This Saturday, the House of Xtravaganza will host their first ball in over five years. I live for balls, and I’ve always lived for the Xtravaganzas; this ball will consist of 26 different competitions. Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded. Contestants are spending hundreds of hours preparing, as this is a very big thing. Some of the categories are Realness, Natural Beauty, Butch Queen-Vogue Fem, Battle Kat, Cha Cha Ruffle Bitch, and Butch Trans and His Bitch: A Night on the Town. The competition is fierce, but the love pervades it all. I am honored to be a judge; when I was asked by grandfather Hector Xtravaganza, I got goose bumps. For me it was one of the greatest honors I have received in this business. Other judges are old friends designer Malcolm Harris and Patricia Fields. There are some others who are famous and all that, but I can't mention them right now. If you have never been to a ball, I recommend that you get out and catch this one. The Moda La Envida Xtravaganza Ball is this Saturday, November 14, at Irving Plaza from 8pm. For more info, email . The following is an interview I got with an Xtravaganza contingent a couple months back.

When Debi Mazar walks into Angelini Osteria restaurant in Los Angeles, it’s no surprise that heads turn. The tough yet feminine New York-born actress has had a long career playing roles that leave a lasting impression. Her debut performance as Henry Hill’s coke-snorting mistress in Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic Goodfellas launched a career of daring parts. And it was apropos that she was cast as one of the only women on Entourage, a show with more testosterone than a UFC title fight. It’s been a year’s hiatus since the most recent episode of the show; the boys were last seen at the Cannes Film Festival enjoying tres success with Vince’s latest film Medellin. Where is the show headed Season Five (debuting September 7 on HBO)? Mazar remains tight-lipped, but does offer, “They’re bringing it back to the grass roots of the early seasons of Entourage, where it was really about the guys and their relationships between each other.” As far as Mazar’s character Shauna -- Vince’s sassy and sophisticated publicist -- she says, “Shauna is as bitchy and strong as ever.”