Jack Manly Man Of The Year 2008
It should comes as no surprise to any of you reading this blog and visiting Jack Manly that 2008 provided us with a stunning amount of choices for our second annual Jack Manly Man Of The Year honors. This was our first full year of operation and in the course of this year we've become more acquainted with the wide variety of available websites and the sexy men who populate them. At the same time the studios have stepped it up too and made the world of adult gay erotica highly competitive. During the next few days we'll be providing moire "best of" lists because there are so many hot guys, websites, and videos and we want to make sure that they get their due.
That said, we did manage to narrow down our choices for Jack Manly Man Of The Year by focusing on those individuals who have not only done memorable work but who have been doing so consistently. In other words we narrowed our choices down to guys who are established and not just a "flavor of the month". We also looked at guys who had gained a measure of exposure in other media besides video. And finally, we took into account the fact that most media awards focus on big studio flicks and performers and not on the online video sites. Even when they nominate these entities, individual performers rarely (if at all) get recognized. Frankly, without the very guys to draw audiences to online sites, we wouldn't be around.
Thus, our choice for Man of The Year met all these criteria. He's been around for several years now and has become one of the top draws on one of the top online video sites. He has been one of our favorites since he first appeared and we've followed his inevitable rise as a star. He's undeniably sexy and muscular, charismatic and versatile as a performer whether he's appearing in a new video or appearing live. In the past year he's been featured in several gay publications, including one where he narrowly almost took its "man of the year" honors. Because of all this and the fact that he could easily be "man of the year" EVERY year, our pick is....
CHRIS ROCKWAY!
Mighty Men introduced Chris Rockway back in the summer of 2006 and site owner Jon Royce knew that he had star potential. He called Chris "one of the hottest and most fun male models I've ever worked with" and in no time at all he showed up at Randy Blue. When he made his debut here in September of 2006, audiences must have reacted to him right away because Randy Blue signed him up as a video exclusive and he's managed to hold onto the sexy straight dude ever since. Through the end of 2007 he had appeared in 17 videos for Randy Blue (not including live show appearances) and been one of the representatives when the company did promotions at clubs, festivals, and gay pride parades. The last video that Chris Rockway did for 2007 was to be his most pivotal up to that date because he bottomed on camera for the first time. Alex Chris & Reese featured TWO guys giving it to the sexy stud and to say that he was a loud bottom would be putting it mildly.
Having crossed that threshold Chris Rockway didn't appear in a new video for Randy Blue until February when he was teamed with newcomer Cru Jones in (what else) Chris & Cru. In the video Cru is watching a Chris Rockway video and fantasy becomes reality when he gets to have a scene with Chris. In a way it enforced the idea that performer at Randy Blue could be considered to have made it IF he was cast with Chris Rockway. It would be awhile before Chris Rockway appeared in another video but right after this video he appeared on the cover AND inside DNA Magazine #98.
The next video Chris Rockway did for Randy Blue was a biggie--Alley Cats. It's an extra-length video with a story that takes place in 1950s LA and is a homage to the old crime noir melodramas. As the detective Chris Rockway exercised his acting muscles in one of the most ambitious online videos ever done.
Chris Rockway had a pretty busy 2008 after that. He appeared in the June issue of Men Magazine, and soon after his new video Chris, Trent and Xander with Xander Scott & Trent Davis (another hot rising star) aired. There was Braden, Chris & Kevin in July, Chris Colby & Jeremy in August, Chris & Gabriel in October, and another biggie in November--Chris & Leo. Here he topped Leo Giamani as the capper for a year where he pretty much had his pick of all the "IT" guys. At the same time he was appearing in Men Magazine again in a November cover/layout with Reese Rideout and Xander Scott. In addition there were live shows including the Chris Rockway Holiday Special more guest appearances, and yet another magazine, this time fitness mag Exercise For Men Only. Oh sure it has a large gay following (don't they all?) but it's still a legit cover. And he looks awesome, but of course he ALWAYS does.
Finally, there was his appearance on the cover and interior of the recently released Household Idols, a dazzling display of gorgeous guys photographed by Mark Henderson. Truly this was a goal realized since Chris Rockway's first ambition was to become a male model. No doubt about it now--Chris Rockway is a star.
So, what's ahead for Chris Rockway in 2009? Last year we named Tyler Cummings and within a month he became Cody Cummings and had his own site. Not that we're taking credit but it could prove precognitive on our parts for Chris Rockway. However, we're not going to wait to see what happens next. We have an interview with Chris in the planning stages. When and if it happens, we'll let you know.
That said, we did manage to narrow down our choices for Jack Manly Man Of The Year by focusing on those individuals who have not only done memorable work but who have been doing so consistently. In other words we narrowed our choices down to guys who are established and not just a "flavor of the month". We also looked at guys who had gained a measure of exposure in other media besides video. And finally, we took into account the fact that most media awards focus on big studio flicks and performers and not on the online video sites. Even when they nominate these entities, individual performers rarely (if at all) get recognized. Frankly, without the very guys to draw audiences to online sites, we wouldn't be around.
Thus, our choice for Man of The Year met all these criteria. He's been around for several years now and has become one of the top draws on one of the top online video sites. He has been one of our favorites since he first appeared and we've followed his inevitable rise as a star. He's undeniably sexy and muscular, charismatic and versatile as a performer whether he's appearing in a new video or appearing live. In the past year he's been featured in several gay publications, including one where he narrowly almost took its "man of the year" honors. Because of all this and the fact that he could easily be "man of the year" EVERY year, our pick is....
CHRIS ROCKWAY!
Mighty Men introduced Chris Rockway back in the summer of 2006 and site owner Jon Royce knew that he had star potential. He called Chris "one of the hottest and most fun male models I've ever worked with" and in no time at all he showed up at Randy Blue. When he made his debut here in September of 2006, audiences must have reacted to him right away because Randy Blue signed him up as a video exclusive and he's managed to hold onto the sexy straight dude ever since. Through the end of 2007 he had appeared in 17 videos for Randy Blue (not including live show appearances) and been one of the representatives when the company did promotions at clubs, festivals, and gay pride parades. The last video that Chris Rockway did for 2007 was to be his most pivotal up to that date because he bottomed on camera for the first time. Alex Chris & Reese featured TWO guys giving it to the sexy stud and to say that he was a loud bottom would be putting it mildly.
Having crossed that threshold Chris Rockway didn't appear in a new video for Randy Blue until February when he was teamed with newcomer Cru Jones in (what else) Chris & Cru. In the video Cru is watching a Chris Rockway video and fantasy becomes reality when he gets to have a scene with Chris. In a way it enforced the idea that performer at Randy Blue could be considered to have made it IF he was cast with Chris Rockway. It would be awhile before Chris Rockway appeared in another video but right after this video he appeared on the cover AND inside DNA Magazine #98.
The next video Chris Rockway did for Randy Blue was a biggie--Alley Cats. It's an extra-length video with a story that takes place in 1950s LA and is a homage to the old crime noir melodramas. As the detective Chris Rockway exercised his acting muscles in one of the most ambitious online videos ever done.
Chris Rockway had a pretty busy 2008 after that. He appeared in the June issue of Men Magazine, and soon after his new video Chris, Trent and Xander with Xander Scott & Trent Davis (another hot rising star) aired. There was Braden, Chris & Kevin in July, Chris Colby & Jeremy in August, Chris & Gabriel in October, and another biggie in November--Chris & Leo. Here he topped Leo Giamani as the capper for a year where he pretty much had his pick of all the "IT" guys. At the same time he was appearing in Men Magazine again in a November cover/layout with Reese Rideout and Xander Scott. In addition there were live shows including the Chris Rockway Holiday Special more guest appearances, and yet another magazine, this time fitness mag Exercise For Men Only. Oh sure it has a large gay following (don't they all?) but it's still a legit cover. And he looks awesome, but of course he ALWAYS does.
Finally, there was his appearance on the cover and interior of the recently released Household Idols, a dazzling display of gorgeous guys photographed by Mark Henderson. Truly this was a goal realized since Chris Rockway's first ambition was to become a male model. No doubt about it now--Chris Rockway is a star.
So, what's ahead for Chris Rockway in 2009? Last year we named Tyler Cummings and within a month he became Cody Cummings and had his own site. Not that we're taking credit but it could prove precognitive on our parts for Chris Rockway. However, we're not going to wait to see what happens next. We have an interview with Chris in the planning stages. When and if it happens, we'll let you know.
Comments