My Adam Lambert Obsession
I was always obsessed with American Idol, since I wanted to be a rock star but possessed not an ounce of the required talent. Then I swore it off when two lesser talents defeated the phenomenal Melinda Doolittle and I threw the television against the wall, which at least forced me to buy a new flat screen. But a friend emailed me Adam Lambert's performances of the Stones' "Satisfaction" and Michael Jackson's "Black or White" and my obsession is back. Somebody help me.
Lambert has electrifying white-hot talent and star quality that wipes the stage with the other contestants. He sounds like Axl Rose and Robert Plant had a baby that was incubated in Patti LaBelle. Adding to the glamour, he's got a funky gay back-story complete with pictures of him dolled up like he just escaped from Velvet Goldmine, as well as photos of him kissing a guy like they're at a Ziggy Stardust concert.
Lambert is everything I wanted to be in my 20's and never was -- sexy, stylish and self-confident, not afraid to be who he is, with a voice that could force the pigeons from the rafters and a great face for eye shadow. I watch him and become a bobby-socker watching Sinatra. I want to be his best friend, have him take me to cool parties with his overly costumed friends, and show me how to do my nails. I want to be his gay big brother.
He's an instant love-him-or-hate-him star who has inspired a whole Internet debate about whether or not he's really that great, whether or not he should come out on the show, and whether or not "America is ready for a gay Idol."
I'm all for out performers -- I'm one of them. I don't regret coming out on national television in 2000 when my Comedy Central special first aired. It got me a whole new audience and made me fearless onstage. But being an out performer is not without its hazards, and Adam needs the votes of America to win. A large part of the Idol audience are yokels who wouldn't mind voting for a gay guy as long as he doesn't make a production of it. By a "production" I mean telling the simple truth. One EntertainmentWeekly.com poster said, "KEEP IT IN THE CLOSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE DON'T WANNA KNOW!!!!" An endless parade of very depressing homophobic comments follow.
Please. You know. Sad to say, simply acknowledging one's sexuality is still a huge deal to some. After a comedy set where I spoke of my partner of 21 years like any comic talking about his girlfriend, a customer complained to the management that I was "forcing my sex life down his throat" (always an unfortunate choice of words). People know it's there but just don't want to hear about it. A YouTube video of my comedy included this comment: "He's so funny, why does he have to be gay?"
I wish this wasn't the case, but alas, we're still in a hangover from the Bush years. There are lots of conservatives who, having lost on every other issue, are still going after gay people. An out Idol contestant would win lot of gay hearts but might lose votes.
But when asked about the photos, Lambert casually said, "I have nothing to hide, I am who I am, I've never been shy about anything," which is another reason why he rocks. There's no Clay Aiken pussyfooting around it. He is saying, here I am, America, take it or leave it. In the glaring spotlight of Idol, that's pretty fierce.
He has basically been on the scene for several weeks and it will take America some time to get used to a gay glam rocker with black nail polish. But we wouldn't even be having this discussion if he weren't an in-your-face major talent with the potential to go huge. This guy is Madonna, Tina Turner, and David Bowie. Even if he doesn't win the prize, he's the real thing. As Bette Davis said after seeing Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl: "The moment she came out onstage, we all knew."
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Adam is, to me, the male version of Shane/Kate Moennig from The L Word....sexy, laid back, hot, cool, androgynous, sooooooooo addictive!
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No doubt about it, he keeps getting more interesting week by week. The internet buzz on him is ridiculous. Friends who never watch Idol are talking about him. I wrote the above article based on two performances, and I'm delighted for once to have been proven right.
I must have played Mad World 10 times in a row now.....
The fact that he's gay makes him a billion times more hot.So friggin confident and talented. You go Adam - bust it out of the park!
His charisma is off the chart, and the vocals? Outrageous. I can't WAIT to see what he does next week. I adore him!!!!
He is phenomenal. And I didn't even notice his sexuality; I just thought he was singularly artistic, unique, an unapologetic PERFORMER who didn't give a crap about what anyone thought. So he's gay? Who cares? Well. Millions of right wingers, as we all know. I'm making a point of calling in and voting for Lambert, though I've never done so in the past.
at first i took adam's version of "satisfaction" as a gimmick. made rude jokes of him being joanne worley's son... now my fantasy is to see him do "jesus christ superstar" at the greek theater. as for mo-town, i already picture him doing diana ross's "love child". he has such power-- i bet he doesn't beat up girls.
What a great article... I feel so sad for the world that we are so obsessed with hatred and making sure that people know that we are full of it. With all that is going on in the world can American Idol be a full blown escape. Where we can just sing and be free of War,Violence and the ongoing struggle to get up in the morning knowing your faced with the same woe's you were faced with when you fell asleep? Adam Lambert makes me happy to be gay, makes me happy to have a voice an opinion. I am so sick and tired of hearing people say things like "Forcing it down my throat" "Everyone should have one" "I dont mind gay's as long as they don't push it on me or hit on me". Well I have a sister and I have had to watch many of men push there sexuality on her or hit on her when it was not welcome. What is the difference? I think Adam Lambert is absolutely fantastic and I would think this if he was a straight man. His voice is what matters. If I have to hear one more person comment on the black eyeliner and nail polish I am going to scream. David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Prince, Kurt Cobain are just a few performers out of many that have been all dolled up in the past.... Why is this so shocking? Thanks Jim!!!
"His performance of Ring of Fire was riveting; I would love to know whose arrangement it was. It was so 'early psychedelic meets opium den'. It was creepy and mesmerizing and brilliant all at once. "
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The consensus seems to be that Adam must of heard Dilana Robichaux's version of Ring of Fire during her season on Rock Star Supernova. Although Dilana has a wonderful voice, I actually like Adam's version better (he added his own spin.)
You know I wasn't feeling this kid at all until I heard him last night, after which I looked up his clips on youtube and all I can say is WOW...his voice is stunningly beautiful (he has done musical theatre.) His gayness doesn't bother me at all (the first British Idol, Will Young, was openly gay.) His originality is what is striking especially compared to most of the other contestants with the exception of Meghan, who is so outside of the AI box that she hasn't a chance to win despite her considerable physical beauty, and quirky voice. But Adam is a force of nature, and whether he wins or not, I can't believe that he isn't going places (I never thought I'd drink the kool-aid for Adam, but he is just that good.)
Adam has a great voice. I think the issue he may have as a performer is he may be too flamboyant for some people. Unfortunately, there are still too many closed-minded people in this world who can't see past someone's God-given sexual orientation. I can't help but feel whether he wins Idol or gets voted off, he'll have a record deal. Personally, I can't stand his haircut, it distracts from his great eyes.
I loved his performance of Ring of Fire (and everything else I've seen of him). Loved the creativity (though a bit of a shout out to Dilana is in order). I realize he's current and cool, but I also see him as a throwback to the rockers of my youth: Queen, Billy Idol, Geddy Lee/Rush, Steve Perry/Journey, Robert Plant/LedZep. A little nail polish, eyeliner and oozing sexuality (regardless of persuasion) shouldn't frighten anyone. I get that the first time one hears Lambert's Ring of Fire, it can be confusing because your brain is playing Cash's version in your head and you're comparing them note by note and it doesn't sound great if you can't turn off Cash's voice in your head. But if you listen over again, that effect diminishes and you're able to fall in love with this version too -- even though you may also love the original. And I think Cash would love this version (based on his cover of NineInchNails 'Hurt").
He's great, and probably the best all around entertainer artist this season. However, the only one with a truly artistic and interesting voice is Megan. She's almost too pretty for her own good, and especially for the way she sings. She also moves very odd.
But I agree that Adam is talented. I loved his Ring of Fire bit last night. One of the best performances ever on the series. However, it was panned because it doesn't fit in the pop idol box.
He's so artistic he probably shouldn't be on Idol.
I'm not sure he will have lasting commercial impact. He's just not generic enough.
It's too bad that Joe Jonas is more marketable in this day and age than Freddie Mercury. To Adam's credit, he is more like the latter even though he kind of looks like the former.
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Jim David has officially gotten me interested in this cat. I'll have to YouTube him.
Ugh, you have to, he's amazing. But you've gotta dig edgy, flamboyant, in your face rock to appreciate him.
I have a $20 bet with my 13-year-old daughter that one of the Jonas Brothers will come out before she's 20. I call it my 20/20 bet. The awesome thing is that I told her Adam was gay so she wouldn't be taken by surprise if anyone was talking about it at school (she has a crush). Her response? "So what? He's HOT!"
I was thrilled. I'm glad to be raising such an open-minded daughter, and I'm glad Mr. Lambert makes no apologies for who he is: extremely talented. I almost want him to lose: then the record execs won't own him and he can make his own way without recording some stupid AI songwriting contest winner as his first release.
I was also thrilled that he didn't do some tribute to Johnny Cash. He has no plans to visit Nashville to pay homage to the greats of country, and I don't blame him. He was respectful to the mentor last night, calling him a "gentleman," and then he did his thing. Right on.
Adam's Ring of Fire performance....I don't know what to call it but halfway through it I was ROFL while he was singing it. I freakin loved it!
I think Simon was completely correct....it was completely self-indulgent. And that's why I love him for doing it the way he did it.
On a show where amateur performers try and pander to patriotism and sentiment.....Adam said F-you and did what the hell he wanted to do, how he wanted to do it. Take it or leave it.
I have to say, it was freakin' off the chain!!!
My absolute favorite Idol performance/moment EVER!
How do you not love this kid?
My favorite renditiion of Ring of Fire.... EVER. It was brilliant and Randy was the only one to get it. It was completely a NOW performance.
Indeed. I might actually download Ring of Fire to my iPod now. He knocked it not just out of the ballpark but out of the county!
It reminded me of Nine Inch Nails doing Sanctified. I loved it.
Randy TOTALLY got it!
He just re-defined the concept of Balls to The Wall on the most boring, homogenizing, blandifying Amurrrrrican stage of all.
Loved it, love his insane courage, loved the crazy range, the ability to hit notes in another stratosphere....
Go, Adam, go....
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