Diva Divo - Dance Magazine

Her lipstick is smudged, her wig is askew, her fashion sense sucks, and – oh yeah – we’re pretty sure we spot an Adam’s Apple underneath that five o’clock shadow on her rosy-cheeked face.

Kelly doesn’t exactly sound like a Diva.

Yet throughout the last two years, “she” has become an internet phenomenon. Armed with a designer handbag full of catchphrases (“Betch!” “Deck!” “Shetbag!”), and some of the simplest pre-programmed beats since your Toys R Us Casio keyboard, Kelly took musical comedy somewhere it had never been before: the dance floor.

“I remember the first time I ever performed that character,” says Liam Sullivan, the comic actor behind Kelly’s fierce, fabulous and oh-so-fugly fashions. Born and raised in a small Massachusetts town, Sullivan moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams of acting. After years of training in improvisational comedy, auditioning for parts, and composing comedic songs, he finally decided to don drag and take one of his favorite impressions to center stage. Thus was born a naïve, obnoxious, yet strangely endearing Valley Girl named Kelly.

“I remember going in to the bathroom and changing into the Kelly gear,” recalls Sullivan. “I said to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, this is either going to be really embarrassing or really great.”

It was most certainly the latter. Two years after Kelly found her way to YouTube, her debut music video “Shoes” is one of the Top 10 Most Viewed videos (#7) in the history of the culture-altering website; by the end of March 2008, it had received over 18 million views. The video ended up receiving MTV rotation, something that legit dance artists can’t even claim right now, and the song itself is still sitting pretty on iTunes Top 10 comedy tracks, where it has appeared continuously since its release in 2006. It even spawned a full-length album (Shoes), featuring follow up electro-songs (and accompanying videos) like “Let Me Borrow That Top,” “Txt Msg Brkup” and “What R U Guys Talking About?” And you know you’ve made it big when a Britney Spears mash-up (“Gimme More Shoes”) is making the online rounds.

But now, Kelly has taken to a major touring schedule. She’s currently opening for comedienne Margaret Cho on the funny-gal’s “Beautiful” tour, prepping audiences with a belly dance before the belly laughs.

Sullivan manages to keep a sense of humor about the cultural phenomenon his feminine side has become. “I’m not exactly devastatingly handsome,” says Sullivan of how he decided to put on panties for his part. “I’m not the leading man type, or the best friend role. It’s tough to cast me… I thought, ‘well, I can do fringe characters. Why don’t I embrace that? I can do something that people don’t really see everywhere.”

Considering that Kelly’s kitschy melodies are designed more for farce than for Billboard charts, she may seem an unlikely choice to name DIVA of the month. But, like it or not, her music videos have become as big a viral sensation as true club efforts like Eric Prydz “Call on Me” and Ultra Nate “Automatic.” Her danceable ditties, however intentionally hilarious, have probably sold more than most WMC nominees. And though Sullivan is straight, his Kelly persona’s unabashed adoption of drag and camp has brought elements of the gay club scene to mainstream appreciation in a way not seen since Madonna started to Vogue.