Friday 16 April 2010

The Return of the King


Adam made an excellent mentor on his return to AI for Elvis week. Having a slick pompadour with a spiky modern twist, he was smart and business-like in his suit jacket for mentoring, and casually glamorous in his shirt and waistcoat on the show. He was much more bluntly honest than I was expecting, but every piece of advice ranging from presentation skills to vocal nuance to arrangement was spot-on and was much more useful than any of the nonsense dished out by the judges. It's just the contestants' loss that some frustratingly didn't follow through his advice. We saw contestant after contestant wussing out after Adam told them to push things further, take some risks and just let go. I can only conclude that it's a very difficult thing to do as fear seems to have debilitated everyone to some extent. One thing became clearer to me more than ever though, which is how much balls it takes to fully commit to going for it in every single performance. I would have loved to have seen Adam versions of all of the songs but none of the contestants would have been able to tackle any of his upbeat ones like Satisfaction, BoW, PTFM, BtBW or WLL, and neither do they possess the vocal mastery or emotional conveyance to successfully deliver RoF, MW or ACIGC. Adam Lambert is exceptionally brave but makes it look effortlessly natural with his powerful presence, dynamic range and electrifying energy on stage.

Here's a video I put together of all of Adam's parts during the show. It's not just a plain splice-and-stitch as I decided to take some artistic liberties. I hope you enjoy it.



DOWNLOAD Adam Mentor sessions AI9 v2 iPod compatible mp4 - 70.6MB

The excitement building up to Adam's performance on AI was unbelieveable. After enduring the rest of the show, when it finally got to Adam, I felt a hush sweep right through cyberspace where I was watching the stream. We held our collective breath as an air of nervous anticipation hung over us. I'd done my best to avoid any spoilers, but I had built up my expectation that this was going to be something special because Adam would want to exceed the standard he already set himself on the show. There were a number of options available, each one appealing in its own way. I was expecting to hear WWFM with a twist - perhaps one of the remixes or a surprising arrangement.



Our first view of Adam is as a solitary silhouette in front of a narrow laser spotlight ring. We wait for the spotlight to fill and brighten but it doesn't. We strain to see him, strain to see how he presents himself but he stubbornly remains shrouded in a mysterious smoke. We have to tune up our hearing sense to soak in this experience. The first ghostly elongated notes are a sublime a cappella, reminiscent of FYE at the AMAs, but there is an eerie echo. We are phantoms in an unfamiliar world, not sure where we are or where we're going. The spotlight widens to reveal turbulent clouds circling Adam in a barren alien landscape. The camera moves through the outer boundary limit and we are now sharing that dark inner space and realise we're enclosed inside a swirling vortex with the threat of something beautifully terrible looming ahead, and overhead is a portal we are both awed and frightened by because we know there's no return from it. The dizzying feeling is of floating and struggling to hold onto each other as we drift away aimlessly into an abyss.

In comes a hint of synthesiser, sounding like the slow build-up to a rave track as Adam slips from our grasp and we drift away from him. It feels like all is lost, our connection having been severed but then there's new hope as the voice becomes stronger and richer, the chorus kicks in with extra lights, and the spell that had banished us to that other world has been broken. We get our first close-up and can see Adam's hair and dramatic make-up but he remains elusive as he tries to emerge from the debris of that dark place. He's still lost in the thick fog. It leads us to some interesting camera angles where the stage looks huge and he looks so far away from everything.

It's in the second verse when we finally get to see his shiny beaded silver jacket, which I don't think is very flattering, and notice that his earpieces are glowing. The multitude of laser beams give off the feeling that Adam's in the line of fire as people are taking aim from all sides. That and the smoke make it seem like a noisy, confusing space we're now in and reflects the meaning of the song as he pleads to us. There are some breathtaking shots of Adam in iconic-looking poses singing to a spotlight ahead, but it's hard to make out his dancing. The timbre of his vocals is exquisitely rich and he hits some stunning notes in full belt. There are a few iffy notes here and there like in the final run, but in a performance like this, it doesn't matter because the audience is already spellbound. Even though I can't see him for much of the time, he owns the stage as my eyes are constantly trying to seek him out. I think he likes playing with us because he waits until we're all so desperate to see how he looks before unveiling himself.

Adam has come such a long way and it should be of no surprise that this return to the Idol stage is my favourite WWFM yet. The staging and atmospherics are staggering, the likes of which the Idol stage has probably never seen. The only thing I would change is for the smoke to get sucked away as soon as the chorus kicks in to deliver the visual impact of seeing him standing tall in the light. Impressively packed full of excitement and thrills, this is such an amazing multi-sensory spectacle to behold. I'm transported to another mood, another world. My expectations were shattered as he somehow manages to continually surprise us. Wow. What a show. Adam is king of the stage because you don't just see and hear his performances then question your senses, you are left with a lasting impression because you  feel them and want to feel them over and over again.

23 comments:

  1. I was standing, then sitting, then dancing, then running to the computer... I couldn't handle the excitement waiting for Adam to perform. I was nervous for him, though i knew he'd be great. I also had high expectations and was not disappointed! It was a fabulous performance! In the middle of it I had to take a layer of clothes off I got so hot - He just does that to me :) I haven't been that excited since I saw him on the AI tour last summer - my legs were shaky and my stomach was in knots. Boy, after typing this out, I kind of feel like a freak! lol Thanks again for your wonderful commentary and videos. I didn't get a chance to watch the video yet, but I will after this.

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  2. AWESOME job with the video - you rock!

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  3. Loved the video and your commentary. You really get Adam and put into words what I am not articulate enough to voice! Thanks for all the work you do.

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  4. Im not that great with words but this is fantastic!!!!You make us relive the moment. U could sell this!!!!!!

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  5. Read the jacket was a McQueen. Boxy cut like what Elvis wore in early days.

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  6. Great article. That performance was nothing short of brilliant - futuristic and otherwordly, artistically and visually stunning, and vocally immaculate. Thud.

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  7. you should get an award for doing that editing!!! AWESOME! it's like you read our minds, it saved me from clicking to hear that line Adam sang "One for the money" RWAR!!!!!!! over and over again!
    thanks!

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  8. AB your video montage is hilarious! I’ve been watching it as many times as Adam’s spectacular performance! Thanks for repeating “one for the money”, when I saw Adam singing this small part of the song for 1st time I thought OMG I wish I could hear whole song. Episode with Tim looked like student’s confession to Master :)) I think this episode was lovely :) There is nothing more to add regarding Adams performance, you said all. So proud to be Adam Lambert fan! Diana

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  9. This recap is incredible! Adam always shines (acoustic or plugged in). Whenever he's on stage, you just don't want him to ever go away and when you listen to his CD, you just want to start is over and over again.

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  10. AB! I reeeeeeeeeeally laughed my butt off watching your montage and commentary! Please, give us a DL link for this video, I need to have it on my iPod for frequent reviews. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL forever at your choice of names for the contestants. I loved that you singled the time Adam sung that little line from "Blue Suede Shoes": IMHO THAT single note was worth more than the entire contestant performance. I think Adam was really struggling to find a PG way to say to the little kid that he should wait to have actual balls to grab before attempting to sing any Elvis song, particularly this one. Regarding WWFM Idol version, what can I say? I remember than Adam said, back in Hollywood Week, "I want to take a song you've heard a million times and kinda twist it". Boy, he wasn't joking!

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  11. OMG I was praying someone would do this compilation. Awesome job! You picked all my favorite moments. "throaty" with Katy then "one for the money" being the best. Thanks so much. But you are wrong about his jacket. It is impeccably tailored to fit exactly how the jackets of that era were supposed to fit. Adam you are ICONIC.

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  12. You are a great writer and you are VERY funny! You know exactly what we wanted to see repeated. Loved the tongues! LOL

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  13. Anonymous(es), it's much more fun to be a freak! I think there's definitely a kindred spirit amongst us fans, I guess we all appreciate similar things. I don't doubt that the jacket was top-notch tailoring, I just think it makes his torso look cylindrical.

    Diana, I love Adam's growly tone so much. Wasn't it impressive that he could so easily reproduce that sound? He's such a tease, I want to hear Adam sing the whole version too.

    kosh-1662, download link will follow soon, hang on in there! I had a lot of fun making it but it so nearly didn't happen. I was going to just do a straightforward video like the Season 8 one, until someone else beat me to it and I decided to have some fun. LOL at your comment about the kid needing to grow some balls! I love that as we become familiar with the songs, Adam will keep twisting them to keep them fresh.

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  14. Your mentor video was GENIUS!! I LOVED the added commentary and edits. LMAO!! And the comments were all true, too! Awesome job!

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  15. Oh, you've done it again. LOL at the video montage, that is just too funny. U just know exactly what we need to see repeated. I second kosh-1662: Please give us a DL link for this, I need it on my ipod!

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  16. Adam's vocals were perfection..not iffy. Thanks!

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  17. Fabulous job on the mentor vid-- I'm so glad to have this compilation available, and your cut lines are hilarious!
    Shannon

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  18. Am I the only one who heard Adam thinking, "Must Be a Good Boy. Mus t Be a Good Boy."

    He had dirty thoughts, man. Very dirty.

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  19. I love the video with your observations, you are brilliant! Especially love the body language info you picked up with Adam at Tim, lol. Haven't been here in a while, but it's so good to be back-- this blog is a goldmine!

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  20. redwoodmooney2, thanks! Happy you enjoyed it.

    Anonymous(es), download link has been added!
    He sounds better now that I've replaced my headphones but I still disagree about perfection though.
    Welcome back!

    Shannon, thanks! It was a lot of fun to do.

    TabbyCat, LOL! I didn't think dirty as such, but certainly a little mischievous. Maybe you have dirty on the brain.

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  21. you know they delayed the live tv by 3 seconds cause of adam? aha(: crazy! and is the performance going to get a download link?

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  22. I had so much fun reading your comments. I could not wait to get to the tongue part and see what you had written. You did not disappoint me. Good job!

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  23. mrs.glambert, I'm afraid I'm only providing d/l links for stuff I've edited but you can find them on Terraj's site.

    Anonymous, thanks! I had fun making it too!

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