As many of you know, during Enrique Iglesias's performance of his hit song "Hero" at the G-A-Y nightclub in London last Saturday night, he brought a male audience member on stage and serenaded and danced with him, and, at the end of the song, kissed him on the forehead. Here is the video in case you missed it.
Questions - I think what Enrique Iglesias did was sweet and a sign of progress in the world of straight male recording artists. I also think it is interesting that Enrique, the son of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina model and journalist Isabel Preysler, chose, according to Blogcritics, a Filipino to serenade in London. Was ethnicity a factor here? And the experience must have been certainly exciting for the fan, if not downright intoxicating, judging from the mainly gay crowd's reaction. But, what is this longing for a straight man about? Does the wildly positive audience response to Enrique's serenade say something about gay society as a whole?
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Enrique Iglesias and the gay serenade
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9 comments:
I think Enrique's confidence plays a role here. Confidence, in any man (straight or gay) is attractive. Enrique was secure enough in himself to serenade the gay patron. The crowd saw this and cheered.
Is it a matter of confidence, or are Enrique's handlers simply trying to re-energize the faltering career of a pop singer who had more traction with his looks than he did with his voice? When straight people look to gay people for approval, than I will gladly pay them the same respect, until then, I am not buying it.
I wonder if Enrique chose an Asian because he himself is half-Asian, or was it because he had some strange hierarchy in his mind that saw Asian men as the most feminine and thus worthy of serenading, or was it because the slim, short Asian fan was the least threatening in terms of security on stage. My two cents worth of questions.
As for the actual decision to serenade a man, this is landmark, whatever the motivation. He's an entertainer, and entertainers need to appeal to a wide market to earn their money. I am glad he had the courage to acknowledge that gay consumers exist.
I wish I had been serenaded by Enrique. I would have felt special, even if only for a few minutes.
Thanks for this post. I just found your blog and am intrigued by your writing. I posted the video, with a link back to here. You pose fascinating questions.
-New Fan
I think the gay men who desire the straight men are the ones who themselves wish they were straight and have never fully accepted the fact that they are gay. Why not just desire men you know you have a chance with? When gay men want straight men, it just perpetuates gay men's insecurities about being gay.
I kind of have this uneasy feeling that Enrique was doing charity work, which is nice generally speaking. But it seems to reflect the idea that gay people need charity, and that saddens me.
Thanks Sudy! And welcome to the blog.
what does it say about the gay society as a whole? wat is dat supposed 2 mean? they didnt react so wildly cuz hes a sraight guy. be he gay straight, or beastialistic, hes freakin ENRIQUE IGLESIAS! of course theyre gne be excited. sraight ppl r 2. he's awesum
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