All About Adam

There are no words for how fantastic Adam Lambert's performance was tonight on American Idol. Seriously, it was just unbelievable. I thought he'd brought down the house with Satisfaction a couple of weeks ago, but tonight blew that right out of the water. It was Michael Jackson night on the show and Adam chose to do Black Or White. It was a great choice and he just completely killed with the song. It was... wow. Just, no words. Incredibly sexy performance.

I was starting to wonder if my crush on him was coloring my perception of how good he really is as a vocalist and a performer, since that has been known to happen in the past with me. I'll have a little celebrity crush on someone and convince myself that they're a fantastic actor or singer or whatever, and only later, when the crush has faded, do I realize that they weren't nearly as great as I'd thought, that it was mostly just good looks coupled with passable talent.

I'm convinced now, though, that crush or not Adam is the real thing. The judges all agreed, too, with Simon saying he was in a different league from the others and the rest saying things like he could record an album right now and go to the top of the charts and that they're amazed someone hasn't already scooped him up and made him a recording star before this. They also praised him for being himself, which I loved since that's part of why I think he's so awesome.

Kara even said that she hoped Michael Jackson was watching the show, though surely at 27 Adam is a way too old for him? (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Honestly, it was like watching a group of amateur performances, some of them very good, some not, and then having a honest to God superstar show up and perform in the middle of it all.

I think my favorite part, aside from the entire performance itself, was Adam's very genuine reaction to the judges. He got teary eyed during Paula's praise (or should I say outright adulation?) and it just made me love him even more, if that's even possible.

I don't think I have to be nervous at all about Adam's chances, but I'll probably worry a bit until he's safely through to the next round. They said that two people will be eliminated tomorrow night, instead of the usual one, and that they'll be announcing something that will totally change the shape of the competition. Given that the whole thing is new to me, I guess it won't be too much of a shock, whatever it is.

I've been writing this with the phone in the crook of my shoulder, hitting redial over and over to vote for Adam. I've totally gone over to the dark side and I don't even care. It really seems possible that we might have an openly gay American Idol in the near future!

Which reminds me, the L.A. Times has an article that addresses Adam and the history of gay contestants on the show. The title of it is 'American Idol Needs to Open the Closet Door', which should give you an idea of their point of view. It's not just about the show keeping gay contestants closeted, though, its also about them whitewashing every aspect of these contestants lives that don't 'fit' with the show's image:

"Idol's" closet contains much more than sexuality, though. It includes language differences, religious affiliation and its contestants' complex family lives. The daring Lambert might break down the wall of homophobia this season, but it's just as likely one of the show's several Christian worship leaders, including Lambert's main male rival Danny Gokey will push the producers to let fundamentalist Christianity out of the box in which it's not very well contained.

Or perhaps this year's outlier will be Jorge Nuñez, making a mark for the Latino community by insisting on singing songs in Spanish. Then there's Scott MacIntyre, who is legally blind, and who might keep forcing the producers to adjust to a front-runner with an obvious disability."

I feel like I picked a really good time to start watching this pop cultural phenomenon that I'd successfully avoided for so long.