JOSE GALISTEO Celebration

Jose Galisteo comes from Spain & is just about to launch his pop career this summer. He started off in the same show that DontStopthePop legend Daniel Zueras starred in. However, Jose doesn't play around with his sexuality as much as his co-star Daniel has. Perhaps that's because he prefers to dance with drag queens, boogie in Le Queen in Paris and send out Christmas cards of himself and his boyfriend (see below). In short, Jose is too busy living out loud to be messing about with sexual identities. Not that we hold anything against Daniel for doing so, its just Jose doesn't probably need to play about with titles. He just oozes sex. Despite being gay, I'm sure female readers will love him nevertheless. I know my knees start to wobble when I look at his eyes. The guy is sex.

Jose in Le Queen gets to grips with Shakira's hips that definitely do lie!

What is with Spanish pop music & homosexuality? Whereas Italian male icons strut around like heterosexual stallions and British singers are de-sexualised puppets it seems its left up to the Spanish boys to make pop just a little bit queer-otic. And, it would seem they are doing their very best to make the radiowaves go a distinct shade of rainbow.

Jose auditions for the Spanish Baywatch

The next act from Spain to appear on DontStopthePop has also made a point to include gay boys in their promo's. Home come?

Ahem......

What with Daniel and Jose making sure gay references are clear in their music and promotion it strikes me as interesting from a socio-cultural perspective. What is going on in Spain? My boyfriend grew up in Spain and points towards the band Mecano....

Jose is that DontStopthePop on that computer? Stop looking us like that, I am shy!

Mecano were the flag-bearers of the La Movida Madrileña, a sociocultural movement that occurred in Spain in the 1980s. Mecano will feature on DSTP in the near future but for now let me just say this about them. They came out of Spain just as the country cut itself free from Franco's dictatorship. Mecano produced a sound that shaped the Spanish music industry and as their lyrics discussed homosexuality its a subject that isn't as polarising as many would presume being a Catholic country that it is. So when Jose's profile on a gay dating site was uncovered, as kylie said herself, the world still turned and the stars still shone.

One of the pics that appeared on the dating webpage...

As such, Spain is one of the few countries that has full blown marriage rights for gays and a "confession" of homosexuality quite rightfully ignored by the fans, music industry and so on. It will cause a few ripples but its not something that will make headlines nor will it effect sales. In fact, it will probably bring the sales of the records up rather than down. Which is why I've picked this rather trashy cover of Celebration by Jose over and above the much better tracks on his electropop album parts of which you can listen on his myspace.

Merry christmas!

As for the boystars themselves? They come out and move on. No issues of denial like of the Italian/Australian idol (Anthony?), tell-alls in the presses (Will) or immature boringness like that of Mika. In Spain its just about "boypop"-nothing more and never anything less.......

Next up from me: another spanish pop act, a rare forgotten deuce song and perhaps a girlband legend!