Before we start, I want to clarify one thing: The autobiographical nuggets that regularly surface on this blog, about which guys made me take a closer look at my sexual orientation, were not supposed to come this often. If I am to blog to blog at all, I have to picture an average reader, but If I don’t have any, it’s probably because he or she has grown tired of the utterly self-observed tone of this blog. So, dear reader, before I engage in yet another round of psychoanalysis, I apologize.
That said, teen heartthrob Jesse McCartney really has a special place in my gay history. I had only just begun my process of soul-searching when he graced Norwegian TV screens as surfer Bradin Westerley in the WB’s one season wonder Summerland (even though it officially spanned two season, the wonder part was pretty much lost after the initial 13 episodes). It would of course be a stretch to say that he made me realize I was gay, but he sure spurred more questions. It could be painfiul at the time, but looking back, I’m of course deeply greatful. And, come to think of it; how ‘painful’ can life be, when your main problem is that you simply can’t stop drooling over some hot TV hunk? The answer, of course, is it was some other kind of pain.
Those days are long gone, however, but luckily, McCartney isn’t. I didn’t know of his music career until I discovered Summerland, but I have to admit that I was sold immediately. His debut album, Beautiful Soul, contains several magnificent dance floor fillers, and your occasionally irresistible sobby ballad. Deciding to go all-out in the matter of gayness, I quickly half-embraced (which kind of undermines the whole ‘all-out-ness’, doesn’t it?) Jesse’s music publicly, and though it has cost me some heckle, I’m no longer ashamed of it. A guy is entitled to his guilty pop pleasure, aint he?
Speaking of pleasure, we have finally reached the main point of this post. McCartney has a new music video out, called ‘Leavin’, and though the tune itself has to take the back seat in my memory, it’s still a decent song. The pleasure comes from discovering Jesse’s new look. I have a thing for blondes, so a part of me still mourns the loss of the old Jesse, but that’s only until I sit down to inspect Jesse 2.0. a little closer. Damn, is he hot! His face is still boyishly cute, but the he carries himself with a newly acquired self-conciousness that really suits him. Earlier, I’ve compared Emile Hirsch to a young Leonardo DiCaprio, and now I think it’s time to do so again, with McCartney. Many of the stills in the video reminded me of Leo in The Beach (particularly at 2:33), and I’m not one to complain. Especially not when he shows us his hairy armpits.
Ain’t it nice to be reunited with an old flame, only to discover that your chemistry is better than ever?
Welcome To All That 
I loove the fact that this blog exists.. OMG, then it’s not only me who gets hypnotized by the ever so BEAUTIFULL soul of Mr. McCartney..
But what is it exactly he does to us? I don’t know.. All I know is that everytime that pretty blondhaired dude shows up on YouTube, all I want to do is press play again, again and again and then… I’m in heaven!! Loves it! It’s a shame he doesn’t have more scandinavian fans..
Heh, I konow.Take it you’re from Denmark? I really hoped that ‘Departure’ would catch fire with the Justin Timberlake segment of the pop audience, but apparently it hasn’t. It’s a shame, considering the strength of much of the material (’Leavin’, ‘It’s Over’, ‘How Do You Sleep’, ‘Told You So’, ‘Runnin’ etc.).
Exactly, I was rather suprised to experience the changes from the Beautiful soul album and to Departed, which I just downloaded fully last week.. Very Justin Timberlake/Timberland-like! Nice..
At first I thought it was a bit strange to hear those tunes coming from our american pretty-boy Jesse McCartney’s mouth, but after a while I changed my mind.. It’s kind of cool.. And it’s nice to see that he takes both his looks and his music to the next level.. Allthough in my opinion, losing the hair and changing the new look, is risky, because there’s a lot of Summerlandfans who may be too young to find the now more masculine Jesse attractive.. Know what I mean?
But it’s cool.. Can’t wait to see what happends next, with his new videos and so on.. .. and yes, I’m from Denmark.. Just createt my account in here:)
I definitely see your point. To develop a new, more mature fan base is always hard, and especially when your original base a) was as naturally restless and unpredictable as the young female teen segment, and b) potentially makes it harder for people possibly interested in your new image and/or music style to take the leap into fandom, for fear of social exclusion etc.
His changing looks of course plays into this as well. While I personally find his makeover made him even more attractive than he already was, those who liked him for his classic boyband beauty (I did, too), may think otherwise. Also, he now presents himself in a far more sexually charged way, something that might seem a little alienating to his youngest fans.
Plan to start blogging? Thanks for leaving comments. Keep them coming, hehe. I’ve never stumbled upon another Jesse fan in my entire life.
No need to thank me.. I’ve also never meet another Jesse fan, so there’s something liberating about reading your comments;) And the fact that you’re a guy is even more cool, so really.. NP..
I take it you’re about my age too? 21..
I don’t know how much I’m going to be in action in here.. Actually I just created an account because one of my teachers has created a site for my class on wordpress and therefore I needed a login.. But I still haven’t really figured out how it all works.. Never heard of the page from others, so.. I guess we’ll see..
I see. I was led to his music from Summerland, and he instantly clicked with me. Much of this is of course attributable to the fact that he is so insanely cute, but that aside, songs like ‘Beautiful Soul’ and ‘Because You Live’ are still some mighty fine tunes.
I’m 23, having reached an age at which confessing to be a Jesse fan no longer constitutes social suicide, if for no other reason than I don’t care anymore, anyway. (It also could be that my being gay sort of make it self-explanatory.) On the other hand, many might see it as somehow immature. I couldn’t disagree more, though.
How did you discover him?
I was too led to him by Summerland and Beautiful Soul, but actually I didn’t match the name of the singer of BS to the actor of Summerland, the first couple of times I heard the song in the radio. So when I discovered it was one and the same person, I was pretty impressed and it caught my attention.. Not that I didn’t find Jesse interesting in Summerland, I did – trust me! It had just come to a point where my exsperience and knowledge about the way these “steriotypes” are been sent to the market and exposed to the worldmarked, by personalities as Lou Pearlman had made me exspect more from the prettyboy-appereances than just good looks and the wannabe-Backstreet new boy-wish. But then I started searching on the internet, for more information about “Jesse McCartney” and later found the She’s no you video and also Because you live. There was also some interviews on RooTv.com at the time, where he seemed really independent in his answers plus very honest and down to earth.. It’s a shame, they aren’t there anymore. You really should have watched them, if you haven’t already.. And since then, i’ve been all eyes and ears for the young Mr. McCartney..
Sorry, if my english is a little bit rusty. It has been a long time since, I had to write something in english..
Anyhow.. I don’t tell my friends I like him or that I’m a fan, if you like.. Mostly because, they don’t share my passion for pop icons and culture and therefore don’t really understand the joy I’m finding in following their career etc.. But I think it’s fun.. And I really have a weak point for the all american pretty young blondhaired boys.. Ever since the Backstreet boys entered my life, with Everybody and As long as you love me and I fell in love with Nick Carter(which later became Aaron Carter and so on), I’ve had a weak point for these types of guys.. They just give me something, I haven’t yet come to find in the real world, even though I’ve meet quite a few guys in my life.. Do you have Facebook too?
OMG, I didn’t realize how much writing I’ve done.. Hope it’s understandable..
Hehe, don’t worry. It’s perfectly understandable. It seems like we have a lot in common when it comes to this kind of pop music. I’ve written previously about my secret dedication to BSB, and from a distance (publicly, at least), I followed the boyband wave of the late 1990’s/early 2000’s pretty closely. Of course, I too started sifting through an enormous amount of websites when I discovered Jesse, in order to find more pictures of and information about him.
(If you want to, you could of course sent me an email at welcometoallofthat@yahoo.com. Then we don’t have to communicate through the comments section. Also, if you like, you could write me in Danish instead of English, and I could answer you in Norwegian or English, if that would make things easier for you. I write a little Danish, too, but probably not well enough for Danish natives to be comfortable reading it).
You’ve got mail ;)