Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth announcing the Emmy noms

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• The ever-adorable (and gay-friendly) Ewan McGregor got a bit gay for the cover of Angeleno magazine, on which he's seen embracing a shirtless man. Gotta love the guy!

• South Carolina is So Confusing: The hubbub over the London-based "South Carolina is So Gay" ads is getting out of control. My favorite part is the response of Republican Senator David Thomas, who feigned concern for gay and lesbian travelers when he condemned the ad, saying, "They'll get off the plane and say, 'Where are the gay beaches?' and no one will know what they are talking about." Uh, yeah, Dave. That's exactly why you're concerned.

• Former Olympic figure skater Ryan O'Meara came out recently and Gay.com interviewed him about his life and career. And while Ryan has plenty of adorable pics of himself with friends over on his online album, I simply could not not post this shot of his cat, Louie:

• In music news: After 30 years together, The Police are playing their final show ever on August 7th at Madison Square Garden, and they've asked gay rockers The B-52s to open for them. Is that the strangest but kind of most awesome combo? The show is being held as a benefit for public television and there's an auction going on for VIP seats.

• H&R Block is reimbursing gay couples who were unable to complete their 2007 tax returns using their tax software, which did not recognize civil unions (forcing the couples to have their taxes done by tax associate, which is more costly).

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

George Michael fans will be happy to know that his career is experiencing a new life. He recently announced the dates of his upcoming American tour.

June 17 - San Diego/San Diego Sports Arena
June 19 - San Jose, CA/HP Pavilion
June 21 - Las Vegas/MGM Grand
June 22 - Phoenix/US Airways Center
June 25 - Los Angeles/Great Western Forum
July 2 - Seattle/Key Arena
July 4 - Vancouver/General Motors Place
July 7 - St. Paul/Xcel Energy Center
July 9 - Chicago/United Center
July 13 - Dallas/American Airlines Center
July 14 - Houston/Toyota Center
July 17 - Toronto/Air Canada Centre
July 18 - Montreal/Bell Centre
July 21 & 23 - New York/Madison Square Garden
July 26 - Philadelphia/Wachovia Center
July 27 - Boston/TD Banknorth Garden
July 29 - Washington, D.C./Verizon Center
July 31 - Atlanta/Philips Arena
Aug. 2 - Tampa/St. Pete Times Forum
Aug. 3 - Sunrise (Ft. Lauderdale), FL/Bank Atlantic Center

George Michael, the talented and amazing artist, was never in doubt. He created a string of hits first as lead singer of Wham! and later in his solo career. This is a guy who took Elton John’s Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and made it his own. That’s no small feat.

The real issue was whether his talent would be overshadowed by scandal and drug abuse. Some part of that scandal grew out his sexual orientation, including the infamous park bathroom incident. But, in recent years, most of it grew out of drug abuse.

His resurgence has Michael showing up in unexpected places like ABC’s drama Eli Stone. It was nice to see him there. It’s even nicer to see him get back to his roots as a performer. After the break, another bonus clip of the artist in concert.

Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears is telling Tales

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• It looks like that rumored Tales of the City musical we mentioned a few months back has become a beautiful reality. The "large-scale" show, based on the first of Armistead Maupin's classic books, will hit the Great White Way in the 2009 season courtesy of Avenue Q bookwriter Jeff Whitty and Scissor Sisters' Jason Sellards (better known as Jake Shears) and John Garden.

• GLAAD has teamed with the gayest non-gay net out there, Bravo, to air the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards later this year. This marks the first time the awards will be broadcast on a fully distributed national cable channel.

• The gays like John Krasisnski, and he likes them right back.

• The Lambda Literary Foundation announced the nominees for its awards recognizing excellence in gay books, and our own Brent Hartinger is among the nominees for his young adult double-novella, Split Screen (in the Bisexual category). Congrats, Brent!

• Hey, Pushing Daisies fans! Our own Dan is out at the Paley Fest and has lots of fun updates on the show (including pics of out creator Bryan Fuller and the delightful cast) over on his site, The Pie Maker.

• The Advertising Standards Authority rejected the 54 complaints filed against the UK "Some people are gay. Get over it!" anti-bullying campaign. Good for them. Because they really do need to get over it.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

Every Friday our friend Colin over at NewNowNext tips us off to what's hot in popular music. Enjoy this family-sized dispatch to get you through the next week:

Listen to Madonna’s “4 Minutes” Ft. Justin Timberlake.
Check out the leak we’ve all been waiting for — our first taste of Madonna’s upcoming Hard Candy album.

Leona Lewis “Better in Time” Video
The X-Factor winner follows up her smash “Bleeding Love” track with another lovely power-ballad:

The dates and lineup for True Colors '08 have been announced. For the full list of dates, visit the official website, but here's the jist of it from the press release...

"The True Colors Tour will hit the road again this summer with an exciting new line-up of legendary and up and coming artists including headliners Cyndi Lauper, The B-52s, Rosie O’Donnell with host Carson Kressley and many more. After receiving rave reviews and a successful debut in 2007, the True Colors Tour is expanding to meet demand in many more cities. The tour will kick off Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month on May 31st at Boston’s Bank of America Pavilion. Produced by True Colors Concerts in partnership once again with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the 24 city North American tour is presented by Logo in support of the newly created True Colors Fund of Stonewall Community Foundation. The concerts feature nearly five hours of nonstop music with exciting special guests appearing on select dates throughout the tour including Wanda Sykes, Tegan and Sara, Regina Spektor, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Joan Armatrading, Indigo Girls, Nona Hendryx, Deborah Cox and The Cliks."

Needless to say, exciting lineup for an exciting event, and great news that the tour is being expanded to reach more cities. We'll be all over this one (and not just because Logo is AfterElton.com's parent company, we swear!).

Every Friday our friend Colin over at NewNowNext tips us off to what's hot in popular music. Enjoy this family-sized dispatch to get you through the next week!

Video of the Week: Xiu Xiu – “I Do What I Want, When I Want”

The queer-led band from San Francisco has been called “experimental” and “challenging,” so if you’re in the mood for something different (Fruit? Vacuum cleaners? Jackass?), check out their new video. Watch it after the break.

Sugababes Video – “Denial”

Now, if you’ve got a sweet tooth (ha!) for the poppiest-of-the-pop, then Sugababes are for you. The British gals indulge their inner models like there’s no tomorrow.

Janet Jackson Video – “Feedback”

We hope you’ve heard Janet’s new song at this point – we can’t stop listening to it! – 'cause she brings the Discipline in this bizarre, cosmic video. Maybe you can tell what’s going on…

New R.E.M. Album Buzz

The R.E.M. trio, including gay front man Michael Stipe, announced their new album, Accelerate; and we’ve got all the info.

Record labels Drop Idol Winners

M.I.A.’s Katharine McPhee may be the latest victim, but at least she didn’t win, right? Major labels have officially dumped two American Idol winners.

New Goldfrapp single – “A&E”

You may think “Ooh La La” when you hear Goldfrapp, but it’s time to think again. Alison has taken a turn for the slow and dreamy with the ballad, “A&E.”

UPDATE: BBC 1 has already reversed their decision. The "cheap lousy faggot" is back in Christmas, where it belongs. (BJ)

In Britain, Kirsty MacColl (who died seven years ago today) and The Pogues' Christmas-themed song "Fairytale of New York" is an annual tradition. The tune gets the kind of play "All I Want for Christmas is You" does in the States. (I. Am. So. Envious.) However, after twenty years of annual airplay, BBC 1 Radio has begun playing an edited version of the popular song.

If you're unfamiliar with "Fairytale of New York," MacColl and Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan play a raucous couple who spend their Christmas bitterly fighting with each other over broken dreams and wasted opportunities. Amid the many insults the couple throw at each other, MacColl sings "You scumbag, you maggot/You cheap lousy faggot/Happy Christmas your arse/I pray God it's our last". This year, BBC Radio is playing an edited version which, according to a BBC spokesperson, had the word "faggot" faded down, taking it out of the song.

With the song being an annual tradition, the change is controversial. The late MacColl's mother, Jean, called the alteration "ridiculous" while a Pogues spokesperson said that the band found the change amusing, considering that the song has been heard for so long without incident. Fans, meanwhile, are making the predictable cries of "It's political correctness gone too far!" as can be seen in the comments of this BBC Radio blog. (One comment interestingly notes that "slut" was also edited out, though the controversy entirely focuses on the f-word.)

Now, I can totally understand how "Fairytale of New York" can offend; I gave the song a bad introduction to a roommate once when he walked into the apartment just as MacColl was rhyming "maggot" with "faggot", so I can understand how it can inflame sensitivities. "Fairytale of New York" is a song that has to be put into context and I do wonder about what message casual radio listeners are getting.

Still, if the song gets heavy airplay every year, don't most people know what it's all about? This is one of those bits where I don't really have the cultural empathy to get all the nuances of the controversy. I can't imagine a song as unhappy as "Fairytale of New York" becoming a Christmas standard, here, much less the general audience's ability to put it in context. What do you think? I'd love to hear how our British readers feel about the incident.

In case you're unfamiliar with "Fairytale of New York" you can check out the video right here. (And if you're familiar with the song you'll likely want to check it out anyway.) Of course, the sound may be NSFW with all of its insulting words:

Mark Feehily is a member of one of the world’s most famous and successful boybands. And in 2005 the Irish Westlife hunk revealed to the world that he is gay.

In that interview with the Sun newspaper, Feehily said:

"My life has got umpteen times better. My sexuality doesn't define me as a person, but it's a huge part of anyone to be open about it. It's changed my life totally, as I feel so much happier and at ease. It's the best thing I've ever done."

Now, more than two years on, 27 year-old Feehily and his long term boyfriend Kevin McDaid have decided the time is right to go public about their relationship. And they’ve done it in style – as cover boys for the current (December 2007) issue of UK gay lifestyle magazine Attitude.

Feehily and McDaid, who was a member of the now defunct boyband V, have previously avoided discussing their relationship. But in their interview with Attitude, the pair talk frankly and openly about their romance.

The couple revealed that after meeting at a charity pop gig in Dublin, they got chatting and took each others' phone numbers. As McDaid told the magazine:

"I was texting him back taking the p***. Westlife were rehearsing for a tour and one of the costumes was like workmen."

"The Kwik Fit Fitters," adds Feehily. "He was taking the p*** out of me for my dodgy outfit but he’d dressed up as an ice cream man for one of his performances. I quite liked the Kwik Fit Fitter outfit, actually."

The couple were rumoured to be engaged back in 2005, but Feehily says he grew tired of being asked if they would be tying the knot.

"At the start I used to think it was a topical issue because of civil partnership, which I think, by the way, sounds like a f****** operation or something. It’s marriage, you know? It sounds like a lung transplant."

McDaid added: "I think we’ll look into it in the future. At some point in our relationship we’re going to want to basically celebrate being together. And it is a good excuse for a good old shindig, isn't it?"

Here are a few more yummy pics of the dishy couple...

Every Friday our pal Colin over at NewNowNext hooks us up with a fresh-picked video and a rundown of the week's biggest music moments. Take it away, Colin...

• Oops! Former Pussycat Dolls leading-lady Nicole Scherzinger's solo album just got the dreaded pushback ... again! Her Name is Nicole got delayed first to avoid competing with Jay-Z and Chris Brown and then due to her first two singles' lackluster chart performance.
  
  Now that's strange - "Baby Love" seems totally radio-friendly. Check Nicole give a great performance of the track in an AOL live session below ... (By the way, Nicole will give it one more shot with a third
  single, "Super Villian," later this month.)
  

• Come on, one last American Idol binge. (You know you rocked out to Carrie Underwood's album last week.) Recently, both the winner of the Fox juggernaut and the runner-up released new material...and they're actually both worth your time!
  
  Jordin Sparks, the youngest winner in the show's history, released the video for "Tattoo,", the lead single for her self-titled album, today. It's actually very wholesome and feel-good, and Jordin's got the voice to carry most anything.
  
  So Blake Lewis, the beat-boxin runner-up from Washington, isn't quite as far along in his career as Jordin is, but his new single, "Break Anotha" (oh, yes) just hit the radios this week. It's kind of what you'd expect, but you know you want to hear it.

• So if you're into Fall Out Boy, you'll dig Cobra Starship (and they're not just about Snakes on A Plane anymore)...the guys (and girl) of Cobra released their sophomore album, Viva La Cobra, last week, as well as the video for "Guilty Pleasure." The whole CD's fun, campy, sarcastic and totally danceable - and you will have a soft-spot for lead singer Gabe Saporta.

• The Backstreet Boys are back, all right? And even though they're kind of in the shadow of Britney's unstoppable Blackout this week, the now four-member band's full album, Unbreakable, is streaming online ... so hope you're in the mood for mid-tempo, heartfelt ballads!
  

Every Friday our pals over at NewNowNext hand-pick their fave video of the week for us here at AfterElton.com and give us a run-down of the best stories of the week in music. Take it away, Colin!

• Hot Video of the Week: Keyshia Cole "Let It Go"
  

With the release of her second album, Just Like You, R&B singer Keyshia Cole recruited Lil Kim and Missy Elliott to join in on the CD’s first single. Check out the video for “Let It Go”– and umm, Missy’s necklace … see if you can guess what brand it is! – right here!

• Other buzz...
  
  They love them - you know, I know it, deep-down, they know it too - it’s the Top 7 Super-Gay Pop Songs Straight Men Hate That They Love!
  
  BBC’s Radio 1 is coming out with a ginormous album of covers, celebrating its 40th anniversary. Check out the full track list (Hard-Fi’s covering “Toxic”?!)
  
  Check out NewNowNext’s first edition of NNN Noise - our super low-budge video blog! John and Colin discuss Britney’s new tracks, Vanessa Carlton, Jens Leckman … and grill each other on pop-culture trivia!
  
  The gays are on pins and needles waiting for Kylie Minogue’s upcoming album, X. Take a listen now, as a few tracks have leaked … while some have tragically been scrapped!
  

Check out Keyshia's video after the jump. Thanks, Colin!