I've been a judge and an emcee at a lot of contests in my long legged life and I feel grateful that most of the ones I've been involved with have been really well produced with a lot of great contestants -- and fortunately the Mr. International Rubber contest was an example of both.
The weekend started on Friday this past wekeend at the Center on Halsted with the vendor mart - an opportunity for various retailers to show off and sell their wares during the weekend. It's also, naturally, the first opportunity for people attending the weekend to show off. <G>
A quick word about the Center on Halsted - for those of you who haven't seen it, the new Center, two years old now, is a shining example of how things can be done right. The architecture is clean, there's an open feeling about the place and the layout of the meeting rooms smart. A number of years
ago I emceed a number of Grabby events that benefited the Center - and there was some concern in Chicago's community (which I hear still exists) that the Center shoulda been in Andersonville and not Boys Town (which is slowly being overrun by the Stroller crowd - something I discovered first hand when I went to dinner on Sunday night and landed in the middle of the straightest restaurant I've ever eaten at - and it was smack dab in the middle of what used to be the gayest block in the entire Midwest. I feel old). But the Center just feels so perfect that it feels as though it's always been there, it was just waiting to be built.
Friday night's meet and greet was organized as a way for the judges to meet the contestants and so there were drinks galore, party food and hearty conversation abounded (and more than a few tongues jammed down more than a few throats) - and it's always great how in the fetish communities everyone seems to chat wildly with each other. I mean, I know that getting laid is on everyone's mind, but it seems as though the fetish guys are more open to an actual conversation than most.
The contest was wisely split into two halves - the first part Friday night and the second Saturday. The Friday night edition featured a judged category - the equivalent of a pageant evening wear competition which then ended in a water fight between all the contestants (which is something straight guys WISH would happen on the Miss America pageant). The good news about the rubber is that it gets wet but dries quickly. And the getting wet is part of the point. (There may be, I suspect, a higher than usual proportion of yellow hanky guys in the crowd than at most of these kinds of event).
Saturday afternoon was reserved for grilling, I mean, interviewing the contestants. This can be tedious or fun depending on the fellow judges and this group made the afternoon sail along. The Chicago cold though insured that all of us were slowly getting bundled up as the afternoon wore on and the 9 contestants came and went from the room.
For those of you who have never participated in a contest, questions range in tone from the sort of silly ('use one word to describe each of the judges') to the serious ("what do you say to Americans who feel that the skinhead movement has too many negative connotations to be considered erotic?"). MIR is more playful and less political than most other contests in the community but there's still a concern - and an awareness - of safer sex practices, and, more specifically, the IML policy on banning makers of bareback porn into their leather mart.
A year later (it feels like so much longer ago) this is still a VERY hot topic (the ban went into effect for this past May's event). And yeah it still astounds me that this is even a conversation we're having in 2010. But you know, sexual politics is a very complicated issue for Americans and LGBT Americans aren't exempt from that. We are, in fact, in the trenches making the conversation happen. (This is a good thing in case you wondered)
Anyway, in general, it's not really a matter of contestants answering a question right or wrong, it's really more about HOW they answer that's really important. For example, at one point I asked a contestant about something in his bio that, the minute I asked it, I knew I had mis-read. He got extra points (from me anyway) for not making me feel stupid and, further, for making a joke out of it. If you're going to go from city to city representing the culture (any culture), you had better be able to put up with people getting their facts wrong - and you'd better be able to do it with a smile.
Saturday night was the Big Night and the contestants were put through their paces throughout the evening. The highlight was emcee Eddie Hibbs lipsynching to Sherry Vine's "Bad Romance" satire - while in a tub surrounded by all the contestants in gas masks. If you know the song, then you know how absolutely brilliant that is. UPDATED: If you don't, scroll down to the bottom and check out the video/song and listen carefully to the lyrics. It's definitely not for the easily offended (but, really, if you're offended that easily, what are you doing reading this blog?). Sherry's video was taken down at one point but shhhh it's back up .. don't tell Sony (I'm pretty sure no body there reads Will Clark World!)
Speaking of brilliant, Eddie is a brilliant emcee in his own right having worked the L.A. circuit over the past decade with various events (Freak Show, the Wet Shorts Contest). Emerging in a red skintight catsuit with white sperm designs swimming about, Eddie set a sexy/naughty tone Friday night and with his Vine number, equally set the tone for a sexy/nasty Saturday night.
The winner was picked and GMan from Atlanta won the International title with Roger from The Netherlands and Johnny Switch from Chicago as first and second runners up. (Above, from left to right, John, Tyler (this year's IML), Johnny, GMan, Roger and Rubber Willi. Left, Johnny, GMan and Roger).
Still got a bit more to say... dashing now.. I will see all you New Yorkers at Bingo tomorrow night for the big Bronx Community Center fundraising event!
