Adam Lambert's AMA Performance Divides Critics: From 'Ultra-Lewd' To 'A Delight'

"American Idol" star's slink through 'For Your Entertainment' was clearly not for everyone.
By Gil Kaufman


If Adam Lambert proved anything during his sexually charged performance at Sunday night's American Music Awards, it's that he continues to give good headline.

The "American Idol" runner-up closed the show with a polarizing set that drew cheers, jeers and a lot of dropped jaws as he unveiled the title track from his major-label debut, For Your Entertainment.




With a kind of mash-up of the top awards-show shock moments from Britney, Madonna and Christina Aguilera over the past 15 years, complete with faux-oral sex (which was edited out of the West Coast feed), S&M play, bondage, crotch-grabbing, same-sex make-outs, serial hip-thrusting and even an accidental stumble, Lambert made it clear that he's not the kind of safe pop star typically churned out by the "Idol" machine.

He also pre-emptively declared that anyone who criticized his display of sexual liberty was endorsing a double standard that says straight women can explore their (bi)sexuality onstage, but gay men can't. However, not everyone agreed.




The Los Angeles Times' awards-show blog, "The Envelope," called the performance "ultra-lewd," noting that "ABC censors had to quick-cut to an odd aerial shot of the audience when Lambert had a male backup dancer simulate oral sex on him mid-song." (That bit actually aired on the East Coast feed, but was altered for the West Coast broadcast.)

While the blog went on to praise Lambert for making music dangerous again, the newspaper's official grade of the performance was tied for the worst of the night at a D, with a critic noting, "Borrowing some of Rihanna's shoulder spikes and torture devices, Lambert dragged women around onstage and got frisky with dudes, all in what seemed like an overly calculated way to show himself off as some sort of glam-gone-dangerous artist — and to instantly distance Lambert from the family-friendly 'Idol' fare ... Lambert has the voice, and a charisma that stands out in today's pop music landscape, but this was provocation by the numbers."




The review from The New York Times was a bit more kind, saying that the "caterwauling American Idolrunner-up [will] never have to worry about being confused with Kris Allen after a performance that featured him walking a man and a woman around the stage on leashes, and thrusting his crotch at his various backup dancers."

E! Online was also relatively tame, calling the bit "extremely raunchy."



The knives really came out at the usually "Idol"-friendly Entertainment Weekly, which took some issue with the bump-and-maul factor, but also took issue with the sometimes weak notes the typically powerful Lambert displayed during the bit.

"Talk about 'No Boundaries,' " wrote "Idol" expert Michael Slezak. "Adam Lambert made his first big post-'Idol' splash tonight, closing the American Music Awards with a performance of his debut single 'For Your Entertainment' that — to my surprise and disappointment — emphasized shock-and-awe imagery over his standard-operating vocal excellence."


Slezak referred to Lambert dragging a female backup dancer across the stage by her leg, "as if she were a lace-covered sack of potatoes," grasping the head of a "submissive-styled" male dancer and pulling him into "an uncomfortable round of simulated oral sex" and "taking a break from his singing duties for an impromptu game of tongue twister with a keyboardist of indeterminate gender."


Slezak said he was hoping the primo slot on the show would be Lambert's big coming-out party, and said that despite the musical theater veteran's years of stage experience, he may have suffered from a bit of nerves.

"But the bottom line is that Adam's AMA performance felt less like a genuine expression of his high-octane sexuality (so playfully erotic when he fondled the mic stand during 'Whole Lotta Love' this summer), and more like a carefully planned stab at dominating the post-AMA blogosphere/water-cooler discussion. ... Adam could've had tongues wagging just from his vocals alone. Instead, that golden voice took a backseat tonight at the AMAs, and I'm not sure exactly who was occupying the driver's seat."





Slezak's co-worker, EW TV critic Ken Tucker, appreciated his colleague's take on the quality of the performance, but, as a TV viewer, he totally disagreed.

"I thought Lambert's performance was a gas, a delight, a blast of brash vulgarity in the midst of merely ordinary vulgarity," he wrote Monday morning. "Lambert was an event unto himself.

The song he was singing was beside the point — and the point was, 'Here I am, Adam Lambert, freed from the shackles of American Idol, I'll push this dancer's face into my crotch if I feel like it, isn't it funny to lead human beings around on leashes, and can you believe how high I got my hair to stand up under these lights?' "



The point, Tucker said, was that the day after the awards show, which featured equally high-tech, eye-catching, if more nuanced, performances from Lady Gaga and Rihanna, Lambert is what everyone is talking about. "Using TV instead of music as a way for a singer to maintain prominence: how pure pop," he said.






For his part, Lambert made no Monday-morning apologies for the spectacle, telling "Access Hollywood," "You know, honestly, if I offended some people ... it's apples and oranges. I'm not an artist that does things for every single person. ... I believe in artistic freedom and expression, I believe in honoring the lyrics of a song, and those lyrics aren't really for everybody either."

Besides, he said, shock is fun. "Shock rock is like something that existed, for example, like in the '70's, Alice Cooper ... David Bowie, you had artists that liked to push the envelope and that's what made them so fresh. I think that surprise is part of entertainment. I think that it keeps people watching. It's fun, it makes you laugh and it should be that way. And if it made you uncomfortable, maybe I'm not for you."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1626886/20091123/story.jhtml


*I had the full video of the performance up a few hours ago but YouTube already has it removed due to copyright. If you want to see it just keep checking YouTube and search "Adam Lambert AMA" and you would find it.*

The performance was quite dirty and raunchy.

I'll say this much, the performance certainly has people talking! :eek:

I don't think Adam Lambert has earned the right to compare himself to Alice Cooper and David Bowie. And his performance proved how very far below their standards he is as a performer. There is a huge difference between shock rock and vulgarity for vulgarities sake.

I'll take Alice Cooper and David Bowie ANY DAY over this joker. At least they have TALENT!!

I'll take Alice Cooper and David Bowie ANY DAY over this joker. At least they have TALENT!!

Yeah, Adam's song completely sucks, so he had to pull off a stunt like this to get some publicity for it.

Yeah, Adam's song completely sucks, so he had to pull off a stunt like this to get some publicity for it.
If you can't wow them with talent, wow them with controversy.(I guess)

Yeah, Adam's song completely sucks, so he had to pull off a stunt like this to get some publicity for it.
I know - I think Adam is living on the Planet of Delusion. :crazy: :lol:

Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Concert
By Chris Ariens
on Nov 24, 2009

American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert won't be appearing on "Good Morning America" tomorrow.

TVNewser has learned ABC News canceled the concert after Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards Sunday night.

Lambert led men on leashes, dragged a woman by her foot, and smashed a man's head into his crotch, all while singing his new single "For Your Entertainment."



ABC, which aired the awards show, received about 1,500 phone calls from people complaining about the performance, a number ABC calls "moderate."

An ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser, "given his controversial live performance on the AMAs we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning."



Lambert performed as part of GMA's summer concert series in August, and it was in a "20/20" interview that Lambert came out, telling Chris Connelly, "I am gay, and I'm very comfortable with it."


> Update / 1:13pmET: Almost as quickly as GMA canceled Lambert, the CBS Early Show added him to the lineup. Lambert will discuss the controversial AMA appearance and will perform live tomorrow morning.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/abc/good_morning_america_cancels_adam_lambert_concert_144103.asp



----------------------------------------------------------------

Adam raises cain

"Idol" was never like this raunchy TV performance

By MAXINE SHEN

Last Updated: 3:08 PM, November 24, 2009


Adam Lambert shocked and surprised the American Music Awards Sunday night with what some viewers deemed a "lewd" performance of the title track of his newly-released debut album, "For Your Entertainment."

The "American Idol" runner-up pelvic-thrusted his way through the four-minute, S&M-themed routine, taking time out from singing to grope a female dancer, kiss a male musician and, most shockingly, shove a male dancer's face into his crotch, in an act that simulated fellatio.

The raunchy stuff was apparently added to the live broadcast, and the routine, at the last minute, and the network said yesterday it was caught by surprise.

The simulated sex act was edited out of the videotaped version of the awards show that was transmitted three hours later to the West Coast -- but the rest of Lambert's performance remained intact.

The edit wasn't enough to hold back a tidal wave of upset viewers who've complained to ABC about the sexually charged stage show. More than 1,500 complaints were logged by the network on the day following the broadcast, reports the AP.




In a statement, Dick Clark Productions executives and show producers said, "Due to the live nature of the show we did not expect the impromptu moment in question."

A source, who was in attendance at the AMA rehearsals, said that the sex act was not one of the dance moves that had been rehearsed. "It wasn't there; it did not happen," the source says.


While Lambert admitted that the lip-lock was a spur of the moment event -- "Adrenaline is crazy and sometimes things just happen," he told Rolling Stone on Sunday night -- it's uncertain when the dance choreography was altered to include the controversial head-to-crotch move.

"We had this great dance number totally staged. It's a sexy song about seduction and power and I was just doing the lyrics justice," he told Rolling Stone. "My intention was not to try and create a controversy. But if a controversy ensues, then so be it."


After the performance, a pleased Lambert hit the Twittersphere to say, "All hail freedom of expression and artistic integrity."



It's all just the latest in Lambert's attempts at titillating audiences by pushing boundaries, something that the singer has been keen to do since coming out as gay after "American Idol" ended in the spring. Lambert has yet to comment about the way his performance was edited, but he did tell the Los Angeles Times -- before the West Coast broadcast aired -- "If it's going to be edited, then, in a way, that's discrimination. I don't mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney [Spears] and Christina [Aguilera] weren't edited."

He went on to add, "It's a shame. Female entertainers have been risqué for years. Honestly, there's a huge double standard . . . It's 2009, it's time to take more risks. It's about entertainment. People want to be surprised. It's too bad that people are so scared."



Officials would not say if the production company or ABC called for the edits.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/idol_was_never_like_this_raunchy_oUj1ynPG15SYpkB7LmSdyL

His song is crap so he had to resort to attention-whoring. It's just sad that garbage like that is getting attention when the talented performers *cough*KellyClarkson*cough* are ignored.

Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Concert
By Chris Ariens
on Nov 24, 2009

American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert won't be appearing on "Good Morning America" tomorrow.

TVNewser has learned ABC News canceled the concert after Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards Sunday night.

Lambert led men on leashes, dragged a woman by her foot, and smashed a man's head into his crotch, all while singing his new single "For Your Entertainment."



ABC, which aired the awards show, received about 1,500 phone calls from people complaining about the performance, a number ABC calls "moderate."

An ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser, "given his controversial live performance on the AMAs we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning."



Lambert performed as part of GMA's summer concert series in August, and it was in a "20/20" interview that Lambert came out, telling Chris Connelly, "I am gay, and I'm very comfortable with it."


> Update / 1:13pmET: Almost as quickly as GMA canceled Lambert, the CBS Early Show added him to the lineup. Lambert will discuss the controversial AMA appearance and will perform live tomorrow morning.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/abc/good_morning_america_cancels_adam_lambert_concert_144103.asp



----------------------------------------------------------------

Adam raises cain

"Idol" was never like this raunchy TV performance

By MAXINE SHEN

Last Updated: 3:08 PM, November 24, 2009


Adam Lambert shocked and surprised the American Music Awards Sunday night with what some viewers deemed a "lewd" performance of the title track of his newly-released debut album, "For Your Entertainment."

The "American Idol" runner-up pelvic-thrusted his way through the four-minute, S&M-themed routine, taking time out from singing to grope a female dancer, kiss a male musician and, most shockingly, shove a male dancer's face into his crotch, in an act that simulated fellatio.

The raunchy stuff was apparently added to the live broadcast, and the routine, at the last minute, and the network said yesterday it was caught by surprise.

The simulated sex act was edited out of the videotaped version of the awards show that was transmitted three hours later to the West Coast -- but the rest of Lambert's performance remained intact.

The edit wasn't enough to hold back a tidal wave of upset viewers who've complained to ABC about the sexually charged stage show. More than 1,500 complaints were logged by the network on the day following the broadcast, reports the AP.




In a statement, Dick Clark Productions executives and show producers said, "Due to the live nature of the show we did not expect the impromptu moment in question."

A source, who was in attendance at the AMA rehearsals, said that the sex act was not one of the dance moves that had been rehearsed. "It wasn't there; it did not happen," the source says.


While Lambert admitted that the lip-lock was a spur of the moment event -- "Adrenaline is crazy and sometimes things just happen," he told Rolling Stone on Sunday night -- it's uncertain when the dance choreography was altered to include the controversial head-to-crotch move.

"We had this great dance number totally staged. It's a sexy song about seduction and power and I was just doing the lyrics justice," he told Rolling Stone. "My intention was not to try and create a controversy. But if a controversy ensues, then so be it."


After the performance, a pleased Lambert hit the Twittersphere to say, "All hail freedom of expression and artistic integrity."



It's all just the latest in Lambert's attempts at titillating audiences by pushing boundaries, something that the singer has been keen to do since coming out as gay after "American Idol" ended in the spring. Lambert has yet to comment about the way his performance was edited, but he did tell the Los Angeles Times -- before the West Coast broadcast aired -- "If it's going to be edited, then, in a way, that's discrimination. I don't mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney [Spears] and Christina [Aguilera] weren't edited."

He went on to add, "It's a shame. Female entertainers have been risqué for years. Honestly, there's a huge double standard . . . It's 2009, it's time to take more risks. It's about entertainment. People want to be surprised. It's too bad that people are so scared."



Officials would not say if the production company or ABC called for the edits.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/idol_was_never_like_this_raunchy_oUj1ynPG15SYpkB7LmSdyL
GOOD!!! :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

Adam Lambert on Early Show: "I'm Not a Babysitter"
Nov. 25, 2009
by Breanne L. Heldman

Turns out ABC had nothing to worry about. After all, it's hard to be raunchy when you can hardly move.

Adam Lambert managed to keep things pretty PG during his performance on CBS The Early Show this morning, but it's difficult to sexualize your musicians and dancers when the stage is teeny-tiny and you have no dancers.



Still, the star has no intention of apologizing for his much-discussed performance at the American Music Awards and wants to get one thing straight: he and Elisabeth Shue don’t have much in common.

For one thing, the American Idol runner-up is no babysitter.

"I'm not a babysitter. I'm a performer," he said.




He continued to discuss the "double standard" that exists between the reactions to him and other pop stars's performances Sunday night, listing Eminem's lyrics, Lady Gaga's antics and Janet Jackson's crotch-grabbing as arguably equally as shocking. He thinks his sexuality may have something to do with it.

"I don't think there'd be nearly as much of an outrage at all," he said. "I think it's because I'm a gay male and people haven't seen that before."




While he admits his adrenaline kicked in Sunday night and the excitement of the star-studded crowd "got the best of him," Lambert really only has one thing he would change if he had it to do all over again.

"I would sing a little better," he laughed. "I looked back and thought it wasn’t my best vocal performance."

And he did learn a valuable lesson. Next time, he says, he'll stick to what he did in rehearsal.



Unfortunately, he had nothing to say about Good Morning America's big diss. That, coupled with the performances that were about as controversial as Kris Allen strumming his guitar, made us really excited to see the baby panda they kept teasing all morning. Now that was cute!

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b155419_adam_lambert_on_early_show_im_not.html?

[B]Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Concert[/B

I don't mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney [Spears] and Christina [Aguilera] weren't edited."


http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/idol_was_never_like_this_raunchy_oUj1ynPG15SYpkB7LmSdyL
Yes, but Madonna, Britney and Christina weren't on primetime network TV, moron. :rolleyes:

Yes, but Madonna, Britney and Christina weren't on primetime network TV, moron. :rolleyes:
BINGO!!

Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Concert

But CBS, which allowed Janet Jackson to, you know, picked him up. :angryfire

Here's a Townhall article on the whole thing: http://townhall.com/columnists/BrentBozell/2009/11/27/ridiculous_idol_excuses

But CBS, which allowed Janet Jackson to, you know, picked him up. :angryfire

Here's a Townhall article on the whole thing: http://townhall.com/columnists/BrentBozell/2009/11/27/ridiculous_idol_excuses
That was my thought. CBS made a whole big thing of Janet's wardrobe meltdown, yet they air Adam Lambert? :confused:

ABC Drops Adam Lambert ... Again!
by chrisclanks
Dec. 3, 2009

ABC just can’t get it together.

After the fallout from the AMA’s and the following cancellation of Adam Lambert’s Good Morning America concert, it finally looked like all parties were willing to move forward after scheduling Adam for an outdoor concert on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

It seemed his toned-down (and flawless) performances on the CBS Early Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show were enough to sedate the nervous ABC execs, but that didn’t last long …



Adam just tweeted that not only is his Jimmy Kimmel performance canceled, but it appears they’ve also canceled his appearance on New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

"Yes, sadly friends, ABC has cancelled my appearances on Kimmel and NYE. :( don't blame them. It's the FCC heat."



Adam seems to be taking it in stride though, letting everyone know he’s still scheduled to appear on The Jay Leno Show, and that he’s looking for new plans for New Year’s Eve.

"I AM doing Leno though. And looking into something for NYE."

With any luck we’ll see him on New Year's Eve with Carson Daly or perhaps perform with fellow Idols David Cook and Daughtry on Fox’s New Year's Eve Live.



Wherever he ends up performing, I’m sure it’ll be well worth tuning in for.

"It'll all blow over. Let's focus on being positive! :)"


And as for ABC, well, you have to question a network that cancels an openly gay performer three times but has no problem with letting woman-beater Chris Brown appear on 20/20.

http://www.afterelton.com/blog/chrisclanks/abc-cancels-adam-lambert-again

STFU, AfterElton. ABC didn't boot Adam's attention whore ass because he's openly gay (umm...hello! BROTHERS & SISTERS?....uh ONE LIFE TO LIVE?). Adam has been openly gay for how many months now? If they had a problem with him being openly gay, they wouldn't have had him on the AMAs in the first place!

AfterElton and GLAAD can both FOAD.

ABC books Adam Lambert on The View
December 04, 2009

After canceling three Adam Lambert appearances, ABC announced Friday the singer will perform on the network after all.

Lambert has been booked on ABC's daytime series "The View."



His visit will include a performance and interview, with ABC noting that "The View" is a taped program -- unlike two ABC shows that canceled performances by the singer in the wake of his controversial appearance on the American Music Awards ("Good Morning America" and "New Year's Rockin' Eve"; the third, "Jimmy Kimmel Live," is taped despite its name).



The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement praising the decision.

“ABC has taken a step towards fairness by inviting Adam Lambert to perform on The View," said Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD.

“GLAAD has been advocating against the double standards that have been applied to Lambert as an openly gay performer. We thank community members and allies for voicing their concerns with ABC so that entertainers like Adam have the opportunity to be broadcast into living rooms across America.”



Lambert will appear on "The View" on Dec. 10, which effectively trumps Lambert's appearance on NBC's "The Jay Leno Show," Dec. 21. ABC will also feature Lambert in Barbara Walters' "Most Fascinating People" primetime special on Dec. 9.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/12/abc-books-adam-lambert-on-the-view.html

STFU, Adam Lambert, and, GLAAD, please FOAD.

STFU, Adam Lambert, and, GLAAD, please FOAD.

LOL

Yeah, not a lot of people are happy that Lambert is being used as a front-burner for gays on television. They say he plays into the stereotype of being "out there" and overly sexual which gays are trying to get past.

Right. Which, if he's out there and overly sexual, that's fine. That's him. I wouldn't want him to stifle himself just because so many people have that particular stereotype of gay people. What I want is for him to stop blaming everything on being gay. There have been several openly gay people in the music business who don't have the stigma that he has. He's trying to be the male Gaga, which is failing because Gaga doesn't go the whole "They don't like me because..." route. She just don't give a damn.

Right. Which, if he's out there and overly sexual, that's fine. That's him. I wouldn't want him to stifle himself just because so many people have that particular stereotype of gay people. What I want is for him to stop blaming everything on being gay. There have been several openly gay people in the music business who don't have the stigma that he has. He's trying to be the male Gaga, which is failing because Gaga doesn't go the whole "They don't like me because..." route. She just don't give a damn.
I just wish he'd shut up, period!! :eek: