'General Hospital' Nurses Ball 2017: 25 Glamorous and Dramatic Photos

Daytime drama General Hospital, fresh off being named Outstanding Drama at this year's Daytime Emmy Awards, will again feature its long-running fan favorite Nurses Ball episodes this year starting May 22.

In the show's fictional world of Port Charles, the Nurses Ball, founded in 1994 by Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), is a glamorous charity event dedicated to raising money for HIV/AIDS awareness and research (in the process, also helping bring awareness to GH's real-world viewers).

The Nurses Ball offers GH characters and the actors who portray them a chance to be seen in all their red-carpet finest, and for some of them to display other talents besides acting, such as singing and dancing, during the Ball's performances.

According to General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini, the 2017 Nurses Ball, which runs the entire week of May 22, will have plenty of those performances, and some special appearances.

"This will be GH's 13th Nurses Ball," said Valentini, "and each year our wonderful viewers have come to expect plenty of music, dance, glamour and, of course, an abundance of drama. This year will be extra special, as we'll have several tribute performances honoring the work of contemporary artists who have recently passed away, including David Bowie." No word yet on whether Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) will give one of her show-stopping (and often show-crashing) performances.

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Also this year, actor and Extra host (among his other gigs) Mario Lopez—perhaps trying to give Ryan Seacrest and Steve Harvey a run for who can appear on television the most—will make his General Hospital debut on the Nurses Ball red carpet alongside Port Charles' fashion magazine maven Nina Clay-Cassadine (Michelle Stafford) as they welcome viewers. KABC Los Angeles entertainment reporter George Pennacchio will also return to the red carpet for a fifth time.

Naturally, there will be plenty of offstage drama to go along with the glitz and the performances, and a release teases that "a returning foe looms." Given how many baddies have caused trouble in Port Charles over the years, that leaves the door pretty open as to who the "foe" might be. In recent episodes, Jason (Billy Miller) went to Cassadine Island to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Jake during his captivity with the sinister Helena Cassadine, a mystery that seems to tie in with the Chimera Project that Anna (Finola Hughes) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) were discussing.

Could Helena be coming back, in what would be a miraculous resurrection even for her? Stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out the gallery above for some hot pics from this year's Nurses Ball. They show a lot of the glamour, and some photos may offer clues as to some of the action that might transpire at this year's Ball.

General Hospital Nurses Ball 2017, May 22-26, ABC