Cosmo hunk raised right here in WL

By Nicole DeCosta

The West Linn Tidings, Oct 22, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Michael David Neilson was Oregon’s selection in Cosmopolitan’s yearly Hottest Bachelors of 2009 edition. The Lake Oswego resident was raised in West Linn.

VERN UYETAKE / west linn tidings

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An early ‘90s Weezer song blares from upstairs. The aroma from incense permeates the air. All rooms in the Lake Oswego house display paintings and sculptures. Michael David Neilson, 24, is busy at work in his garage on a soft, architectural sculpture.

“I call it stretch fabric because it’s based on tension and hyperbolic curves,” Neilson said, surrounded by paintings, canvases and scraps of fabric. “What’s cool is there’s not a lot of people doing it. I consider myself an entrepreneur.”

And the women in America consider him hot — a sensitive artist with abs to boot. Neilson was named one of the Hottest Bachelors of 2009 from Cosmopolitan magazine and is featured on newsstands now. Representing Oregon, Neilson and 50 other young, unmarried and attractive men from around the country were chosen to strut their stuff for the annual bachelor competition.

Neilson said that all the attention is new for him. He’s never modeled before. He doesn’t watch TV. He exercises with “men in their 60s” at a Lake Oswego gym. And he works out of his house as a full-time artist. Despite good looks, the magazine, he said, was looking for guys with a story.

“The caliber of guys are talented, nice and they happen to be good looking,” the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Neilson said, who grew up in West Linn.

Neilson is quoted as being “sensitive” and loving the “lines of a woman’s body.”

“I never know how long I’m supposed to wait before I should call or when it’s safe to make a move. It’s stressful,” he told the magazine.

Thankfully, women from as “far away as Newfoundland” are taking the lead. Neilson said he’s already gotten more than 100 e-mails from women wanting to get to know him.

“They’re all so genuine — just really putting it out there,” he said of those who have e-mailed him at OR.bachelor09@gmail.com.

Since his former roommate’s girlfriend, Lauren Wittorp, submitted him for the contest last winter, Neilson has had “a whirlwind experience,” he said.

“He’s the real deal — great looks, incredible personality, extremely talented and intelligent,” Wittorp said. “All of that combined made me nominate him. I couldn’t believe there was such a fantastic guy that was single.”

In the spring, Neilson found out he was a finalist and had to submit more photos of himself and a bit of personal information. When he nabbed the Oregon slot he flew out to The Hamptons with other finalists for a dramatic — and shirtless — outdoor photo shoot. Since then, he has visited New York a second time for promotional TV appearances.

A highlight? Getting his hair cut and styled.

“Before that, I was cutting my own hair,” he said.

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