Blair Boone

Blair Boone is a writer and musician, and has written for such publications as MetroSource Magazine interviewing artists like Wyclef Jean, Fred Hersch and Junior Vasquez. He is best known for appearing in two episodes of the hit show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.^[1]

Boone was hired as the show's culture vulture based on his qualifications in art, music and languages, but producers felt he was not outgoing enough and did not have enough onscreen charisma, and so decided to recast him with a professional performer. Actor/singer Jai Rodriguez was hired to replace him.

Although the two episodes in which Boone appeared were the first two shot, they aired as episodes 1.2 and 1.3, with Boone given a 'Guest Culture Expert' credit (although the opening titles of both feature Jai Rodriguez).

Boone sued the production company for breach of contract, based on the fact he had only been paid for the two episodes he had shot (at $3,000 per episode), claiming he deserved to be paid for the entire season he had originally been contracted to shoot, as he had given up his position at MetroSource to accept the role. The case was settled before it went to court.

He has also appeared on The Howard Stern Show, performed with The Kinesis Project, and was featured in a Panasonic commercial promoting the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

In 2009, Blair started The Art Song Preservation Society of NY, a nonprofit arts organization devoted to preserving and revitalizing the art song while simultaneously promoting the art song recital.

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