Adam Lambert

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Adam Lambert never has been shy about expressing himself, but he admitted Thursday that he was a little surprised his Les Miserables Twitter review had “gone viral.”
His initial comments, in which he opined that the film was “Visually impressive [with] great emotional performances. But the score suffered massively with great actors PRETENDING to be singers,” drew so much attention that even one of the film’s stars, Russell Crowe, addressed Lambert’s concerns.
“I don’t disagree with Adam, sure it could have been sweetened,” tweeted Crowe, who played Javert in the movie. “[Director] Tom Hooper wanted it raw and real, that’s how it is.”
The 30-year-old American Idol season-eight alum took to Twitter once more to clarify his position in the continuing discussion.
“U can spend a whole year praising artists for inspiring work, but one critique gets all the attention. Funny,” he wrote Wednesday. “Those raw and real moments when characters broke down or were expressing the ugliness of the human condition were superb. However… My personal opinion: there were times when the vocals weren’t able to convey the power, beauty and grace that the score ALSO calls for.”
Lambert, who last year released his No. 1 album, Trespassing, has a background in theater, having performed in a production of Wicked before his time on the reality singing competition.
In his original Twitter postings, Lambert offered praise for several performers, including Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Fantine, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as the Thenardiers, Aaron Tveit as Enjolras and Samantha Barks as Eponine.
“I guess I’m a purist for the original LIVE broadway recording when the actors sang the f— outta those songs. JUST an opinion… I should prob stop fanning the flames on this one..but i love a good debate- couldnt help myself. One last thing though: Anne Hathaway was so good- had me tearing up. Oscar worthy performance for sure! Ok. ?#donediscussinglesmiz.”
from The Hollywood Reporter

Adam Lambert

What the next season of American Idol will look like is anybody’s guess right now.
The  latest name to be floated around at Fox as a possible new judge is—get ready for it—Idol alum Adam Lambert!
“They have been talking about Adam for over a month,” a source exclusively tells E! News. “He personifies the show, and will be a popular choice right from the start. He knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the judges’ comments, he has a human touch, and they know they can’t go wrong if they bring him on. He would be able to bring a unique perspective to the show. People love him.”
As E! News first told you, Jennifer Lopez has no plans to return for a third time at the judges’ table.
As for Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler…
A source tells us that they are not necessarily going to be back either.
“Randy is great, but he’s part of the old Idol,” the source said. “They want to keep the soul of the show but have a new look, and for that reason he may well not be part of the new line up.”
A Tyler source confirms the Aerosmith frontman isn’t sure of his future. “All up in the air,” the source said. “We shall see.”
Fox will, multiple sources confirm, try to change Lopez’s mind. “I don’t know if they can afford Jennifer, but they have let it be known that she has a guaranteed spot if she wants it,” one of the sources said. “She appeals to everyone so the big bosses are in favor of keeping her on.”
Producer Nigel Lythgoe says he’d love to be there for season 12, but “as of this moment in time, we are still in negotiations as we are with everybody. Everything is up in the air.”
Lythgoe, whose new reality series Opening Act premieres tonight on E!, also said, “There will be changes for sure, but nothing that stops it from what it is, which is an out and out talent show.”
A rep for Fox declined to comment for this story.
Critics have complained that Lopez, Tyler and Jackson haven’t been as harsh as past judging panels. “People are saying they’re too sweet and too nice, but once you’ve put somebody that you love in the top 10 and they’re coming every week and being good, it’s hard to critique,” Lythgoe said. “It’s not like dancing, where you can say point your toes, spread your legs. It’s more like, ‘When you hit that top note, just smile.’”
from E!Online

Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert is widely regarded as one of the most successful contestants to come out of American Idol. In that sense, he defies the odds. After all, so many alums of the No. 1 Fox show fizzle as quickly as they skyrocketed to fame. But Lambert, now 30, has cultivated a loyal fanbase that he’s carried with him every step of the way since his 2010 debut, For Your Entertainment, and he’s counting on those so-called Glamberts to catapult him to the top of the Billboard album chart next week, when Trespassing, Lambert’s new album, is expected to debut in the No. 1 spot selling in the vicinity of 80,000 units.
Long considered among the more media-savvy alums, Lambert’s years in the theater have certainly helped ready the San Diego-bred singer for a career in music, but industry experience has been the best lesson, as he told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview.
The Hollywood Reporter: Your first album was hard to categorize in terms of genre, and since then, music has become very urban- and dance-heavy. Did that factor into your approach as you worked on Trespassing?
Adam Lambert: I actually find it a little irritating how everyone has to classify everything. I don’t really get why we do that so much because if you like a song, you like a song. I wanted to make something that was like pure pop. But pop is everything, so what does that mean? I think that on the last album and coming out of Idol, I had a little bit of pressure that I put on myself and maybe from some of my fanbase to have this classic rock fame. There’s still a lot of that energy on that album and there’s still a lot of that sensibility and spirit, but I think the genre is less exploited.
THR: You also record for a company, RCA Records, that’s fixated on Top 40 success…
Lambert: It’s been an interesting experience. And I think going into it the first time, I didn’t really understand the business of it much at all. Maybe as a consumer, I did, but not as much as I do now from the inside out. And it definitely does inform you and teach you things. First and foremost, I wanted to write music this time. I wanted to write from my perspective, figure out what I wanted to say and if it fit on the album and the executives liked it, then great, but it came more from me first this time. It’s been really cool too, because, yes, it is a business, but I’ve been working with incredible A&R who’s into the sonic sophistication that I think the album has, and my new management [Direct Management Group] has been really fantastic. So I think I have all the necessary tools to be able to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish this time.
THR: What’s surprised you most about the music industry and how it works?
Lambert: That there’s such an emphasis put on numbers, but what’s really exciting is when numbers are being emphasized on an artist like Adele, where it is about the music but it happens to be commercial. That’s exciting when the art and commerce comes together and that was kind of the goal on this album — how do we straddle that? Yes, I want it to be mainstream and connect with a broad audience, but how do I make it distinctly me — my point of view and my sound? I think we did it. I think we brought funk into it in a really cool way. Because I always have so much fun with those types of grooves live, like when I perform “Fever” or “Strut” — I love the way it feels up on stage. I love the beat. I love the way the audience is moving. I wanted more of that. And I also wanted to be able to have those moments, like on Idol with “Mad World,” where you can pull open the flood gates and be real and vulnerable.
THR: You spent so much time on the road, when did you do your writing?
Lambert: When I got home. I journaled a little bit and I did go back and kind of revisit moments and experiences to try and put them into song. What everybody always says is write about your ups and your downs. It really is cathartic. It gets you to the next place, and it did help me move forward and into the next chapter. Exorcise the demons.
THR: You’re listed as executive producer on Trespassing. How did that come about?
Lambert: I talked to RCA about it. In the beginning I had a meeting in New York with the heads of the label, Peter Edge and Tom Corson, right after I got off the road when I started the writing process. We had a great conversation during lunch where we just leveled with each other. I was like, “Look, if there’s something that you don’t like, just tell me.” And they were, like, “Okay, cool.” We just called out all the pretense and the bullshit and said let’s have fun with this and really communicate because we want the same thing. So let’s figure out how to do it. A lot of artists that I’ve heard about and read about are at odds with certain parts of the business and I didn’t want that. I wanted to have a very open, fun experience.
THR: Did you actually say I want to be the Executive Producer?
Lambert: Yeah, that came like a second later. I was, like, “I really want this to be from me, but you need to tell me if you think what I’m doing is bullshit or if it sucks.” They were surprised but I said, I’m a big boy. I grew up doing theatre, I’m used to rejection, you can tell me. It was really cool. And I think we figured out what we wanted to accomplish creatively and what we wanted to avoid, what we wanted to emphasize and what we needed to move past. We were all on the same page.
THR: But asking for that title on a second album is kind of ballsy…
Lambert: Well, I am ballsy. Sometimes to a fault. The thing about being executive producer, it wasn’t like, “I’m going to be in control; I’m right, don’t touch it.” It was, “I’m going to executive produce this project with you. It’s a team effort.” It’s not me taking over the whole business. There’s so much I don’t know about and didn’t know about a year ago, so it’s more of a creative statement. … Maybe the way that they look at it is, “Well, if doesn’t work out then we have nobody to blame but him.”
THR: That can be a frightening existence…
Lambert: And that’s the way I look at it, too. I’m putting my eggs in the basket here and putting myself on the line. Why shouldn’t I?
(more…)

Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert would never perform in Russia for less than $500,000 — this according to a new lawsuit, in which a promotional company claims it was conned into thinking it could book him for a fraction of that price.
UK-based Madison Universal filed the lawsuit against a talent agency in Santa Monica named Family Productions — claiming FP promised to broker a deal in which Adam would perform two concerts for $80,000 … one in Ukraine and one in Russia.
Madison claims it paid FP a 10% deposit of $8,000 — but FP didn’t do squat to line-up the concerts … so Madison tried to get its money back … to no avail.
According to the complaint, Madison grew suspicious — so it contacted Adam’s agent Randy Salcedo at CAA — who informed Madison that an $80,000 fee wouldn’t cover a Lambert concert in Russia … let alone an additional one in Ukraine.
According to the suit, the cost for flying Lambert out to Eastern Europe to perform is more accurately $500,000 … or more.
Madison is suing FP for unspecified damages in excess of $25,000. Calls to FP were not returned.
from TMZ

Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert has officially put an end to a dispute with Colwel Platinum Entertainment over a deal the singer made before he starred on the eighth season of American Idol. The two sides have come to terms with each other to dismiss a lawsuit and allow for the further distribution of Beg for Mercy, featuring Lambert’s pre-Idol work.
We broke news about this dispute in November. Colwel accused Lambert of interfering with the release of Beg for Mercy, an album that was put up on Amazon. According to the original lawsuit, Colwel maintained that it owns a 50 percent publishing share of the recordings and that it has, pursuant to a contract with Lambert, an unconditional right to promote and sell the recordings.
Colwel filed its lawsuit to get a declaration of its rights. The company also sued Lambert for allegedly making a false claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by sending a takedown notice to Amazon.
Now, Colwel has dismissed its lawsuit with prejudice, and in return, is getting Lambert’s assurance that the singer won’t stand in the way of allowing Beg for Mercy into the marketplace.
The parties also wish to make clear that Lambert’s eligibility for American Idol was never a contention in dispute. Although the show’s rules prohibit singers with existing music recording contracts from participating as contestants — something that was indeed mentioned in Colwel’s original complaint in this case — the record company says it never directly challenged whether Lambert should have been allowed to appear on the popular Fox reality show.
Colwel have given THR this statement:
“The Colwel Platinum Entertainment lawsuit against Adam Lambert has been resolved. Adam has withdrawn any objections to the release of ‘BEG FOR MERCY’ and he has approved the use of his songs and performances in these pre-Idol recordings which are interpretations of his artistic vision at the time. Neither Colwel Platinum Entertainment, Inc. nor Malcolm Welsford ever stated that Adam was not eligible to participate in American Idol when he did so and regret that the lawsuit’s allegations were misinterpreted.”
from The Hollywood Reporter
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Related Post:

Lawsuit Suggests Adam Lambert Was Ineligible For ‘American Idol’

Adam Lambert

This week, GLAAD received several incident reports about an article published to Yahoo! Music’s ‘Reality Rocks’ blog featuring an interview with openly gay recording artist Adam Lambert.
Our constituents alerted us to a number of hateful comments, many of which promoted anti-gay violence. One commenter wrote, “This is why a concentration camp is needed for homosexuals,” while another said he wished Lambert would die by suicide.
Perhaps most disturbingly, one commenter posted, “It would make my day if someone was to do to him what those men did to Matthew Shepard,” an openly gay University of Wyoming student who was brutally murdered in a bias-motivated crime in 1998.
While many comments supported Lambert and the gay community, GLAAD counted 83 of the article’s 279 visible comments (29.7%) that were in violation of Yahoo’s Terms of Service.
GLAAD reached out to Yahoo! and alerted the company. In response, Yahoo! quickly suspended all commenting on this post and will continue to work with GLAAD on addressing the issue of comments that violate Terms of Service by promoting hatred and violence toward LGBT people.
“Young music fans should be able to interact and comment on sites without seeing violent, hateful comments directed at LGBT people,” said GLAAD’s Director of Digital Initiatives, Allison Palmer. “Yahoo! did the right thing by taking immediate action to enforce their Terms of Service, setting an important example for other leading websites and tech companies.”
We believe that comments, viewpoints and dialogue are important. It is our hope that we can achieve a commenting system on Yahoo! and other sites where such violent and hateful posts are not parts of the conversation.
Yahoo! stated that the company “does not allow content that promotes hatred against users or groups of users. Protected categories include, but are not limited to race, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Yahoo! takes issues like this very seriously. We provide methods for users to report content that they believe to be abusive.  Yahoo! reviews these reports and takes appropriate action according to our Terms of Service.”
Both Yahoo! and GLAAD urge users to report violent, hateful comments to site administrators.
Additionally, Yahoo! Safely helps users make smarter and safer choices online and get advice on how to use Yahoo! products safely. See the most frequently asked questions about digital safety here. Also, check out a few examples that showcase Yahoo!’s commitment to efforts against cyber-bullying and anti-LGBT bullying:
Social Web Tips for Teens
Tips to Hel Prevent Cyberbullying
Yahoo!’s work on Spirit Day and GLAAD’s resource to help prevent LGBT cyberbullying
Yahoo!’s work to support The Trevor Project’s ‘Talk to Me’ campaign – which encourages allies of LGBT youth to identify themselves as supportive listeners
In 2010, GLAAD began similar work with Facebook, which developed into the ‘Network of Support,’ an educational initiative that works to put an end to anti-LGBT cyberbullying and includes other LGBT and youth organizations.
GLAAD thanks Yahoo! for taking swift action and continuing its work to create an online space where users can comment and interact safely. We also thank the concerned constituents who alerted us to this situation, and we encourage our constituents to report any similar issues to us in the future.
from GLAAD

Adam Lambert & Sauli Koskinen

HELSINKI, FINLAND – American Idol star Adam Lambert spent several hours in a Finnish jail Thursday after being arrested outside a Helsinki gay bar following a brawl with his Finnish boyfriend, local reality star Sauli Koskinen.
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According to Petri Juvonen, who is heading up the police investigation into the event, Lambert and Koskinen were arrested at around 4 a.m. Thursday morning outside DTM (Don’t Tell Mama), a famous Helsinki gay club. Both men are being held for questioning as local police investigate a total of four possible assault offenses. Juvonen tells the Hollywood Reporter that the two would likely be released after being interrogated.
According to media reports out of Finland, the dispute between the two men started in one of DTM’s back rooms. Lambert and Koskinen, a winner of the Finnish version of Big Brother, were apparently kicked out of the club but carried on fighting in the street outside.
Finnish beauty queen Sofia Ruusila, an ex-Miss Helsinki, who had been celebrating with Lambert and Koskinen, told a Finnish entertainment channel that she had tried to get between the quarrelling couple when Lambert accidently hit her by mistake.
Lambert arrived in Finland on Monday, Dec. 19 to celebrate Christmas with Koskinen. There had been much internet speculation that Lambert was scheduled to be a guest performer on Thursday’s finale of the X Factor. A show spokesperson denied the booking and clearly, being 5,100 miles and a continent away, a Lambert appearance was not in the cards.
It’s unclear when he’ll return to the U.S. or whether he’ll face charges in Finland. Lambert’s new single, “Better Than I Know Myself,” was released on Tuesday. The singer last tweeted on Wednesday at around noon Helsinki time boasting that the song was No. 2 on iTunes in the Middle East. He had earlier written in Finnish, “Helsinki is a beautiful city full of beautiful people! Thank you!”
UPDATED: Investigator Juvonen has completed his interrogation and the two were released on Thursday afternoon. Koskinen later blogged about the incident, writing in Finnish (as translated by Google): “Celebrities are people too and fame is not easy. Love is not always easy either, but it’s forever.” Koskinen goes on to say that the “hangover is gone already” and “Paparazzi, police stations have back doors, too, go away already.”
Not long after, Lambert tweeted:
Jetlag+Vodka=blackout. Us÷blackout=irrational confusion. jail+guilt+press=lesson learned.Sauli+Adam+hangover burgers= laughing bout it.
from The Hollywwod Reporter
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Adam Lambert

One might think a men’s fashion magazine would have higher standards than to reduce itself to tired 1960′s stereotypes to insult gay people but unfortunately GQ proves that isn’t always the case.
Yesterday, the magazine released its annual Year in Style report in which editors named the best and worst offenses in fashion over the previous year. Only instead of writing solely about fashion faux pas or commendations, GQ editors used the list as an opportunity to perpetuate the dangerous and false assumption that being gay is a result of a hormone imbalance.
In regard to openly gay singer, Adam Lambert, the magazine later tweeted “Rules of Street Style: If you have testosterone problems, a mustache doesn’t always help” and linked to Lambert’s profile on the magazine’s website.
Clearly, the New York-based editors of GQ understand that being gay isn’t the result of a hormone imbalance.   The remark was meant as an insult, and while insult comedy is the bread-and-butter of catty end-of-year worst dressed lists, the editors of GQ should know better than to disparage their own readership in an attempt at humor.
This kind of humor isn’t just bad taste and bad business, it’s dangerous.   While one can assume that the editors of GQ understand that to be gay isn’t a deficiency of anything, unfortunately, many in America aren’t in the same privileged position.  We live in a country where millions of dollars is spent annually by parents and others trying to change gay youth to straight.   This incredibly damaging practice is in part perpetuated by myths such as the one espoused in GQ’s joke about Adam Lambert. Jokes like this have no place in respectable media.
GLAAD and many others tweeted to the magazine’s editors to demand an apology.
GLAAD also reached out to the magazine’s editors directly to demand an apology. The GQ editors subsequently apologized to its readers via Twitter.
GQ has confirmed to GLAAD that they are taking internal steps to help ensure this does not happen in the future.
from GLAAD

Adam Lambert

Two years after sparking a wave of controversy with a same-sex mid-performance kiss, the “American Idol” runner-up will be back on the ABC show’s stage.
“Adam Lambert was never banned from the show,” says American Music Awards executive producer Larry Klein emphatically while eyeing a chair on the aisle of row two, audience left (see photo). That’s where the American Idol runner-up will be seated on Sunday night, just behind Heidi Klum. Lambert will also be presenting an award, marking his first return to the ABC show where he sparked a wave of controversy.
To recap: it was November 2009, five months after Lambert closed out Idol with a bang, but without the title. His debut album For Your Entertainment, was about to come out and in front of a TV audience of 14 million, the San Diego native was to perform the title track.
As Lambert explained immediately after the show, the excitement of the moment got the best of him, and while the performance was already racy (featuring guys on leashes and at least one female dancer faking fellatio), he took it up to 11 by kissing his male bass player, Tommy Joe Ratliff, on the lips. What came next was a flood of criticism, not so much as a result of his actions onstage, but because it was during primetime and children were tuning in. For his part, Lambert made sure to point out a double-standard when it comes to televised lip locks of the same sex (Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, anyone?).
“That thing got so out of control and was just so out of left field,” recalls Klein, who defends Lambert’s performance, but reasons that it was a spur-of-the-moment reaction rather than a premeditated jaw-dropper (the network received around 1500 complaints from parents). “We rehearsed it, and what we rehearsed was not what we saw on the air that night,” he continues. “The kiss wasn’t in the script. Did Adam rehearse it on his own and not tell us? I have no idea.”
Klein says the notion that Lambert would be banned from the network over a performance is somewhat absurd. “We laugh about it to this day,” he insists, but in recounting the events of that fateful night, he does acknowledge the camera’s quick cutaway — facilitated by the broadcast’s seven-second delay no doubt. “We didn’t censor,” says Klein. “The kiss went on and that’s all there is to it.”
As for the future, Klein very much looks forward to another Lambert performance, but not this year. “Adam Lambert is a friend of ours, he’s talented and I like everything about him,” says Klein, “It’s like [AMAs creator] Dick Clark always used to say: ‘I don’t care what people do on stage because a stage is for their performance. I care about how people act offstage.’ Adam was performing on a stage. Did he get carried away? Absolutely. Was he regrettful afterwards? Of course he was, but it’s over. ABC never banned him and Dick Clark Productions never would. We’d absolutely have him back.”
That opportunity will come soon enough. On Friday, Lambert tweeted that his long anticipated second album will be titled Trespassing and is slated for release in Spring 2012. He also revealed that a song of the same name appears on the album and was co-written by Pharrell Williams.
The 39th annual American Music Awards air Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
from The Hollywood Reporter

Adam Lambert

A new lawsuit suggests that Adam Lambert may have violated the rules of American Idol when he agreed to appear on the eighth season of the hit reality competition show. The singer is now facing a lawsuit that alleges that he’s still under a Music Services Agreement and a Co-publishing Agreement from a company he worked with prior to hitting it big on Idol, and that he has violated the company’s rights in his mega-selling post-Idol career.
The claims come from Colwel Platinum Entertainment, which has been marketing a new Lambert album entitled Beg For Mercy.
The appearance of the new album has generated such discussion among Lambert fans that on October 6, Lambert felt the need to tweet: “Beg For Mercy project is same as ‘Take One’. some songs I worked on 5 yrs ago and never finished. This release comes as a surprise to me…”
Lambert’s reps sent takedown notices to Amazon.com, which had the album up for sale, and on October 14, the album was removed for sale.
Now Colwel Platinum is striking back in a lawsuit filed in California federal court on Tuesday.
The complaint sets up the allegations by introducing Lambert as a relatively unknown artist who hit it big in 2009 when he finished as runner-up on the Fox competition show.
Lambert auditioned for the show in 2008. According to the complaint:
“Upon further information and belief, the rules governing appearances on and participation in American Idol when Lambert was a contestant provided, among other things, that contestants were ineligible if ‘as of the date of [the] audition, [they had]…a music recording contract…or any other contractual arrangement that would prohibit [them] from entering into a…recording contract…” A violation of this provision was grounds for disqualification.”
Lambert accepted these rules, but according to Colwel, Lambert had an operating agreement with one of its divisions, Welsford Music Productions.
According to the lawsuit, between April 2007 and September 2008, Lambert performed compositions that he had written, alone and with others, for Welsford.
On February 12, 2008, a few months before he attended auditions for Idol, Lambert is said to have executed a Music Services Agreement with Welsford. Around the same time, Lambert is alleged to have entered into a Co-Publishing Agreement with Wilshire Publishing Limited.
As a condition of these agreements, Lambert allegedly agreed to record music and “without limitation…[render] all other services reasonably required.”
Welsford says Lambert got paid for his work, agreed that the material would be “works made for hire,” and that Welsford would have the right to use his name, nickname and biography in connection with advertising and promoting the recordings.
The company says it spent more than $200,000 to produce the recordings and advanced money to Lambert so he could make his living expenses at the time.
Lambert is said to have recorded 13 songs, including one that was ironically titled “MP3′s Killed the Record Companies.” Lambert allegedly uploaded four of those 13 songs to his MySpace page without authorization of the publishing company.
In July 2011, several years after the original recording session and when Lambert had suddenly become famous, Welsford says it began the final stages of preparing to release the album.
Now, having put the album out only to see it taken down, Colwel Platinum is suing Lambert for making a false claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act:
“Upon information and belief, Lambert, through his authorized agent and representative, knowingly materially misrepresented to Amazon.com in the ‘takedown notice’ that Amazon’s promotion and sale of the Album infringe Lambert’s rights.”
The plaintiff also is seeking declaratory relief that it owns a 50% publishing share of the recordings, that it has an unconditional right to promote and sell the recordings, that neither the Music Services Agreement nor the Co-Publishing Agreement was validly rescinded, and that these agreements remain in effect.
Colwel is represented by Joseph Golden.
Lambert and his reps did not respond to requests for comment. A rep for Idol said “no comment.”
On Nov. 5, Lambert tweeted, “Remember than in any dispute, reserve judgement until all the facts surface from ALL parties. Guilt and innocence come with a complete story.” He followed it up with another message that said, “Eyes on the prize.”
from The Hollywood Reporter

Adam Lambert

If there was any question as to whether American Idol is capable of spawning  credible, Grammy-worthy artists, Adam Lambert is out to prove the naysayers wrong. The Season 8 runner-up, who joins past Idol alum nominees Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, and Jennifer Hudson, among others, is nominated for best male pop vocal performance for “Whataya Want From Me,” the second single off his 2009 debut, For Your Entertainment. The song was originally intended for Pink — and, in fact was written by her along with Max Martin and Shellback — but like all things Lambert, he made it his own.
So how did the outspoken and always outrageous glam rocker hear the news? “I was awoken by my manager in the morning while in Paris,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Much more effective than my usual cup of coffee to wake me up. I was so excited! After our call, I saw that a bunch of friends and family had texted and written emails.”
Indeed, the Twitterverse was a flutter with congratulations wishes — from fellow artists to fans to casual listeners — even as Lambert was blissfully resting from the end of a long, successful world tour. And now that he’s performed “Whataya Want From Me” ad nauseum for the better part of two years, one has to wonder whether he knew the song was special when it was first offered to him.
“I recorded ‘Whataya Want From Me’ on a day off from the Idols Live Arena tour and I was pretty wiped out due to the show schedule,” Lambert reflects, “I knew the song would be a key track on my album and it was my first time working with the incredible Max Martin and Shellback, so I was a bit apprehensive. The vocal ad libs at the end were the most challenging as they are quite high and it had been a long day. When I heard the first mix, I felt really confident the song would have success thanks to the flawless production.”
As far as the big music business picture is concerned, Lambert acknowledges that the Grammy nod further legitimizes an A&R tool that many in the industry had ostensibly written off, but he emphasizes that the credibility is also his, not just the show’s. “I believe American Idol is a dream platform for any artist,” he explains. “It did not however, teach me how to sing or perform. I made music for years prior to the show but knew that most major labels wouldn’t be interested in me as a mainstream pop artist unless I could develop a legitimate fan base and prove that I had talent. Idol gave me these opportunities. But I feel I earned my current success by preparing and executing a variety of strong performances every week on the show and being comfortable being different.”
Indeed, as one of RCA’s breakout acts of last year — with nearly one million units sold between his full-length, a remix album and an acoustic EP — Lambert was able to parlay TV exposure into a real music career, no small feat in this time of talent show overload. “In addition to the writers and producers of the track, I hope that at this point, after all the hard work I’ve done over the past year, the nomination will give me credibility as a true vocalist in the industry,” he says, “and perhaps help fade some of the stigma that comes from rising to fame on a competition show.”
from The Hollywood Reporter
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Adam Lambert

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – It isn’t unusual for pop artists to have their racy concerts protested ahead of performing in Malaysia. It’s happened to Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, and Rihanna, and now you can add Adam Lambert and his GlamNation tour to the list.
Lambert has come under fire by Malaysia’s Pan Malaysian Islamic Party who say his show promotes the “gay culture” and have asked for the concert to be canceled.
“Adam Lambert’s shows…are outrageous, with lewd dancing and a gay performance that includes kissing male dancers, this is not good for people in our country,” a party official said in a statement.
Lambert will make “a few minor adjustments” to his show, but not before letting his feelings about the protest be known. “While I don’t believe that my glamnation tour is in any way offensive I have agreed to make a few minor adjustments out of respect for the Malaysian government,” Adam tweeted. “Looking forward to a fun show.”
He continued on, saying, “Does my show ‘promote the gay lifestyle’? It promotes living ANY lifestyle that includes the freedom to seek love and intimacy. Gay, straight, bi, young or old. It’s all inclusive.”
Before letting it be, he made one last tweet on the subject: “plus, what’s THE gay lifestyle? There isnt just one. There are so many different kinds of gay people. We have a variety of different lifestyles. There’s not only one lifestyle lived by straight folks. Generalizing….”
from Neon Limelight

Adam Lambert

NEW YORK – “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert will mentor the show’s current crop of contestants next Tuesday, and will perform his single “Whataya Want from Me” on the following night’s results show.
“It’s true!” the glam-pop singer wrote on his Twitter page Tuesday. “In addition to performing on Idol April 14th, I will be mentoring the top 8 on the 13th. I feel honored to be asked.”
While the theme for next week’s performance show has not yet been announced, Tuesday’s top nine contestants tackled the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook.
Though “American Idol” mentors typically have decades of success under their belts, the show has been using younger artists this season. Miley Cyrus and Usher mentored the contestants through their Billboard No. 1s and R&B/soul-themed performances, while Katy Perry, Joe Jonas and Avril Lavigne served as guest judges during the early audition rounds.
Lambert was confident that he would have useful advice for those hoping to follow in his footsteps. “Even though I’m just at the start of my recording career, I hope to lend some insight as one who’s been thru the Idol adventure.” Lambert said on Twitter. “Excited!!”
Lambert also announced that he will release a new EP containing remixes of his first two singles — “For Your Entertainment” and “Whataya Want from Me” — and a third track from his debut album entitled “Voodo.” The “Remixes” EP will be released on Lambert’s Web site adamofficial.com on Friday and to digital retailers next Tuesday.
Evidently alluding to his controversial performance at the American Music Awards last November, when the openly gay singer kissed a male keyboardist, Lambert promised fans he would keep next week’s “Idol” appearance PG-rated. “Don’t worry America,” Lambert tweeted. “I will be beyond family friendly. Relax and enjoy. For Your Entertainment.”
from Reuters