Saturday, June 16, 2007

WINDY CITY GAY IDOL & THE COLUMBIAN ARCHITECT

Last night was the 5th annual Windy City Gay Idol, which I actually went to. Why? My sexy friends and favorite lesbian couple Lauren and Lynnie (well, actually they are the only lesbian couple that I know - but they're still the shit) invited me to go. As an added bonus, Lynnie, who won Gay Idol last year, was scheduled to perform - just to show 'em all how it's supposed to done.

Having never been to Circuit (where the competition took place at) I wasn't sure what to expect. My first impression was a good one because the doorman who checked my ID actually said, "Have a good time Justin!" and seemed to mean it. Far too often the doorman/bouncer at any place, gay or straight usually have an attitude problem and are rarely friendly.

The place was really nice and spacious inside. Of course, I made a bee-line for the nearest bar to get a beer - which I only had to wait for about 1 minute despite the place being packed. The bartender was even nicer and more enthusiastic than the doorman. This was a welcome change from a lot of the other Boystown bars/clubs I've been (i.e. Roscoe's, despite it's near-legendary reputation, I've almost always received shit service there).

Anyways, I wandered around looking for my friends and eventually found them - near one of the other numerous bars. After saying hello and all that Lauren immediately started stroking my hair and gave me the thumbs up on the buzz cut (the last time I saw her she told me that my hair was "pissing her off"). She introduced me to her plethora of lesbian friends, who, I might add were all very cool.

Now, I don't watch American Idol. I've seen bits and pieces of it, usually while flipping around the dial during commercial breaks, but I was looking forward to seeing a similar type of competition live. There were 12 finalists, and first place wins $5,000 so I assumed the talent would be decent. There was far too much stimulation going on (not too mention beer drank) to remember the details of who sung, but we were at the right of the stage near where the performers "waited in the wings" before going on stage.

One guy, a cute blond named Jay seemed really nervous and was breathing heavily with his eyes closed. Once he opened them he was looking right at me and I said "go get 'em man! Rock out!". Lauren gave him tips about stage presence and dance moves to try out. This was funny because when the song he ended up singing was a slow Celine Dion ballad. I hate Celine Dion but he did a good job and the judges seemed to agree. After he got off the said I congratulated him and he told me he was staring at me because I look identical to one of his friends (for some reason people tell this all the time) and that my face comforted him. Glad I could help Jay!

Eventually I joined Lauren, Lynnie and their friends in near there front row seats. Since there was not a seat for me I sat on the floor, in front of Lauren and next to "Paula Abdul". It was hilarious watching the performers at this angle since even the slightest/shortest of them looked 15 feet tall. I thought the Prince look alike (who did not sing a Prince song) was about to fall off the stage several times while busting his moves. Thankfully, he remained upright and on stage.

My favorite performer was a guy named Adam, who looked like, and sounded like Adam Levine from Maroon 5. Although his outfit suggested his mother dressed him up as a gay cowboy for Halloween (jeans, sparkly vest and a red bandanna hanging from his neck) he was really good at both singing and dancing. Plus, he was cute.

After the first round was over it was Lynnie's turn to shine - and the crowd went wild when she walked on stage! The MC asked her about winning last year's tournament and what it was like singing in front of 30,000 people at Soldier's Field for the opening ceremony for the 2006 Gay Games. She's such a rock star! Anyways, she did her song, and although she flubbed a few lyrics she rocked the fuck out.

After narrowly avoiding having an entire cocktail table of drinks spilled on me (I magically grabbed my beer in mid-air) I decided it was time to move away from the nest of increasingly drunk lesbians and walk around. Plus, I really had to piss.

Having done so I found a less crowded corner and stood and watched the show. I noticed an attractive Latino guy talking to a group of his friends. This was towards the end of the night and although I was a bit tipsy I didn't think of approaching him...however he did approach me.

We introduced ourselves to one another and talked about the show and whatnot. It was loud as hell and hard to hear him, plus I noted his thick accent and asked him where is from. Turns out he just moved here from Columbia last year to practice architecture.

Now, I'm not sure who if any my readers know that I am a huge architecture dork, but the reason I ended up at film school was that I could not get into the few architecture programs I applied to. When I told him this he was floored. "Who's your favorite architect?" he asked. I replied that I'm partial to Louis Sullivan, but if I had to pick one architect that's still alive "It would be Santiago Calatrava". He said something in Spanish that I understood to be the equivalent to "No fucking way! Mine too!".

"So Justin, can I ask you, are you straight?". I wasn't surprised by this question since nearly every time I venture into a gay bar/club someone invariably asks me this question, it made me think that perhaps I should take Dan Savage's and my friend Gloria's advice and buy a "I LOVE COCK!!!" t-shirt. One of these days, I just might get around to doing so. "No, I am not straight, I am gay". "Oh, wow, how very nice then..." he responded.

We talked more about one another and I remember he asked me what religion I was and I said that although I no longer actively practice, that I was raised Catholic. Since he's from Columbia he is too and he found this amazing ("wow another Roman Catholic in Chicago! How rare!" I thought but refrained from saying aloud).

About this time his "friend" approached us. He seemed nice and bought us all a round of beer. Still, something about him seemed off. This was confirmed when friend walked away for a moment, and Colombian Architect told me that was his one time boyfriend and current roommate.

"Friend" asked me what I was doing later and that if I wanted to, I could "join us in our hot tub in our 42nd floor condo". Fuck. Me. All I wanted to do was talk to this nice guy and hopefully make out with him - I didn't want anything to do with "friend" (for the record there was something creepy in the way he looked at me and it made me uncomfortable).

They also asked me out to dinner but my friends Lauren and Lynnie were leaving, so I declined. I did however get Colombian Architect's phone number (and he got mine) and right before I walked off I hugged him and whispered in his ear "call me sometime, I'd like to hang out with you without your friend around" and kissed him good night.

We'll see if he calls - I hope he does although I'm not holding my breath. All the guy's I've meet randomly in Boystown have seemed to be "all or nothing - right now or never" types and I hope he is the exception. Time will tell.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Yeehaw! I wish I were there, you who-are!!

Chicago's Bi Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chicago's Bi Guy said...

Sounds like fun Justin... I'm sorry I missed it. I've been to Circuit a few times and I must agree with you the staff there is a lot for friendly than the normal Boystown bars (with maybe the exception of Sidetracks). Oh on a side note there is some event taking place in boystown near Aldine and Halsted today (Monday June 18th) Are you interested in going?

Anonymous said...

Actually, it is not supposed to be an "I LOVE COCK!!!" t-shirt. My idea was something a little more smooth, suave, even: A cartoon picture of a beaver with the circle and a slash sign around it. Safe to wear in public, but gets the point across to those that need it.

JUSTIN said...

Hey, if buy one/make one for my birfday I promise to act surprised! Furthermore, I promise to wear it somewhere really unacceptable, like to Church or a White Sox game...

jay said...

It sounds promising to be, although living with your ex is never a good idea. You don't have to wait on him to call you know, just call him!

I find it funny how ppl never think you'e gay even at gay shows and stuff. I'd figure they'd at LEAST assume. GEEZ.

Anonymous said...

Justin,

I had a similar experience with a Columbian currency trader.