Fang You Adam! - A Halloween Treat

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I decided it was time for a little seasonal Halloween treat. Remember last year's Party City fund-raising gig? Well when I was cut off from the online world, distraction-free and incommunicado, I got constructive. My perfectionism decided to sort out the videos with those wishy-washy colours and the sound that dribbled out of one ear, so we could enjoy it that little - but very important - bit more. I omitted all the footage that didn't include Adam, adjusted the picture, muted some of the screaming and created a synthetic stereo track. Here are a couple of before and after shots:

Adam sings without a band behind him and the venue doesn't appear to support the performance with the same level of professionalism as he's accustomed to. There are constant sound issues and the engineer is unresponsive to Adam's gestures so he has to interrupt his performance to give verbal instructions. As you can tell, this isn't one of my favourite gigs because I think this is one of the rare occasions on which Adam seems a little uncomfortable. It's like he and the audience - which isn't made of avid fans - aren't quite on the same level and that energy exchange he often mentions is somewhat stunted. He has to work extra hard to engage them and get them going. I feel his frustration that they don't afford him enough respect and he has to tell them to shut up at the start of BtbW.

All videos from this concert are now in this embedded playlist:



Despite all this, the vocals are brilliant throughout and the banter is charming. I love this longer version of RoF and this is the only time we hear him sing both BoW and BtbW outside of AI. It's been a while since we last heard this slow emotional version of MW and he manages to recreate those stratospheric notes of BtbW with aplomb. We get a triple helping of 'Baby', 'Woman' and 'Man' at the a capella ending of a high-energy, gyratory, rocking WLL. I miss this arrangement and would love to hear it before the end of the tour. It's hard to believe he does all of this whilst wearing fangs. Yes, he can still fucking sing amazingly well with big fangs in his mouth!

Get my Halloweeny Glam Nation design in velvety print on a T-shirt:

DOWNLOAD Ring of Fire iPod compatible mp4 - 19.7MB
DOWNLOAD Ring of Fire HD mp4 - 48.7MB

DOWNLOAD Black or White iPod compatible mp4 - 29.3MB
DOWNLOAD Black or White HD mp4 - 72.4MB

DOWNLOAD Mad World iPod compatible mp4 - 24.7MB
DOWNLOAD Mad World HD mp4 - 61.1MB

DOWNLOAD Born to be Wild iPod compatible mp4 - 29.3MB
DOWNLOAD Born to be Wild HD mp4 - 72.8MB

DOWNLOAD Whole Lotta Love iPod compatible mp4 - 36.4MB
DOWNLOAD Whole Lotta Love HD mp4 - 89.9MB


And here's a new Glampire pic from last night:

Happy Halloween!

Looking Back

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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.

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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.

A Day of Cyberstalking

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Today is a day where Adam Lambert is allowed to step outside of the AI bubble for his homecoming.  He's been doing the rounds in San Diego which I've been trying to keep up with.  So far, he's been at a TV station, a couple of radio shows, to a store and to his old high school to perform.  I've been trying to watch the live streaming from the TV station but despite much cursing, didn't manage to get it working.  At leased I've managed to tune into parts of his radio appearances.  It must be tiring but he looks like he's taking it all in his stride.

From the clips I've seen, the turnout at the events started off very quiet, but have been getting much busier throughout the day with lots of hysterical screaming fans.  There's no diva about him at all and he's been very accommodating and appreciative towards his fans, showing that he's well grounded.  His interactions with his fans both young and old are quite touching and I think he seems a little surprised and overwhelmed.

The first clip I saw today was the Top 4 interview where he talks about his relationship with Kris, his addiction to ice cream which he's been trying to resist, and the judges.  I hope the day doesn't take too much out of him as I think he sounds a little bunged up.

Other video footage so far includes an interview shortly after Adam landed in San Diego, his arrivals at TV and radio stations where he gushes about the kids making signs for him, Adam supposedly doing the weather report but actually ending up doing the star-struck weathergirl's eyeliner, an interview where he describes 'Whole Lotta Love' as 'sexy' like it's a naughty word, and an interview which included a surprise visit from his mum, which was incredibly sweet.  Later, he went to visit his old high school amongst much fanfare, where he performed BoW and MW and cracked up when one girl attempted to streak.  I say attempted because she was still decent!

Here's the best video I could find of his performances so far:



I'm glad he decided to give his voice a bit of a rest from those really high belts.  My thoughts so far are that he seems a little stunned by all the fuss but is having a great time.  He's a true pro when dealing with the media with his intelligent considered answers, coming across as interesting, charming, gracious and the nicest possible person, even as people are throwing themselves at him.  He appears to be championing the cause of all the kids who don't quite fit in and have a tough time at school.  It's been a good day for him so far where he's demonstrated what it takes to be a true idol.

UPDATE: Video of Adam singing the national anthem at Miramar Airbase, which is simply beautiful, and a summary of his day.

UPDATE 2:  If you're not suffering from information overload yet, here's a video that's just surfaced of the last time Adam sang at his high school during his graduation in 2000.  Well worth watching just to see how different he looks.

Top 7 (Part II) Results - Group Performance

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The results show was billed to have a group performance choreographed by Paula Adbul, which I looked forward to because I hadn't seen many of Adam's moves so far, especially in a set routine. Ever since I saw his Crazy video, I knew that he would do really well in the dancing department although they'd never allow him to dance like that on the show!

There was a clip showing the preparation for the routine, with Adam doing situps, goofing around and talking about being worked hard and sweating, to which he wiped his forehead with a tissue, mouthing a 'thank you' to whoever it was that handed it to him with a very cheeky and mischievous look on his face. One of his very cute moments.

The routine was set to Michael Jackson's 'Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)' and when the group came on, the first thing I noticed were the silly amateurish clothes. It seemed like a tongue-in-cheek parody, like a bunch of students going to their weekly cheap and cheerful 'Cheesy Funk' night instead of American Idol. Everyone apart from Adam wore sunglasses with most of the outfits just not working, although they were funny. One of the first awkward moments came when Matt sung in his falsetto shortly after the start which, despite being pre-recorded, I thought sounded terrible. Other cringe-inducing moments came from Danny, who should have his arms and legs tied together whenever on stage so he can't even attempt to dance, Kris, who was awkward and completely devoid of rhythm in his solo, and Matt who didn't quite pull off impersonating Justin Timberlake. I thought Lil and Allison did well but Anoop seemed to have a little difficulty in fully committing to his moves.



Adam was by far the best dancer there, with great lines aided by his long, slender frame. He seemed very supple, getting deep down in the knees and his movements were very full, fluid and natural. He had great timing and rhythm. He had a couple of solo parts which I found hilarious. The first was a dance solo and he did a couple of loose-limbed lunges and a wave from fingertip through the arms to fingertip and back, with a funny expression on his face. I thought it was so cheesily OTT and realised he was being intentionally goofy and taking the piss. He reminded me so much of Mr. Tickle then! The other solo was a singing part and he did some Jacko-esque hip-shaking and shoulder-shifting. The routine ended with a lot of hip-thrusts, which Adam did with conviction. He was the only one to appear like he didn't have a spare arm that he didn't know what to do with. All the contestants seemed to really enjoy it, and I was beaming watching what I thought to be Adam just relaxing and having fun because it looked so effortless for him.

I loved the whole routine, which was a fabulous ironic cheese-fest done with attitude right through to the primary-school-project plain white Comic Sans MS graphics in the background. They should definitely get Paula doing more of these in the future!

When it came to announcing who was at the bottom, Adam graciously nodded to his screaming fans and thanked the judges. He then explained a little about how the arrangement of the song wasn't of utmost importance, as long as he was able to honestly emote the lyrics to the audience. He was told to sit down and was safe.

One more Adam appearance I noted was when the Anoop and Lil tribute clips were shown, Adam tenderly touched Lil's face and said some words which made her laugh. It was just another Adam moment to melt my heart.

Top 13 - Black Or White

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I didn't think too much beforehand about what Adam was going to sing, as I still wasn't really that into all the details of American Idol. After watching a few semi-decent performances on the show, I switched over briefly to watch Dexter, which the show clashed with. I was gutted when I switched back and realised I'd missed the highlight of the show - Adam's performance of Black or White. I just managed to hear some of the comments afterwards. I decided to watch the repeat on the +1 channel and I thought it was great. The theatrics, the vocals, the dancing, the look - they were all incredible and it was a captivating performance.

He seemed to really love being up on the stage, beaming afterwards and the way he took in the comments was really sweet. I thought he looked like he was quite overcome with emotion. He showed himself to be extremely charming and genuinely surprised, chuffed and relieved by the positive reception, without false modesty or melodrama.

The Audition - Bohemian Rhapsody

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I remember it was a bit of a poor show so far and many of the contestants were rubbish. On came Adam Lambert, who I thought was a bit of an angsty punky goth. He seemed quite confident about being able to become the next American Idol. I had formed my first impressions on him before even before he started to sing. I expected him to sing some punk rock or something gothy, and I didn't expect him to be any good.

He tells us he's going to sing Bohemian Rhapsody and it gives me visions of tone-deaf drunken karaoke and Wayne's World headbanging, and I think 'Oh, no! Another rubbish audition.' I await the car crash moment. It just shows how wrong the assumptions we draw from first impressions can be. He opened his mouth and I was pleasantly taken aback by the quality of his voice. It was a great audition, strong, well controlled and pitch perfect, and there was a 'Wow!' that snatched at my breath. The surprise aside, I then half-agreed with Simon's comment of his voice being theatrical because I don't think the song suits auditions and it didn't seem to fit in with his demeanour. I thought he was one to watch though.



EDIT: For user-friendliness, I've added my edit of all the audition pieces put together which was originally posted back in June. 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.