Chicago- from www.dailyherald.com – It’s just as well that the “Girls of the Hottest Scandals of 2010” are running late and don’t show up at the Exxxtacy convention in Rosemont until after my deadline.
This saves us both from the indignity of my opening question: “Are you famous for sleeping with Tiger Woods, for sleeping with Sandra Bullock’s husband, or for breaking up the relationship of football star Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian?”
Why would people want to stand in line to get an autograph from somebody famous only for being able to answer that question?
“I don’t know, but they do. They want to meet the girls,” says Gina Rodriguez [pictured], a former porn star (Well, porn actress, I mean they can’t all be stars can they?) who went by the name of Demi Delia. While she still has the body of a porn actress, she now has the business card of a “talent manager.”
“Everyone’s working. They are all doing great,” says Rodriguez, 42, who says she manages 19 women and men of scandal, and hopes to help them get book, TV and movie deals.
“I don’t see them getting a negative response anymore. Josyln (self-professed Tiger mistress and verifiable porn actress) has become ‘The People’s Mistress.’ That’s what I’m trying to do for them, something positive.”
For many of the men (yes, it’s overwhelmingly men) who pay between $40 and $60 for tickets to this adult entertainment convention that runs through Sunday, this is as close as they are going to get to Tiger Woods, says Mike Wittenberg, the 29-year-old owner of Taboo Productions and organizer of the convention.
With about 100 vendors and more than 100 porn actresses (and a few actors) set up in the 220,000-square-foot exhibition hall at the Rosemont Convention Center, Wittenberg hopes to attract 20,000 fans.
“It’s a different life,” admits Wittenberg, who is married with a 21-month-old son. “But at the same time these people aren’t doing anything wrong.”
It’s a lot racier than the outdoor show or some other trade convention, but the porn show is all legal, assures Grant H. Bailey, the assistant general manager for the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, as he stands across from a booth where Jessica Bangkok poses 99-percent topless.
In an economy where convention centers work to land business, “we certainly are going to take a crack at it,” Bailey says with a straight face. “We thought we’d give it a try and let’s see how this thing works.”
It’s working fine for Mark Whaling, a 41-year-old single man who lives in Lombard and says he has decorated one room in his house as a shrine to Janessa Brazil, who stars in her own online porn subscription service.
“I’m not embarrassed,” says Whaling after hearing that many conventioneers don’t want their names in the newspaper. “I’m proud to be a member of her site.”
He’s not only a fan, he says he’s a friend. Oh, and he does have her autograph and an imprint of her lips tattooed on his arm. Doesn’t that freak her out?
“Oh, no. If he enjoys my work, that makes me proud,” says the web performer, who e-mails and chats with fans online. “It’s nice to put a face with the name.”
While you can’t tell the “scandal girls” without a score card, it’s easy to size up the crowd. Fans tend to be middle-aged guys, some with ample guts, wearing gym shoes. The performers, some with other ample areas, tend to be younger and walk around on heels that are longer than their skirts.
Most conventioneers say they simply are “curious,” but a 41-year-old Detroit man named Jim (“I’d better not give you my last name because my niece lives here and I don’t want her to know I went to a porn show”) says he will grab some porn autographs for his collection.
“I’m actually here for the baseball show,” Jim says, adding that Pete Rose is one of the sports celebrities signing autographs at a convention downstairs.
“We’re all having fun,” says Ariana Lexine, 30, as she sets out color photographs of herself in positions that look painful. She talks up the show, but does acknowledge that Rosemont and the suburbs aren’t exactly Las Vegas.
“I’m driving here and looking at the homes,” she says, “And I’m thinking, ‘Am I in the right place?'”
It is confusing. Already famous for its museum of Hummel figurines with names such as “Double Treat,” “Chicken Licken” and “Scamp,” Rosemont now is making a name for itself with porn figures such as “Hillary Hooterz,” “Monica Mayhem” and “Prinzzess.”