Doug Carpenter wins $500 for best photo; Additional prizes announced for runner-ups

Doug Carpenter and his winning photos for the 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar

Our Barihunks Calendar photo contest culminates with our Grand Prize of $500 of going to Doug Carpenter for his wine and pasta themed shirtless photos taken by Josh Drake. We asked readers to submit comments and asked our panel of five judges located on three continents to weight in, as well. At the end of the day, the voting wasn't even close as Doug Carpenter's pictures emerged as the clear favorite.

We also loved his tweet [shown above] encouraging people to vote for him with a sexy teaser. The day he posted it our calendar sales skyrocketed, which is how we raise money for young singers. So, he seems doubly deserving of the prize money.

Doug Carpenter is currently playing Billy Kostecki on the North American tour of Dirty Dancing. Click HERE to see when the show is coming to a city near you and buy tickets!

(Jacques) L'Oiseleur des Longchamps (left) and Michael Scarcelle (right)

One of our judges was so conflicted about the #2 and #3 ranked photos not winning, that she offered up $250 for each of the runner up barihunks. So Michael Scarcelle, who had the second most comments and votes, and (Jacques) L'Oiseleur des Longchamps, who had the third most comments and votes, will each be receiving $250.

We'd also like to remind readers that Kasey Yeargain and Ernesto Petti each won $100 for having the Sexiest Photo, as determined by our readers. Also, Richard Alexandre Rittelmann won $250 for the best Italian Themed Photo, also determined by our voters.

We'd like to thank all of the barihunks who participated - YOU'RE ALL SEXY AND TALENTED!!!
Kudos to Zachary Gordin, Pietro di Bianco, Michael Hewitt, Craig Verm, Xavier Rivera, David Adam Moore, Ramon Balderas, Donovan Singletary, Vittorio Prato, Christopher Temporelli, Keith Miller and Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek. Their participation in our calendar allows us to raise money to support opera and young artists in particular.

We'd like to remind everyone that the goal of this website is primarily twofold: 1) Get people interested in opera, and 2) Assist young artists in their careers. Every penny that we raise from our calendars or tee shirts goes directly to artists and artist projects. We'd like to thank our readers for your continued support in making Barihunks a success.

You can still purchase your 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar by clicking below.

Jérôme Varnier & Stéphane Degout in London Pelléas et Mélisande

Jérôme Varnier photographed by L'Oiseleur des Longchamps

Two of our favorite barihunks, Jérôme Varnier and Stéphane Degout, will share the stage in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on Thursday, November 27th. Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead the performance which also includes Felicity Palmer as Geneviève, Monica Bacelli as Mélisande and Laurent Naouri as Golaud. Varnier is singing Arkël, which has become somewhat of a signature role, and Degout is singing Pelleas.

Tickets and additional concert information are available online.

Pelléas et Mélisande appears a lot on Varnier's upcoming performances, including singing Arkël at l'Opéra National de Lyon, and the dual roles of Un Médecin and Le Berger at the Paris Opera. He'll be joined in Paris in Robert Wilson's famous production by Stéphane Degout, who is singing Pelleas. Performances in Paris run from Febuary 7-28 and tickets are available online.

We also wanted to share with you the newest photo of Jérôme Varnier [above] taken by fellow barihunk/photographer L'Oiseleur des Longchamps. The latter appears in our new 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar [below]. We hope to feature more of his amazing work in the future.

L'Oiseleur des Longchamps (left)

Order your calendar featuring L'Oiseleur des Longchamps today by clicking below.

Pick our best Italian Themed Photo: $250 to winning barihunk

Now that we've wrapped up our Sexiest Photo Submission, which resulted in a virtual tie between Ernesto Petti and Kasey Yeargain, we've off to the best Italian Themed Photo.

Our calendar this year is titled "VIVA, ITALIA!" and we asked singers to submit photos that fit that theme. Our five judges couldn't narrow it down to just five singers, so we have six to choose from. We're also reducing the voting period from seven days to three days, so cast those votes. We'll also let you vote for multiple singers. The winning singer will receive $250 in prize money.

Here are the selections (and vote in the right sidebar, not in the comments section):

Donovan Singletary: Italian Ice Cream

David Adam Moore: Mozart's Guglielmo

Doug Carpenter: Italian Cooking

L'Oiseleur des Longchamps: Monteverdi's Orfeo

Richard Alexandre Rittlemann: Pizza Delivery

Xavier Rivera: Rossini's Barber

You can order your own calendar by clicking below. You'll enjoy 19 of opera's hottest men for the entire year.

l'Oiseleur des Longchamps in horse-themed recital

French baritone l'Oiseleur des Longchamps

When we released this year's Barihunks calendar, we were instantly bombarded with questions about French baritone l'Oiseleur des Longchamps. His provocative image caught the eye of a number of readers, who asked about his name and amazing body (which he shows off liberally!).

Longchamps is a multifaceted artist, who has a love for photography and being photographed, as well as music and theater. He's also quite the hippophile (or lover of horses) and he's put together a fascinating concert dedicated to his favorite animal called 'Les chevauchées Lyriques" (Lyric rides). The songs are part of his album of the same name.

Included will be Alagna's "Cantu pi’ n’ cavaddu bravu," Chausson's "Le Chevalier Malheur," Chopin's "Le guerrier," Debussy's "La Belle au bois dormant" and many more.      

The concert is on November 22nd at Les salons de la Mèlodie in Brussels. For additional information or to reserve seats, visit the website or send an email to info@lessalonsdelamelodie.com.

You can enjoy more beautiful pictures of l'Oiseleur des Longchamps in our 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Buy your today by clicking on the LULU button below.