WHERE _S HYPERACT_VE?

IF THERE EVER WAS A TIME THAT EVERY MOLECULE OF MY BODY

HAD TO EXEMPLIFY HYPERACTIVE,

THIS IS IT.

_  BREATHE HYPERACT_VE.

_  MOVE HYPERACT_VE.

_  L_VE HYPERACT_VE.

! AM THE HYPERACT!VE GAY BOY™

HOLLA
HOLLA
HOLLA
C'MON, C'MON...

#GETHYPERACTIVE!

THIS IS WHY I LOVE BEAUTY PAGEANTS.

Been frighteningly busy with pageants lately, being that we're preparing for Mr Gay HK Year 5 and we've just launched Mr Gay Singapore. Another Mr Gay pageant in a major Asian powerhouse is in the works, which we're keeping under wraps until we're ready with all the bits and pieces. We're determined to produce mega-glamtastic Asian representation at the 2014 Mr Gay World finals in Rome, just 'coz gay Asian men are so damn phyne! (Just ask Norm Yip.)

SO.

Life has been a dizzying stream of beauty queens (literally - queens!!!) lately. I'm thankful for the occasional, humorous relief.

Seen the vid?

Priceless reaction.

She was only 16, the little sweetheart, when she won the title.

Hell, I'd pass out, too, if ~I~ were proclaimed Miss France!

Thanks to Geraldine of the Pageant Happy Hour for sharing this awesome vid!  

THE CASE FOR GAYS AMONGST THE BOY SCOUTS

 

My dear friend Chinno (or just Chi, coz that sounds way more fabulous) has reached the highest rank possible for a Boy Scout. In fact Chi was once named one of the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines. BJ, our other shufatid (a more fabulous way of saying kapatid, or sister) and I delighted in teasing Chi endlessly about his "butch" Boy Scout past. But in truth, we were secretly proud of Chi.

Inside or outside of scouting, Chi has never been anything but himself - loud, frighteningly intelligent, charismatic, flamboyant. It was because of Chi that my love for beauty pageants became an obsession - an addiction that I have parlayed into eventually founding Mr. Gay Hong Kong.

The three of us - Chi, BJ and myself - spent many a nights laughing through Chi's re-enactment of things that happened in national jamborees. Curious adolescent boys were prone to bekbkek, we found out- and it didn't really matter whether a gay comrade was present. In fact, we suspected it was all the more fun. Chi also recalled a scout master who was particularly protective over those who were different. Scout master advised, "Whenever you feel like you're being judged for being different, give yourself a big hug and say - 'I am special, I am special.' "

That's why when I heard about the struggle that's tearing at the heart of the Boy Scouts of America, I had to laugh. On one side, you've got the BSA which is staunchly anti-gay - I mean, really? On the other side, you've got expert LGBT campaigners - many of them former Boy Scouts themselves - targeting the Scouts' corporate sponsorship. TIME Magazine reports that UPS Inc., the Intel Foundation and the Merck Company Foundation have together pulled a total of USD850,000 in response to the protest. This would never happen in the Philippines, mainly because such amount of funding is better spent feeding poor people or improving rural infrastructure - not supporting an archaic organization flagrantly promoting inequality.

This issue is so hot, even President Obama has jumped into the fray, urging the Boy Scouts to end the ban on gays.

Chi got to where he was with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines because of merit - a brash certainty that he is entitled, because he is capable. He is a leader. To the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, it had nothing to do about being straight or gay - although I suspect that Chi easily bulldozed any opposition with a charm offensive. Pinoys are just a loving lot. That sounds touchy-feely, but it's true. We're aware that every family has an LGBT member, and that's fine. And that includes the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

The Boy Scouts of America would do well to learn the same.



Lovingly dedicated to Chi and the Flower Platoon







   

THE NAKED TRUTH: BEAUTY TIPS FOR WANNABE QUEENS FROM DAYANA MENDOZA

DAYANA MENDOZ FOR MAXIN

   

I have loved Dayana Mendoza since she won Miss Venezuela. I loved her even more when she won Miss Universe back in 2008. Love became obsession when she cast in The Celebrity Apprentice.

And after having see the video above, I'm now irrevocably addicted to her.

What a crazy woman.

MISS SUNSHINE

Graceful Swan: Miriam Quiambao
1st Runner-up, Miss Universe 1999

(Photo from Missosology)

Cinderella: Venus Raj
4th Runner-up, Miss Universe 2010

(Photo from Missosology)

The Intellectual: Shamcey Supsup
3rd Runner-up, Miss Universe 2011

(Photo from International Business Times)

The Thoroughbred: Janine Tugonon
1st Runner-up, Miss Universe 2012

(Photo by Matt Brown / Miss Universe Organization)

We grew up watching beauty pageants. Our parents, who owned a gallery, always happily sponsored pageant portraits for Miss Tuguegarao, Miss Cagayan, Miss CAVRAA, Miss SLCT... As the "official photographer" of these contests, we'd be in charge of selecting Miss Photogenic - a task we took seriously. We'd escort mum onstage when time came for her to unwrap the giant portrait that would reveal who amongst the candidates looked best in front of the camera.

Our uncle Henry was part of Kodak's team of photographers when Miss Universe was held in the Philippines in 1994. He came back to the province after the pageant, bearing spools of film with images that are now considered vintage. Funny. We remember it like it was yesterday, when a teenager from India beat the odds to emerge victorious over the pre-pageant favourite from Colombia and the towering professional volleyball player from Venezuela. The elaborate motorcades, the grand stage, the bright lights, the high-cut swimwear, the gorgeous evening gowns that sparkled as brightly as humanity's hubris in the 90's... We loved all of it.

Not content with sitting on the sidelines, we took our love of pageants well into our adulthood. We founded Mr Gay Hong Kong in 2009. And the rest, as they say, is history.

To understand Filipinos, one must understand our love of - no; our addiction to -  beauty pageants.

Life is still a desperate grind for millions of Filipinos.

The girl onstage - she with the beautiful smile, glossy hair, sparkly dress - is an aspiration. But for the entire time she's onstage, she's also our fantasy of who we are right now. She is a validation that we are worthy to be in the public eye - to wear the the crown, the sash, the sceptre, the shoes.

This was something that Imelda Marcos, a former beauty queen, understood all too well. She helped champion the Philippines' bid to host Miss Universe 1974 - the first time the pageant was held in Asia. 65 pageant contestants sang "Pamulinawen," - an Ilocano folk song believed to be a favourite of Imelda's husband, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

And whilst Ferdinand and his cronies pillaged the national treasury, Filipinos suffered. Imelda therefore had to be the symbol of beauty; she really had no choice. The people expected it of her. It was all a great, big show composed of equal parts aspiration and distraction. Of course we all know how the rest of the story unfolds. Ferdinand Marcos is kicked out of power, is exiled, and proceeds to die. Imelda and her children return to the Philippines - back once again into the cradle of power. Imelda Marcos - former beauty queen - is now a global cultural icon.

Our fabulous domestic helpers and construction workers power the economies of many countries worldwide - this, we're extremely proud of. But we tend to believe that our best exports remain our singers, dancers and beauty queens. They are onstage. They are our cultural ambassadors. Across increasingly porous international borders, our beauty queens - who get to be on TV, can you believe it?! - project an image of the Filipino people the way we would like to be seen.

Polished.

Beautiful.

Able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of them.

And always - always - with that unshakable Filipino smile.

Filipinos may deal with corrupt political institutions, landslides, maritime catastrophe, monsoons, destructive urban flooding that puts Noah and his proverbial Ark to shame. But as long as the crown and the title are within reach, we've got hope.

// Thank you, Janine. //

MEET CEDRIC PICK, MANHUNT GERMANY 2012

AND BREATHE.

 

 

MEET CEDRIC PICK, MANHUNT GERMANY 2012.

 

HE'S OUR LATEST BESTIE ON FACEBOOK.

 

HE'S A FAVOURITE TO TAKE THE TITLE OF

MANHUNT INTERNATIONAL,

CLEARLY,

WE CAN SEE WHY.

 

VOTE FOR CEDRIC

AND HELP HIM WIN. 

 

 

// GO, GERMANY! //

 

 

 

 

VOTE NOW.

Trevor ALT

Benjie CARAIG

Donny DE SILVA

Raul FRANCO

Dickson LAU

HYPERACTIVE & GANG

// MGHK SUPPORTS 

UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. //

Hair by Robin Lomas | Make-up by Daniel Minakata @ Paul Gerrard
Photography by Frankie To

Shot on location in Knight on Wyndham and Robata Zawazawa

Beauty Bubbles: Kanishtha Dhankar

Hello, Friends!

I love beauty queens, honestly. There's nothing more camp than beauty pageants. The only thing bigger than pageant hair and pageant gowns are pageant boobs. Besides that, everything else is small - pageant waistlines, pageant thighs, and, most of the time, even pageant brains.

But small is adorable. And as long as a girl has a big smile that comes from within, that's all matters. Good looks can only take you so far; it's all about inner beauty, right? Am I not completely sold on this shit? No, really. Besides, who am I to resist "World Peace" ?

American girls are infamously deep fried and Venezuelan girls are infamously altered. Filipino girls get infamously tongue-tied and French girls just infamously don't care.

Of all breeds of pageant beauties, I am most impressed by the Indian girls. They have such an enigmatic look about them - a quiet magnetism. A beautiful serenity. Indian girls "float" over the competition as though it were all beneath them, and that's, like, so dope. Sort of like, "Step aside, bitches. Let mama get to the microphone and show you all how it's done."

Miss Universe 1995. Windhoek, Namibia.

Miss India, Manpreet Brar, was asked: If you find yourself in a situation where you are discriminated against because of race, what would you do?

Her answer: If your back is bent, only then will somebody climb on it. So stand up, stand up straight. And nobody will ever climb your back.

Pow!

So, Indian girls are fierce and take pageants to a totally different level.

In the lead up to this year's Miss India, a fresh faced beauty immediately caught my attention.

Who is she? I am she?

Her name is Kanishtha Dhankar, I found out soon enough, through my network of pageant friends. Kanistha has then held on to my attention, bitch-slapping me every now and again with fabulous photo after fabulous photo. She's almost an anti-pageant girl. Her looks are not exactly offbeat, but her angular features are unusual enough to keep me enthralled.

Excuse me while I werq.

Did you say angles? Let me give you angles.

Sister won the whole thing, natch, and will now represent India in Miss World, which is scheduled to take place in London later this year. And I'm feeling really good because I spotted something special in this girl straight away, and it seems I'm right (but of course).

My dear friend, Albin, has since fed my Kanishtha infatuation (coz the only kind of girls I get stupidly infatuated with are the pageant kind) with a steady stream of photographs. And until I get to meet Kanishtha in the flesh, I've decided to create imaginary conversations with her. It's a bit creepy, but hello, isn't that the nature of being a fan?

The conversations happen in more than just your run-of-the-mill word bubbles, mind you; these are pageant girl bubbles. I've given Kanishtha some fierce "Beauty Bubbles."

Ready for some fun?

Let's go!

With Affection,
James