Even for an ex-army toff with a nails-on-blackboard voice, James Blunt gets a lot of opprobrium. He hits the wrong note for so many people – including other musicians, such as Chicane's Nick Bracegirdle, who recently tweeted: "Umm, not wanting to cause offence but isn't James Blunt a bit of a knob ? #slightlyirritatinghighpitchedposharmydweeb" – that Radio 1 Chart Show host Jameela Jamil introduced his current single, Bonfire Heart, with the observation: "He's the most hated man in pop."
For many pop stars, there would be no coming back from that nadir. But the high-pitched posh army dweeb is fighting back. Blunt can't do much about having been born James Hillier Blount, or having a lily-livered falsetto, but he does have wit – and Twitter – on his side.
Over the past few weeks, he's been executing expertly judged smackdowns of people who tangle with him. People such as @alif_novaldi, who felt the need to tweet: "Fuck you, James Blunt." Blunt was straight back at him with the wonderfully withering: "I'm sorry, but you'll have to get to the back of the queue."
I'm sorry, but you'll have to get to the back of the queue. RT @Alif_novaldi: Fuck you james blunt
— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) October 8, 2013
Then there was a query from @laurenlyall about why he sings like "his willy is being stood on". Blunt parried with the classic humblebrag: "Damn thing's always getting caught under my feet."
Damn thing's always getting caught under my feet. RT @laurenlyall: Why does James Blunt sing like his willy is being stood on?
— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) October 16, 2013
When @blackeyelined sneered: "Who's the bigger twat, Robin Thicke or James Blunt", Blunt was straight to the point: "Me! Me! Pick me!"
Me! Me! Pick me! RT @blackeyelined: Who is a bigger twat: James Blunt or Robin Thicke?
— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) October 22, 2013
The "willy" jape was retweeted 1,600 times, and from that point, his following steadily began to increase. In the past week, he has gained nearly 20,000 followers (at this writing, he's at 219, 427), and while part of the increase is probably due to his having a new album out, there must be many who have simply decided that Blunt is a bit of a dude. Whether his tweets are adroit image-remodelling or just off-the-cuff banter, he's winning over the internet in a way that would have seemed impossible until recently. Buzzfeed has even listed 17 Reasons You Should Be Following James Blunt on Twitter (which can be condensed into one line: because he's funny).
Blunt may owe his mix of confidence and self-deprecation to his privileged upbringing, but the point is that nobody is kicking him for it any more. When given freedom to babble on Twitter, celebrities often reveal themselves to be idiots; certainly, few use it as deftly as Blunt. He could be the first pop star who's rehabilitated his image in 140 characters.
