http://www.bestweekever.tv/2009/06/15/finally-you-can-pee-all-over-gene-simmons/

And I, in turn, stand by my comment that it would be preferable for somebody who is going to in a unique position among artistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ due to the nature of how he how he à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“made ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ of being looked up to by children and teenagers to have a less blaseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ attitude about activities and substances that have taken and destroyed the lives of so manyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

Are we talking about mushrooms and Ecstasy now, or alcohol?

noctem seizure Jun 12th, 2009 at 2:34 am

On another subject, I stand by my living under a rock comment, if you cross everyone off your list who has ever experimented with a illegal drug of any sort, it would be a very small world indeed, and your playlist would have about 10 artists on it, we donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t live in a perfect world.

And I, in turn, stand by my comment that it would be preferable for somebody who is going to in a unique position among artistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ due to the nature of how he how he à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“made ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ of being looked up to by children and teenagers to have a less blaseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ attitude about activities and substances that have taken and destroyed the lives of so manyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

Now with regards to your comments about the number of artists who have à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“experimentedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , you may be right. But, I havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seen all but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“about ten artistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  in the spread of a major magazine discussing their behavior nonchalantly. And of course, as mentioned, these artists also arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t put into the same position where they are automatically going to be role modelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ the position in which the American Idols somewhat uniquely find themselves.

So, I guess if the choice is between having an Idol à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“put it all out thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , so he can satisfy the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“proving heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s realà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  test and one who keeps the potentially harmful and/or illegal activities of his private life private so as not to potentially promote dangerous behavior to impressionable kidsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I guess I know which side I come down onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

As opposed to say the current President of the United States. I don’t hear him apologizing nor doing a PSA for his prior drug use:

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“You know, I made some bad decisionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦. You know, got into drinking and experimenting with drugs. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though –”

For those not up on drug slang “blow” is cocaine.

I personally feel that if Adam had been the winner and Kris runner-up that Idol would want him to do things their way and be that role-model and pretty much hide his past. Therefore, I’m glad now for another reason he didn’t win. I totally admire his integrity and “I have nothing to hide” attitude.

(Anyone else having probs with the blockquote?)

Adam is a good role model in a million different ways – his brutal honesty and lack of filter is just one of them. I admire it greatly. There is no bullsh*t with this guy.

As for the people who are saying that Adam should’ve shut up about his sexuality because you don’t want to hear it, tell me – do you read tabloid magazines? Do you pay attention to celebrity gossip? Because there are intimate details about straight celebrities’ sex lives plastered all over the mags/internet/TV/whereever, yet no one seems to mind THAT too much. Double standards, man.

Gene showed himself to be a homophobic jerkwad with the ‘farm animal’ comment. Maybe he and the recently fired Miss America can go on tour together. Gah.

I remember people here in a up roar over web sites saying he couldnt be a role model.After RS he proved them web sites right.I do think adam has some growing up to do still.He should start with going out and saying he doesnt do drugs anymore but not sure he can do that yet.I do like adam but to many want him to be the next great thing.

Well, Adam could be the next great thing as far as the pop-rock world is concerned. Just don’t don’t ask him to be your spokesperson for your anti-drug initiative, just like you wouldn’t enlist Gene Simmons to be the keynote speaker at a women’s empowerment conference.

You can be a role model for many things. I don’t think you can be a role model for everything.

So shouldn’t it be that all Idol contestants should be afforded the same consideration whether it is Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey or shucks even Clay Aitken, n’est-ce pas?

But clearly the real world does not operates that way. Everyone is going to make judgments on all the Idols based on their own biases, conscious or subsconscious, and it is what it is. And it does make life far more interesting. Kumbaya is boring.

I stand by my assessment that I did not think Adam upstaged KISS, I thought it worked well, the exciting lighting, those loud guitars, and the wild costumes of all. And Paul Stanley ain’t no slouch, he has done musical theatre and acquitted himself admirably.
My comment about musical relevance and KISS wsa perhaps misunderstood – there is no denying the success of KISS even still, but in terms of bringing something original to the scene, that was KISS in its early days – the KISS LIVE album was one of the maybe 3 or 4 albums my siblings and I all liked at the same time and we wore that album OUT. That and the Sex Pistols, “Never Mind the Bullocks. The other was Elton John “”Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – and those albums are still considered classic albums so I guess we had good taste as teenagers. Then we went in four totally different directions musically.

Sparkles, there are always risks. I do want to correct you on one point. HPV does NOT mean that you have to have a hysterectomy. (and you don’t have it on your cervix, it’s a virus that lives in mucous membranes.) It CAN lead to cervical cancer (most strains don’t), but as long as you’re going to your doctor on a regular basis, pre-cancerous abnormalities are very easy to treat. 80% of American women will contract one form of HPV by the time they are 50. The vaccine does NOT cover all cancer-causing strains, either, just a few of the common ones.

I don’t know your niece’s situation so there may be mitigating factors, but in most cases a hysterectomy would be a rather extreme treatment option.

It’s a really, really cool thing…to be able to show people that you can be yourself,” he said. “It feels really amazing to be able to try and pass that on to kids and young adults who don’t have a role model like that.”

I remember people here in a up roar over web sites saying he couldnt be a role model.After RS he proved them web sites right.I do think adam has some growing up to do still.He should start with going out and saying he doesnt do drugs anymore but not sure he can do that yet.I do like adam but to many want him to be the next great thing.

But, the one thing that can be said for sex is that, as long as ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s consensual and protected, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s far less likely to endanger people than the use of medium or hard-class drugs.

You tell that to my niece who has the human papaloma virus on her cervix and will eventually have to have a hysterectomy to avoid cervical cancer. There are no symptoms for women and very often for men. It’s the most common STD and can lay dormant for years. Thank God there is now a vaccine for it. you’ve probably seen the commercials advising you to vaccinate your young daughters before they become sexually active.

You tell that to my friend who has aids and the ones who are HIV positive and did everything “right”.

You tell that to my friend who’s fiance left her because he ended up with herpes and thought she cheated on him. It turned out to be Herpes simplex 1 – mouth fever blisters. She didn’t have any active sores, but your body still sheds the virus. He still felt like he couldn’t trust her and called off the wedding.

I’ve worked with epidemiologist and trust me, sex isn’t between two people. It’s between two people and every single person they have sexual contact with after they have been together. STD’s the gift that keeps on giving.

But, for me to judge an Idol and to continual lam-bast them for their lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s decisions just because I want to set them on a pedestal for these said children is totally ludicrous. If what they did, appalled me, I would just ignore said Idol and move on to those that I would feel comfortable supporting.

Well said Tess. This people are not our slaves/robots for us to command. Especially when the said individual has already refused to be a poster child within the context of previous American Idols. If you think Adam is bad for the children – move on to other celebrities. I do think Adam as a role model actually sounds fabulous since compare to other artist – he is practically a tone down version.

And this goes exponentially for Idol-birthed stars who are looked up to more than ordinary artists, just by the nature of AIà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s presenting itself, if hypocritically, as a family show, and thereby attracting a large family-audience.

I must be missing something here because I, personally, have never seen American Idol being advertised as a family show. Just because it, probably, has a G rating does not automatically classify it as family friendly.

Also, I have NEVER equated an American Idol with the term “role model”. These kids are signing up for a reality show whose ultimate prize is a limited recording contract. They DO NOT sign up to be a poster child for ANYTHING. And if someone feels it necessary, to enjoy the show themselves, to embody these kids with social powers that they do not seek or endorse that is a problem with the viewer and not the Idol. And the crux of the problem may just be the silly use of the term “Idol”, who some people ludicrously use to describe moralistic behavior rather than singing ability.

It is fortunate that Idol has had a wide variety of top finishers that parents can direct their children to if they want to “hold up” an Idol as a moralistic role model. But, I believe even these Idols are not acting the way they do because they consider themselves “Idol” role models. Even someone like squeeky clean Archie (and I love me some Archie) are who they are because of internal forces not Idol forces. David does what he does because he considers himself on a “mission” for his church and works to uphold and show the standards of the religion he embraces. Does this make him a better idol than others. Not in my book!

I must decide, within my own social context, which of the idols I will support. And if I had children of an impressionable age it would be MY responsibility and MY responsibility only to help them decide which Idol to “look up to” and what to look up to. But, for me to judge an Idol and to continual lam-bast them for their life’s decisions just because I want to set them on a pedestal for these said children is totally ludicrous. If what they did, appalled me, I would just ignore said Idol and move on to those that I would feel comfortable supporting.

Do you think we could give him a couple more days? :ponder_tb:

Well, NKOTB was just as popular in their day, selling about the same (I think 80 million worldwide), with most of their albums going multi-platinum…with all the merch those guys sold the figures must be astronomical…I read something like they were each making 1 million a week at one point. And that’s how I see KISS, about the same kind of gimmick band. (Yes, NKOTB is a boy band but still both bands had a gimmick & I’m just using them as an analogy to make a point).

Growing up the 70’s me and my friends thought KISS was lame and you couldn’t have paid us to see them (still couldn’t unless Adam was with them lol). My little brother who was about 9 at the time was into them and even had the dolls. Where are the NKOTB now? About the same place KISS is, and the act never deviates. I’m thinking the amount of sales don’t always equate with music relevance, but I guess it’s all one’s point of view. Obviously both bands were relevant as far as sales go, but musically….eek (but that’s just my opinion). They both have their place in music history I’ll give you that, but I just don’t see Gene Simmons (or any of the NKOTB) as being an authority on rock to the extent that he could say someone’s career is finished, and that the only band Adam could front is Queen. Who died and left him in charge of it all? If it wasn’t for their costumes where would they be? Gene never was much of a singer, and he’s even worse now (he basically sang/spoke throughout the number). He is however, a brilliant business man and makes the most of what he has.

Ultimately I think his statement was totally said out of jealousy and the fact that some in the media thought Adam upstaged him, and he knew his comments wouldn’t hurt him a bit because his fan base is most likely not Adams. Plus he’s a hypocrite…4600 women and he’s telling Adam to shut up? yeah, right whatever – seems kinda homophobic to me. I’ll take the puppy over “The Governor” any day.

What magazines are you talking about because I can go through about 20 years of Rolling Stone and find all kinds of scandalous things.

Of course you can. But, there is also the point that many artists/ stars/ celebrities choose to keep their personal life activities personal, whatever the nature of those activities are.

I personally agree with Gene Simmons– I’d rather not hear about Adam’s sexual habits or inclinations. But, the one thing that can be said for sex is that, as long as it’s consensual and protected, it’s far less likely to endanger people than the use of medium or hard-class drugs.

Are we supposed to drug test everyone who wants to make music or films?

That’s not what I’m suggesting at all. If artists want to use drugs, that’s their choice. Although, it’s not a good choice and it does have spillover effects that can very negatively impact, not only their lives, but the lives of those around them, it’s still their choice.

But, I’d strongly prefer they not publicize their participation in or their non-condemning attitudes toward them in a ho-hum manner. And this goes exponetially for Idol-birthed stars who are looked up to more than ordinary artists, just by the nature of AI’s presenting itself, if hypocritically, as a family show, and thereby attracting a large family-audience. (And, incidentally, according to the RS writer, she never asked about drugs; Adam just started making disclosures in the way that he did.)

Nobody needs to “make Adam into a role model”. He is slotted into the role of one, simply by virtue of that as the runner-up, he’s in effect the co-American Idol.

And that’s the crux of our disagreement here– whether Adam should be expected to be a role model. Only, I’m not arguing whether or not Adam *should* carry the weight of being a role model. I’m saying it comes part and parcel with the package he “received”, and it always has.

Young girls idolized Kelly and Carrie and Jordin– the latter of whom, especially was a hero to young African American girls. Fantasia was a role model for African American women of all ages. Among runner-ups, one of the sources of David Archuleta’s appeal was that he was perceived as such a positive role model for youth and, actually, the mantle of “American Role Model” was essentially projected on to him by many of the older fans who were voting for him. And as for the male winners, the very least that could be said about them is that they were respectful enough of the position they were in not to broadcast whatever “hidden behaviors”, that they may or may not be involved in, to the whole world.

(By the way, though, I should make clear that I’m not putting this all on Adam. Idol is obviously fully on-board with his decision to make these public revelations. The franchise that presents itself as “family entertainment” is encouraging him to brand himself in a decidedly non-family-friendly way because they believe by marketing him accordingly, it will increase the money that he makes for them.

Their further hypocrisy is completely unsurprising. The only family-values that TPTB really care about is how to get as many different families as they can to put as much money as possible into their pockets, through every avenue in which that they can get them to do it.)

revcat Jun 12th, 2009 at 2:01 am

Who is DLR?

David Lee Roth.

But, I havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seen all but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“about ten artistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  in the spread of a major magazine discussing their behavior nonchalantly.

What magazines are you talking about because I can go through about 20 years of Rolling Stone and find all kinds of scandalous things. Way, way more than Adam saying he tried Ecstasy in Germany or did some mushrooms 2 years ago at Burning Man. He completely condemns the cocaine world that is a major lifestyle of the young Hollywood set.

On another subject, I stand by my living under a rock comment, if you cross everyone off your list who has ever experimented with a illegal drug of any sort, it would be a very small world indeed, and your playlist would have about 10 artists on it, we donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t live in a perfect world.

And I, in turn, stand by my comment that it would be preferable for somebody who is going to in a unique position among artists– due to the nature of how he how he “made it”– of being looked up to by children and teenagers to have a less blase’ attitude about activities and substances that have taken and destroyed the lives of so many….

Now with regards to your comments about the number of artists who have “experimented”, you may be right. But, I haven’t seen all but “about ten artists” in the spread of a major magazine discussing their behavior nonchalantly. And of course, as mentioned, these artists also aren’t put into the same position where they are automatically going to be role models– the position in which the American Idols somewhat uniquely find themselves.

So, I guess if the choice is between having an Idol “put it all out there”, so he can satisfy the “proving he’s real” test and one who keeps the potentially harmful and/or illegal activities of his private life private so as not to potentially promote dangerous behavior to impressionable kids– I guess I know which side I come down on….

Me, I’ll be going to the A&P tomorrow to look for my copy of RS. HA!!!!