final fifty

So there’s a bit of news I’ve been too embarassed to share until now, but I might as well get it out…

I’ve been named one of CLEO Magazine’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors of Singapore for 2005.

[pause for laughter]

When the whole thing first came up, I had enough liquid courage in me to say ‘yes’ to the idea. Not being a reader of magazines for young ladies, I had never heard of CLEO, and I half-suspected the ‘eligible bachelors’ thing was a joke or ploy of some kind.

Even when I got a follow-up call from someone on the editorial staff, I never imagined I’d make the cut, so to speak. A few weeks ago, I was amazed to hear I was ‘shortlisted’, but I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. I still didn’t imagine I’d actually wind up in the final fifty – especially when, at my photo shoot, the CLEO women made fun of me for being “half a tourist”.

The photo shoot, by the way, was just how you would imagine it to be – a parody of itself. The photographer actually said things like “Give me your mysterious smile. Okay, now give me your sexy smile. Come on, pretend I’m a beautiful girl…”

The interview was the same way, with questions like “what kind of girl gets your mojo going?” and “What do you like to do when you think no one is watching?”

The (April) issue hits newsstands mid-March, and so will begin my new career.

7 Replies to “final fifty

  1. Uh…I guess the word “bachelor” means something different over there…If you’re in Singapore, isn’t that something that would be cause for public flogging? I mean, you can’t even chew gum there, can you?

  2. To correct a misconception, you can chew gum in Singapore, you just can’t sell (excepting the nicotine gum in a pharmacy thing) or manufacture.

    If adultery (or attempted adultery by being an eligible married bachelor, hehe) was a caning offence, a disproportionately high number of men and women would not be able to sit down.

  3. Cool, I’ll pick up a copy when it’s out.

    I heard about someone who was in one of the previous lists — and he’s gay. I really don’t know what kind of yardstick they use for these things…

  4. Obviously, their yardstick is pretty skewed, since they selected a 36-year-old caucasian guy who is – in their own words – half a tourist. When the whole thing first came up, I thought I’d just go wherever it took me. I assumed I’d get a funny, blog-worthy story out of it that would end at the pre-interview. I never imagined I’d actually make the friggin’ list.

  5. saw your pic, thought you look quite nice though i think the winner will be one of the guys on the cover.have fun though!!

  6. Hi,

    We are so proud that my brother Brendan won the contest.He’s done very well.He said that it was great fun.I think it’s great to have contest like this for fun.He was on the front cover of the magazine.He looked great.

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