Word has it that Adam Lambert, rumored American Idol Season 8 Hollywood contestant has advanced to the Top 50, according to Idol spoiler, Joesplace.
In January, he’ll be back in Los Angeles to find out if he advances to the Top 36 contestants who will go on to compete live on the show.
I’ve updated my list (she hasn’t updated hers yet, but I’m sure she will soon.)
Adam’s gender-bending-glam-rock-theater-boy-deal isn’t your typical Idol fare. Peeps are already buzzing about him. Mission accomplished, TPTB!
Adam has dismantled his MySpace (Hiatus? eta: The Top 50 contestants are required to remove their music pages in January), but there are still plenty of videos out on the internets of Adam performing in various theater productions around LA.
Check out his highly theatrical performance of Gnarles Barkley’s “Crazy”:
Entertaining, don’t you think? Simon will hate him! That’s why he must make the Top 36. Plus, he’s got a killer range. And, OMG Dust in the Wind!
He can be the American version of MIKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiWsWzUgcXE
This is going to date me but this guy sounds just like Sam Harris. He won Star Search back in the 80’s. Their voices are remarkably similar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZyjSuOrRBw
You are right on, as usual, soundscene. Simon is totally inconsistent, which is why I am not sure whether he will love or hate this Adam character. I would say that he holds British singers/contestants to a different standard than American contestants (he’s said that he thinks there is more talent here). But then how do you reconcile his love for both Leona and Rhydian? And his love for Leona (quiet and shy) and his disparagement of Season 7 for having boring personalities? I lost all respect for Simon as a judge after someone from England showed me those Rhydian clips and Simon praising him. Clearly Simon just decides to say whatever he thinks will gin up the most controversy/discussion/amusement to drive ratings. That’s the only constant in Simon’s pantheon of opinions. In the end, it becomes more about him, and that’s the way he likes it.
Mika! If only Season 8 would produce another Mika, I might actually be interested in watching. Right now, my only interest is in seeing how Kara’s presence changes the dynamics. She might be both snarky AND insightful with her comments. What a concept!
Sam Harris!!! There’s a blast from the past.
I liked this Adam Lambert guy. He showed a lot of versatility in the three videos I looked at, which might serve him well. Or might not. Simon can tell him he’s too gay (using the “theatrical” or “cabaret” code words) or he can love him. No way to know.
I do know that Danny Noriega seemed to strike a nerve with people I never would’ve expected in the Idol fandom.
But Adam Lambert certainly has a good voice. Not so sure about some of his performance instincts, if the Crazy staging was his idea, but I guess we’ll see what happens once he hits Idol.
Seattle,
He didn’t mind Leona’s shyness because her beauty more than made up for it. Who cares if you’re shy when you’re hot. And there is a difference between being shy and being dullsville. From what I’ve seen of Leona is that she’s very sweet and likable.
Yes, yes I do believe that however much his Hollywood audition went. I am one with the school of thinking that the red-tinted rooster-coifed goofball that is David Cook was initially meant to be cannon fodder. Others believe otherwise but I’ve seen a lot of bad audition/ers to speculate that the AI people initially saw the whole package and thought “Hey, he has to be in the bad audition/faux-rocker montage.” Even after Hollywood, I still felt that they never saw him as a viable option until Hello and Billie Jean, that is. I mean, I liked him well enough at the start (which is funny since I’m a total Cookie fantard now) but he wasn’t heartthrob material like they were setting MJ as or the teen dream like Archie.
But the point of my original post was that since David Cook emerged out of the background to “steal” the crown from the Chosen Ones, I’m thinking that even if Adam Lambert is a little off the beaten path, they’re probably going to ride with it since you never know where you can discover an Idol.
Actually, these were Simon’s exact words,
You forgot the “likable” part. Adam strikes me as being very cocky, which is something he criticized David Cook for. However, as others have already said, Simon is very fickle. He might like “cocky” this year. But will America like it?
soccerboi, I love Sam Harris! I watched him win SS so that dates me too, lol.
hypertwink I see what your saying. David’s hair was a bit not the norm for AI. I think that is why Adam reminds me a tad of DC, it’s the hair. The voice does not. Adam has a much higher voice than DC. His voice reminds me more of Aiken. I think it will be interesting to see if he makes it through the ranks and I love a showman. If your going to sing on AI, please move around and draw me in.
haha, I agree. With people like Adam Lambert and Von Lee Smith, we may have the most dramatic (read: annoying) season ever. Adam DOES have a killer range, but his theatrics are a big turn off (for me).
One thing about Adam is he’s a Broadway boy so he can tailor his performances to suit the audience. I would think that he could go a little campier with “Crazy” in New York/LA as opposed to toning it down in Idaho or Alabama. So I have high hopes that he could mold his performances so he can get through until he can afford to be as theatric as he wants when he’s in Top 10. And regarding Simon, my take on it is that he’s making up for Rhydian so he’s trying to see if someone with an OTT personality/performance mindset can do well, if not succeed, in America/Idol.
If by some odd chance he does well on AI, remember, I called it first: Guyliner FTW, part deux…glam rock boogaloo. Hee. So, he made it through, eh? Well, this might be fun. Maybe we’ll finally get an AI performance as freakishly awesome as Jacob Hoggard’s Space Oddity :D . When my friend from Canada sent me that link, I thought, gawd, I’d love to see Simon’s face. Come on, Adam, let your freak flag fly full mast at least once. Sadly, if he manages to snag a fanbase he will probably get cleaned up and toned down by the stylists…ho hum.
Aside: I’m a little weirded out by how much this dude looks and sounds like younger Tony Vincent.
ETA: Hypertwink, you could be right….I remember seeing a toned down (ish) Crazy on the tube….found it.
I don’t know about Simon, but I like this guy. Very cool. Very different. Nice voice. This could be fun after all.
He needs an ego check BIG time
Not to wild about Adam’s really high and louder vocals. At the end of the “Crazy” that sunchick posted, where he’s hitting his “glory notes”, it stops sounding like singing to me and more like a kid screaming waaaa (or something like that). I guess I’m thinking it becomes merely a noice coming out rather than a singing vocal. Not warming up to him at this time, but it certainly will be interesting to watch what he does with his time on the show.
Fanbase: How about Adam’s Eves? lol
Thanks to DA, DC, Jason, Im just now (finally) going back and looking through the new AI8 spoilers MJ has posted. Took me awhile to be ready for AI8, but I think I’m there now, lol. Let the show, discussion, debate, critiques, etc. begin!
LOL, Sunchick, I thought of Jacob Hoggard and Tony Vincent too. Although I feel really old, now that I realize that Tony’s old enough to have a younger version of himself out there!
Isn’t Jacob’s band, Hedley, a rock band, and quite successful in Canada?
ETA: I think someone asked about Adam’s preferred music style earlier. When I clicked on the video button at the “Hiatus” MySpace MJ linked to above, a video of Adam singing with his band, The Citizen Vein, comes up. The style is sort of Led Zeppelin meets Queen.
Either i am tired or Adam has an eerily Elvis look and mannerism going on here. Could be the hair, eyes, don’t really know. Just skeery. I like this Crazy better than the crotch grabbing one.
There is no denying the boy has mad singing skills.
I found this link down in the comments of the Crazy vid:
Adam L♥vers Fanclub
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=280543746
ETA… There was a video of Adam singing “A Change is Gonna Come” on the above website/youtube but apparently it has been pulled.
When I watch this guy all I can think about is the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yuck. No thanks.
Lisa…I think it’s his tongue; it lays weird sometimes when he opens his mouth wide for the glory notes, as I call them.
Lu…LOL to Rocky Horror, and I think you have a point. He’ll need to leave some of that at home when he’s on AI (imo).
LOL Judy! Na for me it’s the hair/forehead/eyes. The side profile mainly, but at some points even the front profile. He look’s like a young Elvis glammed up in that vid. Course he could be reminding me of a Elvis impersonator, lol. I was a child in the 60’s so not quite old enough to be a Elvis fan.
If he appear too Broadway he could be in danger to get the Syesha treatment from the judges.
Ok remember Simon’s face during Fantasia’s performance last year? I would pay ALOT for Adam to come out looking like this just to see Simon’s reaction.
http://www.friendsorenemies.com/web/foe/photos/adamlambertmusic/?id=48784741&p=1
omg Lisa…….the pictures at that link! Okay, I’m too old to “get” this kind of guy maybe, lol. Funny though, I thought it was fine when Rod Stewart pranced around in his tight, little, stretch pink outfit singing “If You Think I’m Sexy” nor did I mind Bowie’s frail and made uppy look or the Beatles in Sgt. Pep outfits, and I tolerated them visiting de guru. Loved Freddie Mercury and his antics, and the all-time over-the-top Elton John with his glasses, feathers, and all, lol. There are many, many OTT performers, so who knows, maybe he will grow on some, lol. If AI comes out with a winner like that, as in actually embracing Adam’s outrageous side, then I would say the show definitely was looking for changes this year. Gut level though, can’t imagine them being that open-minded.
Judy, your post is perfect. I will go one more. In his time, Little Richard was considered a bit over the top. Even today, he still has that persona. I am willing to see what Adam does - he certainly seems interesting!
Boy George, Twisted Sister, David Lee Roth, Ozzie………
I guess one could go on and on, lol. But in the end, the theme weeks with the likes of ALW, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, etc. will never allow us to see too much out of the ordinary.
Judy
There ya go! Perfect!
Some might want to be called Adam’s Adam’s. AA for short.
He’s too pretty. I hate him.
Awww c’mon Gwen. He is too pretty and so is his voice.
I am still hoping there will be someone to blow me away from Season 8.
LOL!
So am I. Seriously….
How bout Adam as the combination of the Top 3 from Season 7: David C, David A and Syesha?
I certainly think Adam can finally marry the diva thing that AI has been doing, with the finally out with a vengeance, instead of keeping it quietly, but unavoidably obvious (I’m looking at you, Clay). Sexuality has always played an unspoken element on the show - Adam would take that particular piece of clothing out of the closet and flaunt it. You go, girl!
Adam makes me think of a couple things. One, is that AI is hugely popular in the gay community and Adam would absolutely explode there, if he hasn’t already. And also, does anyone remember a recent David Cook interview where he mentioned about wanting to do concerts that really put on a show like the glam rock period? Hmmmm. I wonder, if Adam would give DC more wiggle room (so to speak) to let his own freak flag fly?
NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! No matter what you think of him, Clay can sing!
Only thing is, people here are right - Simon will freak. God forbid that the next American Idol might be a little broadway or heaven forbid….gay!!!!
I absolutely agree that this will spice things up for AI. Danny might have made it to Top 12 if he had toned the attitude. We love to see Simon freak!
PBS presented the Queen concert tonight and I thought Adam would find a place on AI if he uses some strategy.
glam rock period = AI genre theme.
i think he might be Danny 2.0 minus the back-talk
That Sam Harris performance was amazing.
And he’s still got it. Check out his recent performance of Bridge Over Troubled Water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkA9l8hHgC0
LOOOOOOOVE him!!! And I’m a Middle American, thankyouverymuch. ;-) Comparisons to Clay & David Hernandez are a good thing in my book. And if the whole Top 12 get to tour this year… I’m happy for them but SHEESH why couldn’t Hernandez have gotten to tour last year?!? (Ok, I know why - *cough*gaystripper*cough* - but my fave hasn’t made it to tour for 3 seasons now!)
Ahem, back to Adam. IMO one of the best vocalists Idol has ever seen. Stage experience & presence, range, control, beautiful tone, and versatility… and I love him already… yep, he’s doomed! Sorry Adam. At least I’ll hopefully get to hear him on my tv a couple of times and they maybe in a Broadway series tour in a few years!!