Adam's third return to AI to perform was something that had been on the cards for quite some time and one that I'd really been looking forward to. When Adam's on the Idol stage, he's determined to give us an audiovisual feast, never failing to impress. Who can forget that swirling vortex of WWFM or the dark intimate set of Aftermath? I was very excited about what Adam would bring to the stage this time.
There have been some symmetries and full-circle moments with Adam on AI and this is another example. Not only does Adam physically resemble Elvis and his mannerisms,he mentored for Elvis week and now he performs on the same show as his daughter. Here's the performance:
NEON!!! Who the fuck would've thought that Adam in his sombre black glitterless phase would go for UV-glowing neon? It's in his earrings, on his nails and appears as accents on the band members' outfits. Trust him to make such a strong visual statement. Time to go clubbing! The colour makes him look very tanned. He completes the look with tight leather trousers, gloves and a grey jacket which I wonder if he's personally customised. He also has an evil Bond-villain little finger claw as jewellery. Behind him is a massive visual of Adam's eye. It must be Adam's eye because of the iris markings circling his pupil and the separate dot below it. Not that I'm obsessive or anything. I think overall, the graphics with flashing lights and smoke, along with the zooming in the editing make the video too busy for my liking.
The opening chorus is shortened probably so that the producers can fit more adverts into the allotted time. A fierce Adam prowls the stage, working it with his fun dancing and shoulder-shimmying and engaging with the band. I'm sure he's dying to thrust his crotch around when he sings this song but knows much better. He sings it flawlessly with a powerful and rich rock vocal despite some wobbly jaw moments. The backing singers sound great if a little loud on the high notes, but they guarantee that the sound is never thin. He ends with an unexpected long run, reminiscent of many performances on that stage. He looks like he's having so much fun on stage which in turn makes him an absolute joy to watch. He leaves me with warm fuzzy feeling of pride.
After the end of the song, we see Adam revert to his non-performer persona, lighting up the room with his cherubic smile and modest demeanour. I'm a little disappointed there isn't a short interview seeing as we can't get enough of him saying words, but I really liked the performance. The lasting impression I have is that he has used the Idol stage to re-brand himself from glam rocker to clubber for this Trespassing era, a transition he has made effortlessly with style while remaining true to himself.
Showing posts with label AI Performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AI Performance. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Friday, 11 March 2011
Aftermath On Idol
The stream wasn't a very good one but it was enough to see that Adam looked beautiful and fresh-faced, skin peachy with minimal makeup, bringing back memories of One. The hair and staging was very reminiscent of ToMT but with softer lighting and not quite as dapper or slick. His clothing was much more casual, hearkening back to some of those old Upright performances. It was an excellent introduction that he had, with Ryan paying tribute to what he'd done for the performance aspect of AI and his songwriting skills.
I'd spent the last few days working on my latest video edit of Aftermath, one of my pitch-perfect favourites and a precursor to this, so my ears were quite attuned to the song. After the rapid new chords of Monte's intro, a shaky and tentative start had me worried. I'm afraid to say that the first "Lost" sounded just that and on an acoustic set there's nothing to hide pitch issues behind. The set was quite darkly lit and intimate, accompanied by a hardly recognisable Isaac and a Tommy with a very big bouffant. There were a few other notes that didn't quite hit the mark but everything came together before the mid-point in the song and the power behind the vocals lifted it. The expressions on Adam's face along with his movements and finger-pointing were just fascinating to watch and the camera loved him. I love those gritty raspy belts which are my favourite timbre of his and they were plentiful towards the end. The finish was a sweet and soothing whisper with Adam looking particularly angelic.
Maybe I'll have more comments to add tomorrow but for now it's bedtime.
I'd spent the last few days working on my latest video edit of Aftermath, one of my pitch-perfect favourites and a precursor to this, so my ears were quite attuned to the song. After the rapid new chords of Monte's intro, a shaky and tentative start had me worried. I'm afraid to say that the first "Lost" sounded just that and on an acoustic set there's nothing to hide pitch issues behind. The set was quite darkly lit and intimate, accompanied by a hardly recognisable Isaac and a Tommy with a very big bouffant. There were a few other notes that didn't quite hit the mark but everything came together before the mid-point in the song and the power behind the vocals lifted it. The expressions on Adam's face along with his movements and finger-pointing were just fascinating to watch and the camera loved him. I love those gritty raspy belts which are my favourite timbre of his and they were plentiful towards the end. The finish was a sweet and soothing whisper with Adam looking particularly angelic.
Maybe I'll have more comments to add tomorrow but for now it's bedtime.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
For the Bestudded Glittery Anoraks
It's a good day for Adam Lambert & fans as his album - which we've still heard precisely fuck all from - has hit the top of the US Amazon chart. Woohoo!
Since we're all famished, here's a little something for us anoraks to nibble on while we wait. It was shortly after the end of AI and before the start of the tour in that bored gap, much like now, that I wanted to watch all the dress rehearsal clips to see how they compared to those of the live performances. Edit: The dress rehearsal clips were those shown in the recap package at the end of the show. I wanted to obsess over how every performance was unique and I wanted to compare Adam's notes and runs. But after scouring the internet, I realised they were nowhere to be found. Surely I couldn't be the only one who wanted this? The seeds of the idea for this post were planted and would germinate on a rainy day. After days of downloading the full episodes just to get those few seconds, here's the resulting video:
I remember that Satisfaction was a performance in which Adam really outshone the rest of the pack and stood out as a star with his jaw-dropping vocals, his sense of fun and his exhilarating infectious energy. I just felt that he didn't belong on Idol and deserved a bigger stage and audience. The live final note was incredible - its length, the run and the rough guttural rock edge of its tone. I didn't know at the time that they showed footage filmed from the dress rehearsal for the numbers at the end, so on seeing it that first time, there was a slight discord with my previous impression and I was a little underwhelmed because I'd thought I'd remembered it being better. The rehearsal wasn't as elaborate, but what was more noticeable to me was that there was an off note sandwiched in the middle which made the glory note sound just a little flat. His posture seemed a little tentative and comparatively amateurish, but the rehearsal did give us that gem of an expression at the end, going from fierce sexy to sweet smile - the subject of many gifs. The reprise note was much simpler, more sustained and powerful. Instead of riffing, he slid into the glory note for a wail that sounded a lot like Axl Rose.
The live performance of BoW was angrier, more impassioned and included higher notes, but the rehearsal had a slightly different feel to it that was more fun. Adam bounced up the steps, gave us an extra dance move instead of reversing backwards and added a 'Wooh!' at the end. He also missed out the 'Yes you do, yeah yeah!' but in exchange, we got some signature head tipping.
The vocals in the live performance of RoF were impeccable whereas in rehearsal they weren't as smooth but utilised more of his rich and gravelly tone. There wasn't the same level of camera engagement from Adam and it didn't have the infamous shirt-lifting moment, but the camerawork was a lot less dizzying and perhaps would have made the pearl-clutching prudes slightly less queasy.
I'd always thought ToMT was one of the weaker performances from a vocal perspective and is one where I prefer the dress rehearsal to the live. This is because of the tone, which sounded slightly less strained and more on pitch, and I also prefer the extended trill on the last 'tears'. Adam seemed to have more fun during the live version of PTFM but crucially, it missed the pelvic thrusts and snarl of the rehearsal. You have to wonder how often there was a party going on downstairs whenever they filmed above the waist.
It was only after MW that I became aware of the existence of the separate rehearsal clip when I heard a different, pitch-perfect ending and not the one I'd heard just seconds before. In the rehearsal, the penultimate 'Ma-ad' was given two notes and he didn't reach for the third, higher 'Mad world' at the end which gave him the trouble in the live performance.
BTBW showcased some astonishing high notes which seemed to all have been saved for the live performance because the glory note shown in the rehearsal clip was considerably lower. The power and pitch of them still amaze me now. There wasn't a lot of difference between the IICHYs apart from slight differences in timing with the timbre equally beautiful in both.
The big difference between both FGs is the length of the glory note. The live one is much longer albeit a little thin. I prefer the slightly shorter glory note with the longer descending run in the rehearsal but I thought the last note of the run wasn't quite as perfect. Still, who the fuck else can hold a note like that? And let's not forget the close-up shot of his disdainful and slightly sinister sneer at the end of the rehearsal.
I was blown away by WLL first time round, so it's a bit strange watching it now after seeing 52 different versions from the tour and their aggressively sexual manoeuvres. He looks so restrained! There's very little difference between the live and the rehearsal apart from the camera angles where we get a better view of Adam's neck snap & swivel.
Both versions of One are very similar and that glory note never fails to impress me. In rehearsal, he didn't palm the air and went into the glory note from a slightly higher note and didn't go so low at the end of the run. There's a minor difference in the length of the final notes from Cryin' but they're otherwise identical. The MW reprise is much slower in tempo during the rehearsal, which includes a great shot from below with the 'moon' behind Adam. I much prefer the live version of ACIGC where the descent is smoother and I really love the way that the run re-ascends. Apart from the camera angles, there's no noticeable difference between the live and rehearsal versions of NB where even the hand gestures at the same. I guess there's little to play with when you're handed such a piece of uninspiring crap.
Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed obsessing over the live vs rehearsal notes with me. I've had a miserable time, am tired of editing videos and have had writer's block, unsatisfied with anything I've put together so I thought I'd just wrap up the rest of the AI stuff and draw a line under it as we impatiently await a new phase, legs a-shaking, fingers a-tapping, ready to lose our collective shit. I think I need loss of said shit for gain in inspiration!
Since we're all famished, here's a little something for us anoraks to nibble on while we wait. It was shortly after the end of AI and before the start of the tour in that bored gap, much like now, that I wanted to watch all the dress rehearsal clips to see how they compared to those of the live performances. Edit: The dress rehearsal clips were those shown in the recap package at the end of the show. I wanted to obsess over how every performance was unique and I wanted to compare Adam's notes and runs. But after scouring the internet, I realised they were nowhere to be found. Surely I couldn't be the only one who wanted this? The seeds of the idea for this post were planted and would germinate on a rainy day. After days of downloading the full episodes just to get those few seconds, here's the resulting video:
I remember that Satisfaction was a performance in which Adam really outshone the rest of the pack and stood out as a star with his jaw-dropping vocals, his sense of fun and his exhilarating infectious energy. I just felt that he didn't belong on Idol and deserved a bigger stage and audience. The live final note was incredible - its length, the run and the rough guttural rock edge of its tone. I didn't know at the time that they showed footage filmed from the dress rehearsal for the numbers at the end, so on seeing it that first time, there was a slight discord with my previous impression and I was a little underwhelmed because I'd thought I'd remembered it being better. The rehearsal wasn't as elaborate, but what was more noticeable to me was that there was an off note sandwiched in the middle which made the glory note sound just a little flat. His posture seemed a little tentative and comparatively amateurish, but the rehearsal did give us that gem of an expression at the end, going from fierce sexy to sweet smile - the subject of many gifs. The reprise note was much simpler, more sustained and powerful. Instead of riffing, he slid into the glory note for a wail that sounded a lot like Axl Rose.
The live performance of BoW was angrier, more impassioned and included higher notes, but the rehearsal had a slightly different feel to it that was more fun. Adam bounced up the steps, gave us an extra dance move instead of reversing backwards and added a 'Wooh!' at the end. He also missed out the 'Yes you do, yeah yeah!' but in exchange, we got some signature head tipping.
The vocals in the live performance of RoF were impeccable whereas in rehearsal they weren't as smooth but utilised more of his rich and gravelly tone. There wasn't the same level of camera engagement from Adam and it didn't have the infamous shirt-lifting moment, but the camerawork was a lot less dizzying and perhaps would have made the pearl-clutching prudes slightly less queasy.
I'd always thought ToMT was one of the weaker performances from a vocal perspective and is one where I prefer the dress rehearsal to the live. This is because of the tone, which sounded slightly less strained and more on pitch, and I also prefer the extended trill on the last 'tears'. Adam seemed to have more fun during the live version of PTFM but crucially, it missed the pelvic thrusts and snarl of the rehearsal. You have to wonder how often there was a party going on downstairs whenever they filmed above the waist.
It was only after MW that I became aware of the existence of the separate rehearsal clip when I heard a different, pitch-perfect ending and not the one I'd heard just seconds before. In the rehearsal, the penultimate 'Ma-ad' was given two notes and he didn't reach for the third, higher 'Mad world' at the end which gave him the trouble in the live performance.
BTBW showcased some astonishing high notes which seemed to all have been saved for the live performance because the glory note shown in the rehearsal clip was considerably lower. The power and pitch of them still amaze me now. There wasn't a lot of difference between the IICHYs apart from slight differences in timing with the timbre equally beautiful in both.
The big difference between both FGs is the length of the glory note. The live one is much longer albeit a little thin. I prefer the slightly shorter glory note with the longer descending run in the rehearsal but I thought the last note of the run wasn't quite as perfect. Still, who the fuck else can hold a note like that? And let's not forget the close-up shot of his disdainful and slightly sinister sneer at the end of the rehearsal.
I was blown away by WLL first time round, so it's a bit strange watching it now after seeing 52 different versions from the tour and their aggressively sexual manoeuvres. He looks so restrained! There's very little difference between the live and the rehearsal apart from the camera angles where we get a better view of Adam's neck snap & swivel.
Both versions of One are very similar and that glory note never fails to impress me. In rehearsal, he didn't palm the air and went into the glory note from a slightly higher note and didn't go so low at the end of the run. There's a minor difference in the length of the final notes from Cryin' but they're otherwise identical. The MW reprise is much slower in tempo during the rehearsal, which includes a great shot from below with the 'moon' behind Adam. I much prefer the live version of ACIGC where the descent is smoother and I really love the way that the run re-ascends. Apart from the camera angles, there's no noticeable difference between the live and rehearsal versions of NB where even the hand gestures at the same. I guess there's little to play with when you're handed such a piece of uninspiring crap.
Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed obsessing over the live vs rehearsal notes with me. I've had a miserable time, am tired of editing videos and have had writer's block, unsatisfied with anything I've put together so I thought I'd just wrap up the rest of the AI stuff and draw a line under it as we impatiently await a new phase, legs a-shaking, fingers a-tapping, ready to lose our collective shit. I think I need loss of said shit for gain in inspiration!
Friday, 26 June 2009
Looking Back
Some other thoughts I've had on re-watching the audition are that Adam seems tired and sounds strangely monotonous in the pre-audition interview. Being a fellow night owl myself, I take it that it's his aversion to early mornings. Even back then, he demonstrated his ability to work his magic on the judges and adapted to deal with each in a different way. Kara's blatantly flirting with Adam who flirts back sweetly but doesn't actually kiss her hand. He keeps it friendly with Randy, who creepily seems a little too determined to test out his gaydar theory. He fanboys over Paula, who has a rare moment of clarity when she's blown away by him and says he's the best they'd seen in every city, and Simon who he treats with reverence is just his negative self but admits falling under his spell when he says 'Oh he's had us' around the 4:02 mark.
I've already spent way too long on this and am rather sick of trying out and learning different software, reformatting, resynching and fiddling around with the aspect ratio, audio and colour on each segment, but it was pointed out to me by fellow obsessives (thank you) who put me to shame that there was a snippet missing from the video. So I got back to work, tracked it down and re-compiled it, otherwise what kind of obsessive would that make me? Test your obsession and see if you can spot what it is. The answer is in the comments section of this post. Thanks go out to LaStupenda and Blue*Rose from IDF for providing the original HQ clips.
--------------
It's been over a month since Idol finished and I'd decided to do something I thought wasn't too taxing on the brain so I spent the last couple days toiling over and piecing together all the audition bits and pieces to make a continuous video. How little did I know. It almost cost me my sanity because of all the different incompatible formats, codecs and crappy software that just kept crashing. I never imagined it would be so friggin' complicated as it's the first time I've converted or edited any vids and my pesky perfectionism wanting everything to be frame-perfect kept on shifting the finish line. Perseverance won out in the end though, and this is the fruit of my labour of obsession, which I hope you'll enjoy. It contains the pre- and post- audition interviews, Rock With You, and Bohemian Rhapsody.
I'm very saddened to have learned about the death of Michael Jackson while working on the video. It doesn't feel like a strange coincidence because his sphere of influence is so wide and penetrates deep into popular culture. Adam was a fan who was strongly influenced by him in terms of music, singing, dancing, performing, fashion and re-invention. I think Michael's life ended up a tragedy after he seriously lost his way. He was someone who I thought was never comfortable with the colossal price of fame making him public property. I'm glad that Adam seems grounded enough and well equipped to deal with playing that game. I was really curious to see what Jacko would have done at his upcoming concerts in London. I wondered whether it would have breathed fresh life into his career and felt excited thinking about the possibility of a collaboration of stellar proportions if the comeback were successful. Sadly we'll never know and it'll never happen, but he'll live on through his music. His powerful influence will continue, perpetuated through artists such as Adam. I hope he is now at peace.
I've already spent way too long on this and am rather sick of trying out and learning different software, reformatting, resynching and fiddling around with the aspect ratio, audio and colour on each segment, but it was pointed out to me by fellow obsessives (thank you) who put me to shame that there was a snippet missing from the video. So I got back to work, tracked it down and re-compiled it, otherwise what kind of obsessive would that make me? Test your obsession and see if you can spot what it is. The answer is in the comments section of this post. Thanks go out to LaStupenda and Blue*Rose from IDF for providing the original HQ clips.
--------------
It's been over a month since Idol finished and I'd decided to do something I thought wasn't too taxing on the brain so I spent the last couple days toiling over and piecing together all the audition bits and pieces to make a continuous video. How little did I know. It almost cost me my sanity because of all the different incompatible formats, codecs and crappy software that just kept crashing. I never imagined it would be so friggin' complicated as it's the first time I've converted or edited any vids and my pesky perfectionism wanting everything to be frame-perfect kept on shifting the finish line. Perseverance won out in the end though, and this is the fruit of my labour of obsession, which I hope you'll enjoy. It contains the pre- and post- audition interviews, Rock With You, and Bohemian Rhapsody.
I'm very saddened to have learned about the death of Michael Jackson while working on the video. It doesn't feel like a strange coincidence because his sphere of influence is so wide and penetrates deep into popular culture. Adam was a fan who was strongly influenced by him in terms of music, singing, dancing, performing, fashion and re-invention. I think Michael's life ended up a tragedy after he seriously lost his way. He was someone who I thought was never comfortable with the colossal price of fame making him public property. I'm glad that Adam seems grounded enough and well equipped to deal with playing that game. I was really curious to see what Jacko would have done at his upcoming concerts in London. I wondered whether it would have breathed fresh life into his career and felt excited thinking about the possibility of a collaboration of stellar proportions if the comeback were successful. Sadly we'll never know and it'll never happen, but he'll live on through his music. His powerful influence will continue, perpetuated through artists such as Adam. I hope he is now at peace.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
The Final Results Show
Well it's been a looooong time coming, apologies, but here's my very overdue review of the final results show. Hope the revisit helps with the withdrawal symptoms.
It was a horrible feeling I had going into this one. It would be the last time I would see Adam perform for a very long time and I would no longer be able to speculate on his song choice, wardrobe and hair. I'd heard rumours about some crazy wardrobe choices and a duet with KISS. I was looking forward to the performances and to him being crowned the winner. I noticed that at the start, they graphics seemed to depict both contestants like it was an election, with Adam's RoF hell pitted against Kris's heavenly blue background, maybe the type of showdown the producers were rumoured to have wanted.
The first wardrobe choice I found was a little bit strange. When Adam and Kris walked down the steps, they were dressed heard to toe in white and it looked like they were either wearing matching pyjamas or Clockwork Orange jumpsuits. On closer inspection, Adam was wearing patent silver boots that I later found out were supposedly flown in especially from Antwerp. There were some technical problems because the mics weren't working.
When it was time for the first act, it made more sense that they were all in white and the only clothing that wasn't, were Adam's boots. Even without them, he looked like a rock star, owning the stage when he was jumping around and with his kneeling close-up when he punched the air. When the others went down to the platform behind the judges, Adam stayed on stage guiding Scott. It felt like Adam got a little bit more camera time than anyone else and being the tallest and in the centre of the stage certainly helped. Besides, the camera just loves him.
Adam's next appearance was a slightly comedic clip where he was pretending to wind a lever to spin the trophy that Kris held. Ryan spoke to Adam's parents and Adam's mother was wearing some black rocker gloves with her outfit, and his father had painted his nails, which I loved. I wondered whether the fact that Adam's parents are divorced and so couldn't really play happy families had any negative impact on the result.
I found the package of Adam's journey quite moving as it painted him out to be a great, groundbreaking artist who shook up the show. We were reminded that Adam faithfully fulfilled the promise he made at the start by using his ideas to twist up old songs and surprise us. It seemed very much like a sentimental winner's package down to the soundtrack of Viva La Vida and the shot of his gloved hand punching the air at the end. I felt a tinge of reflective sadness as I watched it, seeing how he has developed and how I would miss following his journey on a weekly basis.
When Adam graced the stage for his performance of Beth, it was a Moment even before he started singing. The sea of the audience stood up in waves of anticipation and applause in his presence, as if they knew they were about to witness something special. The camera looked up at him from below as he stood majestic and statuesque like a deity serenely surveying his subjects. He was radiant and absolutely beautiful with his movements relaxed. It felt like he was finally completely comfortable, standing proud, confident, truly being himself with heartfelt sincerity. He gave us a knowing look with a couple of blink-and-you'll-miss-them cheeky eyebrow twitches. That look told me he knew me and knew what lay in my deepest and darkest recesses and that he understood. The glint in his eyes also made it as obvious as possible without a formal declaration what he meant by playing all night with him and the boys, come join us if you dare. He seemed to emanate a happiness, an inner peace and it was the first time I'd felt that magical connection. The simple piano accompaniment highlighting the clarity and effortlessness of his gorgeously low, rich and slightly grainy vocals only added to his splendour.
When I was able to notice the clothing, I was amazed by his industrial rhinestone shoulder cages / angel wings worn over a black aligator-skin top that had a matching rhinestone trim. It was teamed up with his fingerless gloves, his biker trousers from Cryin' and his glittery gold Zodiac Show platforms. Glambert! His eyes were surrounded with glistening jewels and he wore sparkly handcuffs where his belt-loop chains would normally be. I thought this was symbolic of his finally being free and unshackled in expressing himself without the pressure or judgement of competition. The shot from behind made his hunched posture portray him as a very lonely but gentle figure. From the front, his platforms gave him extra height, and the camera angles of the bright lights above and behind him and his towering over us with his angel wings, made him seem like a supreme being. Everything about his performance suggested to me that we were witnessing his transcendence. He looked stunning, like a dark sci-fi post-apocalyptic manga angel-prince. The audience gazed in awe at the fruition of his years of toil, the pinnacle of the Adam Lambert Show.
I loved the sound of Adam's voice when he introduced KISS. It was very different from his speaking voice and it had a rock edge to it. The band descended from a platform amid a cascade of fireworks. Compared to the band, who I thought looked a bit dated and on the vulgar side, Adam looked understatedly sophisticated! He stomped and strutted his way around the stage, visibly having a lot of fun. When his voice broke through during Detroit Rock City, it sounded incredible and everything about Adam - his style, his vocals, his sneer, his movements and his stage presence completely outclassed KISS. We were left in no doubt as to who the superstar was. There was a cheesy but amusing split-screen graphic with Adam in the centre. During Rock'n'Roll All Nite, Adam's parents were shown rocking out, which was really heartwarming. Adam managed to sneak some hip-swivels and a crotch grab in underneath the censors before wailing some trademark high but short notes. The performance ended with more fireworks being set off to the smashing of a guitar. Adam seemed to have that post-performance adrenaline beam that had been lacking for some time. He rocked the house. What a fantastically fun and energetic performance that was.
The Ford video was a slightly sad and earnest duet with Kris and Adam, showing extracts from the previous videos. It sounded soft but I don't think their voices went well together. The next part showed David Cook hand out the award of cars to each of them. Adam's reaction of cackling whilst bent double was priceless. It was a little uncomfortable though, to watch the blatantly staged and scripted plug. I hope Adam doesn't have to endorse shitty stuff in tacky adverts in the future.
The next performance to include Adam was Santana's smooth. Adam seemed to lead everyone out, clapping in time to the music before being the only one to shake hands with Santana's extended hand. He was dressed all in black apart from a red tie, accessoriesed with a studded belt - a scorching hot look. He also wore a holster / braces and looked like a detective in a fabulous Glambert universe where the most serious crimes possible to commit, for which he was head of investigations, were crimes against fashion. Yes, I'd happily commit a fashion crime in order to get arrested by Adam before getting styled! Adam's first line of his solo was a little off, but he recovered to add some smut in Like seven inches IN (original: from) the midday sun to the lyrics, giving us his most seductive eyes. You just have to admire his wit and gall, still bending the limits and seeing how much he can get away with. With his loose hips and shoulders, he showed us some great salsa-type dance moves which he made to look naturally effortless. He did some dancing with Allison and it occurred to me then that he must be absolutely loving all the different costume changes.
The next act was Do You Think I'm Sexy. Adam looked very classy in a black suit and led one side onto the stage. He was again in the centre along with Kris and treated the crowd to a few naughty expressions and raised eyebrows. The line-up made up of all the guys reminded me a bit of The Full Monty where you almost expect them to do a striptease. Adam's movements were a controlled and subdued sexy in this performance but his voice shone, especially on the last note where he was the only one who went high. The high note was accompanied by his iconic pose before he introduced Rod Stewart in a velvety smooth voice.
We Are The Champions came as a total surprise, and from the opening chords, my excitement was uncontainable and I was whooping. YES! Adam does Queen! A fitting end, seeing as it was what he started with. During the stream, this is when it froze, to my extreme annoyance. This song clearly wasn't Kris, who seemed to be reading the autocue when he started and was more than happy to hand over to Adam. They both exchanged looks and were happy and relaxed together on the stage behind the judges. Adam's first lines were resplendent, smooth and powerful with a fine clarity, delivered from a self-assured pose. He seemed to resonate with the lyrics, passionately and angrily spitting out I've had my share of sand kicked in my face but I've come through, which brought me all the way back near the beginning to BoW. I loved the way he phrased through, driving it with that extra power and punch. Yes, he's made it all the way to the end, despite all the shit that's been thrown at him and the additional pressure he's had to endure. Now it's time to celebrate. What a beautiful opening.
He was back to a rocker look in a brown leather jacket with exquisite detailing and matching boots over a black T-shirt and dark jeans. I felt that this look was on the subtle side so as to complement rather than dwarf Kris. Adam gave us a twirl of his wrist when the band were revealed before joining Queen on stage. When they sang together, their voices didn't mesh together very well and I felt that Adam held himself back a lot trying not to upstage Kris and steal the show, despite probably bursting to go crazy. I can't imagine any of the other contestants doing the same. Adam's second solo was a little less restrained, his voice had bite, giving me a rushing feeling when he hit a few high notes as Brian May looked on impressed. The following chorus, Kris dropped off a little. We are the champions, my friend had Adam and Kris demonstrating their friendship with a hand grab and shared smiles. They were clearly having a great time and it was infectious. It made us momentarily feel that they were both so happy to be there, not really caring about the end result with both being winners. There was no doubt then who the best singer, biggest talent and superstar was. It felt like the producers had to let Kris in on it out of obligation. The last note was frustrating for me because I wanted Adam to have free rein but instead he watched and matched Kris closely. Even when it came down to acknowledging the band afterwards, Adam's 'Queen, ladies and gentlemen,' compared to Kris's embarrassed and short 'Queen' spoke volumes about their different levels of showmanship. They should have ditched Kris on this one because he was like the gatecrasher at a glamorous party. I just wanted Adam to completely let rip, and so did Queen by the looks of it. But being the ever gracious host, Adam dressed himself down to make the gatecrasher feel welcome and less awkwardly out of place. You have to admire his class for doing this, but what a great shame it was. Perhaps this will be addressed in the future if Adam is allowed to perform with them. Brian looked very happy with Adam at the end, and Adam's family had such a blast by the looks of it. It felt like the crowning performance of the show where everyone came out and anything else afterwards would just be insignificant.
If you do not want to relive the end of the results show, skip the following paragraph.
When Adam and Kris came onto the stage for the final result, they looked happy still buzzing from the last performance and ready for it, wanting to get it over with. Adam had his arm slung around Kris like a very close friend and at that point, they really reminded me of Batman and Robin. Although Kris is likable and talented, he will always seem like Adam's sidekick. Adam seemed like his mentor when he pulled him into camera shot when the results bearer came onto the stage and obscured him from view. Adam's mother looked like she was unable to take any more, slouched in her seat. When Ryan made the announcement, it felt like time froze, I didn't breathe and the bottom of my gut dropped out. There was a little numbness, a feeling of complete anticlimax before disbelief and anger set in. NOOOOO! How the fuck could this happen? Adam is the clear winner! Adam's reaction was so gracious he immediately looked happy for Kris, pulling him close for a big hug, and shaking him into reality. He took a bow and Ryan called him a superstar before he gave the stage up for Kris. Kris said what we were all thinking - that Adam deserves this and was lost for words. Allison was quick to grab Adam but then pushed him by the ass to get back on the stage which was a little strange, but perhaps done to diffuse the awkwardness of Kris's lack of coherent speech. There was more hugging and they shared a joke before he cheered for Kris and left him to sing the coronation song. I noticed that Simon looked pissed off and wasn't on his feet like the other judges. Allison again took hold of Adam, putting her arm around him. I thought I saw a crack in the facade and a wistful expression appear on Adam's face. He may well be good at hiding it, but I do not believe Adam to be impervious to disappointment and hurt because I certainly felt it and I wasn't even involved. Adam stayed on the sidelines away from Kris for the rest of the show, allowing him the spotlight and cheering on his victory like a proud dad. My heart swelled with pride for Adam but ached with disappointment for him too.
A few other thoughts that struck me about the show was that it felt like Adam's plaything, like his tribute concert and finale to the Adam Lambert Show season where everyone else, including the established artists were just his support acts. Everyone was there to see or perform with him, the central piece of the show. For each of his group performances, he was the commanding stage presence, he seemed to be centre stage, get more camera time, the best camera shots and all eyes gravitated towards him. The stage was all his and he was in a totally different league. Even his solo was the last one of the night, barring the feeble coronation song, so he had the pimp spot again. It's glaringly obvious from any episode of AI8 who won the show and the season. It's been a week and I'm seriously suffering from the loss of The Adam Lambert Show from our screens. Still, I feel pleased now that Adam is stepping out from AI, spreading his wings ready to soar onwards and upwards. I'm holding on tight for the ride to wherever he takes me.
It was a horrible feeling I had going into this one. It would be the last time I would see Adam perform for a very long time and I would no longer be able to speculate on his song choice, wardrobe and hair. I'd heard rumours about some crazy wardrobe choices and a duet with KISS. I was looking forward to the performances and to him being crowned the winner. I noticed that at the start, they graphics seemed to depict both contestants like it was an election, with Adam's RoF hell pitted against Kris's heavenly blue background, maybe the type of showdown the producers were rumoured to have wanted.The first wardrobe choice I found was a little bit strange. When Adam and Kris walked down the steps, they were dressed heard to toe in white and it looked like they were either wearing matching pyjamas or Clockwork Orange jumpsuits. On closer inspection, Adam was wearing patent silver boots that I later found out were supposedly flown in especially from Antwerp. There were some technical problems because the mics weren't working.
When it was time for the first act, it made more sense that they were all in white and the only clothing that wasn't, were Adam's boots. Even without them, he looked like a rock star, owning the stage when he was jumping around and with his kneeling close-up when he punched the air. When the others went down to the platform behind the judges, Adam stayed on stage guiding Scott. It felt like Adam got a little bit more camera time than anyone else and being the tallest and in the centre of the stage certainly helped. Besides, the camera just loves him.
Adam's next appearance was a slightly comedic clip where he was pretending to wind a lever to spin the trophy that Kris held. Ryan spoke to Adam's parents and Adam's mother was wearing some black rocker gloves with her outfit, and his father had painted his nails, which I loved. I wondered whether the fact that Adam's parents are divorced and so couldn't really play happy families had any negative impact on the result.
I found the package of Adam's journey quite moving as it painted him out to be a great, groundbreaking artist who shook up the show. We were reminded that Adam faithfully fulfilled the promise he made at the start by using his ideas to twist up old songs and surprise us. It seemed very much like a sentimental winner's package down to the soundtrack of Viva La Vida and the shot of his gloved hand punching the air at the end. I felt a tinge of reflective sadness as I watched it, seeing how he has developed and how I would miss following his journey on a weekly basis.
When Adam graced the stage for his performance of Beth, it was a Moment even before he started singing. The sea of the audience stood up in waves of anticipation and applause in his presence, as if they knew they were about to witness something special. The camera looked up at him from below as he stood majestic and statuesque like a deity serenely surveying his subjects. He was radiant and absolutely beautiful with his movements relaxed. It felt like he was finally completely comfortable, standing proud, confident, truly being himself with heartfelt sincerity. He gave us a knowing look with a couple of blink-and-you'll-miss-them cheeky eyebrow twitches. That look told me he knew me and knew what lay in my deepest and darkest recesses and that he understood. The glint in his eyes also made it as obvious as possible without a formal declaration what he meant by playing all night with him and the boys, come join us if you dare. He seemed to emanate a happiness, an inner peace and it was the first time I'd felt that magical connection. The simple piano accompaniment highlighting the clarity and effortlessness of his gorgeously low, rich and slightly grainy vocals only added to his splendour.When I was able to notice the clothing, I was amazed by his industrial rhinestone shoulder cages / angel wings worn over a black aligator-skin top that had a matching rhinestone trim. It was teamed up with his fingerless gloves, his biker trousers from Cryin' and his glittery gold Zodiac Show platforms. Glambert! His eyes were surrounded with glistening jewels and he wore sparkly handcuffs where his belt-loop chains would normally be. I thought this was symbolic of his finally being free and unshackled in expressing himself without the pressure or judgement of competition. The shot from behind made his hunched posture portray him as a very lonely but gentle figure. From the front, his platforms gave him extra height, and the camera angles of the bright lights above and behind him and his towering over us with his angel wings, made him seem like a supreme being. Everything about his performance suggested to me that we were witnessing his transcendence. He looked stunning, like a dark sci-fi post-apocalyptic manga angel-prince. The audience gazed in awe at the fruition of his years of toil, the pinnacle of the Adam Lambert Show.I loved the sound of Adam's voice when he introduced KISS. It was very different from his speaking voice and it had a rock edge to it. The band descended from a platform amid a cascade of fireworks. Compared to the band, who I thought looked a bit dated and on the vulgar side, Adam looked understatedly sophisticated! He stomped and strutted his way around the stage, visibly having a lot of fun. When his voice broke through during Detroit Rock City, it sounded incredible and everything about Adam - his style, his vocals, his sneer, his movements and his stage presence completely outclassed KISS. We were left in no doubt as to who the superstar was. There was a cheesy but amusing split-screen graphic with Adam in the centre. During Rock'n'Roll All Nite, Adam's parents were shown rocking out, which was really heartwarming. Adam managed to sneak some hip-swivels and a crotch grab in underneath the censors before wailing some trademark high but short notes. The performance ended with more fireworks being set off to the smashing of a guitar. Adam seemed to have that post-performance adrenaline beam that had been lacking for some time. He rocked the house. What a fantastically fun and energetic performance that was.The Ford video was a slightly sad and earnest duet with Kris and Adam, showing extracts from the previous videos. It sounded soft but I don't think their voices went well together. The next part showed David Cook hand out the award of cars to each of them. Adam's reaction of cackling whilst bent double was priceless. It was a little uncomfortable though, to watch the blatantly staged and scripted plug. I hope Adam doesn't have to endorse shitty stuff in tacky adverts in the future.
The next performance to include Adam was Santana's smooth. Adam seemed to lead everyone out, clapping in time to the music before being the only one to shake hands with Santana's extended hand. He was dressed all in black apart from a red tie, accessoriesed with a studded belt - a scorching hot look. He also wore a holster / braces and looked like a detective in a fabulous Glambert universe where the most serious crimes possible to commit, for which he was head of investigations, were crimes against fashion. Yes, I'd happily commit a fashion crime in order to get arrested by Adam before getting styled! Adam's first line of his solo was a little off, but he recovered to add some smut in Like seven inches IN (original: from) the midday sun to the lyrics, giving us his most seductive eyes. You just have to admire his wit and gall, still bending the limits and seeing how much he can get away with. With his loose hips and shoulders, he showed us some great salsa-type dance moves which he made to look naturally effortless. He did some dancing with Allison and it occurred to me then that he must be absolutely loving all the different costume changes.
The next act was Do You Think I'm Sexy. Adam looked very classy in a black suit and led one side onto the stage. He was again in the centre along with Kris and treated the crowd to a few naughty expressions and raised eyebrows. The line-up made up of all the guys reminded me a bit of The Full Monty where you almost expect them to do a striptease. Adam's movements were a controlled and subdued sexy in this performance but his voice shone, especially on the last note where he was the only one who went high. The high note was accompanied by his iconic pose before he introduced Rod Stewart in a velvety smooth voice.
We Are The Champions came as a total surprise, and from the opening chords, my excitement was uncontainable and I was whooping. YES! Adam does Queen! A fitting end, seeing as it was what he started with. During the stream, this is when it froze, to my extreme annoyance. This song clearly wasn't Kris, who seemed to be reading the autocue when he started and was more than happy to hand over to Adam. They both exchanged looks and were happy and relaxed together on the stage behind the judges. Adam's first lines were resplendent, smooth and powerful with a fine clarity, delivered from a self-assured pose. He seemed to resonate with the lyrics, passionately and angrily spitting out I've had my share of sand kicked in my face but I've come through, which brought me all the way back near the beginning to BoW. I loved the way he phrased through, driving it with that extra power and punch. Yes, he's made it all the way to the end, despite all the shit that's been thrown at him and the additional pressure he's had to endure. Now it's time to celebrate. What a beautiful opening.
He was back to a rocker look in a brown leather jacket with exquisite detailing and matching boots over a black T-shirt and dark jeans. I felt that this look was on the subtle side so as to complement rather than dwarf Kris. Adam gave us a twirl of his wrist when the band were revealed before joining Queen on stage. When they sang together, their voices didn't mesh together very well and I felt that Adam held himself back a lot trying not to upstage Kris and steal the show, despite probably bursting to go crazy. I can't imagine any of the other contestants doing the same. Adam's second solo was a little less restrained, his voice had bite, giving me a rushing feeling when he hit a few high notes as Brian May looked on impressed. The following chorus, Kris dropped off a little. We are the champions, my friend had Adam and Kris demonstrating their friendship with a hand grab and shared smiles. They were clearly having a great time and it was infectious. It made us momentarily feel that they were both so happy to be there, not really caring about the end result with both being winners. There was no doubt then who the best singer, biggest talent and superstar was. It felt like the producers had to let Kris in on it out of obligation. The last note was frustrating for me because I wanted Adam to have free rein but instead he watched and matched Kris closely. Even when it came down to acknowledging the band afterwards, Adam's 'Queen, ladies and gentlemen,' compared to Kris's embarrassed and short 'Queen' spoke volumes about their different levels of showmanship. They should have ditched Kris on this one because he was like the gatecrasher at a glamorous party. I just wanted Adam to completely let rip, and so did Queen by the looks of it. But being the ever gracious host, Adam dressed himself down to make the gatecrasher feel welcome and less awkwardly out of place. You have to admire his class for doing this, but what a great shame it was. Perhaps this will be addressed in the future if Adam is allowed to perform with them. Brian looked very happy with Adam at the end, and Adam's family had such a blast by the looks of it. It felt like the crowning performance of the show where everyone came out and anything else afterwards would just be insignificant.If you do not want to relive the end of the results show, skip the following paragraph.
When Adam and Kris came onto the stage for the final result, they looked happy still buzzing from the last performance and ready for it, wanting to get it over with. Adam had his arm slung around Kris like a very close friend and at that point, they really reminded me of Batman and Robin. Although Kris is likable and talented, he will always seem like Adam's sidekick. Adam seemed like his mentor when he pulled him into camera shot when the results bearer came onto the stage and obscured him from view. Adam's mother looked like she was unable to take any more, slouched in her seat. When Ryan made the announcement, it felt like time froze, I didn't breathe and the bottom of my gut dropped out. There was a little numbness, a feeling of complete anticlimax before disbelief and anger set in. NOOOOO! How the fuck could this happen? Adam is the clear winner! Adam's reaction was so gracious he immediately looked happy for Kris, pulling him close for a big hug, and shaking him into reality. He took a bow and Ryan called him a superstar before he gave the stage up for Kris. Kris said what we were all thinking - that Adam deserves this and was lost for words. Allison was quick to grab Adam but then pushed him by the ass to get back on the stage which was a little strange, but perhaps done to diffuse the awkwardness of Kris's lack of coherent speech. There was more hugging and they shared a joke before he cheered for Kris and left him to sing the coronation song. I noticed that Simon looked pissed off and wasn't on his feet like the other judges. Allison again took hold of Adam, putting her arm around him. I thought I saw a crack in the facade and a wistful expression appear on Adam's face. He may well be good at hiding it, but I do not believe Adam to be impervious to disappointment and hurt because I certainly felt it and I wasn't even involved. Adam stayed on the sidelines away from Kris for the rest of the show, allowing him the spotlight and cheering on his victory like a proud dad. My heart swelled with pride for Adam but ached with disappointment for him too.
A few other thoughts that struck me about the show was that it felt like Adam's plaything, like his tribute concert and finale to the Adam Lambert Show season where everyone else, including the established artists were just his support acts. Everyone was there to see or perform with him, the central piece of the show. For each of his group performances, he was the commanding stage presence, he seemed to be centre stage, get more camera time, the best camera shots and all eyes gravitated towards him. The stage was all his and he was in a totally different league. Even his solo was the last one of the night, barring the feeble coronation song, so he had the pimp spot again. It's glaringly obvious from any episode of AI8 who won the show and the season. It's been a week and I'm seriously suffering from the loss of The Adam Lambert Show from our screens. Still, I feel pleased now that Adam is stepping out from AI, spreading his wings ready to soar onwards and upwards. I'm holding on tight for the ride to wherever he takes me.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
The Finale
A big thanks, and well done to all of you who persevered throughout the voting period and voted your fingers off. Now that the final performances are over, I wish I could feel more relaxed, but I don't, and I know that even after the results show's over and the season's finished my life will not quite return to the way it was before. I feel rather embarrassed admitting to 'normal' people that I stayed up all night to vote for the full seven hours, then desperately tried to get the extra software working to vote in the Hawaii window. And I had a back-up plan of automatic clicking for when I nodded off. How ridiculous is it that I spent seven hours on constant redial to vote for a contestant in a show that's in a foreign country? I'd never voted on any TV show before. Ever. But that's the power of Adam Lambert. Crazy or what?
I was filled with determination to make myself feel safe in the knowledge I'd done everything possible to get Adam the win but I was filled with doubt throughout. Would my votes actually count, and if they didn't, would I just be jamming up the phone lines for the legitimate votes? I was keeping track of Dialidol throughout and was filled with anxiety. Still am, although that might have more to do with a lack of sleep. I'm absolutely shattered and scared shitless for tonight!
Anyway, back to business. I managed to watch Adam's confessional before the show and thought he seemed a little tired, lacking his usual perkiness. I wondered whether he was feeling the weight of the pressure and how much the homecoming visit may have freaked him out and whether it would affect his performances.
The show opened with some previously unseen clips of Adam and Kris in the early stages of the competition, which reminded us of how different Adam looked back then. During the week, I'd seen some photos of him shopping for a suit so I wondered what we had in store. He came out in quite a classic Adam look all in black with a black jacket with sequins and black trousers. His hair was done fairly naturally with dramatic eyeliner. I found it very endearing when Kris and Adam were both asked the same question by Ryan and Kris replied first, then Adam repeated exactly what Kris said. It was cute moment that gave us more of an insight into their friendship.
Despite my efforts to stay away from the rumour mill, I knew but wasn't quite willing to accept that Adam's reprise would be Mad World. This got me a little concerned because I believed it to be a pretty impossible task to surpass the original because the surprise element would be missing. Still, a part of me was thinking that Adam would instinctively know what to do to freshen it up. There was an introductory clip that focussed around Adam and his parents talking about his childhood when he was a noisy kid, which cut to some of his high notes on the show. I think it was meant to be snarky to show him as a screamer and I don't think it helped him with winning over new fans.
I felt worried when Mad World was introduced but bloody hell, WOW! What a dramatic entrance that was. From the get-go, it was going to be other-worldly spectacular with the turbulent blanket of ground mist, and the shade of blue lighting from behind that honoured his original take. It was a desolate landscape. Adam cut a striking figure rising from within a platform on the stage dressed in a long trenchcoat with clunky boots in a pose that stood confident. One of the first things that came to mind was that this was reminiscent of iconic noir cinema, a stylised portrayal of a lonely tortured fantasy comic book hero. I was excited. The first few notes were full of clarity but perhaps due to nerves or because of the movement down the stairs, could have done with super-fine tuning. We saw his silhouette shrouded in mist until he got to the bottom of the stairs, where we could see he was dressed all in black with black leather fingerless gloves. He looked more like a goth than ever before. The instrumental arrangement was very similar to his previous one but the tempo was slower with variations in the lyrics and melody. Adam sounded just as haunting but maybe less mournful than last time. He didn't make as much use of his falsetto which made him sound less weak, and he gave us some gorgeous deep and rich notes which I preferred to the previous incarnation. There was a point where I thought he lost time during No one knew me, but it might have been that he was thrown by that bloody backing singer. Look right through me didn't have the same change in volume or impact and was much gentler but it still made my hair stand on end. I wanted more of that me note, which was just sublime. Adam cut a very solitary figure advancing slowly around the stage and I feel that he got deep into the character of being the world-weary outcast, singing with a troubled expression. He did engage with the camera a little more than he had done recently and his final wide-eyed look into the camera was heart-stopping. He nailed that final note.
Adam looked fairly happy after his performance but I think Simon was trying a little to negate the backlash he'd created with his pimping, by giving less positive remarks. Unusually, Adam spoke back at him but was very charming about it. He was so excited about experimenting with the lift and the dry ice and it just makes me respect him even more because his adventurous spirit is not dimmed by the pressure of the competition. And I adored his enthusiasm at expressing how he saw this as a chance to play dress-up.
I absolutely loved the theatrics and thought they were very appropriate to the big stage. I felt that this performance was a very different interpretation which captures a much edgier, darker mood than his original, which felt very exposed and filled with sadness and vulnerability. Perhaps it's my sleep deprived Lambosessed senses getting into overdrive (you tell me), but I feel that Adam has used the two performances to tell the story of how he has progressed, transitioning from being the alienated soft and fragile person filled with sadness to a tougher, more hardened, and confident one who is no longer afraid of being the outsider. If people felt less emotionally connected to this performance then I think it may have been because the character he portrayed was more aloof and the sweeping wide angle shots emphasised this. The message I got is that it's possible to evolve from one to the other to become the awesome dark superhero of the underworld that he created on that stage with his voice, the costuming and the set. I was completely captivated and entertained by this mysterious and exciting world he had created, even down to the moon that was the light in the background. I found it to be a visual and atmospheric masterpiece that was laced full of significance and meaning.
I felt a little concerned after Kris's performance. I didn't know what the other song choices would be beforehand, so when 'A Change Is Gonna Come' was announced, I was completely surprised but felt myself whooping with delight. I knew Adam had already performed this song in 2004 for the Zodiac Show, which might be why they were pulled from YouTube in the last week. I didn't rate that performance highly though as, unusual for Adam, I think it was quite off-key. I mentioned before that I wanted to hear Adam's take on something soulful and bluesy because I was impressed by his riffing in Some Kind of Wonderful and it would show off his range. This choice told me that the producers most likely want Adam to win. I was laughing, envisioning Simon Fuller as one of us, having spent hours obsessing over Adam's YouTube videos and his Zodiac pants! Perhaps it was unfair to give Adam a song he's already known to have performed, but if the rumours are true then Adam got shafted last week when it came to song choice. He was allegedly meant to be doing One Republic's Come Home but had to switch to Cryin' when he found out about Kris's Apologize. And Simon's pick was confirmed later than the others' so he probably had to work on twice as many songs as them and had less time to prepare. Maybe that's why it wasn't such a good night for him and we didn't see much in terms of stage direction.
The grey suit Adam wore appeared to be the one he wore for ToMT but seemed to lack the sheen. The look was made edgier with his white shirt cuffs protruding from underneath his jacket sleeves. His top button was undone with his blue tie slightly loose, which gave quite an understated look of a jazz club singer. His hair and make-up looked unchanged. Adam shared the centre of the stage with the band and along with the red lighting made it seem like a fairly intimate club setting.
The opening notes were very strong and filled me with confidence that this would be great. There was a slight waver on Long time, but he managed to recover completely so that the rest was flawless. He went on to use his rich, velvety, lower register that sounded seductive and superb. The song had time to slowly build to that first high note which was truly phenomenal. He held it for exactly the right amount of time - long enough for us to feel awestruck by it but short enough to avoid the showboating accusations - before coming down then sliding back up again. This for me was Adam's most beautiful and perfectly executed high note so far even though I have no idea what he said during it. In the rest of the climactic part of the song, he held the notes long enough to still keep the melody, avoiding sounding shouty. The last note was low for Adam, but majestic. Here Adam made beautiful use of his range and used his wail appropriately and to good effect without overdoing anything. His movements and expressions started off subtle then rode with the song, from his hand palming the air to the emotion twitching to get out of his leg. The arrangement was fairly straight-up so it was purely those mind-blowing vocals that put Adam's stamp on the song. I think the meaning of the song resonated with him to display such passion. He bled every drop of soul out of that performance and it was just scintillating to watch. He happily thanked the band afterwards before seemingly shaking himself back to reality. I think he'd been completely immersed in the song and looked very emotional when listening to the judges' comments.
I had no idea what Kara's song would be like or who she was expecting to write it for but I was hoping it wouldn't be a soppy ballad. For this performance, Adam looked fairly toned down with sober black jacket and T-shirt but paired up with some tight crazy-ass marble-washed jeans which I wasn't keen on. The camera stayed mainly above the waist though. Adam's voice started the song quite breathy and low and we heard a bit of his chesty rock voice. Then the band came in. Oh shit. Cheesy power-ballad on the way. I wasn't worried about Adam not performing well or doing worse than Kris on this one, but I thought he seemed slightly out of place. The song clearly didn't suit him and I think it might have been meant for Danny or even Lil Rounds. Adam seemed again to be battling with the band and the evil backing singers which really pissed me off because they were out-of-tune again. Not only was the song difficult to sing because the melody jumped all over the place, but the lyrics were unwieldy and super-cheesy. I think Adam tried hard to seriously sing the crap out of it but even he looked a bit awkward moving to the song. That was like dipping the finest piece of wagyu beef into supermarket budget-line ketchup. He looked quite relieved but emotional when he finished and I think he knew the song didn't fit him. It was a sad way to finish such an awesome run on AI. I didn't agree with Randy saying that Adam was pitchy because I think it was the backing singers. I think Kara looked a bit embarassed and I certainly didn't agree with Adam that the song was beautiful. I think Adam still did a great job with what he was given and he's proven that he can sing anything. It's also painfully clear that Adam is much better being the brains behind his song choices.
That was a rubbish way to finish the show and the season on such a crap note, which really didn't do either contestant justice. The coronation song wasn't worthy of either contestant. What a disappointment. If they'd gotten the coronation song out of the way first then the show would've turned out to be much less of an anti-climax. I think the running order is an important factor in the way the performances are received. Adam was at a disadvantage singing an unknown song first because people weren't familiar with the melody. But I guess that goes both ways - if the song is awful, then the person singing second would be at a disadvantage because no one would want to hear it again. I think it was unfortunate that Mad World came first because I see it as more of a finale. I truly believe that had it come last after the awful coronation song, it would've been a showstopper, bringing the house to its knees. I think a performance so mindblowing needs some foreplay in the form of warm-up acts.
I was hoping for a greater variety of tempo in Adam's performances and what I would've liked to have seen but didn't this season was an a capella or a single instrument acoustic arrangement to show off his staggering voice, and crazy Glambert complete with sexy dance routine. It would've been great if Adam had a more uptempo number yesterday where he could've rocked out and got everyone up on their feet. There's still the rest of tonight though to look forward to and I'm hoping he goes all-out because he has nothing to lose. I'm still really nervous about the result because I think it's a close one. Whatever happens, I'm sure there'll be some tears shed. Fingers crossed that they're those of elation.
I was filled with determination to make myself feel safe in the knowledge I'd done everything possible to get Adam the win but I was filled with doubt throughout. Would my votes actually count, and if they didn't, would I just be jamming up the phone lines for the legitimate votes? I was keeping track of Dialidol throughout and was filled with anxiety. Still am, although that might have more to do with a lack of sleep. I'm absolutely shattered and scared shitless for tonight!
Anyway, back to business. I managed to watch Adam's confessional before the show and thought he seemed a little tired, lacking his usual perkiness. I wondered whether he was feeling the weight of the pressure and how much the homecoming visit may have freaked him out and whether it would affect his performances.
The show opened with some previously unseen clips of Adam and Kris in the early stages of the competition, which reminded us of how different Adam looked back then. During the week, I'd seen some photos of him shopping for a suit so I wondered what we had in store. He came out in quite a classic Adam look all in black with a black jacket with sequins and black trousers. His hair was done fairly naturally with dramatic eyeliner. I found it very endearing when Kris and Adam were both asked the same question by Ryan and Kris replied first, then Adam repeated exactly what Kris said. It was cute moment that gave us more of an insight into their friendship.Despite my efforts to stay away from the rumour mill, I knew but wasn't quite willing to accept that Adam's reprise would be Mad World. This got me a little concerned because I believed it to be a pretty impossible task to surpass the original because the surprise element would be missing. Still, a part of me was thinking that Adam would instinctively know what to do to freshen it up. There was an introductory clip that focussed around Adam and his parents talking about his childhood when he was a noisy kid, which cut to some of his high notes on the show. I think it was meant to be snarky to show him as a screamer and I don't think it helped him with winning over new fans.
I felt worried when Mad World was introduced but bloody hell, WOW! What a dramatic entrance that was. From the get-go, it was going to be other-worldly spectacular with the turbulent blanket of ground mist, and the shade of blue lighting from behind that honoured his original take. It was a desolate landscape. Adam cut a striking figure rising from within a platform on the stage dressed in a long trenchcoat with clunky boots in a pose that stood confident. One of the first things that came to mind was that this was reminiscent of iconic noir cinema, a stylised portrayal of a lonely tortured fantasy comic book hero. I was excited. The first few notes were full of clarity but perhaps due to nerves or because of the movement down the stairs, could have done with super-fine tuning. We saw his silhouette shrouded in mist until he got to the bottom of the stairs, where we could see he was dressed all in black with black leather fingerless gloves. He looked more like a goth than ever before. The instrumental arrangement was very similar to his previous one but the tempo was slower with variations in the lyrics and melody. Adam sounded just as haunting but maybe less mournful than last time. He didn't make as much use of his falsetto which made him sound less weak, and he gave us some gorgeous deep and rich notes which I preferred to the previous incarnation. There was a point where I thought he lost time during No one knew me, but it might have been that he was thrown by that bloody backing singer. Look right through me didn't have the same change in volume or impact and was much gentler but it still made my hair stand on end. I wanted more of that me note, which was just sublime. Adam cut a very solitary figure advancing slowly around the stage and I feel that he got deep into the character of being the world-weary outcast, singing with a troubled expression. He did engage with the camera a little more than he had done recently and his final wide-eyed look into the camera was heart-stopping. He nailed that final note.
Adam looked fairly happy after his performance but I think Simon was trying a little to negate the backlash he'd created with his pimping, by giving less positive remarks. Unusually, Adam spoke back at him but was very charming about it. He was so excited about experimenting with the lift and the dry ice and it just makes me respect him even more because his adventurous spirit is not dimmed by the pressure of the competition. And I adored his enthusiasm at expressing how he saw this as a chance to play dress-up.
I absolutely loved the theatrics and thought they were very appropriate to the big stage. I felt that this performance was a very different interpretation which captures a much edgier, darker mood than his original, which felt very exposed and filled with sadness and vulnerability. Perhaps it's my sleep deprived Lambosessed senses getting into overdrive (you tell me), but I feel that Adam has used the two performances to tell the story of how he has progressed, transitioning from being the alienated soft and fragile person filled with sadness to a tougher, more hardened, and confident one who is no longer afraid of being the outsider. If people felt less emotionally connected to this performance then I think it may have been because the character he portrayed was more aloof and the sweeping wide angle shots emphasised this. The message I got is that it's possible to evolve from one to the other to become the awesome dark superhero of the underworld that he created on that stage with his voice, the costuming and the set. I was completely captivated and entertained by this mysterious and exciting world he had created, even down to the moon that was the light in the background. I found it to be a visual and atmospheric masterpiece that was laced full of significance and meaning.
I felt a little concerned after Kris's performance. I didn't know what the other song choices would be beforehand, so when 'A Change Is Gonna Come' was announced, I was completely surprised but felt myself whooping with delight. I knew Adam had already performed this song in 2004 for the Zodiac Show, which might be why they were pulled from YouTube in the last week. I didn't rate that performance highly though as, unusual for Adam, I think it was quite off-key. I mentioned before that I wanted to hear Adam's take on something soulful and bluesy because I was impressed by his riffing in Some Kind of Wonderful and it would show off his range. This choice told me that the producers most likely want Adam to win. I was laughing, envisioning Simon Fuller as one of us, having spent hours obsessing over Adam's YouTube videos and his Zodiac pants! Perhaps it was unfair to give Adam a song he's already known to have performed, but if the rumours are true then Adam got shafted last week when it came to song choice. He was allegedly meant to be doing One Republic's Come Home but had to switch to Cryin' when he found out about Kris's Apologize. And Simon's pick was confirmed later than the others' so he probably had to work on twice as many songs as them and had less time to prepare. Maybe that's why it wasn't such a good night for him and we didn't see much in terms of stage direction.
The grey suit Adam wore appeared to be the one he wore for ToMT but seemed to lack the sheen. The look was made edgier with his white shirt cuffs protruding from underneath his jacket sleeves. His top button was undone with his blue tie slightly loose, which gave quite an understated look of a jazz club singer. His hair and make-up looked unchanged. Adam shared the centre of the stage with the band and along with the red lighting made it seem like a fairly intimate club setting.The opening notes were very strong and filled me with confidence that this would be great. There was a slight waver on Long time, but he managed to recover completely so that the rest was flawless. He went on to use his rich, velvety, lower register that sounded seductive and superb. The song had time to slowly build to that first high note which was truly phenomenal. He held it for exactly the right amount of time - long enough for us to feel awestruck by it but short enough to avoid the showboating accusations - before coming down then sliding back up again. This for me was Adam's most beautiful and perfectly executed high note so far even though I have no idea what he said during it. In the rest of the climactic part of the song, he held the notes long enough to still keep the melody, avoiding sounding shouty. The last note was low for Adam, but majestic. Here Adam made beautiful use of his range and used his wail appropriately and to good effect without overdoing anything. His movements and expressions started off subtle then rode with the song, from his hand palming the air to the emotion twitching to get out of his leg. The arrangement was fairly straight-up so it was purely those mind-blowing vocals that put Adam's stamp on the song. I think the meaning of the song resonated with him to display such passion. He bled every drop of soul out of that performance and it was just scintillating to watch. He happily thanked the band afterwards before seemingly shaking himself back to reality. I think he'd been completely immersed in the song and looked very emotional when listening to the judges' comments.
I had no idea what Kara's song would be like or who she was expecting to write it for but I was hoping it wouldn't be a soppy ballad. For this performance, Adam looked fairly toned down with sober black jacket and T-shirt but paired up with some tight crazy-ass marble-washed jeans which I wasn't keen on. The camera stayed mainly above the waist though. Adam's voice started the song quite breathy and low and we heard a bit of his chesty rock voice. Then the band came in. Oh shit. Cheesy power-ballad on the way. I wasn't worried about Adam not performing well or doing worse than Kris on this one, but I thought he seemed slightly out of place. The song clearly didn't suit him and I think it might have been meant for Danny or even Lil Rounds. Adam seemed again to be battling with the band and the evil backing singers which really pissed me off because they were out-of-tune again. Not only was the song difficult to sing because the melody jumped all over the place, but the lyrics were unwieldy and super-cheesy. I think Adam tried hard to seriously sing the crap out of it but even he looked a bit awkward moving to the song. That was like dipping the finest piece of wagyu beef into supermarket budget-line ketchup. He looked quite relieved but emotional when he finished and I think he knew the song didn't fit him. It was a sad way to finish such an awesome run on AI. I didn't agree with Randy saying that Adam was pitchy because I think it was the backing singers. I think Kara looked a bit embarassed and I certainly didn't agree with Adam that the song was beautiful. I think Adam still did a great job with what he was given and he's proven that he can sing anything. It's also painfully clear that Adam is much better being the brains behind his song choices.That was a rubbish way to finish the show and the season on such a crap note, which really didn't do either contestant justice. The coronation song wasn't worthy of either contestant. What a disappointment. If they'd gotten the coronation song out of the way first then the show would've turned out to be much less of an anti-climax. I think the running order is an important factor in the way the performances are received. Adam was at a disadvantage singing an unknown song first because people weren't familiar with the melody. But I guess that goes both ways - if the song is awful, then the person singing second would be at a disadvantage because no one would want to hear it again. I think it was unfortunate that Mad World came first because I see it as more of a finale. I truly believe that had it come last after the awful coronation song, it would've been a showstopper, bringing the house to its knees. I think a performance so mindblowing needs some foreplay in the form of warm-up acts.
I was hoping for a greater variety of tempo in Adam's performances and what I would've liked to have seen but didn't this season was an a capella or a single instrument acoustic arrangement to show off his staggering voice, and crazy Glambert complete with sexy dance routine. It would've been great if Adam had a more uptempo number yesterday where he could've rocked out and got everyone up on their feet. There's still the rest of tonight though to look forward to and I'm hoping he goes all-out because he has nothing to lose. I'm still really nervous about the result because I think it's a close one. Whatever happens, I'm sure there'll be some tears shed. Fingers crossed that they're those of elation.
Friday, 15 May 2009
One More Time
I watched One for the first time on TV last night, and I must say that I think I'm starting to love it. It's actually rising towards the top of my list and I know I'm far from alone in feeling this way so I started picking apart and analysing my initial reaction to it.
From One's opening, we were expecting a certain type of interpretation from Adam. We heard the pure ravishing beauty of those first few honeyed notes and we were completely spellbound. We wanted more and looked forward to the song continuing in the manner it started so we could get more of this wonderful drug, not only because it was breathtaking, but because we'd been a little starved of slow emotional numbers in the last couple of weeks.
Adam has surprised us many times with his performances and his interpretation of songs, so much so that paradoxically it was getting unsurprising. With Adam never settling for predictable, he managed to challenge and astonish us with a drastic change mid-performance that we were least expecting. I think the issue we had was the shock factor - which sent some scuttling towards wanting the safety of the song's opening - because it was so far from what we were expecting. Less than a minute until the end of the song wasn't enough time to get over that shock. With a little more time we might have been better placed to process and understand it within the limits of the song and left less bewildered. Is it fair to feel disappointed just because he didn't do what we expected, even if he did something better and put a glittering cherry on top? Ironically, the unpredictability was something I'd wanted, but when he hit me with it, I wasn't particularly receptive because I was completely unprepared.
If we look at the latest performances in the context of the competition, intentional or not, they were relatively 'safe', on the Adam scale. Maybe it was in preparation for a real treat when it comes to the final. I expect that in the same way when WLL came round we'd been yearning for a RoF type performance for some time, the little taster of a tender number in One has us completely ravenous for one in the final, and maybe it will taste so much sweeter for it.
I think One improves on subsequent viewings because I neither expect nor want the song to continue softly-softly. It no longer jars but works brilliantly and I think Adam provides a better representation of the lyrics to give us that huge and impassioned crescendo, than the more mournful and resigned original. I strongly felt the intensity and emotion first time round but I'm now able to really appreciate the full impact of this gem of a moving performance. Here it is again for your viewing pleasure:
From One's opening, we were expecting a certain type of interpretation from Adam. We heard the pure ravishing beauty of those first few honeyed notes and we were completely spellbound. We wanted more and looked forward to the song continuing in the manner it started so we could get more of this wonderful drug, not only because it was breathtaking, but because we'd been a little starved of slow emotional numbers in the last couple of weeks.Adam has surprised us many times with his performances and his interpretation of songs, so much so that paradoxically it was getting unsurprising. With Adam never settling for predictable, he managed to challenge and astonish us with a drastic change mid-performance that we were least expecting. I think the issue we had was the shock factor - which sent some scuttling towards wanting the safety of the song's opening - because it was so far from what we were expecting. Less than a minute until the end of the song wasn't enough time to get over that shock. With a little more time we might have been better placed to process and understand it within the limits of the song and left less bewildered. Is it fair to feel disappointed just because he didn't do what we expected, even if he did something better and put a glittering cherry on top? Ironically, the unpredictability was something I'd wanted, but when he hit me with it, I wasn't particularly receptive because I was completely unprepared.
If we look at the latest performances in the context of the competition, intentional or not, they were relatively 'safe', on the Adam scale. Maybe it was in preparation for a real treat when it comes to the final. I expect that in the same way when WLL came round we'd been yearning for a RoF type performance for some time, the little taster of a tender number in One has us completely ravenous for one in the final, and maybe it will taste so much sweeter for it.
I think One improves on subsequent viewings because I neither expect nor want the song to continue softly-softly. It no longer jars but works brilliantly and I think Adam provides a better representation of the lyrics to give us that huge and impassioned crescendo, than the more mournful and resigned original. I strongly felt the intensity and emotion first time round but I'm now able to really appreciate the full impact of this gem of a moving performance. Here it is again for your viewing pleasure:
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Top 3 - One / Cryin'
I found this week's review hard to write. Last night I had mixed feelings and was left slightly subdued and despondent, and I can't tell whether this was because Adam didn't quite hit the spot which left me worried, or whether he hit it dead on and he ripped my heart out. This was one of those nights where I repeat viewings were necessary.
The confessional this week didn't reveal much we didn't know and it I think he looked as if he was just going through the motions. Perhaps the hectic schedule took quite a lot out of him. Before the show, I managed to see a spoiler that told me he was going to be singing One and Cryin' and that he had the pimp spot. I didn't think Cryin' was a great song choice to show another side of him and was mourning the loss of Wicked Game which I think would have been a showstopper.
The first time Adam walked out on to the stage, his wardrobe choice surprised me by being quite understated. He was fresh-faced and natural looking, with the make-up and hair styling being kept to a minimum. He was wearing a light faded denim shirt, blue jeans and snakeskin boots. I couldn't tell what he was going to do from this but I started feeling a little nervous. I didn't like the shirt because it was too tight around the chest with the pockets too high up, like it was meant for someone much shorter.
Danny's performance was pretty bad and Kris's was OK but his voice just wasn't up to it. Next was Adam, and I felt this was a great opportunity to completely blow the others away. The song started with a piano intro and I thought we were in for an Upright-type performance, or at least one that was understated by Adam standards. I liked the thought of a stripped arrangement where his voice could really shine. He was bathed in royal blue light from behind, slowly fading to white. The first notes were low, very pure, soft and breathtaking. He looked quite elfin because of the earpieces. The camera close-ups made him look mesmerisingly and achingly beautiful. I felt makeup-less Adam looked like he was baring his soul and looked so exposed. Those first looks into the camera emoting his vulnerability before gently closing his eyes, tugged heavily at my heart shaking me to my core. His expressions were tender and heartfelt but tinged with sadness and dejection. I thought he showed a hint of tiredness. Unusually, I felt there was a note or two that could've done with some fine tuning, but perhaps it was an intended effect to load additional emotion.
After a slightly shaky start the vocals were flawless. When it came to the the bridge, I felt it came much too soon with little build-up that was too sudden. The camera didn't engage his movements well when he walked off the stage to stand in front of the judges, and it seemed a bit too aggressive. I think it needed a close-up to show his facial expressions. I thought the vocal acrobatics were hectic and he could've done with slowing it down, mellowing it a little and holding the notes for longer because the melody was lost to emphasis on the lyrics. When he got to the glory note Hurt though, it was truly magnificent and made me gasp and my hairs stand on end. It managed to stab me in the heart. The emotion of the song really did get to me. It was one of his most impassioned performances where I felt like it was personal, he was naked and I was looking straight into his soul. He seemed to really feel and resonate with the meaning of the song, which, in addition to the pink lights seemed to make as strong a statement as possible without explicitly stating the obvious. This is me, we are one but not the same. I think perhaps that's why his mum was teary-eyed afterwards.
Adam added the light and shade that I thought was missing from the original, with the bonus massive firework on top, but I think it was too much to handle in such a short space of time. It didn't quite seem to work as I felt the song was unbalanced. It could have done with another verse at the start to build up to the massive crescendo. I thought this took up too much of the song and we overdosed on it. Perhaps he could have shortened it by bringing everything back down immediately after the glory note, or put a lull in the middle of it. Another option is that he could have played it down all the way through the song which would probably have done more for the popular vote. Personally though, I'm glad he did take a risk as this song works much better with a shot of light and shade and I'm looking forward to the longer studio version. I feel really frustrated because the performance was so close to bringing everyone to their knees with just a few simple changes. If only there'd been enough time to do it justice. Why oh why did they have to squeeze it into such a short time just so the stupid judges can wank themselves off?
I wonder what happened and why he ended up with such an arrangement. There seemed to be a suggestion that Simon was somehow involved with the mentoring, so I wondered whether Adam could have been revealing his displeasure about it when he told Paula to punch Simon. I'm probably reading way too much into it. Common sense tells me Adam's such a perfectionist and that if he was unhappy with Simon, he'd just do things his own way. How much time did Adam actually spend preparing for the song since it was only cleared on the Saturday? And is it unfair that he'd been preparing three songs in that time, when everyone else was preparing two? I'm guessing he did Cryin' because it was an easy option that he was already familiar with. I think I'm looking for excuses now because I'm in denial that Adam is human and susceptible to faltering.
I didn't feel great after the song and I've been trying to figure out why ever since. It pains me to say that I don't think it worked as well as it should have. I felt both underwhelmed because I didn't like what he did with the song and overwhelmed at the same time, because it really hit me emotionally. Did he manage to inject the sorrow of the song into me so effectively it became real? Or do I feel terrible about disliking the song where I think he really laid himself out so bare? Or maybe in doing that, he made me feel uncomfortable? This is the first time I've ever been really moved by a song I didn't care much for. How is that possible? How the hell did Adam do that? I feel challenged and it's left a strong impression on me that I'm still pondering over, which I suppose is what being a great artist is all about. Maybe it just needs more time.
After Danny and Kris's performance, I started to get more worried because it meant that Adam had to really do something amazing. It all seemed to rest on this one. For the second performance, Adam came back with eyeliner dressed all in black in casual-looking and understated rocker gear. He wore a leather jacket with a cut like the one he wore for Mad World with very long sleeves and clunky boots. I found Ryan's thinly veiled comments regarding Adam's song choices of Queen and Cher a rather silly attempt to poke fun but I'm glad Adam just dismissed him and laughed it off. We were to expect a fairly straight-up version.
I loved Adam's vocals at the start of Cryin', which were in his lower register, very resonantly rich and velvety - absolutely stunning. He started off in the centre of the stage and did some pacing about. Then the backing singer came in which really distracted from my enjoyment of the performance. It was terribly discordant and the timing was way off and annoyed me immensely. I'd also found this the case but to a much lesser extent on BTBW. Adam doesn't need them. He did a great job using his rocker wail to sing through it, not allowing it to faze him. There were definitely some technical issues because Adam ended up pulling out one of his earpieces midway through the performance. The band sounded very loud and seemed to drown out Adam's voice at points. Adam's stage presence didn't seem as commanding as usual and it seemed like a very controlled performance in terms of his movements, but the vocals were out of this world. They were pitch perfect and powerful throughout and he made brilliant use of his breath to convey the feeling of desperation. I found him to be very expressive and loved the incredible Dying to forget you as well as the final Crying, which was low, long and and perfectly unembellished. He was awesome and took my breath away. After he finished, he looked quite happy and the first thing he did was signal to the band, then shook his head to zone back in and removed his remaining earpiece. I found it a little bit strange that Simon practically begged everyone to vote for him and I hope he negated any possible backlash by complimenting the other contestants.
I still have mixed feelings about the nights performances which I thought seemed slightly jaded. It wasn't a great night for anyone and I'm left a bit worried that Adam's lost a little momentum this week. Perhaps it's just been a very hectic and tiring week. I was hoping for Adam to blow the roof off but felt that what he gave was relatively tame by his standards. I half expected Adam to give two performances that were complete polar opposites but I guess it's hard when you don't know until late on what you're allowed to sing. I still think his performances were the best of the night, beating everyone else's. He actually didn't put a foot wrong in either performance and sang his ass off - but as he himself is aware, at this point, it's not about skills or talent but a matter of taste. I'm annoyed at myself for having built up such high expectations that are unfair on Adam. I hope they'll announce him safe early on in the show because I desperately want to see him completely blow us away next week and win.
The confessional this week didn't reveal much we didn't know and it I think he looked as if he was just going through the motions. Perhaps the hectic schedule took quite a lot out of him. Before the show, I managed to see a spoiler that told me he was going to be singing One and Cryin' and that he had the pimp spot. I didn't think Cryin' was a great song choice to show another side of him and was mourning the loss of Wicked Game which I think would have been a showstopper.
The first time Adam walked out on to the stage, his wardrobe choice surprised me by being quite understated. He was fresh-faced and natural looking, with the make-up and hair styling being kept to a minimum. He was wearing a light faded denim shirt, blue jeans and snakeskin boots. I couldn't tell what he was going to do from this but I started feeling a little nervous. I didn't like the shirt because it was too tight around the chest with the pockets too high up, like it was meant for someone much shorter.
Danny's performance was pretty bad and Kris's was OK but his voice just wasn't up to it. Next was Adam, and I felt this was a great opportunity to completely blow the others away. The song started with a piano intro and I thought we were in for an Upright-type performance, or at least one that was understated by Adam standards. I liked the thought of a stripped arrangement where his voice could really shine. He was bathed in royal blue light from behind, slowly fading to white. The first notes were low, very pure, soft and breathtaking. He looked quite elfin because of the earpieces. The camera close-ups made him look mesmerisingly and achingly beautiful. I felt makeup-less Adam looked like he was baring his soul and looked so exposed. Those first looks into the camera emoting his vulnerability before gently closing his eyes, tugged heavily at my heart shaking me to my core. His expressions were tender and heartfelt but tinged with sadness and dejection. I thought he showed a hint of tiredness. Unusually, I felt there was a note or two that could've done with some fine tuning, but perhaps it was an intended effect to load additional emotion.After a slightly shaky start the vocals were flawless. When it came to the the bridge, I felt it came much too soon with little build-up that was too sudden. The camera didn't engage his movements well when he walked off the stage to stand in front of the judges, and it seemed a bit too aggressive. I think it needed a close-up to show his facial expressions. I thought the vocal acrobatics were hectic and he could've done with slowing it down, mellowing it a little and holding the notes for longer because the melody was lost to emphasis on the lyrics. When he got to the glory note Hurt though, it was truly magnificent and made me gasp and my hairs stand on end. It managed to stab me in the heart. The emotion of the song really did get to me. It was one of his most impassioned performances where I felt like it was personal, he was naked and I was looking straight into his soul. He seemed to really feel and resonate with the meaning of the song, which, in addition to the pink lights seemed to make as strong a statement as possible without explicitly stating the obvious. This is me, we are one but not the same. I think perhaps that's why his mum was teary-eyed afterwards.
Adam added the light and shade that I thought was missing from the original, with the bonus massive firework on top, but I think it was too much to handle in such a short space of time. It didn't quite seem to work as I felt the song was unbalanced. It could have done with another verse at the start to build up to the massive crescendo. I thought this took up too much of the song and we overdosed on it. Perhaps he could have shortened it by bringing everything back down immediately after the glory note, or put a lull in the middle of it. Another option is that he could have played it down all the way through the song which would probably have done more for the popular vote. Personally though, I'm glad he did take a risk as this song works much better with a shot of light and shade and I'm looking forward to the longer studio version. I feel really frustrated because the performance was so close to bringing everyone to their knees with just a few simple changes. If only there'd been enough time to do it justice. Why oh why did they have to squeeze it into such a short time just so the stupid judges can wank themselves off?
I wonder what happened and why he ended up with such an arrangement. There seemed to be a suggestion that Simon was somehow involved with the mentoring, so I wondered whether Adam could have been revealing his displeasure about it when he told Paula to punch Simon. I'm probably reading way too much into it. Common sense tells me Adam's such a perfectionist and that if he was unhappy with Simon, he'd just do things his own way. How much time did Adam actually spend preparing for the song since it was only cleared on the Saturday? And is it unfair that he'd been preparing three songs in that time, when everyone else was preparing two? I'm guessing he did Cryin' because it was an easy option that he was already familiar with. I think I'm looking for excuses now because I'm in denial that Adam is human and susceptible to faltering.
I didn't feel great after the song and I've been trying to figure out why ever since. It pains me to say that I don't think it worked as well as it should have. I felt both underwhelmed because I didn't like what he did with the song and overwhelmed at the same time, because it really hit me emotionally. Did he manage to inject the sorrow of the song into me so effectively it became real? Or do I feel terrible about disliking the song where I think he really laid himself out so bare? Or maybe in doing that, he made me feel uncomfortable? This is the first time I've ever been really moved by a song I didn't care much for. How is that possible? How the hell did Adam do that? I feel challenged and it's left a strong impression on me that I'm still pondering over, which I suppose is what being a great artist is all about. Maybe it just needs more time.
After Danny and Kris's performance, I started to get more worried because it meant that Adam had to really do something amazing. It all seemed to rest on this one. For the second performance, Adam came back with eyeliner dressed all in black in casual-looking and understated rocker gear. He wore a leather jacket with a cut like the one he wore for Mad World with very long sleeves and clunky boots. I found Ryan's thinly veiled comments regarding Adam's song choices of Queen and Cher a rather silly attempt to poke fun but I'm glad Adam just dismissed him and laughed it off. We were to expect a fairly straight-up version.
I loved Adam's vocals at the start of Cryin', which were in his lower register, very resonantly rich and velvety - absolutely stunning. He started off in the centre of the stage and did some pacing about. Then the backing singer came in which really distracted from my enjoyment of the performance. It was terribly discordant and the timing was way off and annoyed me immensely. I'd also found this the case but to a much lesser extent on BTBW. Adam doesn't need them. He did a great job using his rocker wail to sing through it, not allowing it to faze him. There were definitely some technical issues because Adam ended up pulling out one of his earpieces midway through the performance. The band sounded very loud and seemed to drown out Adam's voice at points. Adam's stage presence didn't seem as commanding as usual and it seemed like a very controlled performance in terms of his movements, but the vocals were out of this world. They were pitch perfect and powerful throughout and he made brilliant use of his breath to convey the feeling of desperation. I found him to be very expressive and loved the incredible Dying to forget you as well as the final Crying, which was low, long and and perfectly unembellished. He was awesome and took my breath away. After he finished, he looked quite happy and the first thing he did was signal to the band, then shook his head to zone back in and removed his remaining earpiece. I found it a little bit strange that Simon practically begged everyone to vote for him and I hope he negated any possible backlash by complimenting the other contestants.
I still have mixed feelings about the nights performances which I thought seemed slightly jaded. It wasn't a great night for anyone and I'm left a bit worried that Adam's lost a little momentum this week. Perhaps it's just been a very hectic and tiring week. I was hoping for Adam to blow the roof off but felt that what he gave was relatively tame by his standards. I half expected Adam to give two performances that were complete polar opposites but I guess it's hard when you don't know until late on what you're allowed to sing. I still think his performances were the best of the night, beating everyone else's. He actually didn't put a foot wrong in either performance and sang his ass off - but as he himself is aware, at this point, it's not about skills or talent but a matter of taste. I'm annoyed at myself for having built up such high expectations that are unfair on Adam. I hope they'll announce him safe early on in the show because I desperately want to see him completely blow us away next week and win.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Top 4 - A Whole Lotta Love / Slow Ride
Oh my fucking god! And I was nervous?!
I think Adam is going to kill this blog sometime soon, because my thesaurus has just shrugged its shoulders at me telling me there aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to continue describing what he does. So please forgive me if I swap them for expletives instead.
Last night was all a bit unusual in that I had absolutely no idea what the songs were going to be. I was glad to have not stumbled across any spoilers along the way and I realised later that it was because of some accidents that happened on stage so there were no dress rehearsals. There were encouraging signs during the week from Slash's Tweets, to the way Adam completely outsmarted the paparazzo with his quick wit, to the confessional where I was reassured by how happy he was with his RoF performance. I'd had the feeling from some of his recent videos that he would be steering clear of that territory after getting singed but I got all excited again.
At the start of the show, my eyes were searching for Adam to see what he was wearing and whether it would give me any clues as to what he would sing. I had a feeling that he might be in the death spot because he'd managed to avoid it so far. The first thing I noticed was his hair, which looked very sharp. I think he added some extra extensions to lengthen it a bit. He seemed to be fairly at ease, then I saw he was wearing his RoF T-shirt that was slashed low down into the chest, beneath an edgy studded leather jacket. The look reminded me a lot of his RoF look but harder and with thicker eyeliner. The look was quite aggressive, but my gosh, he looked the part! He wore black frayed jeans that were tight fitting but flared out. I was overjoyed to see the return of this look and couldn't wait to see what he would do with it.
When Adam announced the song he was going to do, I felt a lurch of ecstasy and a shriek of 'YES!' escaped from me, then some nerves crept in because it's such a big song. I'd never been so fired up with anticipation that I had to protect my keyboard from a saliva drenching. I was so happy because he said that this was the song he'd love to do on AI. Led Zeppelin's known for fiercely guarding their songs against train wrecks so I didn't think it would get the go-ahead but was really glad it got cleared. I'm sure they must be on board the Glambert Express too! They must really rate Adam to allow him to use the song.
I love hearing the quality of Adam's voice during the mentor sessions. This one was done with a band in a club. I only heard one long note from Adam but Slash was pretty impressed. He wasn't so visibly gushing like everyone else who'd been bowled over by his greatness (perhaps it's the dark glasses) but he did compliment Adam's natural singing ability. It was unusual to see a mentor not completely dumbfounded after hearing Adam and in this case, Slash actually had some critique to give, which was to play a little less with his upper register. Adam seemed to be excited about singing his favourite theme and determined to kill it.
I hadn't given too much thought as to how far Adam would take the rock theme after last week, but after seeing him, I felt confident that he was going to come back with an almighty explosion. The song started off with that familiar guitar riff before Adam came in quite high, getting close to what some would call his screech. His voice sounded powerfully gritty and I absolutely loved the way he held some of those early notes before working in the vibrato. I thought he used the sound of his breathing to great effect, adding to the passion and sexuality of the song. I was thrilled to see the return of his smouldering and dramatic eyes which glared intensely and penetrated deeply. He snarled with attitude and gave us some of his head-snaps to the side, and stood fairly still with just the odd stomp in the centre of the stage - a contrasting red background with cool smoky lights. First impressions were that this was comparatively low key so far. No jumping around like BTBW, and he was holding the mic stand in a leaning position - something he'd had yet to do. That first 'Oh!' was fuck-I'm-on-fire thrilling and his expression was so sexual, I wonder if that's the face he makes when... I'll stop there before I get carried away. Shouldn't this be on after the watershed? Perhaps that's why the camera panned out so quickly. He prowled his way around the stage with the mic stand in a very controlled and not too flash a manner before his first high note. He then gave up the spotlight for the guitar solo where he rocked out with the guitarist. My respect for him shot up even more for showing us where credit should be due. I think he's the only contestant who would have done that. There was a pause where I prayed that it wasn't the end because there hadn't been a climax to the song yet. Some people in the audience were cheering like it was the end, but he came back a capella. The way he sang it was aggressive and domineering and his expression downright disdainful. Freaking hell that was amazing! When he sneeringly sang 'woman' he quivered his jaw in a very pronounced way which I hadn't seen him do yet on the show. You're fucking taking it whether you want it or not, and I'm gonna make you beg for more, woman! The last note was trademark Adam. It wasn't as high or as long as his usual end notes, but it felt spot on. Oh how he nailed those vocals with such control, and the character for the perfect performance! That performance kept me in a rush of frenzy throughout and I wanted to jump around and dance if not for the fact that I could't tear my eyes away. There was so much energy in it despite the fact that there was little in the way of theatrics. The camera shot to hysterical fans then came back to Adam who transformed back into his usual cute and charming self. He obviously really enjoyed himself and I was glad to see him beaming again.
I was a little surprised that Adam chose to do such a straight-up performance of such a classic song because the chances of sounding karaoke are incredibly high. One thing I believe more and more now is that the contestants have been tinkering with the song arrangements not only to show artistry, but to avoid sounding like an inferior wishy-washy version of the original. I think it's actually harder to do well by sticking with the original arrangement. If you're going to do a straight up version, and especially if it's a classic, you have to be able to blow it to smithereens. Adam knew he could do it, and he did it with flair. I'm so glad he fully succumbed his crazy side because I was afraid he would keep it under wraps in order to win. It took a hell of a lot of balls to tackle a song about fucking in that fashion, and he was more than convincing. That electric performance was astonishing. The performance also had such powerful sexual undercurrents even though Adam didn't actually move that much, nor did he do anything overtly sexual like he did with RoF. No touching himself, no flesh-flashing, no eye-fucking the camera, no lip-licking. It was a different kind of sexual energy. In RoF, it was more kooky, sordid and dangerous, whereas here it was more about aggression, passion and power. I think it must have come purely from his presence, his charisma, his demeanour, along with the might and inflections of his voice, which he used to fiercely stamp the message of the song home. He had me well and good. I'd never had such a dark desire to be dominated, slapped and bound up as his gimp so that he could give me every inch of his love, but he brought it all out. Unfuckingbelievable.
When it came to comments, his mum looked so proud it melted my heart and his dad obviously loved it. I was amused by the fact that Kara finally embraced her inner skank after trying so hard to suppress it for such a long time, and jumped headlong into my world. It was however still embarrassing to see her mimic Meg Ryan during her Adamgasm. I found Adam's expression before Simon's comments particularly funny because it was like he was bracing himself for a mauling. But it didn't come and Simon came as close to gushing as possible and Adam responded with his heart-swelling appreciative 'Aw!'. Just before the break, Adam got his rocker's devil horns and his tongue out. Great to see him let go and really enjoy himself.
Some other Adam related thoughts during the show:
Slash's comment about being tempted to become a mentor on the show by a couple of stand-out contestants. I assumed he was referring to Adam and Allison.
Allison mentioned that Adam introduced her to his hairdresser, which is sweet and kind of him, and she looked great.
Barely containable excitement on realising Adam and Allison were going to do a duet, contrary to rumours. I think they were the perfect pairing
Danny mimicking Adam. I'm not a Danny basher because I think he's got a good voice. But I think that might be changing. There's no doubt whose videos he's been studying. I'd noticed this in previous episodes where he was trying to copy Adam's final note runs but came off vastly inferior.
1) There was an exact pose/camera shot that came straight from RoF when the camera swirled round to the back of him. Whereas Adam did a bit of sinister eye-fucking, Danny just looked a bit vacant but paedophile-creepy. It didn't work.
2) Danny trying Adam's BTBW lunges and headbangs whilst dressed in a 'rocking' shirt and waistcoat. Again, it failed miserably and was cringe inducing.
3) Trying to banish it from my mind it's so horrible. First I thought there was a problem with the feed then a cat being drawn and quartered. That was godawful but I think he did Adam a favour by being so earsplittingly horrendous. It takes Adam to scream like that. Never try to out-Adam Adam. Adam's voice is a Stradivarius that makes Danny's sound like the bargain catalogue equivalent.
I wasn't familiar with Slow Ride so wasn't sure what to expect. Allison started, then Adam strutted out with curled lip in shockingly risqué stripy skintight-bordering-on-indecent trousers, fingerless leather gloves, a black jacket with upturned collars and a higher cut black T-shirt with lots of gold chains. It was very audacious Glambert - about time too, and I loved it. Seriously, is there anyone else who could get away with wearing those clothes with such panache, managing to make it look sexy rather than a parody? They both looked fantastic. Just after he came on stage, there was a lovely moment when Adam acknowledged Allison and got out of character for an instant to give her a warm smile before getting back into it. It felt as if Adam wasn't singing to compete, but because he loved it and wanted to have fun. It was a quite slow rock song which they strutted to but no high-adrenaline jumping around. Although Adam's hand did gravitate towards his crotch at one point, I felt that he toned down his movements and his belts a little so that he didn't show up Allison. As I'd suspected, Allison wasn't overshadowed but glowed in Adam's halo and they were well matched, complementing each other. Unlike the previous duet, there was plenty of chemistry and interaction between them which seemed very natural and the harmonies were great. It was very sweet when they enthusiastically hugged each other at the end of the performance and giggled. 'Good one baby!... I love her!' They obviously get on very well and were so giddy afterwards with Adam hoping for Allison to stay in the competition as his little sister.
What a great night (apart from the middle bit). Adam is going to be a rock legend if that's what he wants. I'm hoping America votes for the right people because I need more of this.
I think Adam is going to kill this blog sometime soon, because my thesaurus has just shrugged its shoulders at me telling me there aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to continue describing what he does. So please forgive me if I swap them for expletives instead.
Last night was all a bit unusual in that I had absolutely no idea what the songs were going to be. I was glad to have not stumbled across any spoilers along the way and I realised later that it was because of some accidents that happened on stage so there were no dress rehearsals. There were encouraging signs during the week from Slash's Tweets, to the way Adam completely outsmarted the paparazzo with his quick wit, to the confessional where I was reassured by how happy he was with his RoF performance. I'd had the feeling from some of his recent videos that he would be steering clear of that territory after getting singed but I got all excited again.
At the start of the show, my eyes were searching for Adam to see what he was wearing and whether it would give me any clues as to what he would sing. I had a feeling that he might be in the death spot because he'd managed to avoid it so far. The first thing I noticed was his hair, which looked very sharp. I think he added some extra extensions to lengthen it a bit. He seemed to be fairly at ease, then I saw he was wearing his RoF T-shirt that was slashed low down into the chest, beneath an edgy studded leather jacket. The look reminded me a lot of his RoF look but harder and with thicker eyeliner. The look was quite aggressive, but my gosh, he looked the part! He wore black frayed jeans that were tight fitting but flared out. I was overjoyed to see the return of this look and couldn't wait to see what he would do with it.When Adam announced the song he was going to do, I felt a lurch of ecstasy and a shriek of 'YES!' escaped from me, then some nerves crept in because it's such a big song. I'd never been so fired up with anticipation that I had to protect my keyboard from a saliva drenching. I was so happy because he said that this was the song he'd love to do on AI. Led Zeppelin's known for fiercely guarding their songs against train wrecks so I didn't think it would get the go-ahead but was really glad it got cleared. I'm sure they must be on board the Glambert Express too! They must really rate Adam to allow him to use the song.
I love hearing the quality of Adam's voice during the mentor sessions. This one was done with a band in a club. I only heard one long note from Adam but Slash was pretty impressed. He wasn't so visibly gushing like everyone else who'd been bowled over by his greatness (perhaps it's the dark glasses) but he did compliment Adam's natural singing ability. It was unusual to see a mentor not completely dumbfounded after hearing Adam and in this case, Slash actually had some critique to give, which was to play a little less with his upper register. Adam seemed to be excited about singing his favourite theme and determined to kill it.
I hadn't given too much thought as to how far Adam would take the rock theme after last week, but after seeing him, I felt confident that he was going to come back with an almighty explosion. The song started off with that familiar guitar riff before Adam came in quite high, getting close to what some would call his screech. His voice sounded powerfully gritty and I absolutely loved the way he held some of those early notes before working in the vibrato. I thought he used the sound of his breathing to great effect, adding to the passion and sexuality of the song. I was thrilled to see the return of his smouldering and dramatic eyes which glared intensely and penetrated deeply. He snarled with attitude and gave us some of his head-snaps to the side, and stood fairly still with just the odd stomp in the centre of the stage - a contrasting red background with cool smoky lights. First impressions were that this was comparatively low key so far. No jumping around like BTBW, and he was holding the mic stand in a leaning position - something he'd had yet to do. That first 'Oh!' was fuck-I'm-on-fire thrilling and his expression was so sexual, I wonder if that's the face he makes when... I'll stop there before I get carried away. Shouldn't this be on after the watershed? Perhaps that's why the camera panned out so quickly. He prowled his way around the stage with the mic stand in a very controlled and not too flash a manner before his first high note. He then gave up the spotlight for the guitar solo where he rocked out with the guitarist. My respect for him shot up even more for showing us where credit should be due. I think he's the only contestant who would have done that. There was a pause where I prayed that it wasn't the end because there hadn't been a climax to the song yet. Some people in the audience were cheering like it was the end, but he came back a capella. The way he sang it was aggressive and domineering and his expression downright disdainful. Freaking hell that was amazing! When he sneeringly sang 'woman' he quivered his jaw in a very pronounced way which I hadn't seen him do yet on the show. You're fucking taking it whether you want it or not, and I'm gonna make you beg for more, woman! The last note was trademark Adam. It wasn't as high or as long as his usual end notes, but it felt spot on. Oh how he nailed those vocals with such control, and the character for the perfect performance! That performance kept me in a rush of frenzy throughout and I wanted to jump around and dance if not for the fact that I could't tear my eyes away. There was so much energy in it despite the fact that there was little in the way of theatrics. The camera shot to hysterical fans then came back to Adam who transformed back into his usual cute and charming self. He obviously really enjoyed himself and I was glad to see him beaming again.
I was a little surprised that Adam chose to do such a straight-up performance of such a classic song because the chances of sounding karaoke are incredibly high. One thing I believe more and more now is that the contestants have been tinkering with the song arrangements not only to show artistry, but to avoid sounding like an inferior wishy-washy version of the original. I think it's actually harder to do well by sticking with the original arrangement. If you're going to do a straight up version, and especially if it's a classic, you have to be able to blow it to smithereens. Adam knew he could do it, and he did it with flair. I'm so glad he fully succumbed his crazy side because I was afraid he would keep it under wraps in order to win. It took a hell of a lot of balls to tackle a song about fucking in that fashion, and he was more than convincing. That electric performance was astonishing. The performance also had such powerful sexual undercurrents even though Adam didn't actually move that much, nor did he do anything overtly sexual like he did with RoF. No touching himself, no flesh-flashing, no eye-fucking the camera, no lip-licking. It was a different kind of sexual energy. In RoF, it was more kooky, sordid and dangerous, whereas here it was more about aggression, passion and power. I think it must have come purely from his presence, his charisma, his demeanour, along with the might and inflections of his voice, which he used to fiercely stamp the message of the song home. He had me well and good. I'd never had such a dark desire to be dominated, slapped and bound up as his gimp so that he could give me every inch of his love, but he brought it all out. Unfuckingbelievable.
When it came to comments, his mum looked so proud it melted my heart and his dad obviously loved it. I was amused by the fact that Kara finally embraced her inner skank after trying so hard to suppress it for such a long time, and jumped headlong into my world. It was however still embarrassing to see her mimic Meg Ryan during her Adamgasm. I found Adam's expression before Simon's comments particularly funny because it was like he was bracing himself for a mauling. But it didn't come and Simon came as close to gushing as possible and Adam responded with his heart-swelling appreciative 'Aw!'. Just before the break, Adam got his rocker's devil horns and his tongue out. Great to see him let go and really enjoy himself.
Some other Adam related thoughts during the show:
Slash's comment about being tempted to become a mentor on the show by a couple of stand-out contestants. I assumed he was referring to Adam and Allison.Allison mentioned that Adam introduced her to his hairdresser, which is sweet and kind of him, and she looked great.
Barely containable excitement on realising Adam and Allison were going to do a duet, contrary to rumours. I think they were the perfect pairing
Danny mimicking Adam. I'm not a Danny basher because I think he's got a good voice. But I think that might be changing. There's no doubt whose videos he's been studying. I'd noticed this in previous episodes where he was trying to copy Adam's final note runs but came off vastly inferior.
1) There was an exact pose/camera shot that came straight from RoF when the camera swirled round to the back of him. Whereas Adam did a bit of sinister eye-fucking, Danny just looked a bit vacant but paedophile-creepy. It didn't work.
2) Danny trying Adam's BTBW lunges and headbangs whilst dressed in a 'rocking' shirt and waistcoat. Again, it failed miserably and was cringe inducing.
3) Trying to banish it from my mind it's so horrible. First I thought there was a problem with the feed then a cat being drawn and quartered. That was godawful but I think he did Adam a favour by being so earsplittingly horrendous. It takes Adam to scream like that. Never try to out-Adam Adam. Adam's voice is a Stradivarius that makes Danny's sound like the bargain catalogue equivalent.
I wasn't familiar with Slow Ride so wasn't sure what to expect. Allison started, then Adam strutted out with curled lip in shockingly risqué stripy skintight-bordering-on-indecent trousers, fingerless leather gloves, a black jacket with upturned collars and a higher cut black T-shirt with lots of gold chains. It was very audacious Glambert - about time too, and I loved it. Seriously, is there anyone else who could get away with wearing those clothes with such panache, managing to make it look sexy rather than a parody? They both looked fantastic. Just after he came on stage, there was a lovely moment when Adam acknowledged Allison and got out of character for an instant to give her a warm smile before getting back into it. It felt as if Adam wasn't singing to compete, but because he loved it and wanted to have fun. It was a quite slow rock song which they strutted to but no high-adrenaline jumping around. Although Adam's hand did gravitate towards his crotch at one point, I felt that he toned down his movements and his belts a little so that he didn't show up Allison. As I'd suspected, Allison wasn't overshadowed but glowed in Adam's halo and they were well matched, complementing each other. Unlike the previous duet, there was plenty of chemistry and interaction between them which seemed very natural and the harmonies were great. It was very sweet when they enthusiastically hugged each other at the end of the performance and giggled. 'Good one baby!... I love her!' They obviously get on very well and were so giddy afterwards with Adam hoping for Allison to stay in the competition as his little sister.
What a great night (apart from the middle bit). Adam is going to be a rock legend if that's what he wants. I'm hoping America votes for the right people because I need more of this.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Top 5 - Feeling Good
Fucking hell!
Sorry, but just had to get that out of the way first. I watched the live streaming and various parts of Adam's performance froze and got missed but it still hit me like a bullet train at maximum speed. I'm feeling pretty tired after having stayed up so late just so that I could watch it again from the first video postings of the performance, and I must say that I've been watching it on repeat.
I'd been looking for his confessional throughout the evening and unfortunately ended up seeing loads of spoilers revealing that he was going to be singing Muse's version of 'Feeling Good'. I was slightly disappointed that Adam himself had given us a sneak preview of it already in his phonecall to Upright.
I did wonder whether Adam was going to rock it out but managed to refrain from exploring every single possibility in my head beforehand. When he emerged onto the stage, I saw that he was wearing a 1000-watt shiny, sharp white suit, bright enough to rival his smile, a black shirt, white tie with tie clip and white shoes - the negative version of Ryan's ensemble. He just has the innate ability wear big fashion statements with flair. I didn't like the cut of the jacket. I found it quite ill-fitting, with the front of it being too long making his chest and stomach look like it was bulging outwards, and the single button was too low and didn't bring it together well. I think it looked a bit uncomfortable, but compared to Kris, who I thought wore his suit like he'd just been sacked from his accountancy job, Danny, who looked like someone's best man at a wedding trying to steal the limelight, Matt, who looked like a drab science teacher, and Allison, who looked awkwardly precocious, Adam looked the business. I was glad to see his hair was back to its natural emo style. The suit hinted to me that he was probably going to play it fairly straight, but the emo hair placed a smidgen of doubt in that it might just be the most suavely dressed rocker ever. As always, he excelled in his accessorising, with diamond studs and plenty of rings to make it signature Adam.
In the intro clip when Adam was rehearsing in front of Jamie Foxx, Jamie seemed to be very intently watching Adam in awe. We know where you're coming from, Jamie! We were to expect a rock edge to the version of the song. Adam's voice as usual sounded top-notch. Slightly husky, passionate and seasoned with both punch and attitude. He seemed very much in character, giving a smiling sneer at the end. Jamie joked that Adam was completely unfazed by him, to which Adam cracked up into a fit of laughter because in reality, he felt the opposite, which was sweet. Jamie was visibly impressed and had no advice for Adam, which is not surprising, seeing as the student is already way ahead of the master.
The performance started with some synthesised chords and gave a wide-angle view of Adam atop the central staircase that was lit neon-pink with the spotlight from behind. Oh my word, how's this for dramatic? The camera swept forward and met him high up on the staircase, angling up so that he looked statuesque. He started the song off quite low, the first high note startling but not picked up very loudly on the mic. The lyrics were carefully enunciated for dramatic effect but I think with slight detriment to timing and tone, until the tingling, resonant for. The way he ended the intro with a powerful pause before good and a sultry stare was gripping and I knew we were in for a feast. His character was oozing charisma and he descended the rest of the stairs with a confident and teasing swagger. The second verse was sung in full swing like a rocking Shirley Bassey, but some of the lower notes sounded a tad shaky. The high notes of his wailing bridge were delivered pitch perfectly. His feeLING! glory note was WOW, fucking hell, heartstopping, astonishing, goosebumps-galore, OTT and simply incredible, but went on for a tiny bit too long though only because my heart couldn't take it! The effect was enhanced by the circling camera and the white shafts of light made him look very much otherworldly and ethereal, god-like, even. His pose at that moment was an iconic image that will stick. The descending run after that note was beautiful and vulnerable and in brilliant contrast to the high note. Awesome. The final note was given with a glare and a haunting echo which sealed and reverberated the performance into our consciousness. I did NOT expect that!
He smiled after the performance but didn't look relaxed and again looked apprehensive. It looked like he was scanning the crowd, unsure of their reaction. It was definitely risky and I'm guessing he was bracing himself for criticism from the judges. Randy's comments were pretty useless perhaps because it wasn't to his taste, Kara was confused but positively so and I really didn't understand the sleazy comment. It might have been appropriate for Ring of Fire, but there was nothing sleazy about that. Paula gushed as usual, receiving a cute 'Aw', and Simon knocked back Randy's theatrical critcism, U-turning from his previous comments and making Adam slap his thigh in agreement. It was a good move on Simon's part to mention that Adam was there to win and the camera showed a steely determination in his expression. I think it will help to quash those in the camp who think it's better for Adam to lose. Simon tried to restrain himself from gushing and gave many (thinly) veiled compliments about 'the competition this year', clearly meaning Adam and I hope he understands this. His compliments managed to get as open as stating that Adam had the entrance of the season. I was glad to see Adam to relax a lot more after the comments, reassuring us that he really enjoyed it but I wasn't wholly convinced by his smile. I think he's feeling the pressure.
Adam's vocal control wasn't at its best, but it's an intimidatingly difficult song to sing and the performance was fun, dramatic, flamboyant and unlike any of the versions of 'Feeling Good' I've heard. It was still too short for my liking but such an extraordinary spectacle with powerful impact, and I could easily hear it being a monumental soundtrack with all its pizazz. I think he played it right this week, managing to finely balance popular appeal with artistic creativity. He threw a juicy bone to all the Ring Of Fire fans who'd been thinking he'd been playing it safe, and successfully managed not to alienate all the ballad-lovers by shimmying and strutting along, even stretching but not crossing the 'What the fuck?' line. It was a master stroke to play at precisely the right time in the game, and I can only commend his strategy for teasing us with another peek of his extensive arsenal, just when there were concerns about him having peaked too early. He's left me feeling that there's still so much more to see and I'm excited. I'm gobsmacked at how gifted and versatile Adam Lambert is, and how he can continue to leave me in awe, time and time again.
Welcome back Glambert! I've missed you!
Sorry, but just had to get that out of the way first. I watched the live streaming and various parts of Adam's performance froze and got missed but it still hit me like a bullet train at maximum speed. I'm feeling pretty tired after having stayed up so late just so that I could watch it again from the first video postings of the performance, and I must say that I've been watching it on repeat.
I'd been looking for his confessional throughout the evening and unfortunately ended up seeing loads of spoilers revealing that he was going to be singing Muse's version of 'Feeling Good'. I was slightly disappointed that Adam himself had given us a sneak preview of it already in his phonecall to Upright.I did wonder whether Adam was going to rock it out but managed to refrain from exploring every single possibility in my head beforehand. When he emerged onto the stage, I saw that he was wearing a 1000-watt shiny, sharp white suit, bright enough to rival his smile, a black shirt, white tie with tie clip and white shoes - the negative version of Ryan's ensemble. He just has the innate ability wear big fashion statements with flair. I didn't like the cut of the jacket. I found it quite ill-fitting, with the front of it being too long making his chest and stomach look like it was bulging outwards, and the single button was too low and didn't bring it together well. I think it looked a bit uncomfortable, but compared to Kris, who I thought wore his suit like he'd just been sacked from his accountancy job, Danny, who looked like someone's best man at a wedding trying to steal the limelight, Matt, who looked like a drab science teacher, and Allison, who looked awkwardly precocious, Adam looked the business. I was glad to see his hair was back to its natural emo style. The suit hinted to me that he was probably going to play it fairly straight, but the emo hair placed a smidgen of doubt in that it might just be the most suavely dressed rocker ever. As always, he excelled in his accessorising, with diamond studs and plenty of rings to make it signature Adam.
In the intro clip when Adam was rehearsing in front of Jamie Foxx, Jamie seemed to be very intently watching Adam in awe. We know where you're coming from, Jamie! We were to expect a rock edge to the version of the song. Adam's voice as usual sounded top-notch. Slightly husky, passionate and seasoned with both punch and attitude. He seemed very much in character, giving a smiling sneer at the end. Jamie joked that Adam was completely unfazed by him, to which Adam cracked up into a fit of laughter because in reality, he felt the opposite, which was sweet. Jamie was visibly impressed and had no advice for Adam, which is not surprising, seeing as the student is already way ahead of the master.
The performance started with some synthesised chords and gave a wide-angle view of Adam atop the central staircase that was lit neon-pink with the spotlight from behind. Oh my word, how's this for dramatic? The camera swept forward and met him high up on the staircase, angling up so that he looked statuesque. He started the song off quite low, the first high note startling but not picked up very loudly on the mic. The lyrics were carefully enunciated for dramatic effect but I think with slight detriment to timing and tone, until the tingling, resonant for. The way he ended the intro with a powerful pause before good and a sultry stare was gripping and I knew we were in for a feast. His character was oozing charisma and he descended the rest of the stairs with a confident and teasing swagger. The second verse was sung in full swing like a rocking Shirley Bassey, but some of the lower notes sounded a tad shaky. The high notes of his wailing bridge were delivered pitch perfectly. His feeLING! glory note was WOW, fucking hell, heartstopping, astonishing, goosebumps-galore, OTT and simply incredible, but went on for a tiny bit too long though only because my heart couldn't take it! The effect was enhanced by the circling camera and the white shafts of light made him look very much otherworldly and ethereal, god-like, even. His pose at that moment was an iconic image that will stick. The descending run after that note was beautiful and vulnerable and in brilliant contrast to the high note. Awesome. The final note was given with a glare and a haunting echo which sealed and reverberated the performance into our consciousness. I did NOT expect that!
He smiled after the performance but didn't look relaxed and again looked apprehensive. It looked like he was scanning the crowd, unsure of their reaction. It was definitely risky and I'm guessing he was bracing himself for criticism from the judges. Randy's comments were pretty useless perhaps because it wasn't to his taste, Kara was confused but positively so and I really didn't understand the sleazy comment. It might have been appropriate for Ring of Fire, but there was nothing sleazy about that. Paula gushed as usual, receiving a cute 'Aw', and Simon knocked back Randy's theatrical critcism, U-turning from his previous comments and making Adam slap his thigh in agreement. It was a good move on Simon's part to mention that Adam was there to win and the camera showed a steely determination in his expression. I think it will help to quash those in the camp who think it's better for Adam to lose. Simon tried to restrain himself from gushing and gave many (thinly) veiled compliments about 'the competition this year', clearly meaning Adam and I hope he understands this. His compliments managed to get as open as stating that Adam had the entrance of the season. I was glad to see Adam to relax a lot more after the comments, reassuring us that he really enjoyed it but I wasn't wholly convinced by his smile. I think he's feeling the pressure.
Adam's vocal control wasn't at its best, but it's an intimidatingly difficult song to sing and the performance was fun, dramatic, flamboyant and unlike any of the versions of 'Feeling Good' I've heard. It was still too short for my liking but such an extraordinary spectacle with powerful impact, and I could easily hear it being a monumental soundtrack with all its pizazz. I think he played it right this week, managing to finely balance popular appeal with artistic creativity. He threw a juicy bone to all the Ring Of Fire fans who'd been thinking he'd been playing it safe, and successfully managed not to alienate all the ballad-lovers by shimmying and strutting along, even stretching but not crossing the 'What the fuck?' line. It was a master stroke to play at precisely the right time in the game, and I can only commend his strategy for teasing us with another peek of his extensive arsenal, just when there were concerns about him having peaked too early. He's left me feeling that there's still so much more to see and I'm excited. I'm gobsmacked at how gifted and versatile Adam Lambert is, and how he can continue to leave me in awe, time and time again.
Welcome back Glambert! I've missed you!
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Top 7 (Part II) - If I Can't Have You
We know by now that part of the excitement of Adam is in seeing what he does with his appearance. So far I hadn't been that big a fan of the clean-cut look but my gosh, he looked so fine this week. The suit ensemble was simple but had enough detailing to avoid being generic. I loved the slightly upward-turning shoulder detail and the tailoring of the suit was impeccable. The colour was understated but the material showy. His hair was a bit on the bouffant side but was rougher and not like his pompadour. His look suggested 'classic crooner' but it had a strong Adam edge to it.
I'd seen a few spoilers as I couldn't help myself, and from his look, I guessed he was probably going to do a slow number but I didn't want to be correct because that would make him predictable.
The song started off softly with some very vulnerable tender notes, kind of like silken chocolate melting in your mouth. He sang a verse and then broke into the chorus and the way he built up to the high notes was beautiful. The melody was heartbreaking. There was a single note that I didn't like though, which I felt was a little too harsh and out of place, and that was the highest note - the 'if'. If I were to nit-pick, I would say that he over-enunciated some of the words rather than sing them - perhaps that's what they mean by 'theatrical'. The song seemed to end very quickly after that. I wasn't all that keen on the lighting and camera work as his face was in darkness much of the time, and the camera could have done with less movement and long shots.
*UPDATE*: On seeing the performance on TV for the first time rather than through the internet, the high note didn't sound nearly as harsh and his chest voice was much richer, full and resonant. I want to hear more of it!
Once again, I loved Adam - his look, his vocals and his stage presence but I couldn't help but feel a tinge underwhelmed by the performance for a number of reasons. The biggest reason was the length of the performance. It all seemed a bit too rushed and abrupt for my liking, as if it was a quickie without foreplay. I wanted to see more of Adam sing. There weren't enough verses to reel me into his world and build up the emotion before wrenching at my heart in the chorus and finish. As a result, the song's climax didn't have the impact it should have done.
Another reason is because it was ever so slightly predictable, perhaps even 'safe' by his standards. I can't blame him for this, but rather my pre-performance over-analysis and scrutiny which may have spoiled it. If I weren't so obsessed with him then perhaps I would have expected an uptempo disco number and it would have come as a surprise. Maybe it's because I knew he would go with one of two options rather than just watch with an open mind. Still, I don't want him to fall into a predictable see-saw pattern throughout the weeks. Unlike last week, his performance didn't stand out way above the rest of the pack. There were various song interpretations but a large number of contestants also chose to balladise disco. I think the others are growing and learning from him, giving more of their own spin on their performances.
*UPDATE*: On seeing the show again on TV, I noticed that the other contestants were being much more ambitious with their final note runs but it was painfully obvious that Adam's were in a totally different league. They all measured up so poorly to Adam's final note on Born To Be Wild, which completely blew me away.
My enjoyment of the performance was also heavily hampered by the fact that I was watching it streamed online since I am in the UK. My need for an Adam fix wouldn't allow me to wait a whole two days before he is aired on proper TV. I'm thinking now that perhaps I do need to be patient so I can fully enjoy the Adam Lambert Experience without jerky pixellated visuals and noise-filled audio.
After Adam finished his performance, he wasn't beaming as usual, but seemed a little apprehensive as to what the judges would say. Perhaps it was the emotion or the pressure beginning to affect him. The comments were very positive, but didn't seem to provide useful feedback. He further endeared himself to me by giving credit to the person who helped with the arrangement.
During his confessional, he revealed that he took notes from the judges' comments and was trying to appeal to the masses. I see the performance as being a result of that. He was happy, relaxed and upbeat in it, but it did trouble me that he might end up playing it safe by not going for 'left-field' performances in the future. The appeal and the edge that Adam has is his fearless risk-taking and if he were to tone it down to get more votes, I feel he would compromise his artistic inclinations too much.
Yes, I do have rather unreasonable expectations of Adam now, which are adding to the increasing pressure. Perhaps the best thing I can do is to stop obsessing and picking apart every detail. But Adam means much more than a singer to me. He is an Idol, one who is bold and unapologetic about who he is and I want him to dare to push the envelope out that little bit more. To me, 'Ring of Fire' was a seminal moment and I'd hate for him to allow a single person's comments (Simon's - which I think were exceptionally influential on this occasion because people just didn't know what to think) to make him cautious about venturing into risky territory again. I think in time, people will get to appreciate it more - they just weren't quite ready for it and if he takes a risk like that again, maybe it would be better received. It's an extremely difficult balancing act to undertake -- being true to himself, trying to satisfy his whole spectrum of fans and getting the votes all at the same time.
I'd seen a few spoilers as I couldn't help myself, and from his look, I guessed he was probably going to do a slow number but I didn't want to be correct because that would make him predictable.The song started off softly with some very vulnerable tender notes, kind of like silken chocolate melting in your mouth. He sang a verse and then broke into the chorus and the way he built up to the high notes was beautiful. The melody was heartbreaking. There was a single note that I didn't like though, which I felt was a little too harsh and out of place, and that was the highest note - the 'if'. If I were to nit-pick, I would say that he over-enunciated some of the words rather than sing them - perhaps that's what they mean by 'theatrical'. The song seemed to end very quickly after that. I wasn't all that keen on the lighting and camera work as his face was in darkness much of the time, and the camera could have done with less movement and long shots.
*UPDATE*: On seeing the performance on TV for the first time rather than through the internet, the high note didn't sound nearly as harsh and his chest voice was much richer, full and resonant. I want to hear more of it!
Once again, I loved Adam - his look, his vocals and his stage presence but I couldn't help but feel a tinge underwhelmed by the performance for a number of reasons. The biggest reason was the length of the performance. It all seemed a bit too rushed and abrupt for my liking, as if it was a quickie without foreplay. I wanted to see more of Adam sing. There weren't enough verses to reel me into his world and build up the emotion before wrenching at my heart in the chorus and finish. As a result, the song's climax didn't have the impact it should have done.
Another reason is because it was ever so slightly predictable, perhaps even 'safe' by his standards. I can't blame him for this, but rather my pre-performance over-analysis and scrutiny which may have spoiled it. If I weren't so obsessed with him then perhaps I would have expected an uptempo disco number and it would have come as a surprise. Maybe it's because I knew he would go with one of two options rather than just watch with an open mind. Still, I don't want him to fall into a predictable see-saw pattern throughout the weeks. Unlike last week, his performance didn't stand out way above the rest of the pack. There were various song interpretations but a large number of contestants also chose to balladise disco. I think the others are growing and learning from him, giving more of their own spin on their performances.
*UPDATE*: On seeing the show again on TV, I noticed that the other contestants were being much more ambitious with their final note runs but it was painfully obvious that Adam's were in a totally different league. They all measured up so poorly to Adam's final note on Born To Be Wild, which completely blew me away.
My enjoyment of the performance was also heavily hampered by the fact that I was watching it streamed online since I am in the UK. My need for an Adam fix wouldn't allow me to wait a whole two days before he is aired on proper TV. I'm thinking now that perhaps I do need to be patient so I can fully enjoy the Adam Lambert Experience without jerky pixellated visuals and noise-filled audio.
After Adam finished his performance, he wasn't beaming as usual, but seemed a little apprehensive as to what the judges would say. Perhaps it was the emotion or the pressure beginning to affect him. The comments were very positive, but didn't seem to provide useful feedback. He further endeared himself to me by giving credit to the person who helped with the arrangement.
During his confessional, he revealed that he took notes from the judges' comments and was trying to appeal to the masses. I see the performance as being a result of that. He was happy, relaxed and upbeat in it, but it did trouble me that he might end up playing it safe by not going for 'left-field' performances in the future. The appeal and the edge that Adam has is his fearless risk-taking and if he were to tone it down to get more votes, I feel he would compromise his artistic inclinations too much.
Yes, I do have rather unreasonable expectations of Adam now, which are adding to the increasing pressure. Perhaps the best thing I can do is to stop obsessing and picking apart every detail. But Adam means much more than a singer to me. He is an Idol, one who is bold and unapologetic about who he is and I want him to dare to push the envelope out that little bit more. To me, 'Ring of Fire' was a seminal moment and I'd hate for him to allow a single person's comments (Simon's - which I think were exceptionally influential on this occasion because people just didn't know what to think) to make him cautious about venturing into risky territory again. I think in time, people will get to appreciate it more - they just weren't quite ready for it and if he takes a risk like that again, maybe it would be better received. It's an extremely difficult balancing act to undertake -- being true to himself, trying to satisfy his whole spectrum of fans and getting the votes all at the same time.
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