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Celebrity Sizzle by Mark Stone
Adam Lambert's AMA performance has the world talking (photo contributed)
What do you do if your highly-anticipated first single isn’t charting or selling like it should and you’ve got your first big network awards show performance coming up? If you’re Adam Lambert, you fill that performance with as many controversial elements as possible. Crotch grabbing? Check. Bondage? Check. Making out with your male keyboardist? Check. Simulated oral sex? You betcha.
Lambert’s performance is easily the most talked about of last night’s American Music Awards highlights, an evening that produced quite a few performances worthy of mention. The awards themselves are practically meaningless, but I’ve listed the winners at the bottom of this section. I’ve also got videos of the most interesting performances for you to check out.
But as for Lambert, I’m curious to see what you think. Were you offended by his choice to fully exercise his freedom of expression? It’s pretty funny that just last week he was accused of not being gay enough, and there he was last night going in the opposite direction. If you watched the West Coast feed of the show, you probably missed the good stuff (it was edited) but you can see it all below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9fATzGwFJY
It’s not exactly fit for prime time network television, but in a time where hardcore porn is merely a click away on every kid’s computer I don’t think this performance should be criticized too harshly. We’ve seen Madonna do it before, and probably countless others have gone for shock value to an even greater extent. Is Lambert’s performance in front of an arena full of adults really all that much worse than Miley Cyrus gyrating on a stripper pole in front of a group of very young kids?
Lambert had this to say to Access Hollywood about the controversy brought on by last night’s performance: “You know honestly, if I offended some people… it’s apples and oranges. I’m not an artist that does things for every single person. I believe in artistic freedom and expression, I believe in honoring the lyrics of a song, and those lyrics aren’t really for everybody either.
As for being edited on the West Coast, he said, “There’s a big double standard, female pop artists have been doing things provocative like that for years, and the fact that I’m a male, and I’ll be edited and discriminated against could be a problem. People are scared and it’s really sad, I just wish people could open their minds up and enjoy things, it’s all for a laugh, it’s really not that big of a deal.”
Make yourself heard by commenting below.
Lady GaGa
Another interesting performance last night came from Lady GaGa. She’s known for her outlandish costumes, and last night’s wardrobe choice was no exception. The more I look at it the more creeped out I am by her. Honestly, I think I had nightmares of her coming to get me and I may or may not have crawled under the bed at some point last night.
But seriously, as scary as she looked, she sounded incredible. Love her or hate her, you can’t help admiring what a powerful voice she has. I can do without the glass smashing, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acBz7qocwZA
Janet Jackson
The AMAs opened with Janet Jackson performing a medley of her hits. Some may say she wasn’t all that great but I disagree wholeheartedly. This is amazing stuff – and was arguably the hottest performance of the night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_H7ztHF_Y
Kelly Clarkson
In terms of pure musicianship, Kelly Clarkson probably takes the crown for most pitch-perfect performance. The song may be way too much like Beyonce’s Halo, but Clarkson (who was supposed to be in Kelowna last night but cancelled due to the AMAs) nailed it. She even got a standing ovation. Nice work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzMKbAvhTEY
As for the awards, here’s the rundown of the night’s winners:
-Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift
-Pop-Rock:
Male artist: Michael Jackson
Female artist: Taylor Swift
Band, duo or group: Black Eyed Peas
Album: Michael Jackson, “Number Ones”
-Soul-R&B:
Male artist: Michael Jackson
Female artist: Beyonce
Band, duo or group: Black Eyed Peas
Album: Michael Jackson, “Number Ones”
-Rap-Hip-Hop:
Artist: Jay-Z
Album: Jay-Z, “Blueprint 3?
-Country:
Male artist: Keith Urban
Female artist: Taylor Swift
Band, duo or group: Rascal Flatts
Album: Taylor Swift, “Fearless”
-Adult Contemporary: Taylor Swift
-Alternative Rock: Green Day
-Latin: Aventura
-Contemporary Inspirational: Mary Mary
-Soundtrack Album: “Twilight Soundtrack”
-T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Award: Gloriana
-International Award of Excellence: Whitney Houston
New moon fever hits NFL
Last night my full attention wasn’t on the AMAs (I caught up later), as there was a good NFL game on between the Eagles and Bears and we kept switching between the two channels. While there were some great highlights from the music awards, the football game wasn’t without a big wardrobe malfunction of its own.
Maybe chalk it up to New Moon fever, but there was a full moon out in Chicago last night as Bears’ wide receiver Devin Hester was pants’d. I saw it live and couldn’t believe my eyes. My wife missed it so thank God for the live rewind button on the PVR. We must have hit it several times in disbelief.
Take a look at the video to see it for yourself. Wow. In the end, the Bears lost.
Was Miley Cyrus told to diss New Moon?
New Moon broke all sorts of box office records this weekend, proving once and for all that good acting has absolutely nothing to do with box office success. While the film may be all the rage with most tweens and teenage girls, there’s one popular teenager who isn’t a fan at all.
Miley Cyrus told a radio station last week that she doesn’t like the Twilight movies, and said, “It’s a cult. I don’t believe in it.” Fellow Disney star Selena Gomez also told Bonnie Hunt a few days ago that she doesn’t watch the movies. Unfortunately, Gomez was quoted back in June saying about Twilight, “It was good. It was really good.”
So is it possible that Disney is forcing their teen stars to show contempt for the Twilight franchise? E! Online’s Answer B!tch delves into the theory, and although no conclusion can be reached, it makes you wonder. You can’t tell me that Miley has never seen Twilight, or that she didn’t go to New Moon. It was the hottest ticket in town and what 17-year-old (her birthday is today) would miss out on that?
I bet there’s something to this. Story developing…
6 Responses to “Adam Lambert’s controversial AMA performance has everyone talking”
Tags: Adam Lambert, AMAs, American Music Awards, Beyonce, Devin Hester, Janet Jackson, kelly clarkson, Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus, New Moon, NFL football, Taylor Swift
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Too bad none of the Youtube links work anymore, I was actually curious to see Adam’s performance.
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Not everybody likes (stuff) like Twilight. Miley rocks the world and I am glad she doesn’t like Twilight cuz neither do I. I mean it’s okay, but kind of lame effects and not enough action for me.
Edited for content
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Hey Clara,
As of 4 pm Pacific, three of the videos (including Lambert’s) are still working. Early this afternoon I had to switch the Lambert one I was using and it’s still working now.
Hope that by the time you check it out it’s still up.
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same here. Don’t fancy twilight either.
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Most of the reviews I heard said Miley was not ‘gyrating’ but basically just holding onto the pole. And as for “female artists have been doing this for years”? Really? The kiss, yes, but simulating sex acts on prime time TV? I don’t think so. He was definitely out of line to be doing that stuff on prime time TV when kids would be watching, and a lot of adults might be offended. He can do that on his music videos where his fans can subject themselves to that kind of viewing if they desire, but not at an Awards Night where people of all cultures and beliefs might be watching and could be offended, and where kids will see.
People are not ’scared’, they just disagree with the behaviour.
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Lambert has a great vocal range and some what of a singer. He best be careful he does not offend his target audience with certain antics. For the audience that may relate to him and his music may become very very very small
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