Adam Lambert's Performance 2009 American Music Awards

[jefferson_dem]

Run time: 04:03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ24PYmpNbs   Posted on YouTube: November 23, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 23, 2009 By DU Member: jefferson_dem Views on DU: 4325

 
I know...it's a music performance at the AMAs and some might question the political relevance. But I suspect there will be much chatter about this one for a while. Watch it and you'll see why.

[Seen the light]

1. Very disappointing performance

No, not all the crotch grinding and making out with his keyboardist, but the fact that he was so shockingly flat. I was a fan of his during AI and he could have turned this performance into a performance of a lifetime if he had just sung like he's capable of doing. Too bad.

[AzNick]

3. Adam Lambert is the biggest fail of AI

And I hope AI could go, by the way.

[saracat]

11. Adam is and will be a worldwide superstar.

[AzNick]

2. This is so craptastic

Yes, craptastic.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

4. Been done, already

Wasn't it similar to a portion of 'All That Jazz' or some musical.. and Paula Abdul had a weakened-down version of it.

Bisexuality, in theater? Whodathunkit.

This isn't an Adam bashing post. I think he has a great voice and great presentation.

I'm just trying to point out the 'how dare he?' and hate-posters should back up and know a bit of what's gone before.

NOTHING shocking to see here folks, move along.

[Prism]

5. Surprisingly limp

Maybe the keyboardist will shake loose some commentary on the internet because this happened on a network, but we've already been there with Madonna and Britney. Lambert's sexuality and bisexual performance shtick isn't exactly a secret. I think the real story will be just how awful this song and performance were.

I expected so much better.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

9. ... so much better?

C'mon, the poor guy has only toured with the Top 10 (decent but not great) American Idols.

He was put into a pretty amazing position for 'where he is at this time'.

If one is this good this early in their career.

[Prism]

33. He wasn't even in tune

I like the guy just fine, but last night was pretty inexplicable when you measure it against what he's done in the past. He was flat throughout, and the choreography was just awesome for all the wrong reasons. The song itself is very generic. No hook, nothing memorable. That's not a terribly good thing given his chosen genre.

He has lots of time though. Not everyone comes out of the gate brilliant.

[saracat]

57. IMHO not his best but he wasn't flat or out of tune. They had audio problems

his was actually one of the best of the night. Whitney Huston was awful.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. Wow, did that SUCK.

Despite the hype, I've developed an immunity to "Lambert Fever." And you're tight, the political relevance is zilch. It's just a mind-numbingly bad musical performance. Nothing here that hasn't been done 1000 times before, and to greater extremes.

[wisteria]

7. I didn't think it was bad, if you like this sort of stuff. n/t

[realitythink]

8. Wow

That's what passes for quality mainstream entertainment now Call me old but that is total and complete amateur crap. That guy gives creative homos worldwide a bad name.

[saracat]

12. Hardly amateur. his voice is phenomenal and his is listed as one of the top 100

tenors. He is ranked by master musicians as number 2.

[wtmusic]

15. Master musicians?

:rofl:

That settles it then.

[saracat]

16. And he was actually ranked number 2! And you can

also read the indepth analysis Anne Powers , the LA Times music critic does of Adam and his voice.he is actually a very rare "counter tenor". He can also sing Opera and is ranked very highly by operatic evaluations as well.

[SharksBreath]

31. That performance makes Auto Tune sound good.

And that's almost impossible.

[saracat]

37. So other performances were better? Lady GaGa perhaps? Really.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

52. Top 100 tenors? Number 2? hahahaha

This is the first time I have ever heard this guy. It was an absolutely horrible performance. He sang flat the entire song.

[saracat]

10. Not his best performance but his voice is still incredible and he was better than most tonight.

[tomm2thumbs]

13. so he shoved a man's face into his crotch at 1:00 - is that it?

is that the reason for chatter?

or just the screeching?

or the keyboard kiss?

or?

[wtmusic]

14. Lambert is an amazing recognition

deserving of wider talent

[MrModerate]

22. Clever -- I'll have to adapt/steal that remark from you.

Although I don't think it's actually true in Lambert's case. No shortage of talent there, just a dreadful performance and choreography he should have recognized was dreck.

[highplainsdem]

17. Really liked Adam on AI, but thought tonight's performance was a disaster.

Mediocre song (there wasn't anything better for his first single?), mediocre singing from someone I expected much better from, and a silly performance that made me miss even his worst moments on AI.

I'm sure people will chatter about it. The chatter isn't likely to be kind. Even from people like myself who often loved him on AI.

[Drunken Irishman]

18. Yeah...he still sucks.

[humbled_opinion]

19. Simply Amazing...

This stunningly beautiful and artistic. I loved it.

Anyone that fails to see the truth and art in this performance is

(a) Boring or (b) Blind

[Divine Discontent]

24. It was as painful as a Britney performance! I loved him on AI & he said he was going to do rock

because that's what people really enjoyed the most from him on AI, like the Zeppelin tune he rocked, and his performance with Queen - but this trainwreck of a song (that I disliked a week ago when I heard it all day long listening to myspace.com/adamlambert, not even for the lyrical content which is so shallow, but for the sound) should not have been his first release - the song, "Whataya Want From Me" is 100x better than this and would have been so cool because you can hear him clearly on it, and it's a mid-tempo pop-rock song, but this horrible performance will unfortunately lose him some sales of the album.


It's as if he wanted to be talked about for the shock value, and not his music... and has been saying such in the past few weeks interviews that he knows this is how it's supposed to be, blah blah blah - I certainly will not be a big fan of his if this is the schlop we'll be getting in general.


He's not Lady Gaga, he apparently has to be reminded. I know he loves her, but he looked pathetic on the stage... simply just my singular opinion - I'm sure some will freaking love it.

[Metric System]

20. I LOVE him. His voice was a bit off tonight. But then the sound sucked for all the performances.

[MrModerate]

21. I'm fairly pro-Lambert, but this was a bad performance.

He does have a great voice and great instincts (as well as a brain, somewhat less common among his colleagues), but this act didn't look or sound good. I don't mind the SM/polymorphously perverse stuff (although a little goes a long way), but he just didn't sing very well. I've heard the single and it's crisp and danceable.

He had a bad night on a bad night (everything else in the show was a bit pallid, too). Hopefully it won't cost him too much credibility, because I do want him to succeed. Full disclosure: although Idol is one of my guilty pleasures, I have to admit that the "artists" it churns out are generally low-calibre and imminently forgettable.

Lambert is neither of those.

[Guilded Lilly]

23. Truly not the best use of his fabulous voice.

I like Lambert and was rooting for him to win on AI because of his out-there boldness.
But ya know, I am really tired of singers grabbing their crotch and simulating BDSM ownership of dancers preening in leather harnesses. LOL

Use the fabulous voice Adam, on a better song to showcase that talent...ditch the prurient posing.
It's ho hum.

put away my thigh highs a while back,
Lilly

[Divine Discontent]

25. he mentioned in an interview I saw that he knows people want the show... really? first, that whole

thing was a bit over the top and won't go over well with most people, it was cheesy to say the least. And his voice was not as good as it usually has been elsewhere live. There's better songs on the album, and they chose that boring melody to introduce his album.

My friend who likes him a lot, too, asked why in the world is that the first single instead of a couple of the others.



At least it wasn't Kara (the judge) and his song they wrote - Strut - it's even MORE pathetic.

[saracat]

39. Hey he said afterward, he "Knew" it would offend some folks and if it bothered you, he isn't for you

He has always said that.He isn't trying to please everyone.

[Guilded Lilly]

45. I wasn't offended :)

Worse. I was bored.

He has such an incedible talent, he doesn't need all those trappings for a song that was frankly, very ordinary.

peace,
Lilly

[saracat]

54. Rolling Stone loved this performance and so did most artists in the

audience.





http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/23/full-frontal-glambgasm-rob-sheffield-on-adam-lamberts-amas/

[Guilded Lilly]

55. Good for them.

But that has absolutely NOTHING to do with how I felt about it.
I don't live my life dependent on other's sensibilities.

It bored ME. And if the entire world thought it was provocative and fabulous and stunning...it still bored me :)
You loved it...great.

[TheCML]

26. this video reminds me

why i haven't turned on modern radio, or bothered to ever watch american idol or anything of the sort. im totally pop culture ignorant, and i dont have a problem with that. yuck.

[Triana]

27. Ick.

Just. Ick. This passes for "music" or "performance" these days huh?

Sad.

[trumad]

28. Can I have that 4 minutes back please...

Horrible.

[SharksBreath]

30. That sounded terrible.

Artistically he's a hack.

[saracat]

38. Look this whole show had sound issues andALL of them sounded"bad" due to that.

Whitney Huston was awful. Adam still outsang all the others even on a bad day for him.

[Vinca]

29. If he meant to create a definite break from American Idol,

he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Adam has his moments of brilliance, but that performance wasn't one of them.

[LongTomH]

32. Anybody remember when we had REAL musicians?

Not media-created paper cutouts?

[humbled_opinion]

34. WOW !!

Judging from the comments on this forum it seems many here have lost their tolerance. This performance was artistic in such a beautiful way. I wouldn't expect people that have little appreciation for the venue to like it but hateful and rude comments are not appropriate or desired in other words if you didn't like it simply say its not what you expected or not something that appeals to your taste in music but knock off the over analysis it speaks volumes to your ignorance and bigotry.

[Bullet1987]

35. He was damn good on American Idol but I'm sorry

this performance was just a little too over-the-top for my tastes. It's not the bisexuality that makes it bad, it's how crude it came off as. That's not artistic, that's borderline porn.

[humbled_opinion]

36. Oh so he offended your

delicate sensibilities? Sounds like a rightwing christian argument to me.

[Bullet1987]

40. Umm...why do you assume that since I thought it was over-the-top

that I'm a Christian? I actually haven't been to church in YEARS!!

[humbled_opinion]

41. You called the performance crude...

and eluded to the bisexual nature of it. Your bigotry is subtle but I understand how you and the other rightwing Chirstians feel about .... THOSE PEOPLE....

Your judgement of Adam Lambert makes me believe you are the type of person that hates Beethoven, you know because he was .... Deaf and all....

Instead of appreciating the artistic value of the piece your bigotry blinded you. My Dad used to say if you don't have anything nice to say, shut your pie hole.

[Bullet1987]

43. I must've hit a nerve with you or something and for that I apologize

But that wasn't my intention. But one statement doesn't make me a right-wing Christian. And the performance WAS crude and over-the-top.

[humbled_opinion]

46. Not really I just call it like it is..... n/t

[Stellar]

49. " Rightwing Christians? "

I'm a Christian - Progressive, and I think there's a time and a place for his performance (maybe HBO, showtime etc). Every Christian is not a winger or a bigot. Please explain to me the artistry of his performance that it should be shown on ABC when I allowed my eleven year old to stay up late to watch Adam, her favorite AI contender.

[humbled_opinion]

51. Yep exactly...

You fail to see the art and only see the sex or sexual preference. If you daugher liked lady gaga and you let her watch let without being offended then you are most definately a fundie bigot ...

[BREMPRO]

42. OMG! that was AWFUL!! terrible song, costumes and choreography

It was like a bisexual strip club act in vegas. simulated blow jobs and crotch guillotines? If the singing, songwriting and dancing was decent i wouldn't mind the subject matter, but it just came off as sleazy.

[humbled_opinion]

47. So let me get this straight ...

The Bisexual nature of the performance bothered you to the point you call it sleazy... You wear your bigotry right on your sleeve don't you.....I thought this was a Progressive forum... Maybe it has been taken over by a bunch of radical rightwinger christians that can't deal with certain aspects of society and therefore cannot see art in dance and create lame excuses to call out people that are different then them...

Welcome to DU...

[BREMPRO]

48. I have NO problem with bisexuality- that's not why i called it sleazy

you seem to have missed that "I wouldn't mind the subject matter" you're overreaching on your defense of this performance, making it about bigotry. It was just bad. poor singing, terrible lyrics, poor choreography, bad lighting, and if all the suggestive sex was hetero, I would have had EXACTLY the same response. There was nothing artful or original about it.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

53. This was a stupid performance regardless of if it were straight or gay.

You think simulated oral sex on stage between a man and a woman isn't ridiculous? Either way it was stupid. So to you simulated blow jobs by a top 40 tart=art?

[saracat]

56. Not according to Rolling Stone!

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/23/full-frontal-glambgasm-rob-sheffield-on-adam-lamberts-amas/

[Hassin Bin Sober]

44. That seemed like something the creators of Spinal Tap came up with.

I think I saw a greased-up naked woman being forced to smell the glove.


Sexy.

[rantormusing]

50. lame

If tolerance means calling this art then sign me up for being the biggest bigot on the block. American idol is crap, this guy is crap, and the guy he lost to us probably also crap. Mariah Carey will be remembered longer than he will, and she is the biggest crap of all. If calling this art is the new way to be gay friendly then I don't want to be gay no more. The need to make this a battle over gay presence or rights is insulting and ride. Stop it, stop it now, turn the TV off and discover what art is before getting hyped up over a tacky display that happens to be gay. Which has been done and done better