on October 15, at H.Wood in Hollywood. While Nadia was ranked # 3 on TV Guide's list of Soaps' Sexiest Women, it certainly isn't her biggest claim to fame. She keeps busy by guest appearances and working on film in addition to her role on Days of Our Lives. She has a crystal clear soprano singing voice, she won first place in the Metro Lyric Opera Competition in New York City. She has now lent us her voice for the second year in a row. We are proud to have this exceptional young woman with us once more!

Where: H-Wood, 1738 N. Orange Los Angeles, CA 90028

Visit her official site.

Actor Matteo "Matt" Borlenghi, spent some of his childhood in Italy, a dual US-Italian citizen, the very talented man was born in Los Angeles, California. Matt studied his craft at a variety of schools including Lee Strasberg Institute, Beverly Hills Playhouse and Tracy Roberts Actors Studio. Borlenghi is no stranger to daytime drama series having starred in All My Children as Brian Bodine opposite Kelly Ripa's Hayley, on The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives. He has recently been cast as a member of the Cassadine Family in ABC’s stalwart, General Hospital. He has had numerable guest appearances on television, notably as Russ Francis on The Jeff Foxworthy Show. His film roles include the Nick Cassavetes film Alpha Dog and the independent film Bloody Mary. His own new creation is the independent film Jack Rio in collaboration with director Gregori J. Martin. He will be joining Love Out Loud at H-Wood on October 15th with one of the producers of that film Sean Kanan. Come meet the exceptional Matt Borlenghi as he donates his valuable time to a good cause.

Visit his official site.

Love Out Loud West had the good fortune to have Patrika Darbo as the evening's MC in 2008. Her good friend and former co-star, Kevin Spirtas, called her and she was there for us in record time. Days of Our Lives aficionados know her as the ruthless Nancy Wesley. She has amassed feature film credits in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Hatchet, Charlie Wilson's War, In the Line of Fire, Leaving Normal, Corinna, Corinna and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. She also was the voice of one of the sheep in Babe. Her TV movie credits include  She also starred as Aunt Penny in Step By Step, Gilmore Girls, Wedding Bells, Unfabulous and The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman. She also guest-starred in Seinfeld, Sisters, and General Hospital.

She has won numerous awards including Favorite Newcomer in 1999 at the Soap Opera Digest Awards, she was voted as TV GUIDE'S 16 Sexiest People in Television for 1999-2000 season. In 2006 Darbo was on tour with Del Shores' stage production of "Sordid Lives" in which she appeared in the original production 10 years ago.  Accolades aside, generosity and giving seem to be part of this good woman's DNA we are to tell you. With so much on her agenda she is here for AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Her upbeat personality is sure to make this evening of giving memorable.

We heard from Adam today that he and Carrie Southworth will be at the fund-raiser this evening at H.Wood, What follows is our post from last year when Adam came on board as a star of GH's Nightshift. "The Generous Mr. Grimes:

generous
Function: adjective
1 giving or sharing in abundance and without hesitation … Synonyms bounteous, bountiful, charitable, free, freehanded, liberal, munificent, openhanded, unselfish, unsparing

Adam Grimes took up acting because he was inspired by his high school drama teacher. It is now this Vermont native’s turn to do the inspiring and inspire he does as General Hospital: Night Shift's Doctor Kyle Julian. He is a member of the long-form comedy group, Supermodel, as well as an alumnus of 10 West Improvisational Theater indicating that this is a rising talent with range and versatility. Add generous to his many attributes, because it didn’t take much for him to agree to be part of Love Out Loud West's "Soaps in the City" on October 16th at East/West Lounge in West Hollywood.

Jack Myers, who also posts on the Huffington Post, had more than one encouraging word bout Adam’s current place of work:

“The stories of these characters may not be ground-breaking, but they are totally engaging, some in a fun and relaxed way, others on a level of surprising emotional connection. The same holds for the many different patients who move through the hospital in every episode, often touching the lives of the doctors and nurses with whom they interact. For example, tonight’s episode further explores the difficult relationship between brothers Leo and Kyle when they become caught up in a conflict between a young woman seeking to honor the wishes of her dying partner and the partner’s homophobic parents.

I’ll close with another line I’m surprised to find myself writing: Night Shift is such a pleasant surprise that I wish SOAPnet would run it one night a week all year long! It has made Port Charles fun again.”

Ilene Kristen a New Yorker through and through has lived in just about everywhere there. She found herself living on the Upper West Side for some of her formative years. As many an urban child, especially of that era, she and her sister were given directives regarding which streets could be traveled.

One street that had 100% permission for her young adventures was Broadway, which served as inspiration for the luminous and joyous noise she gave forth in a duet of Boogaloo Down Broadway after her show one evening at the Triad where she often performs.

Ilene's shows are full of reminiscences in which she relates to her audience as if they were in her living room. She herself says so. Nonetheless her music is sultry, smooth and funky at one and the same time. Still this smoothness wraps itself around complex and sensitive lyrics in her original material. As fortune would have it, one of her songs "Flesh & Blood" is found on the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Recording One Life Many Voices that she and her co-stars from One Life to Live have put together.

"Hold on to the earth with your own two hands and never say goodbye" are the lyrics she wrote in response to The World Trade Center tragedy and the loss of her good friend Nancy Addison from Ryan's Hope. Speaking of inspiration, Ilene Kristen's fans would do her and themselves a great service in encouraging her to record more of her moving and intelligent sounds in a project all her own.

She has lost many friends to AIDS and is very much impacted by the disease which has now ravaged the world for over twenty five years. It's no wonder that this vibrant, diminutive powerhouse was the very first to commit to our fundraiser. To know her is to love her.

Website: The Official Ilene Kristen Website

"The tale of how Sherri has come to a place in her life where she can help women living with HIV seems one part VH1: Behind the Music, another part Ripley's Believe It or Not! From her California home, she shares her many-layered saga, hoping that it will inspire—and protect." (Kellee Terrell)

Read about her story here: HIV: Behind the Music

It was only natural for Sherri to join us and she readily accepted when asked. She is the host of the pod cast, Straight Girl in A Queer World and is an inspiration as an AIDS Activist in Hollywood having come up from the trenches. She is the kind of person that shows that getting and staying well is what this struggle is all about. She has moved forward by virtue of living a life that looks back only to help learn what the future is all about.

Website: Straight Girl in a Queer World

Kate Linder joined the cast of The Young and The Restless in April, 1982, as Esther Valentine, confidante and housekeeper to Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper). On April 10, 2008, Linder was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lee Phillip Bell and Jeanne Cooper spoke at her well-attended ceremony.

She was named celebrity spokesperson for The ALS Association in 2005 and recently established Kate's Club to get fans and other actors involved in the fight against ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, following her brother-in-law's ALS diagnosis. Linder is also active with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, among other charities, and has visited troops on USO tours to Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Korea and Guantanamo Bay in addition to military bases in the United States Linder is a founding member of TV Cares, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences AIDS awareness and fundraising arm. She was also the only daytime actress to be featured in Portraits of Life with Love, a coffee table book published to raise funds for various AIDS organizations.

In addition to her role on the daytime drama, Linder also works as a United Airlines flight attendant, flying mostly on weekends. She was also the first daytime celebrity to compete in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach's Pro/Celebrity Race. She is married to Ronald Linder, a leading expert and author on drug abuse. The couple, married on Valentine's Day in 1976. Kate is well known and very much respected among her peers and we are blessed to have her on our team. Come out to say hello to this great lady on October 15th.

If there is anyone who can carry off the ominous character of Olivia Falconeri it is the formidable actress Lisa LoCicero. The natural beauty has been on screens big and small for the last fifteen years. She has been on three ABC Daytime Serials. Seems at least in this case the Alphabet Network is taking advantage of a good thing. The Michigan native is once again part of the AIDS Walk Los Angeles launch party sponsored by POZ magazine.

About.com has this to say: Beautiful, sexy, but tough, Lisa LoCicero started in daytime as Jocelyn Roberts Brown on Loving in its final season, and then stayed with the character when the show was spun off as The City. When The City ended in 1997, she moved into film (The Family Man, Rush Hour 2) and television roles... In 2001, after [the birth of her son] she took a small break, doing voice overs. From 2004-2007, she played the role of Maria Storm in the series Reno 911! In 2004, she also appeared on One Life to Live as Sonia Toledo Santi. In the fall of 2008, LoCicero again entered daytime as Olivia Falconeri, Kate Howard's cousin, on General Hospital, and has proven to be immensely popular with the fans.

She is definitely immensely popular with those fans who support the fight against HIV/AIDS. We look forward to seeing her.

David Moretti does indeed look like an Italian movie star as someone once opined. Perhaps it’s because his surname comes from Italy. Wherever his origins are, the man seems to be doing all the right things. He is the star of here! TV's The Lair and the purveyor of his own web log on gaywired.com. From his website: [he likes] the idea of being part of the new movement in gay television. "I'm proud to be part of a show that is entertaining our culture. Gay heroes and villains are a concept not often explored and here! should be commended for being the first network to make it happen." Since debuting on The Lair, Moretti has also appeared as a guest star on Dante's Cove.

He admits to being happier now than ever before. "I have the best of both worlds. I get to step outside of myself and play different characters on the set each day and then when I head home, I actually respect the person I see in the mirror." Speaking of respect, he has earned some in these parts. He attended POZ's Love Out Loud New York on May 13th and now he will be joining us for our West Coast fund-raiser Ganzo! Gaiardo! Bono!

The great American songbook is too rarely approached with the unique blend of honesty, inventiveness, and reverence that John Pagano accords it on his [recording] Pure Imagination. From conception to execution, Pure Imagination is a refreshing, even daring journey, encompassing twelve timeless, classic songs – setting well-known standards alongside more unexpected, revealing selections. Pagano is quick to note that Pure Imagination was approached as a genuine creative release. “I wasn’t trying to follow guidelines,” he explains. “For years I’ve dealt with record companies telling me what to do. This CD is the sound of me making the decisions myself, experiencing the freedom of being able to be creative without someone else calling the shots.”

John Pagano is a name familiar to many fans of Burt Bacharach as the male vocalist with Burt’s band. On his new CD, Pure Imagination, Pagano steps out on his own with a collection of classic songs in the timeless style of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Chet Baker. Backed by a 40-piece orchestra, Pagano lends his vocal talents to 12 songs including "Let’s Fall in Love," "Night and Day," "Time After Time," "Call Me Irresponsible" and the title track, written by Bricusse-Newley as the main theme for the film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."

Of special interest to Bacharach fans, Pure Imagination includes two tracks produced by Bacharach and featuring Bacharach himself on piano–"Any Day Now" and "This Guy’s In Love With You." Pagano also performs Bacharach’s classic "Wives and Lovers" on the CD. For more information about John and Pure Imagination, visit www.myspace.com/johnpagano or johnpagano.com. [source: Bacharachonline.com]

John has once more lent his name and talent to POZevent. We are proud to have him as a friend.

David Moretti never lets you down. He said he would bring a surprise to Love Out Loud on October 15th at H.Wood and the surprise was ... Jai Rodriguez. Native New Yorker Rodriguez has many talents and puts them all to good use. He is part of the cast of the very current indie gay film Oy Vey My Son Is Gay, premiering this very evening in Los Angeles. he co-stars with John Lloyd Young.


His imdb bio tells us: Jai is a talented actor, singer and dancer who most recently starred in the lead role of Zanna in the off-Broadway musical hit Zanna, Don't! Jai joined the production after a long stint on Broadway as Angel in the Tony Award-winning musical Rent. Jai is also a fixture among the hip NYC social set, regularly performing his solo act in the newest and hottest nightspots. On Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (2003), Jai uses all aspects of his professional training and skills as a performer plus his social charisma to coach straight subjects on everything from mixing 'n mingling in a social setting, to conversation skills, and to being at ease on the dance floor. Jai got into singing because when he was younger, he sang in a black gospel choir at church. He then got into acting by acting in school plays quite often.

The young and beautiful native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Taylor Spreitler made her debut in the entertainment business at the tender age of six, winning, no less, a statewide talent and beauty contest. After competing at the national level, she and her Mom were quickly approached by several agents. The following summer Taylor hit the bright lights of New York City in ads for Saks 5th Avenue, Macy’s, Lands End, Avon, McCall's, Brides, Parents Magazine and Junior Magazine while landing the cover of Child Magazine. Once she made a very natural transition into acting, Taylor booked her very first audition, a national campaign for Motrin. It didn’t take long before she was seen in many more and eventually landing a notable guest-starring role on Law & Order:SVU. This mult-talented young woman is also known for being an accomplished singer. Since January she has been seen as Mia on NBC’s Days of Our Lives.

From Soap Opera Digest: Greg Vaughan, a self-proclaimed mama's boy, was born and raised in Dallas. While in high school, he began modeling to raise a few bucks. Upon graduation, however, a top modeling agency in Milan came calling, and Vaughan headed to the runways of Italy. There, he booked a campaign for legendary designer Giorgio Armani. That was soon followed with work on the Gianni Versace Versus campaign and jobs on high-profile campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Banana Republic. After three years abroad ... Vaughan moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Almost immediately, he was signed by an agent and landed several TV guest appearances before snagging a regular role on the Aaron Spelling prime-time sudser Malibu Shores. Shortly thereafter, Vaughan went on to a recurring role on Beverly Hills 90210 and then starred on Charmed for one season. Daytime came knocking in 2002 …
General Hospital's Lucky Spencer cut quite the figure looking like Greg Vaughan who has played the character the longest from 2003 until now. Is it the cleft chin? Is it the unique hue of his eyes? Greg Vaughan who is thus blessed is not the first man to capture the imagination with exceptional looks yet it is not only that vision that keeps his many fans smitten, but it is his innate ability as well that has kept them tuned in to the roles he plays. Those fans who have met him will readily tell you that he is also blessed with obvious warmth and sincerity. He is bringing all of that to H-Wood on Octber 15th for POZ's fund-raiser for AIDS Walk Los Angeles.