Status: Married to the grind
Most Crushable Qualities: âPeople love to talk to me about my body⌠For me it would be my girl next door, teddy bear vibe.â Empathetic, talks like a therapist
Least Crushable Qualities: Super flighty, âI donât return phone calls; Iâm very busy.â
Looking for: âEverything. You know, a good communicator. Have your own stuff. Donât have other crazy women I have to deal with.â
Not looking for: âSomeone chronicling our life over social mediaâŚâ clingy, someone who isnât reflective and doesnât learn from mistakes
Favorite Spots in Little Rock: The Veg, South on Main, and Playtime Pizza
Favorite adult beverage: Port wine (âI call it wine whiskeyâ)
Who are you in the movie Hook: Maggie (âbecause sheâs very innocent, and she has a soloâ)
Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Jordan, Adam Levine (marry, screw, kill): Kill off MJ, Screw Leo, and Marry Adam (âcan you imagine our little mixed race singinâ babiesâ)
This past Friday we met up with Bijoux at South on Main right before her show with Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers. Conducting the interview in South on Mainâs stylish green room, we had to contend with the not-so-faint sound of Rodney Block practicing the intro to âThis Christmasâ and a steady stream of gentleman needing Bijouxâs assistance with pinning corsages. Despite these pleasant interruptions, we managed to finish the interview before it was time to turn Bijoux over to the crowd. It started with the basics, but became clear immediately that there is nothing basic about Bijoux.Â
 A lot has changed since Bijoux was last on the market. âIâm dating immature. I got married when I was 25.â Now single, Bijoux has encountered a brave new world of dating sites/apps, social media, and hookup culture. âYou canât catch and release like you used to, with DMâs and whatnot.â She also confessed âI found out that drinks means sex.â In fact sheâs discovered that most things mean sex to people. âEveryone who meets me thinks they can sleep with me.â But they canât. âYou just canât. Or itâs at least going to be 6 months to a year before you can. If you donât have keys to my house, we arenât sleeping together. And Iâm not sorry. And Iâm not frigid. Iâm just not sleeping with you.â Bijoux is also reluctant to enter the now ubiquitous world of online dating, but not because itâs creepyâ âItâs not that. I feel like I could find the man of my dreams on a dating site. I just donât want anyone in my business.â
It is a mystery then why Bijoux agreed to do this interview because you better believe we were all up in her business. Furthermore, when we asked Bijoux what she thought of being on our crush-blog she comically replied âmeh.â Yet when we asked her if she had any crushes of her own, she did not hold back. âI crush a lot,â she said, giving us a handful of local names. When asked if she lets people know that she has a crush on them she said âAbsolutely⌠not.â She did, however, tell us the story of the inception of one of her main crushes. âWe had one bomb conversation in 2008 about Gargoyles (the cartoon). And thatâs when I knew âoh this is a problem.ââ Hey man, if youâre reading this, you know who you are.
Although Bijoux made it clear that work is her priority and described dating as âtiring,â she has found time lately to go on dates. She even said that she has never had a bad date because she is grateful to anyone that she goes on a date with that they âhad this experience together.â She did, however, identify her best date: âIt was at Museum of Discovery. I crawled through a maze, built things with blocks, and at the end I laid on a net outside and felt the rain.â Although you will inevitably have a fun time with Bijoux if you take her on a date, itâs clear that to be in a relationship with her you must be very secure. âIâm not going to give up work. And when Iâm at work, Iâm wearing a tight dress and smiling at folksâ she said. "I make baby eyes at people for a living⌠Iâm a flirt. Iâm an amazing flirt.â In the end she summed up her dating philosophy as âHave a good time, make your boundaries clear, and donât ask me to drinks.â And donât expect Bijoux to change if you start dating. "I was busy when you met me. Isnât that who you liked, someone who was busy? Iâm still busy. I might give up some sleep to be with you, but not work.â
We discovered that there is far more to Bijoux than her stunning good looks, beautiful voice, badass work ethic, and amazing flirtation skills. Reflecting her many facets and eclectic tastes, Bijoux spent much of the interview effortlessly dishing about everything from mid 90âs to early 2000âs SNL (her favorite character is Molly Shannonâs âSuperstarâ), to southern gentlemenâs proclivity for full bodied women (âThis is the South Baby. If you want boys to like you, eat some cornbread and go to sleep.â), to why some people donât like the movie Hook (âItâs because the arenât people. Like what donât you like about Hook?â). She even enchanted us with the story of her most paranormal experience. When she was in high school she was in bed going to sleep when âsaw a shadow walk across the door,â but decided âIâm not going to worry about it.â She had been told before of a âwitch sitting on your chestâ and she woke up to that exact experience. There was a demonic presence sitting on her chest and she couldnât move. So she said âthe blood of Jesusâ (which you are supposed to say when being ridden by the witch) and instantly the being transformed into a tall benevolent presence standing at the foot of her bed.
As the interview neared its end and Bijoux prepared to take the stage, we asked her if there was anything important about her that she thought we had missed. âIâm sure there is,â she said calmly, âyou just have to be around me⌠Iâm a lot.â Then after a short pause, she lit up and quickly said âOk hereâs your quoteâ âas if she hadnât supplied us with a book of quotes alreadyâ âI am Bijoux. I can only be Bijoux. Itâs not just a twitter handle. Itâs a lifestyle.â And right on cue, Luchini by Camp Lo started magically playing.
