2017 AVN + AEE preview: Jessica Drake, Tasha Reign, Natasha Nice, Joanna Angel, Chloe Amour

The expo center at The Hard Rock Hotel has been expanded in the last 12 months, so the world’s biggest and best adult industry and fan convention will be even larger this year. Here’s last year’s red carpet excitement of the 2016 AVN Awards by videographer Richard Corey on YouTube (WARNING: Adult content):

The four-day AVN + Adult Entertainment Expo, which opens today with hundreds of porn princesses preening for fans in the skimpiest of outfits and tottering on the highest of heels, crescendos Saturday night with The AVN Awards, the “Oscars of the Porn Industry,” with categories for best actress, best actor, best cinematography, best director … and much more.

There are more than 130 categories, and the red carpet alone is a two-hour spectacle that snakes more than a quarter-mile before the three-hour awards. Last year’s Performer of the Year Riley Reid (she is nominated again) co-hosts with last January’s Penthouse Pet Aspen Rae. On Friday, fans get to chat with the duo at Vinyl during the “Sex Is” seminar.

Our sexy Las Vegas dancers from “X Burlesque” at The Flamingo and “X Rocks” at The Rio perform each afternoon, and 15 parties start tonight with the AVN bash at Vanity and official opening-night festivities at Light at Mandalay Bay with Aria Alexander, Stella Cox and Kleio Valentien. Natalia Starr host an after-party at Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club.

Thursday’s parties include Saints & Sinners at Culinary Dropout at HRH, and on Friday the official AEE party is at Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay with Tori Black. She is the first in AVN history to win Female Performer of the Year back-to-back in 2010 and 2011 and last year won Director of the Year at rival show XBiz.

JESSICA DRAKE’S YEAR

2007 AVN Awards host blonde beauty Jessica Drake, pictured here and who has won seven Best Actress and other awards annually since 2001, is nominated again this year along with nominations for Best Crossover Mainstream Actress and Best Sex Educator. Jessica teaches sex education workshops and seminars, including a class for licensed therapists at UCLA.

“Overall, it’s been a really great year for me since our last AVN in Las Vegas,” Jessica told me. “I made three more of my educational ‘Guide to Wicked Sex’ movies. Headlining Sexpose in South Africa as lead sex educator was awesome, and I’m ambassador at the UCLA sex education program. Several of the big movies I shot this past year are up for a bunch of awards at AVN, so it’s been a really good year for me.”

She’s nominated for Best Actress in a Science-Fiction Sex Movie titled “DNA,” which also is up for Best Movie, Best Screenplay, Best Photography and Best Editing. “The film is about a cloning company that creates clones for someone who has lost someone in their lives, whether it’s a loved one or a friend. I’m the chief scientist, and we bring people back, but only for 72 hours. Needless to say, people get clones because they want to have a lot more sex with them.

“My friend Asa Akira does a great job playing the clone, and there’s a lot of really good sex in the movie. I also filmed ‘The Job,’ which Asa is in, too. Those are the two I am nominated for Best Actress. We also have ‘The Sex Bots’ movie, which has every Wicked girl currently under contract, plus ‘The Preachers Daughter’ that I helped in production.

“At the actual show, I’ll be signing at the Wicked booth first, and we’ve partnered with a 3D scanning company, Print Your Porn Star. They do figurines of me, and fans can get scanned to have their own replica of themselves with me. It’s really great, probably the most realistic figurine of me I’ve ever seen. Additionally, I will teach a seminar at The Joint every day.

“They moved it this year because of last year’s turn-away crowds. It will be long days for this busy little starlet. I’m busy everywhere. I’ll try to take a little time at the end to rest and relax.” Last year, Jessica brought traffic to a standstill wearing a dress made solely from one long strand of pearls.

“I remember it was starting to unravel as I was standing in front of you on the red carpet,” she laughed. “This year I can just say that I’m really making a statement with my dress. Every year, I want to make a statement, so I hope that you are the first person to see it Saturday night.” I asked Jessica how 2017 looks for the $97 billion global industry and her.

“We’ve seen a lot of different things happening as far as people trying out new technology. The other thing that we’ve noticed lately is that people are seeking out higher-quality, bigger-budget feature movies. I’m super grateful for this trend because our industry for so long has been crippled by piracy, and it’s still happening everywhere, but retailers have noticed an increase in sales of the bigger productions.

‘AS LONG AS IT MAKES ME HAPPY’

“For me, with my educationals, it’s not a product that people really pirate, so that’s going well. There seems to be some new, promising talent coming in, and I’m looking forward to working with them as my educationals. I’ll keep doing this as long as it makes me happy. I’ll still do it as long as people still want to see me have sex.

“I’ll still do it as long as people want to come meet me. For me, my job has always been, for the most part, really enjoyable. I’ve been really fortunate to be around a great group of people and work for a fantastic company like Wicked. Not everybody gets that chance. I just want to do it as long as it makes me happy.

“Now I’ll give you the scoop because it hasn’t been announced yet. First, I’m going back to Sexpose South Africa in Johannesburg to headline their educational program again. I’m going to shoot more educational. I’m also continuing seminars and workshops all over the world and teaching people about better sex, and I’m writing a book. I am a third of the way done.

“It’s going to be a memoir. I didn’t know if I could do it until I sat down and started writing, and once I started, it keeps on coming out. I’m not dishing the dirt and spilling the beans, but I tell a lot of stories that no one has ever, ever heard before. Nor would imagine. It is very raw. This is probably the only business where kiss and tell can really be done without offending anyone!”

TASHA REIGN

Adult star and mainstream media personality Tasha Reign (“Laguna Beach”) greets fans at AEBN’s booth Thursday and Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and AVN’s official booth Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. Tasha continued her adult career while enrolled at UCLA. She hosts the AVN Opening Party at Vanity tonight at 10, officially kicking off four days of AVN + AEE madness for the industry and fans.

The busty blonde goddess also will appear as a featured performer with Alexis Texas at Elegant Angel’s official after-party at Sapphire at 11 p.m. Saturday. Tasha is nominated for three AVN Awards: Mainstream Star of the Year, Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene and Best Porn Star website for TashaReign.com.

NATASHA NICE

Natasha Nice and Natalia Starr host adult stars Thursday when adult model agency L.A. Direct Models presents Saints & Sinners at Culinary Dropout. Agency President Derek Hay promises that his roster of talent, including Lexi Belle, Tori Black, Adriana Chechik, Dillion Harper, Mia Malkova, Tasha Reign, Megan Rain and Adria Rae, will be there.

JOANNA ANGEL

AVN Hall of Famer, Las Vegas resident and Burning Angel Entertainment boss Joanna Angel has 31 nominations this year. She is launching her virtual-reality venture Burning Angel VR. Her Burning Angel Girls Lily Lane, Ophelia Rain, Charlotte Sartre, Leigh Raven, Small Hands, Nikki Hearts and she will sign for Burning Angel VR at the Holofilm/Hologirls VR and Burning Angel booths.

Joanna will make appearances for a new male toy line, Fleshlight, and a new social network service, Yummi. She will speak with her girls at a “Men in Porn” panel, and she hosts the Fleshlight Party at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club alongside Annika Albrite, Kayden Kross, Eva Lovia, Nicole Aniston and Teagan Presley.

The busy Punk Rock Porn Princess also hosts the official Burning Angel party at Hustler Club on Saturday with Jessie Lee, Amber Ivy, Ophelia Rain and Draven Star. The complete list of Joanna’s meet-and-greet schedule is online. Joanna launched her Burning Angel empire when she was in college at Rutgers.

CHLOE AMOUR

After an extended break, sex kitten Chloe Amour returns with special appearances. Chloe will appear at the L.A. Direct Models booth Friday from 12 to 2 p.m. and Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. It’s her official return to the industry, and she’ll announce 2017 projects at the convention.