Here’s why I put Mr. Lambert in the Used To Be Cool but is now in the Icky and/or Sad Man’s Club: His performance on the American Music Awards last November.
Let me back up.
The first time I heard Adam Lambert sing Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in his TV audition for American Idol Season 8 and then get gushy over meeting Paula Abdul and kissing her hand, I said, “This is the guy for me.”
First and foremost: The VOICE. Incredible. Unique. Soaring. Amazing Range. Tingly. I could go on.
Then there’s Adam: The PERSON. Intelligent, bold, confident, polite, funny, creative, kind, sparkly. I could go on.
For eleven months last year I was a die-hard GLAMBERT and proud of it. The gay thing? Who cares? Adam’s talent and personality were spectacular. I thought America had found itself a new Elvis.
During those eleven months I combed the internet, listening to YouTube videos and reading all the comments on IdolChatter (USA Today blog site), Idolatry (EW magazine blog site), rickey.org, mjsbigblog, and the unofficial Lambert fan club site. As far as Adam went, I had him covered.
When Adam asked his fans to donate to donorschoose.org, a site that helps fund art and language programs in elementary schools (a terrific organization), I was right there with my PayPal account.
As the months continued, I downloaded Adam’s American Idol tunes and videos. I purchased Adam t-shirts, necklaces, and a key chain on EBay. I couldn’t wait for the November 2009 release of his official first CD.
When Adam was set to make his national TV debut—a few days before his CD was to drop—on the American Music Awards, I thought, “Finally! Now America will see what I see in Adam.”
Oh boy was I wrong.
The audience didn’t get to see the extraordinary talent that Adam is. Instead that talent was obfuscated by a vulgar performance: a mean-spirited S&M rendition of “For Your Entertainment” that included pulling a woman across the stage by her foot, simulated oral sex, and guy-on-guy kissing. The performance ended with Adam giving the middle-finger salute to the audience with the creepiest-scariest look on his face (of which I doubt none of his AI fans had seen before).
It was a shocking performance.
Here’s why:
S&M may have its place somewhere in the world of consenting adults. If that’s your thing, fine. But do it on your own time in your own place.
NOT on national television when the impressionable youth of America is watching.
ABC TV claims it did not know about Adam’s overtly sexual routine. But it responded quickly by pulling the video from YouTube within hours and canceling Adam’s appearance on Good Morning America.
Adam’s response to the negative feedback was LAME. He said he was “interpreting the lyrics of the song.”
So. That doesn’t give you license to do whatever you want. Interpret better or do a different song!
He said he was “not a babysitter” and it was not up to him to monitor the TV viewing of youngsters. That’s a cop out.
First of all, Adam knows he has young fans. During the AI season he visited a kids’ theatre group in San Diego that he had been part of when he was growing up. (Kid fans there.)
He championed donorschoose.org. (Kid and teacher fans there.)
He had multitudes of kid fans attending his AI concerts and waiting for him pre and post show. (More kids.)
So Mr. Lambert, do you think there MIGHT have been kid fans watching your performance on TV? Obviously you weren’t thinking about them when you designed that sleaze fest of a routine.
The next time I saw Adam was on the CBS morning program. He brought his Mom to try to smooth over the backlash. She said, “It’s all good.” Spoken like a protective mother, however idiotic and pernicious that statement was. (Scientific research proves the delterious effects of sexualizing kids at a young age. Basic conclusion: It’s HARMFUL to their psychological well-being.)
He also tried to pull Janet Jackson and Lady Gaga into the fray saying their routines were just as provocative as his. We ain’t talking about them, junior. And just because they do something does not mean that you get to do the same. At least they have had successful recording careers. Your CD had not even been released yet.
I guess your ego and your handlers never mentioned the fact that in America you gotta go mainstream before you can swim upstream.
Adam has still never admitted that the performance was a BIG mistake and that he is sorry for getting carried away in such a non-prime-time way. He continues to make excuses. Nobody is buying them.
And hundreds of thousands are NOT buying his CD. I returned mine to Sony. They were way snippy about it. Over and over in back-and-forth emails I kept trying to explain, “I do not buy music from artists who have no regard for their audience.”
Lately I have heard Adam’s new single on the radio, which sounds like “Whaddaya Wanfrom Me?”
Here’s what I want from you: an HONEST apology that you erred and that you’ve learned that sexual hijinks are not meant for prime-time TV.
Doyahaveitinya?
