Ricky Martin: Having A Wank On A Beach

From her Instagram.

Ricky Martin: As Thousands Cheer!

Washington Blade.

Ricky Bottoms For Power!

PS Not to be confused with the equally politically vacuous Gays For Trump. (Though what matters here is, it's Wall Street For Clinton).

Gay Dad Watch: Ricky Martin

AS the most eligible gay bachelor in the world, it’s an understatement to say Latin superstar RICKY MARTIN has no shortage of potential partners.

After splitting from long-term boyfriend Carlos Gonzalez Abella, the flirtatious singer reveals he’s back on the market and actively looking for a new man.

Unexpectedly putting his hand on my knee and staring directly into my eyes, the passionate Puerto Rican, who has sold 85million records, says softly: “I am single now after seven years. I meet people. I’m fine. I meet very handsome men. I like to have a conversation, looking into someone’s eyes and finding out their sense of humour.”

Then, as if it’s not awkward enough, he adds, seemingly referring to my not-so-perfect physique: “I’m not saying you have to be an Adonis, but you have to connect.”

As if to add to my discomfort, he takes off the scarf covering his pecs, saying: “It’s starting to get hot.” ...

Dan Wootton comes over-excited in The Sun.

Oh, and Ricky actually said he can't bring a different man back home every night.

The Daily Mail: Making Your Mind Up

'They have his good looks! Ricky Martin shows off his gorgeous twin sons in touching family cover shoot for Vanity Fair'
The Daily Mail - they love the gays.
They hate the gays.
They love the gays.
They hate the gays...
Repeat to fade.

Ricky Martin: Glad To Be Che

I see in The Advocate that Latino lover bumboy Ricky Martin is going to play Che Guevara in Evita on Broadway.
Surely Ricky's now fulfilled the textbook career trajectory for today's modern gay Pop star?

1. Enjoy massive success while staying in the closet.
2. Only come out when your star's on the wane.
3. Enjoy brief flurry of renewed media interest.
4. Release "This is the real me" lacklustre solo album to widespread indifference.
5. Join a West End/Broadway/touring musical... *

Bien hecho, señor!

* Becoming a gay dad optional.

Gay Dad Watch: Cruel Snub For Ricky Martin Twins

Papas and Papas! Elton John and David Furnish joined by Neil Patrick Harris and his twins for St Tropez playdate

"With Kate Moss frequenting the beach club just a few days before, Club 55 in St Tropez is certainly not your average place for a baby playdate.
"And it was certainly the scene of a papas and papas days of fun as Sir Elton John and David Furnish and Neil Patrick Harris and David Burthka took their respective broods to the beach club yesterday.
"As the singer and his partner fawned over their son Zachary the How I Met Your Mother actor and partner were seen doting on their twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace..."

The Daily Mail.
Fagburn also likes the way the Mail calls him "Sir Elton John" - respectful...

Ricky Martin: Outed/Ins

'This [happiness since coming out] is particularly poignant for Martin because of the years spent dodging questions and insinuations. The most notable incident was when Barbara Walters, the veteran US journalist, interviewed him for an Oscars special in 2000, and badgered him to address the rumours. (She has since said those questions were "inappropriate", the one regret in her three decades of Oscar interviews.) He replied that "sexuality and homosexuality should not be a problem for anybody" and refused to say much more; back then, he was terrified of what would happen if he came out, the possible rejection. "I hated it when people tried to force me out when I wasn't ready," he says. "It was very painful, and it actually pushed me away from doing so." The salacious tone of the coverage only made him more convinced that people would react badly when he did...'

Good interview in The Guardian by Kira Cochrane.
The Puerto Rican one-hit wonder has a new greatest hits thingy out next week.

Ricky Martin: Father Figure

On Monday Ricky Martin releases his first album since he came out, Music + Alma + Sexo.*
Nope, can't say I'm that bothered either.
Pop - like Cilla Black's life - is full of surprises, but coming out was almost certainly the last thing Mr Martin does that anyone will take much notice of.
The career's as good as over, has been for a decade - which may have played a big part in Ricky Martin deciding that the time was now right to come out.
Rosie Swash writes about his comeback on Guardian Music Online (Edit: It also appeared in Saturday's print edition).
Swash says "those hoping that Martin's new album will offer a deep reflection of gay life may be disappointed."
But was anyone seriously expecting this from Ricky?
He's not been too big on deep reflection in the past.
"This is an interesting time for homosexuality in pop music," Swash declares - citing the barely literate "I love the gays, me!" lyrics of Born This Way by Lady Gaga by way of example.
There are some - actually quite insightful - quotes from Paul Gambaccini in the piece.
"His decision to come out was not just made possible by his decision to become a father," he argues, "but it was made necessary by it, as it immediately restarted the conversation about his sexuality..."
Paul Gambaccini senses that fatherhood is being used to negate Ricky Martin's sexuality.
"He has positioned himself as a doting father and that in itself is a focus changer, because he's not saying 'I'm in love and live with a male partner, with whom I have two children' – he's saying 'I have two children who I love and am crazy about' ".
Gambo also posits an interesting paradox of the celebrity closet;
"I know many gay musicians who say they still don't want to come out. More than anything, they don't want their fans to feel they've been lied to."

* Edit: It's not actually getting a UK release (see comments). Which says a lot...

Dove Ads: Adventures In The Skin Trade

Fagburn is loving the new advertising campaign for Dove's new men care range, the imaginatively named Men+Care.
It's so manly!
Ads for male grooming products are often hysterically straight, and thus hysterically funny.
The subtext is often; "But using this doesn't mean you're a poof."
"Be comfortable in your own skin" is the message/moral in the Dove campaign, but it could be "Are you man enough to moisturise?"
I like the way the men in the Men+Care ads are frequently pictured with a baby - you may have to forgive Fagburn, but isn't the baby there to signify not cleanliness ("Take two babies into the shower?"), but heterosexuality?
I hope no-one tells Ricky Martin.

Gay Parenting: It's The New Gay Marriage!

Simply everybody's talking about gay parents!
And everybody's cooing over them and their babies - bless.
It seems slightly strange after all the parliamentary rows over gay adoption, and lesbians and IVF treatment.
Maybe no-one actually thinks it's a bad thing apart from a few right-wing religious nutcases?
There's those lovely lesbian moms, Nic and Jules, in The Kids Are All Right.
There's gay dads Cameron and Mitchell with little baby Lily in the hilarious Modern Family - they're even funnier than the Drewitt-Barlows.
And Latino newly minted homogay, Ricky Martin, has just told Oprah Winfrey he came out in March for his twins, Matteo and Valentino.
"I couldn't take it any more. It was too painful," he told the billionaire media magnate and student of bees.
"I guess the most important thing is my children. When I was holding them in my arms I was like 'What? Am I going to teach them how to lie?'
"That was my blessing right there. Then, when I was holding my children, I said: 'Okay, it's time to tell the world'."
Blub!

Celebrity Vs News: Famous Man Bites Gay Dog

"How we have reached this pass is one for tomorrow's cultural historians to unravel, and the best of luck to them with that. But, somehow, the war crimes trial of a suspected genocidal tyrant has been transformed, by the catalyst of celebrity, into Agatha Christie's The Mystery of the Blood Diamond. This tale is so suffused with Agatha touches... that the slaughter of untold numbers of West Africans and the butchering of their babies struggle to make the cut as side issues. Even BBC Radio 4, global flagship of high-minded reporting, could summon the strength to lead bulletins with the trial only once Naomi Campbell had made her peevish and petulant way, like a spoilt Eurotrash teenager dragged to church on Good Friday, to The Hague," Matthew Norman rages - quite correctly - in today's Independent.
For further evidence of how for some media, news only becomes newsworthy if a celebrity is involved, take a look at how The Daily Express covered the biggest gay story this month; the overturning of California's Proposition 8.
"Martin & DeGeneres Celebrate Gay Marriage Ruling: Gay stars including RICKY MARTIN, ELLEN DEGENERES and LANCE BASS are celebrating after a U.S. judge branded legislation outlawing same sex marriage in California "unconstitutional". (August 5th).
"Takei Celebrating New Turn In Gay Marriage Debate: STAR TREK actor GEORGE TAKEI is celebrating the news that gay marriage could soon be legal again in California, insisting opponents of the legislation should mind their own business." (August 6th).
"Let Gays Marry, Says Schwarzenegger: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and attorney general Jerry Brown have filed legal motions calling for same-sex weddings to resume in the state." (August 7th).
Okay - we'll let the Daily Express off the last one, seeing as Arnie is the Governor of California.
And presumably Princess Diana was unavailable for comment.