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November 30, 2009 | 8:54 pm

After AMA debacle, Adam Lambert promises fans ‘a new direction’

Posted by Danielle Berrin

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After apoplectic reactions to his controversial, sexually explicit performance at the American Music Awards last week, singer Adam Lambert is promising fans “a new direction.”

Earlier today, Lambert announced on Twitter that his “AMA performance was a one time event,” adding, “Goin in a new direction now. Focus back on the music.”

That would be wise for Lambert, who deeply offended some of his fans and prime-time viewers of the AMAs with his racy sexual slavery number. In it, Lambert flaunted his sexuality by simulating various sex acts and even orgasm during the debut performance of his new single, “For Your Entertainment.” In between dragging his dancers by a leash, Lambert gyrated around while holding a male dancer’s head in his crotch. He also made out with his keyboardist.

Lambert has made his sexuality a primary issue from the moment he concluded his run on 2009’s “American Idol.” Last July, about 6 weeks after he was crowned Idol’s runner-up, he came out on the cover of Rolling Stone, under the headline, “The Liberation of Adam Lambert”, confirming speculation that his affinity for eye-liner and nail polish was more than a mere costume choice. 

The RS cover turned out to be rather prescient, as the cover photo itself features Lambert lying on a mattress, in a pose of sexual submission, as a green serpent—the bible’s most sinister creature—heads straight for his groin.

Shortly after that, fans started seeing Lambert in a different light. He was no longer the versatile song and dance man who happened to have a stunning set of vocal chords—he was the gay re-incarnate of Madonna’s Erotica period, a 21st century glam-rock sex object. Soon
Fans were hurling sex toys on stage while Lambert performed on the Idols summer tour. Then he posed in a racy spread for Details Magazine in which he feigned all kinds of heterosexual love for a naked female model. In the article, writer Nancy Jo Sales asked, “Why Does Every Woman in America Want to Sleep with the American Idol?” and subsequently dubbed him “the new American sex symbol.”

After performing with Lambert during the American Idol finale, Gene Simmons, from the band Kiss, said that the post- Rolling Stone Lambert had “killed his career.”

“Because,” Simmons said, “now the conversation is not about his talent but about his sexual preference. He’s done.”

Of course, few believed him then. But after Lambert’s losing performance at the AMAs—ABC edited out parts of his show for re-broadcast and “Good Morning America” canceled his scheduled appearance two days later—Simmons is looking psychic. 
Mainstream opinion of Lambert has undoubtedly changed. People who have been huge fans of Lambert’s talent were turned off by his recent stunt.

So now, Lambert is doing damage control. His announcement on Twitter was more than a desperate backpedal; it’s a cry for forgiveness.

“Don’t worry friends,” Lambert assured fans via Twitter. “I’m still gonna be me. Always. W/o appologies.”

And then added, “Just gonna experiment differently w how I present myself.” 

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I see no reason to hold one performance against Adam Lambert.  He is a lovely person and a great performer.  I support Adam 100%

Comment by JLM on 11/30/09 at 11:21 pm

I think you are very wrong about Adam’s fans.  If his fans were so turned off by him why did his CD sales skyrocket after the AMA’s??  I think your article is very skewed. Adam is awesome and his body of work is the most important thing to consider not one performance.

Comment by lomarish on 11/30/09 at 11:29 pm

The media?  Skewed?  You’re kidding!

Comment by SoCalGal on 11/30/09 at 11:40 pm

I agree with JLM.  His true fans understand that he might have taken the wrong road for conservative homophobic USA, but they also understand he is learning.  And best of all, he is intelligent and not afraid to change his approach.  To say that Gene Simmons was psychic is just flat wrong.  Gene has made a career out of broadcasting his sexual exploits. Why even bring that guy into your discussion?  It is about the music, and Adam reigns supreme in that area.  You have virtually condemed him for one piece of music, for one performance.  Yet you fail to mention that ABC was promoting his performance and knew the setting.  I had already seen the previews on ABC’s own website.  Did you?  If you had, you would not have been so surprised.  The leash portion was part of the preview.  And please, tell me where he simulated orgasm.  I must have missed that delicious part.  Apoplectic reactions—I don’t think so.  Sure by some hard core right wingers, but I’m surprised by your very negative article.  Adam is a young man who will make mistakes and learn.  Surely you can show some understanding and compassion, but I guess not.  Well, I’m going to sit back and listen to his fantastic album.

Comment by Sophia on 11/30/09 at 11:46 pm

I was and still am a huge fan of Adam Lamberts! His performance didn’t upset me. I wasn’t too impressed with his performance and somewhat disappointed because I expected it to be as awesome as his concert and Idol performances, but like he said, He got carried away. I still love him!

Comment by Darlene on 11/30/09 at 11:50 pm

Adam will always have my support, love his music and his performances.  Not fair to be judged by one moment in anyones life.

Comment by CLM on 11/30/09 at 11:51 pm

I am actually quite offended by how this article portrays both Adam Lambert and his fans. I am a big fan of Adam Lambert and respect him for his artistry and his right to stand up for himself as an artist and a human being. The claim that he made his sexuality a front and center issue is blatantly false and incredibly biased. Neither you nor Gene Simmons sound “psychic”, you sound homophobic and ignorant.

Comment by EK on 12/01/09 at 12:18 am

Besides his physical beauty, breathtaking vocal ability, I am, or have been, impressed with Adam’s intelligence.  He needs to redirect himself.  He made a huge mistake on the AMA awards.  He’s too new to the scene to exhibit behavior that may well be the real Adam, but many of his screaming little girls on the tour last summer shouldn’t be exposed to the AMA show. 
Tivo assures us that 11PM means nothing.  Let’s see the sweetness and vulnerability that so charmed so many of us.  Still love adorable Adam.

Comment by glambertpamiam on 12/01/09 at 12:19 am

I will always be Adam’s fan! He is a polite, articulate, intelligent and gifted young man that just had one of those life-learning moments that “ALL-OF-US” have had in either our personal or professional lives. Enough of this… let’s the music continue. Adam’s parents should be proud of such a warm and intelligent son and continue to support him as they have done it before… LOVE Adam

Comment by Martha on 12/01/09 at 12:22 am

what’s offending me more is this type of article.

hint:  almost 11 pm is NOT family-viewing prime time, it’s time for A-D-U-L-T-S, and i’ve spent the better part of the week writing to the fcc, corporate abc & disney brass etc etc to tell them so. 

citing gene simmons as credible only reinforces the prevalent double sexual standard, what a sexist douche.

Comment by celtcwrtr on 12/01/09 at 12:32 am

“Lambert has made his sexuality a primary issue”—> no that was the media’s doing Adam was not trying to make sexuality his main issue.

Comment by SCat on 12/01/09 at 12:35 am

This article is offensive and so is the mention of gene (has been) Simmons, Adam is a true star, he is finding his way, it’s so sad to me that some would over look his superior vocals, all the work he has done for charity, sick kids, and also promoting Kris and Allisons CD when he is on his own promotion tour , then judge him on one performance that may have offended some. Like you have never made a mistake and probably not in the public eye either, some find it so easy to judge. Adam will ride this one out with his positive dispostion and attitude, I look forward to being his fan always and seeing him on his tour and many more incredible CD like the one he just released.Rock on Adam, you are truely a great spirit and an inspriration.

Comment by Angels Fire on 12/01/09 at 2:10 am

Adam Lambert did not lose any true fans who understand who he is as a performer over that one performance.  Your article does not portray the truth about Adam or his fans. His CD is selling very well and in the last week he has picked up 15,000 new followers on Twitter. I love Adam and his amazing voice. His CD is so much fun. Just listen to the music. oh, and if want to be taken seriously, leave Gene Simmons out of any article you write in the future.

Comment by austingrrl on 12/01/09 at 3:55 am

With all due respect, it always irritates me when people write about things without having the correct facts.  (or the true “essence” of the person they write about)  Adam never wanted it to be about anything but the music.  EVER.  He said that countless times…and yet was absolutely HOUNDED about his sexuality.  He was offered, and accepted the RS offer, because that way he could do it “his way” and have it reported correctly.  And yes…Adam is a very sensual and sexual person…so are many of us.  That is not a crime.  He is also full of passion, goodness, and a sweet vulnerability you know nothing of, not to mention how often in his life he has been ridiculed and bullied due to his sexual preference.  If you know ANYTHING about Adam…it should be that he portrays the lyrics of the song he is singing as accurately as he can.  He is not only a singer, but an actor.  The song he performed on the AMA show was about flirting, partying, and being sexy.  That is what he portrayed, very accurately.  A different song, would be portrayed in a totally different manner…according to his perception of the lyrics.  He is genius at this.  I hope you will review his Idol performances and others…and learn this about him.  The music industry truly has a double standard for what women can do compared to men.  For Adam, being a gay man, accentuates this point.  Perhaps those who criticize him should check their reactions and see that just maybe, they reveal more about their own selves and insecurities rather than Adam himself.  I would like you to learn more about Adam, and report again at a later time.  Learn of his goodness, his wanting to do good in the world… learn about how he sponsored thousands of children through the Donorschoose program, by directing his fans to support it rather than send him gifts.(Yes..his fans raised almost $300,000 for his charity so far)  Learn how open minded, brilliant, and articulate he is.  One can view countless interviews with Adam on youtube.  Learn about how inspiring he has been to so many who have felt “different”.  The stories would astound you.  Learn about how Adam always embraces differences and spreads positivity.  And back to the AMA’s…learn about what he was feeling before he performed.  (Yes, he has talked about it in interviews.)  Adam owes NOBODY an apology and is NOT backpedaling.  He is simply going to focus more on the music of the song and less on the acting out of the lyrics.  Learn more about this wonderful and courageous man, and then come back and write another article about him.

Comment by speakerphone on 12/01/09 at 5:15 am

LMAO! i agree with all the Adam fans here. What do you mean he lost fans?!  I don’t think so. My mom just laughed at his antics on stage. Coz that’s adam. Kissing a guy is nothing new.  If there is one thing that the AMA performance did was to solidify his fan base against all the negativeness of gender bias and homophobia. Those who were offended are not true fans of Adam. They thought they knew and like Adam but they only like one-facet of him.  When they didn’t see that facet they decided not to support him. LMAO!  All Adam fans knows that he is multi-faceted. To be a fan, you have to accept this multi-dimensionality of Adam. You can’t put him in a box.  And believe me some of those spewing hatred are non-Adam fans. Some a haters pretends to be fans and troll sites. They know who they are. 

Was AMA performance bad -  no for me. I did see all his clips on Zodiac.  Nothing shocking about it. Man to man kissing - nothing wrong with that. Why is the kissing limited to man to woman or woman to woman? Why can’t we allow man to man kiss? One thing all these proved to me is that America is ruled by conservatives and is still a homophobic country.  How sad. What he did wasn’t as bad as most of the rap videos are showing. Double standard really exists.  T

And yeah, sales is brisk, twitter increase by several thousands since last week.

Oh Gene tops all homophobes in america. He is the worst kind. You saying he is psychic is giving homophobia a thumbs up. Leave him out of your article.  I was really hoping for better support from the Jewish community. Tsk ! Tsk!

@ Adam - you rock! We the fans love you very much and will support whatever you do. Just be yourself and be happy.  And love FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT.  YOu are cut above the rest of the idols. grin  Kudos to you!!

Comment by pinas on 12/01/09 at 5:19 am

If there’s one thing that pisses me off it is reading a badly written article. Girl, you better check your facts before you write. Adam is well loved by his fans globally. From Japan, UK, NZ, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Finland, etc…we all love Adam.  We will support him in whatever endeavor he is going into.

As for Gene, he can go to hell for all i care. He is such a passe homophobe. He should just shut up.  Yeah he sold lots of album, records but this didn’t buy him humility and didn’t take out his homophobia. What a disgrace to the human race.

Epic Fail!!!

Comment by carrie on 12/01/09 at 5:30 am

Reading this article, in Simon’s words, is like chewing on ice. WTH?? I wholeheartedly agree with all the responses supporting Adam. One question…when did Adam orgasm ???? I’ve watched that performance about 20 times now and I still don’t see any signs of an orgasm. Please watch YOUR copy of his performance again and let us all know at what point Adam supposedly orgasmed. I’m sure all us devoted fans would just die if he did and we missed it. Will wait patiently for your response.

Comment by Debbie on 12/01/09 at 5:40 am

this article is complete nonsense and deliberately damaging to Adam. Have you even watched the performance?? “he stimulated orgasm…” ??? that is a completely bizarre statement.  And have you seen all the media defense of the clear double standard that was on display throughout the show?  Your agenda here is obvious and unpleasant.

Comment by jeffrey on 12/01/09 at 6:36 am

Danielle,I’m very disturbed by your article on Adam Lambert.

You give him no credit: for being the best male vocalist on the American scene,you give him no kudos for having a charming,funny, intelligent personality. Finally where is the hooray for his guts in facing a homophobic nation that demanded that he be honest and
‘come out’. His intention was to be a SINGER not a gay poster child. He has faced so much pressure from all sides that my heart aches for him.I will be devestated if Adam takes his talent to Europe rather than America. We will be left with the dreck that we now call music.You will beable to continue to hear your rap singers talk about murdering women and watch talentless young women parade their sexual body parts . while Europe will enjoy our great singer Adam.Shame on you and shame on America .. Time to show some balls and grow up. Adam did nothing wrong and should not apologize.. If he apologises for his artistic vision,the Christian right will beat him up endlessly.. that’s what they do folks. So support our beautiful man,our breath of fresh air.

Comment by melody on 12/01/09 at 7:36 am

As usual Adam’s ‘fans’ have missed so much of what the article is saying.  I don’t know about the numbers being accurate or inaccurate but Adam did loose fans, those that were on board and those that may have gotten on board. 

And it’s very true from the moment the Rolling Stone article came out Adam set himself on a path that well, frankly exploits his sexuality.  There’s a difference between being a sexual being, being open about being gay and using it to keep people talking about you.

Putting Gene Simmons quote in this article is appropriate because he called it early on and it turned out pretty much the way he said it would.  Very few people cared if he could sing or not because the focus was on other things.

Of course homophobia exists.  And there were people that were turned off by Adam’s being gay, so whatever he did or didn’t do wouldn’t matter. But all this backlash is not because of that.  It’s because Adam made poor choices when creating his post AI persona and got carried away. 

@ the people who made comments: Support Adam, but don’t be making ignorant comments on every article that isn’t geared toward your delusions of the perfection that is Adam Lambert. Believe me it hasn’t helped him in the past and it’s not helping him now.

Comment by julie on 12/01/09 at 10:09 am

Adam will AlWAYS have my support.  He is AMAZING all around.  He is hot and oozzes sexuality.  Can you blame him?  I love this guy and always support him.  Barbara Walter seems to think that he is very fascinating.  Watch her intervieing Adam on ABC,Hate them for cancelling his show,  9 or 10 PM Wed, DEcember 9th.  Check your listing.  Don’t forget to watch him on ELLEN today.  TEVO it.  YOU want to see it more then once.  LOL And don’t forget to vote for hin on People’s choice award,he is in Breakout artist category.

Comment by sheba on 12/01/09 at 11:56 am

Danielle, I’m bothered by the overall tone of this article. It comes off almost as a request for him to shove his sexuality into the closet. Articles like this along with the reaction by Good Morning America and even CBS for blurring the kiss with his keyboardist show a double standard for male pop performers, especially if they are gay. You criticize him for his sexuality being so front and center, but it is a big deal. Lambert is the first first young male pop artist to be so completely open at the start of their career. That is a remarkable thing, especially in light of the current political climate with gay marriage. Not saying Lambert should become a political figure for the gay rights movement. He is an entertainer, and shouldn’t have the movement thrust on his shoulders.
Look, I think parts of his AMA performance were over the line. Shoving the dancers face in his crotch should have been saved for the tour. My main issue with the performance, he was pitchy. That’s been corrected and he gave great performances on The Early Show and Letterman that should please all his fans(casual and die-hard).
You are making way more out of the post-AMA fallout than there was. I would hardly call 1,500 complaints an “apoplectic reaction”. His record sold 225,000 copies and entered into the Billboard top ten. Not sure how that translates into Gene Simmons being a prophet either.
Do I think his AMA performance was the wrong move out the gate? Yes. You sound like someone with an axe to grind against Lambert though. I can’t say how disappointed I am in this article.

Comment by JasonR on 12/01/09 at 3:51 pm

The only thing I didn’t like about the AMA performance was that Adam sang so poorly.  The rest of it was no more raunchy than a lot of the things that we saw on that show, so why single Adam out? 

Adam specifically says that he’s just being sexy, just like the female performers who do the same thing.  He’s not being GAY sexy, just sexy. I asked a male friend about the way CBS blurred out Adam’s kiss with his bass player (playing keyboard at the AMAs) and 30 seconds later showed an unblurred video of the Madonna Brittany kiss.  His agreed that it was a double standard, but his comment was that he was just uncomfortable with the male-on-male kiss.  Well, I said get over it.  And Adam will help - without destroying his career, tyvm.

Yes, he did lose some fans last Sunday.  And he didn’t get some fans he might have gotten because of that performance (which was an acting out of the lyrics).  But his talent is so great, this will pass and he will have a career that Gene Simmons will envy.

Comment by NW gal on 12/01/09 at 8:33 pm

Hollywood Jew? Really? You sound more like West Virginia Right Wing Christian with a giant stick up your a$$.

Get over it!

No harm, no foul.

Comment by JeffH on 12/17/09 at 3:49 pm

I’m an Adam Lambert fan.  I saw him in Wicked and in Ten Commandments.  I followed him on American Idol in the auditions and then post Idol.  The kid is allowed his art.  You don’t like it don’t watch.  But to say he lost fans get real.  ABC and Disney may wish to ban him but that shows their ignorance and bigotry.  Real fans of this artist will stick with him.  He is breaking down barriers.  He is changing music and culture by being himself.  He is making people talk, opening up people’s minds, eyes and winning hearts all over the freaking world.  All, again by just being Adam.  He is a very sexy man.  He isn’t being gay he is being Adam.  Your article made me sick.  How would you like to step out of your house and have everyone pick over everything you do?  Stop judging people you don’t know.  I back this artist 100 percent and I will continue to follow him.

Comment by Maggie Q on 12/27/09 at 5:16 pm

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