The Top Story: Adam Lambert in the spotlight
With the American Idol finale barely a week old, show-stealer Adam Lambert has been in the news a lot of late. If you think people wanted to talk about him when he was just an Idol finalist, now that he's doing interviews the conversation has become downright deafening. In order to give an overview of Adam's moment in the media spotlight, we've collected five of the most interesting interviews with the budding superstar. 5. TV Guide.com Adam's interview with TV Guide.com mostly asks the expected questions but it works on the basis of Adam's charm. I love how he starts out with his guyliner tips ("Don't wash it off, it works better if you've had it on for a couple of days"), as well as his comments about the "pink elephant" in the room. The magic continues below! 4. US Weekly Adam gets to show off his talent for subtle gay quips in this video chat with Idol winner Kris Allen. In discussing the thrill of performing with Kiss he calls himself "inflammable" and marvels that he managed not to catch fire among all the pyrotechnics. He then manages to crack Kris up by responding to a question about bunk beds with a sexual innuendo. 3. Live with Regis & Kelly We got to hear about Adam's theatre background when he visited the Live set and discussed his theatre history, which started with playing Linus in a production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. 2. Entertainment Weekly's Idolatry Easily the most substantial interview comes from Entertainment Weekly's Michael Slezak, who gets into a lengthy discussion about Adam's Idol choices over the season. (Adam confirms my suspicion that he's more Rock Star than American Idol when he notes that his version of "Ring of Fire" took inspiration from season two's Dilanna.) However, my favorite part comes at the beginning where he laughs off the way Bill O'Reilly cropped the photos of him kissing another guy. 1. Best Week Ever In the 'Great Talking with You, Adam Lambert' contest, it's pretty tough to beat the conversation Adam has with Best Week Ever's Michelle Collins. Collins is a huge fan of Adam, leaving us with an interview that's part Squee-fest, part fabulous party chatter and part insanity. I mean, Collins brings up that there's Kradam fanfic out there and suggests that Adam's brother Neil offer himself for a "win a date with a Lambert" contest. Thanks to dacrolover55 and H for some of the links! Submitted by on Thu, 2009-05-28 17:01. |
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The thing I love about Adam is his amazing skills of handling
all of these are great interviews
...but the US magazine interview (together with bff Kris) after Adam's "inappropriate" comment was the best single moment.
Here's an alternate YouTube link for those who can't get the US magazine link to work properly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ4kj3r3mQY
The Interview with Michelle Collins
Made of awesome
Does anybody actually just ask?
I'll not presume to know Adam - I think he's a pro at presenting a package to the world. But over the weeks hosting the livechats and researching, and seeing him on every talk show, I'd like to think I have a decent picture of the guy in my mind. So we come to the pink elephant in the room.
I've heard people ask him "about the pictures," they've asked him "about the speculation about his sexuality," TMZ asked him "if he was going be the first American Idol who..." And he deflects those questions. With a lot of humor. TVGuide brings up the "elephant in the room" and Adam paints it pink. He didn't have to.
People debate he's out, he's publicly closeted. He needs to come out, he doesn't owe anybody that. He who blogs from the back rows has made a point of calling him "publicly closeted" everytime he mentions him, with quite a bit of disgust. People on this site have called him a traitor. Others have claimed he doesn't have to come out because he was never "in" and point to stage performances, photos, and his brothers comments.
I see all this slightly differently. I do think Adam's out, and he's not ashamed in the least. I think he understands he's marketing a product, himself. Besides that amazing voice, the public seems most interested in one feature, who he likes to sleep with. A savvy marketer holds back that feature until it can do the most to sell the product.
He's not being dishonest. Despite Brent's eloquent "Gay Media Earthquake" last week, the media is still trying to figure out how to treat Adam. Nobody has come out and had the balls to say, "Adam, do you have sex with men?" If a journalist actually grew a pair and asked him point blank, I feel he'd say "Yes, yes I do." And I think he's pretty amused that no one, no one at all, has been able to bring themselves to say it.
It's possible that the Idol handlers have set limits on how directly the interviewers can broach the subject, and through the tour, he's very much under their control. I still think it's a problem with the questions. I think the answers have been uniquely appropriate for what he's been asked.
This is the weird thing
American Idol and the management company 19 have removed the blocks on the social networking sites, so Adam Lambert has publicly dislosed that he's gay to anyone with a internet connection. He's made his statement about sexuality and it's no longer his responsibility, it's the responsibiliyty of the media asking him questions. He's already given them the answer about who he sleeps with.
I'm now in the bizarre situation of looking at his management company and wondering if they're not actually doing a whole conservative thing of stopping questions about sexuality and instead are softening up public opinion so it doesn't mean that much when he says he's gay. The management company has more than enough experience elsewhere in the world to know that they can turn a profit off openly gay performers. They're a global company and they've made millions in all sorts of different countries with openly gay winners.There's been a chequered history of how far the winning artists and 19 have got on, but both have always made money.
Is 19 not covering up or protecting Adam but trying to soften up the audience? I don;t pretend to have the answer here, but I love the fascination of the possible analyses.
Gosh, this is exactly the point I keep trying to make everywhere
He's not denying anything. He's never been asked, "Are you gay"? If he were to be asked that directly, there's no doubt in my mind he would answer in the affirmative or a simple 'duuuuuh'.
The media dance around it and he's dancing right along with them.
The AMAZING Adam and his Pink Elephant
"I'm glad I'm causing 'gasms."
Hey, where are parts two and three of the TV Guide interview? There's some hilarious stuff in there, especially part two where the interviewer asks Adam what he thinks about the term "adamgasm."
His response? "I'm glad I'm causing 'gasms."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbhaPMiz_X
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJrEX5jqIA
Adam Lambert is the gift that keeps on giving.
Adam Lambert is the gift that keeps on giving.
Not gonna lie, I think he's the gay messiah Rufus Wainwright was preaching about back in '04. ^_~
Is he not a good role model????
He is amazing, I love everything about Adam. The sad thing is that people like Perez are treating him bad, saying things like "he's not out". He IS out. He couldn't have said it in more ways. Things like that makes me sad to hear. And then I read things like this from EW.com
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/05/adam-lambert-a.html
They basically think Adam Lambert can't be a role model b/c he's not honest w/ who he is. And to that I just have to think - why does one have to come out first to be considered a role model? He already is a role model, he is a role model b/c he is so brave, b/c he never changed himself for the American Idol competetion, b/c he always stayed true to himself no matter what people were saying about him. He is a role model b/c he is confident w/ who he is, he is well-spoken, sweet, humble and everything else. He has been laughed at so many times by people who hate him for wearing make-up, from people who hate him b/c of his looks or for the way he performs - does he care? No. That Idolatry interview showed it pretty clear.
To me he is a great role model and one shouldn't have to say the words "Im gay" for people to understand it. All of his fans knows, they know and don't care. B/c being gay or straight is not what defines you. And I think that's why Adam hasn't said those words, b/c when/if he does - he will always be known as a gay singer. And he says he doesn't want to be labeled. I think it's sad how the media is on him every single day and how they keep asking that question.
Slezak needs to slap Markovitz
Michael Slezak needs to march across the hall (if they're in the same location) and slap his EW.com colleague upside the head. Or maybe send Kristen Baldwin to do the dirty work.
Markovitz totally missed the point of what Adam Lambert was talking about. It wasn't about being gay (which as most of us on AfterElton know is NOT even a secret) or being coy with the media which dances around the gay-or-not-gay question without ever asking him directly. Adam was referring to being a non-conformist and marching to the beat of his own drum. He feels he's showing kids and young adults that it's ok to be different, to be true to themselves, to not feel pressured by society to fit into pre-conceived categories.
That article is bs
There's an old chinese saying : When you draw a person
Is he or isn't he? Is that the question?
Robert Gant did an entire
John Barrowman's husband...
I meant Scott. But he's hot
OMG thank you!
Adamgasms
Jeez, where to begin? He's totally going to be feeding us Barrowman-like nuggets of sassiness for years to come. I'm really glad that his personality has come out (no pun intended) now that Idol is over. I'm wondering if he would have been so relaxed and naughty in interviews if he'd won the thing.
Yes, I think the forthcoming exclusive is inevitable. I just hope he was able to have some say in how the magazine handles it.
I would have definitely put #3 higher on the list (the best moment is before he says "I like the top" when you can see the "can't resist" glint in his eyes). And I would have also included his performance of Mad World on Regis and Kelly because it's actually way better than either of his performances of that song on Idol (at least in part because Regis & Kelly seem to have a better sound system in their studio. Go figure).
Does Anybody Care...
about this? If he's gay,great. If not,drop it. And if he's not ready to say,stop pestering him. Let him have his privacy,for heaven's sake. Am i the only person,gay(which i am,obviously) or straight,who'd rather focus on his talent rather than who he screws?
He lost,it's over,he'll survive and so will we,regardless of whether he's out or not.
On a related AI note,this may be the first year(to my knowledge)where NO American Idol winner had thier winning song enter the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The best Kris Allen could do with "No Boundries" was miss the top 10 by one spot and debut at #11. Adam Lambert's highest debut was #19 for his redo of "Mad World"
Together,both acts have 9 songs on the survey. Last year's winner,David Cook,had 11 songs enter the chart following his win.
Obviously, plenty of people
Obviously, plenty of people do care about him, though whether it's his sexuality or not that interests them is up for debate. I'm sure he'd prefer that people focus on his singing, but one of his many talents is that he's charming and funny, and that's something that comes outon the press tour.
I think the statistics you quote are a bit misleading. Adam's album for season 8 debuted at #33 on Billboard (Allen's album debuted at #50). That's actually incredibly impressive for both of them considering that those albums are only sold on iTunes (and the fact that their albums are selling so well effects the tally for their singles - I don't think they did that last year). Right now, Adam's album is the #3 most popular album download on iTunes. He's doing very well, especially considering that he didn't win. And considering how long Mad World has been out as a single (and the fact that it is still only available on iTunes), it's darn impressive that it's still at #19.
Yes,he and Kris are cute,funny and charming...
but,i'm over hearing people go on and on about his sexuality. I'd rather hear about other aspects of his life and where his career is going. The thing we should be focused on is his accomplishments,not his personal life.
I just want him(and Kris)to lead happy and successful lives and careers.
I know i'm not making sense to a lot of you,i just wish this "pink elephant" thing would go away,
Also,i wasn't taking about CD sales,i was talking about the singles.
I mentioned Kris was at #11 on the chart with "No Boundries". Adam's version of the song debuted near the bottom of the hot 100,next week should be quite intersting for us chart watchers.
Here's How the World Has Changed
That's awesome!
about your aunt and mom.
"Is he really gay?" Well DUH!!!!!
The thing that comes through most strongly is Adam's professionalis. Kris won, and he's not about to step opn that win. That's partially because he genuinely likes Kris (and has been genuinely nice to everyone in the competition -- espcially Allison in their duet) but also because he's pro. He knows that at the end of the day he's won -- even in losing the top slot. He sees no reason to gloat or throw a hissy fit about it.
This indicates he'll have a long career ahead.
I just listened to Ken
Slezak
thanks!
Thanks for these interviews! Not being American I didn't really know about Adam until he resurfaced on both AE's. :o)
At first I wasn't that impressed by him (vocally not my cuppa) but I was very positively surprised by his version of Ring of Fire. Mad World and his putting a lot of shit on every note didn't do it for me (the song is dramatic enough, it should be sung simply, imo) - but Ring of Fire and the Jeff Buckley-ish nods were a different story.
As far as personality goes these are my first Adam interviews I've seen and I think now I'm in love with this guy as well...
Getting part of his stage costume for freaking AI from a drag queen for free, how can you not love that. ;o)