Since I’m a hopeless romantic and I know that most of you are, too, I chose a very romantic theme this time: Kisses.

There are all sorts of kisses, and we’ve probably seen them all: From a couple’s first kiss that marks the beginning of a love story, to a goodbye kiss before lovers have to go their separate ways, from kisses that openly celebrate a love, to secret kisses exchanged by two people who have to hide their love.

But which one is your favourite? Which one do you think was the most romantic, passionate, sexy, gentle, or maybe just the most unexpected? Here’s your chance to let us know.

You can vote for any kiss that ever happened on-screen – i.e. in a movie, on TV or on a web series – between two women, two men or a man and a woman. You can either name the characters or the actresses/actors. Apart from the movie/TV show/web series the kiss was on, please also include a brief description of the relevant scene, especially if the characters had more than one kissing scene. In case of a TV show or web series, it’d be great if you could also name the episode or at least the season.

Make sure to submit your vote before midnight on Sunday, July 11 (CET), and please only vote once.

If you don’t have any ideas, here are some suggestions:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “The Body” (Season 5, Episode 16):
After Buffy’s mother Joyce died unexpectedly, Tara kissed Willow to comfort her

Ellen, “Roommates” (Season5, Episode 3):
After Ellen came out, her best friend Paige had problems accepting it.
When she finally came around, Ellen took revenge in her own sweet way.

Stargate SG-1: THIS kiss actually never made it to the screen,
but  Sam Carter and Jack O’Neill did kiss on screen several times.
(And yes, I am a Sam & Jack shipper!)

Alles wird gut: During a boat trip, Nabou loses her patience with Kim and jumps over board.
Kim is forced to make a decision, and eventually follows Nabou.

Update:

Okay, okay, I give in and admit that it was probably a bit mean of me to ask you to only pick one scene. Okay, maybe even very mean. So, instead of having to fill out a form and send it just post your THREE favourite scenes (with the names of the couple involved, the title of the movie/TV show/web series, and a brief description of the scene) in the comments section.

Is probably not very pleased at the moment: Anne Will

ARD, Germany’s public broadcasting system, announced today that veteran TV host Günther Jauch will take over Anne Will’s time slot on Sunday nights in the fall of 2011. Her politcal talk show “Anne Will” is supposed to stay on the air, but will be moved to a weeknight – that is, if Anne Will agrees.

A spokeswoman for Anne Will’s production company told German news magazine “Spiegel Online” that NDR, the regional public broadcasting services that is in charge of “Anne Will”, intends to offer the show an alternative time slot, but that no decision will be made before the end of the current summer hiatus.

Out journalist Anne Will took over the prestigious time slot on Sunday nights following “Tatort”, one of Germany’s most successful crime dramas, from former newscaster and talk show host Sabine Christiansen in the fall of 2007. After inital criticism regarding the show’s concept and ratings even from ARD executives, the show has by now found its audience and the ratings are solid. Only last month, Anne Will told German newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that the show was “lans Schmitz-Backes”, which is an expression from her home town of Cologne and means that the worst part is over.

Today’s annoucement comes as a surprise especially since ARD had offerend the Sunday night time slot to Günther Jauch back in 2007. Back then, Jauch – who will continue to host the successful German version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” on TV channel RTL – apparently declined the offer because ARD wanted him to work for them exclusively.

Now, I’m usually not someone who promptly screams “foul” when a man is being favored over a woman, or who quickly alleges people of sexism. Still, I couldn’t help being majorly annoyed by today’s annoucement. Leaving her high-profile job as news anchor on one of Germany’s most popular news programs to replace Sabine Christiansen, whose political talk show “Christiansen” was hugely successful, was a considerable risk, but Anne Will was willing to take it, and she made the show work. Having to make room now for someone who initally did not even want the job is a slap in her face, and I cannot help but wonder whether the decision makers at ARD would have done this to a man.

The only thing that is consoling, if only a little bit, is that there are no indications that today’s decision had anything to do with Anne Will’s sexuality. But that’s only a very, very cold comfort.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you who you think the most enchanting German women are, and you replied.

After two weeks and a few hundred votes, you not only let me know who your clear favorite is, but also gave 8 (!) women the exact same amount of votes. Which means that I now get to present you with a list of not only 10, but 12 enchanting German women and one honorable mention.

Even though the vast majority of votes were sent in from Germany, there were also votes from France, the UK, the Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand and the U.S. In total, the lists of nominees included the names of more than 80 women from all areas of life, not only actresses, TV hosts, musicians and sports women, but also a politician and even a former bishop.

The youngest woman in the Top 12 list is 29, all of the others are in their 30s and 40s.  (Which means that, unlike last weekend, 19-year-old German ESC winner Lena did not rule THIS vote.) Also, four of the women in the Top 12 are dating women in real life, including the lovely lady who snatched the top spot, whereas four only kiss women on TV (at least as far as I know).

So, have I teased you enough? Well then, without further ado, here they are: The Most Enchanting German Women 2010, according to your votes!

1. Anne Will
2. Claudia Hiersche
3. Miriam Meckel
4. Dunja Hayali
5. Ulrike Folkerts
6. (With the same amount of votes, in alphabetical order:)
   1. Maria Furtwängler
   2. Ina Müller
   3. Franka Potente
   4. Meike Schlüter
   5. Esther Schweins
   6. Maike von Bremen
   7. Anne Wis

Honorable Mention: Romy Schneider

Actress Meike Schlüter (aka Kerstin Herzog in “Hinter Gittern”)

If you haven’t voted yet (or if you have but don’t mind looking at a selection of pictures of beautiful, sexy, stunning, enchanting German women), here are some more suggestions for our “Most Enchanting German Women” poll:

Some of the women in this video (in no particular order):

Meike Schlüter +++ Julia Neigel +++ Stefanie Kloß +++ Marie Bäumer +++ Sophia Thomalla +++ Maria Riesch +++ Heidi Klum +++ Anke Engelke +++ Miriam Meckel +++ Anne Will +++ Diane Kruger +++ Barbara Schöneberger +++ Ulrike Folkerts +++ Linda Bresonik +++ Juliette Schoppmann +++ Elli Erl +++ Mariele Millowitsch +++ Franka Potente +++ Ina Müller +++ Katja Keller +++ Leonore Capell +++ Charlotte Schwab +++ Maike von Bremen

Thanks so much Pratchett72 aka Dylena for putting together this great video!

Ina Müller

Charming, funny, quick-witted, and she can sing, too – if you asked people about Ina Müller, those are most likely some of the answers you would get. After parting ways with her musical partner Edda Schnittgard, with whom she formed the successful cabaret duo “Queen Bee”, Ina Müller started a successful solo career not only in music, but also on TV. Since 2007, she is hosting a late night show called “Inas Nacht” (“Ina’s Night”), which won various awards, among them the Grimme Preis, one of the most prestigious German TV awards.

But for most people, she is first and foremost a great singer and performer, as you can see in this video:

Stefanie Kloß

Stefanie Kloß is the lead singer of the popular German band “Silbermond” (“Silver Moon”). Their debut album “Verschwende deine Zeit”, which was released in 2004, went double platinum in Germany, as did their following album “Laut Gedacht”, which included their first No. 1 hit “Das Beste”. Last year, the band won the title of Best German Act in the MTV Europe Music Awards. And the success of Stefanie Kloß and her bandmates seems far from over – their current album debuted No. 1 in the German, Austrian and Swiss charts and already spawned two more top 10 singles.

But their first hit, and one of the most beautiful German ballads, is this song called “Symphonie”:

Elli Erl

In 2004, Elli Erl won the television competition “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (DSDS), the German version of the hugely popular Idol franchise. Unlike other DSDS winners, she decided not to collaborate with Dieter Bohlen, one of the show’s judges and one the most successul German music producers, due to musical (and probably also personal) differences.

In 2009, she released her third album “Human”, which she worked on with a team of producers from the U.S. and which included this song called “Shadows”:

My time allowing, I will have some more suggestions for you on the weekend. In any case, make sure to cast your vote before midnight on Monday, May 31.

Linda Bresonik

In the last few years, soccer player Linda Bresonik has become such an integral part of the successful German national team that it’s almost impossible to imagine it without her. Since she was invited to rejoin the team in 2007 (there had been some dissension between her and the team during the 2003 World Cup which lead to an involuntary hiatus), Bresonik and her teammates won the 2007 World Cup, the 2009 European Championship and a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Peking. With her home team FCR Duisburg, she won the UEFA Cup in 2009 and the German DFB Cup in 2009 and 2010.

In both the national team and in Duisburg, one of Linda Bresonik’s teammates is ex-girlfriend Inka Grings. After a nasty breakup that even made the headlines in 2005, the two seem to get along very well. (In fact so well that some people – this blogger included – are wondering whether the two women are dating again…)

Maria Riesch

Alpine ski racer Maria Riesch is both a world and an Olypmic champion. Her close friendship with fellow alpine ski racer Lindsay Vonn prompted some media coverage during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as both women were also considered to be each other’s fiercest competitors. In the end, Riesch managed to outdo Vonn by winning two gold medals in both the super combined and the slalom competition.

Katarina Witt

Katarina Witt is one of the most successful figure skaters of all time. Besides winning several World and European Championships, she also won two Olympic gold medals for East Germany in 1984 and 1988. In 1988, even before the wall came down, she started an international professional career as a figure skater, and later went on to also work as an actress and a TV host.

With her beauty and her artistic skills Katarina Witt did not only impress the jury, but also the audience, as she managed to make figure skating look sexy. Don’t believe me? Then take a look at her freestyle routine at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary:

To be continued. Next up: Enchanting German Musicians.

Franka Potente

Franka Potente literally took the movie world by storm with her role as Lola, the woman with the glaring red hair who runs not for her, but for her boyfriend’s life in the internationally acclaimed German movie “Lola rennt” (“Run Lola Run”). She went on to play more critically acclaimed roles in German movies before Hollywood called, where she starred in the movie “Blow” alongside Johnny Depp and was the female lead in “The Bourne Identity” with Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Last year, she had a guest role in the successful TV show “House M.D.”.

Diane Kruger

When German director Wolfgang Petersen was looking for an actress to play the part of Helen of  Troy in his epic movie “Troy”, who could have been a better choice than beautiful model-turned-actress Diane Kruger? Born and bred near the German city of Hildesheim as “Diane Heidkrüger”, she worked as a fasion model in Paris before turning to acting. Besides “Troy”, she is probably best known for her roles in “National Treasure” alongside Nicolas Cage and Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”.

Heike Makatsch

Heike Makatsch started her career in the early 1990s as a TV host on German music channel VIVA. She won movie audiences’ hearts and the praise of critics with her first movie role in German director Detlev Buck’s “Männerpension” (“Jailbirds”) and has worked as an actress ever since. To international audiences, the mother of two, who dated “James Bond” Daniel Craig for a couple of years, is probably best known as the woman who tried to steal Emma Thompson’s husband, played by Alan Rickman, in the British movie “Love Actually”.

Want to get to know more enchanting German women? Then make sure to stop by on the weekend for Part 2 of this series: Enchanting German Sportswomen.

It’s springtime, which means it’s also “list time” again. Last year, I wrote a blog post about how every spring, we’re being presented with tons of lists which tell us who the most beautiful or sexy people in our country or even the world are supposed to be.

It’s probably not a surprise to you that the list that I am most interested in is the annual AfterEllen Hot 100 list, which was published today. And though I in general agree with this year’s outcome, I’m still disappointed because there are no German women on the list, not even “Starla” Claudia Hiersche and Anne Wis. Which, in my opinion, is a pity, because there are some great German women who deserve their spot on the list, or, if not AE’s, at least a list similar to it.

That’s why I decided to create my own list and ask you, the readers of this blog, who should be on it:

Wer sind eurer Meinung nach die bezaubernsten deutschen Frauen?

Who do you think are the most enchanting German women?

Some of the women who could be on the list (from left to right): TV couple “Carla” Claudia Hiersche and “Stella” Anne Wis; real-life couple Anne Will and Miriam Meckel; TV host Dunja Hayali

Until midnight on May 31, 2010 (CET), you can submit a list of five women who you think deserve to be on the list. For the purpose of this poll, the term “German” also includes women who were born and grew up in Germany, even though they might now live somewhere else. For example, Heidi Klum und Steffi Graf both live in the U.S. today, but are still eligible for the list.

Please also let me know which country you are from. It’s purely for statistical reasons, as it’s going to be interesting to see whether all readers of this blog have a similar taste, or if there are differences depending on where they are from.

If you’re wondering why I’m asking ALL of my readers and not just the Germans, the answer is simple: Because, if you’re a reader of this blog, it’s more than likely that you have a thing for German women, or at least one or two of them. So, let us know who they are!

And if you’re now thinking “Help, I don’t know any other German women than certain soap actresses!”, don’t worry, I’m sure that you do know a lot of German women without being aware of it. You have heard of Claudia Schiffer before, haven’t you? But to make it a little easier for you, I’m going to post short portrayals of some of the women who are eligible for the list throughout the next two weeks.

But now, without further ado, let the voting begin!

Voting is now closed. Thank you for participating, the results will be posted shortly.

After you have voted, please feel free to share your thoughts or maybe even your list of nominees in the comments.

There was a time when people blamed “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and its host for not being gay enough. Well, those times are definitely over.

Only a week after her wife Portia was on, Ellen welcomed Melissa Etheridge as a guest on her show this Wednesday. Two lesbian icons who talk about – gasp! – children, that’s got to be as lesbian as it can get.

On Wednesday, Portia made a suprise appearance on Ellen’s show to talk about the mysterious animal she saw from their bathroom window one day.

Ellen has been telling her audience about Portia’s observation since last week, but nobody has been able to figure out what kind of animal Portia saw. That’s why Ellen did not only have Portia on her show, but also invited a sketch artist from the Los Angeles Police Department and a mammalogist to help them – to no avail, as it turned out.

Still, even if they did not accomplish the main purpose for having Portia on the show, they DID manage to achieve a probably more important goal. Once again, they showed people how devoted and affectionate a lesbian couple can be. Seeing them together drives home the point that their love is no different from the love straight married couples have for each other and that it is no threat to the institution of marriage more effectively than any march or protest ever could. And seeing another demonstration of their love shortly after we learned that another famous lesbian couple – Melissa and Tammy Etheridge – have broken up probably made it even more significant.

Plus, they are just so incredibly cute together: