For Immediate Release

Second Life’s Hottest International Avatars Sizzle on Stage
Ireland's Sexiest Avatar Nicholai Shepherd Wins Mr. Virtual World 2009

Second Life – Nicholai Shepherd of Ireland was named the best avatar male in a heated competition for Mr. Virtual World 2009, held in Second Life, a 3D virtual world, this past week at the Patch Thibaud Auditorium.

The competitors, representing 17 countries, demonstrated the perfect blend of art, technology and humanity -- advancing the art of avatar creation in a social media environment to a new dimension.

"I must say thank you first of all to everyone at BOSL and Frolic Mills for this fantastic award and opportunity that I have been given. Also a massive thank you to all its many readers. Without you and your support towards BOSL Magazine and Mr. Virtual World & Miss Virtual World, competitions like this just wouldn't stand a chance, so a BIG thank you!" Shepherd said. "I am overwhelmed by it all, really, and think I am the luckiest guy in SL. I will treasure this title up there with the greatest achievements of life.”

Mr. Virtual World is much more than just a visual competition -- it is about the personality of the individual and their ability to assemble the various elements SL has to offer: skin, hair, clothing, etc. into a pleasing appearance which shows off the fantastic content available on the grid.

“I think my strong qualities are mainly rooted within my love for art and its philosophy, my creative abilities, and natural instinct for style. I have a real life background as a conceptual artist, something which has helped me immensely here in SL, in terms of having freedom of artistic expression and so many different ways to express your creativity. Making pixels look fabulous is what I do best and is what I have been submerged in for nearly two years professionally, and I really am ready to help other people make a stand within their lives, to the pursuit of happiness.”

Just making it to the level of competitor is a significant accomplishment. And like any competition of this type, special recognition is also provided in two additional categories – Mr. Congeniality, won by Cody Bolero, who represented Sweden, and Mr. Photogenic, won by Jarl Soderstrom of the USA.

Mr. Virtual World is the creation of entrepreneur Frolic Mills, publisher of one of Second Life’s most successful magazines, Best of SL, which reaches about 120,000 readers a month. Mills developed the male avatar pageant as a direct result of the success of Ms. Virtual World.

“Both competitions are my celebration of everything that is great with Second Life,” Mills said. “Behind every avatar are the great works of the amazing artists that develop skins, shapes, hair, clothing, and jewelry to add beauty and life to this virtual world.”

Also making it to the top five were Bjorn Delphin, Costa Rica; Clive Saunders, Greece; Liam Netizen, The United Kingdom; and Bolero, Sweden.

Other competitors included Phillip Dollinger, Argentina; Brett Diamond, Australia; Atillas Joszpe, Brazil; Donald Feld, Cayman Islands; Allenclive Delphine, France; Salvo Waydelich, Italy; Jack Farella, Mexico; Jhao Oh, Portugal; Simons Bleac, San Marino; JonmiChel Heron, Spain; and Cazzo Decosta, Venezuela.

For more information, contact:

Umberto Giano in world
umberto_giano<at>yahoo.com

- or -

Journey McLaglen in world
Cndy_landers<at>yahoo.com