Disney reviewing live shows after Adam Lambert Performance
ABC’s parent company, Disney is reviewing the steps it takes to vet live performances in the wake of Adam Lambert’s American Music Awards performance.
I’m not sure how Disney can stop artists from improvising on stage, unless they spell out the consequences of deviating from rehearsal up front. It’ll be interesting to see how future live performance shows play out.
BTW, I think Disney knew they wouldn’t have a problem with Adam on GMA, they canceled his performance to punish him and show him who’s boss. Disney was also setting Adam up as an example, so that artists will think twice before they go off script.
via Reuters
Disney/ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney told Reuters that in reaction to the Lambert performance, Disney was reviewing the steps it takes to vet live performances by getting assurances from artists that their stage shows will resemble their rehearsals, and using contractual obligations to hold them to that.
“We certainly don’t want to suppress artistry at any level, but we also have to be very cognizant of who our audience is,” Sweeney said at the Reuters Media Summit on Monday.
She added that it was the right decision for ABC to cancel Lambert’s scheduled performance on “Good Morning America,” noting that many children watch the morning news show.
“We really had to take the decision very seriously and found that his performance was very unpredictable at night and (we) didn’t know what to expect in the morning,” she said.
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It is fact. ABC has said so. Adam has admitted it and said he has learned not to deviate from what is rehearsed.
Apologies for the overemphasis, but people keep talking about the content not being any worse than we see on TV or saw from the other performers that night, when that is not the issue.
ABC’s stated issue has been Adam performed outside the script. Yes, we can believe that reasoning is a smokescreen and ABC is saying that to cover its a** because of the complaints. However, the fact remains, Adam did perform outside the script and there were consequences. Again, those consequences of 1500 complaints – an insignificant number – and a nuisance complaint to the FCC from the Liberty people – can be deemed of no consequence. However, ABC now has to deal with this fall out – whether or not we consider it important.
As a professional entertainer, which Adam certainly is, he knew better than to do what he did but he did it anyway.
So, ABC is making an example of him. I hope this doesn’t limit his future TV appearances on other networks. He needs those to build his fan base. Where are the bookings for Leno, Conan, SNL, Regis & Kelly, etc.? He should be making appearances everywhere. His album is great. His performances of those songs is great. People need to see this – repeatedly – and he needs TV for that exposure.
And yet throughout the broadcast, ABC didn’t miss a single opportunity to pimp Adam’s closing performance as a showstopper that would be THE watercooler topic the next day.
Blindsided? Don’t think so. ABC got exactly what it wanted…and a little more besides. Ratings were huge for the AMAs, they would have been huge for the GMA broadcast later in the week. Money talks, except when someone with a lot of influence over even more money does the talking and I think that’s what happened in the board room overnight.
As a professional entertainer, which Adam certainly is, he knew better than to do what he did but he did it anyway.
No, they’re not. HDD and Nielsen SoundScan (which is the one used by Billboard) are completely different entities. HDD makes estimates from info they gather from retailers, Nielsen counts scans (of the barcode) at the point of sale.
HDD is useful as a preview of what might to come on SoundScan and Billboard, but they’re not considered official numbers.
I agree. ABC was within their rights to respond as they did. I’m sure it didn’t help that Adam said right after the show that if they bleeped parts out on the west coast, it would be discrimination. You can’t bite the hand that feeds you. I’d say, if you can’t tone it down for television, or go along with the rules, then don’t do television. Anyway, sounds like he is now willing to cooperate and compromise, which is necessary in today’s business world, especially for someone starting out.
For myself I will still know that this side of Adam exists (the dominant, mean, aggressive side that he exhibited in the performance) and wonder about it. Like everyone else, I form my own opinions about him. Today’s tweets were a plus to me. If he can learn from his errors it will be good for him (as for anyone).
In general I don’t care for corporations or capitalism, but if you’re going to play the game and reap the rewards that network television can bestow, you have to expect to play within the rules. Or at least expect to get bleeped.
What’s done is done Adam is moving on and ABC needs to do so also, enough with the corporate statements.
“So it’s either keep your sexuality well under wraps or become involved in the struggle, one way or another.”
As has been said many times before, just being out in Adam’s circumstances is inherently political. Some people talk and write about change; Adam acts on it.
In the long run the controversy is good. The only controversies that usually seem to effect performers adversely are lip-synching or other fakery(a la Milli Vanilli).
Could it be said that television is entering the Post-Lambert Era?
Actually, the cancellation didn’t hurt Adam a bit. He did a good job on the Early Show and gave them a ratings boost.
I still disapprove of the performance on the AMA, but it’s Adam’s decision to do what he wants or needs to do. Right now someone is giving him good advice.