Adam Lambert tells Rolling Stone magazine that the Idols got the news of Michael Jackson’s death while they were rehearsing for the tour. Adam was performing “Whole Lotta Love” on stage when Lil Rounds ran into the room and whispered something into the producer’s ear.
‘I kept singing and looked over at them with a confused look on my face,” says Adam, “and one of the producers mouthed to me, ‘Michael Jackson just died.’ I went, ‘What?’ and stopped singing. Everybody just stopped.’
Idol rehearsals were canceled for the rest of the day, and he and the rest of the Idols avoided negative press about Jackson as they digested the news. ‘What he was capable of as a showman, and what he brought to the world, outshone any of that,’ Adam says.
Adam also mentions that his first American Idol audition song was “Rock With You,” a performance that particularly impressed judge Paula Abdul. “Paula was really grooving to it,” he says.
The RS article also reveals one more Adam Lambert tour spoiler, “Whole Lotta Love”can be added to the list that includes: “Mad World”, Muse’s “Starlight”, a David Bowie Bowie medley of “Life on Mars”, “Fame” and “Let’s Dance,” and the “Slow Ride” duet with Allison Iraheta.
Yeah, with that moment in the finale, no offense to Kris (and I completely agree that it was simply not the best song choice for him, clearly suited only to Adam
) but I just wanted Adam on We Are the Champions – no duet necessary, because Kris just seemed out of place during it, whereas Adam fit so perfectly (vocally and stylistically).
Though letting both of them duet with Queen = WIN!
I completely expect, regardless of having a softer-voiced Kris come after him, Adam to end on a BIG song, in fact, I think the Bowie-medley was confirmed as ending his set. Probably start on a bigger song too, or possibly MW, since it’s so moody and emotional.
I wouldn’t worry about Adam straining his voice on tour…he only has to sing 5 songs a nite, not a whole concert worth…he is used to singing day after day from his work in the theater..of all the top 10 he is the last one I would worry about….as much as I like Kris, I wonder about an energy drop off after Adam’s set….its kind of like when you go to a benefit concert and a high energy rock n roll band tears the stage up, the crowd goes nuts, and is then followed by a soft rock artist like James Taylor…JT is enjoyable and great but the contrast takes a bit of wind out of the whole shebang….JMO….have never had any interest in an AI tour before, but am excited to shlep out to Long Island for this one!
In the middle of the season when Adam already was getting a lot of buzz, people on the AI forum were talking about the tour. They were saying that it would be difficult for anyone to follow Adam because of his incredible, powerful voice, stage presence and charisma. They were saying how the audience would be in a frenzy just before, during and after he sings. Kris did get more votes (some people think it was a landslide), so the audience should be even moreso frenzied for Kris.
Well, the last thing I want is to get into a more votes/more fans debate (especially since I like and respect both guys a lot).
I would say this, though: they’re both completely different in terms of performing style (obviously). Kris has a great, radio friendly voice. Performance-wise, on AI, he tended to sit still in the middle of the stage, with the guitar, piano, etc. Very engaging (and a lot of people’s cup of tea), but just a distinctly different performance style. And that’s mainly what I expect from him during the tour.
Adam, otoh, is the more show-stopping, grab the stage, dance around, interact with the audience, dress up, light up the stairs, shoot off some fireworks kind of performer (imagine those kinds of theatrics working with Heartless – not so much :wink_wp:) In that context, I think Adam’s energy and performance style will get A LOT of attention, and that Kris will receive tons of applause, but will have a hard time matching that visceral reaction, because it’s just not his thing.
I must say, though, it will be interesting to see audience reactions based on the different styles (I guess what I mean to say is, because Adam is such a magnetic performer, he MAY get more cheers by default, even if Kris is more popular).
IDK – now I’m probably rambling
Random question, but on my recording of Hey Jude (live version done later by McCartney) it’s only 4:30 long. I know the na-na-na’s can go on forever. Is it really that much longer? Or will they go with a more normal-lengthed version, so as not to get too repetitive.
Well I don’t think it’s fair to discuss the what if’s of the show until we actually have a show to base the discussion on.
I went to the AI concert last year and was curious to find out who would get more screams, DC or DA. It was so loud for both, I’d have to call it a draw.
Performance-wise, they were both great, but I have to say David A. surprised me. I liked him so much better on tour than I did during the last two shows of the season, which were the only ones I watched. (I went to the concert with a friend who was way more into the show than me at the time.)
But what would we do on the boards all day if not for the “what-ifs”? :wink_wp:
At the Atlantic City show last year, DA probably got louder screams, but it was a large teeny-bopper contingency, so they tend to be more vocal than the older audience members. Both got a lot of cheers though. And I agree that DA did really well last year, even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of his before.
Slow news today, huh. I’m starting to miss Adam. But I’m glad people are still posting. It helps in filling in the lack of news. Now I’m even forced to checking on gokey’s twitter site as well as the other idols twitter to check if they have any Adam news.
You’re right. It probably would be more like a 4:30 min. song. I’m glad it wasn’t going on longer because it could get boring. Still long enough. Adam, on the other hand has two short songs. Mad World is less than three min. and WLL is a little over three min.
By then there wouldn’t be any what if’s, so what would be the fun of that? It’s also fun in trying to figure out what everyone is singing instead of waiting.
I have no idea how Kris won and I am not going to speculate anymore, its over. But in LA and New York the fans were going nuts for Adam, Kris, not so much. What you heard on TV is not the way it was. I imagine the Tour will be the same. The thing that helps Kris is so many Adam fans love him by default. There is also a huge difference in an arena setting between Adam and Kris’s voice. Not saying Kris won’t get the love, I just think Adam will get the LOVE!
So true! And not even much going on in twitter-land.
Best AI, we don’t know how long Adam’s Bowie medley is or Muse’s Starlight. Or how long it will take for Adam/Allison to sing SR and to hug afterwards.
lola, LOL Matt G, Scott, and Anoop continue to tweet about being in Portland. They sound bored.
(I don’t read Danny’s tweets.)
As much as I like Kris (I do!), I can’t see the Tour being the best showcase for his voice and performing skills. I think Adam and Allison will have a much easier time of it. I keep going back to We Are The Champions…clearly Kradam had a great time performing it, but Kris was overpowered by the music and by Adam. So I hope they set it up so he gets an intimate setting. They did this for Archie, I assume, so they will for Kris. I wonder if they clear the stage and bring back the piano before he comes on. I have never been to a Tour, so I have no idea.
I did not buy Kris’s season pass (I wish Adam got one, too…oh, well), but I listened to the first 30 seconds of his 1st behind the scenes Tour video. He started by saying how NB was completely different than how he did it on the show (phew), and someone laughs (Adam?). Then he explains how he didn’t expect to win (Kris, you won, it’s okay!), and we hear the beginning of his playing piano. I’m tempted to buy the pass now…there are four videos and his album (along with the crapastic NB–I don’t have his version), which isn’t bad for $16.99. Did anyone buy it?
Adam is so outside the AI mold (actually it’s good because he can shed off the AI image faster). Adam is not the typical Disney image (he’s too sexy for that). So I am ok that Kris won….at least this means less pressure on Adam. Kris has to carry the AI tour show but AI producers know they needed Adam to promote the show with Kris because Adam has a way of getting people excited. I wasn’t suppose to watch the Idol tour but I am intrigued by his costume and his song set.
Oops, change Adam’s song list order. Adam said he will end with the Bowie medley during his set (on the EOnline interview). So I’m going to guess he will start with Whole Lotta Love, then go into Starlight, then Mad World, then Bowie.
Here’s a twitter – Heckler, is this you? jerk..
http://twitter.com/thereallambert
My cd is coming soon! Look for it this fall featuring my new single Want!9:05 PM Jun 23rd from TwitterFon
I’m sure this poser will be shut down soon.
Hey, 22 followers, that’s not Adam, that’s Wi-Fi. Cease and desist!
So SHADY!
Starlight is 4 min., and studio version of SR is 3:30. I’m just putting in the times because earlier, people were complaining Adam has as many songs as Kris, but a couple of Adam’s are short. I’m guessing the medley will be at least 4 min.
I love every song in Adam’s set. I can’t even say which is my fave. I’m guessing if Adam didn’t have the duet, he would just have four solos, so I’m happy for the duet.
David Bowie is like most artists, he does interviews when he has something to promote and I have to say David Bowie gives the best interview in the business. I have seen him many times – I always love the way he handles interviews especially when he gets a good interviewer, then it’s really magic.
I was at his website recently and he doesn’t seem to be up to anything [which doesn't mean he isn't busy doing something] except beaming with pride in respect to the fact his son, Duncan Jones, has a new movie, his directorial debut, won best feature film at the Edinburgh Film Festival. I guess Iman is the breadwinner right now, hosting Canada’s Project Runway and shhh, she’s better than Heidi.
The bottom line for the tour is that AI can control the order of singers and songs, the number of songs, the length of said songs, and the staging of these songs but….no one can control the fans reaction to said songs and the singer who sings them.
I don’t have a clue how the “actual” fan division is and which fans are AI fans and which are there to see their FAV. Hopefully most of the fans will be respectful to all of the idols and give a favorable shout-out to the winner. But, if there are a lot of Danny fans or Adam fans that think their guy got robbed….it my be a slightly more contentious crowd.
I am sure Kris is “smart” enough and emotionally balanced enough to know that he can’t control the response that Danny or Adam or he himself may get. If the fans give him the short end of the stick he will be fine….he does have class, more so than some fans have.
Classy folks would and should be supportive and respectful of all the Idols even if they aren’t fans though they are certainly expected to save the most noise for their favorite or favourites.
I remember when JD Fortune won Rockstar INXS and Marty Casey was invited to open for the tour with his band the Lovehammers, all the Casey fans pissed off that their man didn’t win said they were going to the concert to see Marty only and then leave. Well the reality is either they didn’t leave or no one noticed.
I really don’t think there will be any animosity among fans at the AI tour… Everyone seems to have moved on from all the controversies and is just waiting for the tour and the music to begin. Kris has plenty of fans so I don’t think the crowd’s reaction will fall flat. Besides, the awesome Kradam friendship thing pretty much sets the tone. They should ALL come out and sing We Are the World for the encore finale