As tens of millions of “American Idol” fans tune in to watch Adam Lambert and Kris Allen face off Tuesday evening in the program’s final round of competition, at 8 on Fox, the overhyped media question of the moment is whether the country is ready to hand the crown to an androgynous, seemingly gay 27-year-old fireball from San Diego. Or will his sexual ambiguity (“I know who I am,” Mr. Lambert has replied to questions about his orientation) be an impediment? If Mr. Lambert eventually comes out, the way has been paved by the former contestant Clay Aiken, whose career hasn’t suffered for it.
The sexuality angle is a godsend for an aging show that is in desperate need of controversy (whether or not manufactured) as well as flash. Neither of the two Davids (Archuleta and Cook) last year, who were ridiculously posed as prizefighters for their final round, had it. Mr. Lambert does, and his androgyny has a lot to do with it.
When not performing, Mr. Lambert is as mild-mannered and courteous as the young Elvis. A glimpse of him singing the national anthem at the Miramar air base near San Diego reinforced the impression that at heart he is an agreeable cream puff who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Mr. Allen, for all his abilities, has no flash. Listening to him strain to put some clout into the Beatles’ “Come Together” in the show’s rock evening conjured memories of Mr. Boone’s anemic versions of Little Richard hits half a century ago, though to be fair, Mr. Allen is far more talented and musically sophisticated than his forerunner. He has spun Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” and Kanye West’s “Heartless” into plaintively appealing soft-rock ballads.
Mr. Lambert has vocal stamina and flexibility to spare, along with the theatrical flair of Queen’s Freddie Mercury. His glam-rock poses and banshee shrieks this season have lent a frisson of hipness to “American Idol,” a deeply conservative show that pretended to be on the cultural cutting edge by bringing in coaches like Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Foxx and Slash. In reality “American Idol” is a monument of recycled pop culture and a fixture in the center-right wing of the pop spectrum.
Mr. Lambert’s presence helped this year’s “American Idol” validate an idea of rock ’n’ roll that goes all the way back to the heyday of Little Richard: that it originated as a hormonal noisemaking outlet for rowdy boys to preen, cut up and role-play. The concept found mass-market traction in the pseudogrand guignol of Alice Cooper and Kiss, who brought rock into the realm of cartoons and horror movies, and made it comedic.
Mr. Lambert is a product of all that. To watch him sing “Born to Be Wild” (which Simon Cowell criticized as a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” performance) or “Whole Lotta Love” was to find yesterday’s putatively subversive culture neutralized by television and turned into YouTube-ready theatrical karaoke. Mr. Lambert’s bemused response to Mr. Cowell was that he liked “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” His hilariously overblown “Ring of Fire” in the country music evening may have offended Johnny Cash purists. But his squealing performance with an arrangement that suggested the imminent insurgence of a belly-dancing troupe, was a cheekily irreverent comic coup.
I was impressed more than ever this season by the efficiency of the “American Idol” star-making process, as week by week the contestants gained in confidence and poise, stretching their talents into alien genres and homogenizing their voices in group ensembles. Before our eyes, in record time, amateurs metamorphosed into pros.
But the kind of talent “American Idol” promotes is a known quantity. The show would never introduce, nor could it ever create, the next Bob Dylan, whose nasal voice, to use a favorite “American Idol” word, is too pitchy. As often as not, the dictum to put a new spin to an old song results in the kind of confusion that made the renditions by Danny Gokey (this year’s No. 3) of Aerosmith and Joe Cocker hits unfocused travesties.
It’s all about togetherness. The much-touted “American Idol” family is a direct descendant of the Motown family, which still gathers for ceremonial reunions in homage to its founding patriarch Berry Gordy, who instituted a talent development program much like that of “Idol.” Once you’re branded by “American Idol,” you’re in it for life, or for as long as the show lasts.
The family concept, in which we visit the contestants’ hometowns, is a major marketing tool that touches every aspect of “American Idol.” This year the addition of a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, added a surrogate older sister in a panel whose idiosyncrasies are as familiar to today’s television audience as those of Archie Bunker’s 1970s television family.
Mr. Cowell is the cranky, opinionated paterfamilias and teller of hard truths who usually gets the last word, and Paula Abdul the neurotic, dithering mother with the crocodile smile, who is fiercely protective of her brood. Randy Jackson, the good-hearted uncle, is the family’s unofficial peacemaker, and Ryan Seacrest, the host, its fiercely ambitious oldest son, a golden boy engaged in an Oedipal battle with dad. Clive Davis, the chief creative officer of Sony BMG Records who supervises many of the recordings of “American Idol” finalists, is the benign great uncle and senior accountant who drops by occasionally to dispense statistics about chart positions and sales figures.
In many ways the contest is a rerun of Elvis Presley versus Pat Boone — of blue suede shoes versus white bucks — more than 50 years ago. In the mythic scheme of things Mr. Lambert with his sultry cat eyes, jet-black hair and theatrical make-up is Elvis, who some may recall was initially perceived as effeminate. Mr. Allen, a polite, self-contained, unfailingly earnest 23-year-old married Arkansan, is Mr. Boone.
Get your facts straight. Simon said a “Whole lotta love” was Simon’s favorite of the season for Adam. He question RoF only.
He said one of his favorites.
From today’s San Diego Union Tribune…
IDOL PARTIES FOR LAMBERT
Wednesday, Copley Symphony Hall, 1245 7th Ave, 2,252 seats, free, doors open at 3:30pm, close at 4pm, will watch the show live from 5-7 pm
Wednesday, Seau’s restaurant, 1640 Camino Del Rio North, starts at 7pm, cheerleaders from Adam’s alma mater, Mt. Carmel HS.
Go for it, San Diego peeps! The Zodiac Show also put out a big banner on their website wishing Adam luck.
God, am I over these articles. Let’s get to the singing! Woot woot!
ADAM FTW
Tonights voting:
The show tonight, Tuesday, is ONE HOUR, starting at 8 pm on east coast, 7 pm in both the central and mountain zones, and 8 pm west coast.
Assuming that we are given 4 hours to vote when the show ends:
TIME ZONE START VOTE END VOTE
eastern 9:00 pm 1:00 am
central 8:00 pm midnight
mountain 8:00 pm midnight
western 9:00 pm 1:00 am
If the above is true, then this will affect busy signals and the results on DialIdol, because, among other things:
When it is 9:00 pm western, it will only be midnight eastern and the phones there will still be open another hour. Other time zones also overlap.
More importantly, this is a school night. Most parents are not going to let their tweens stay up until 1am to vote. Also, lots of working adults are also not going to stay up that late. So, the two should offset each other.
Lastly, the weather channel says there should be no major storms tonight, so little chance that the power will go out in, say, Arkansas.
Crown him??? I’m ready to f**k him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJYyqzUr6jU
Get in line. I’ve been standing here for weeks.
That Brigadoon recording should be sent to Barbara Walters. Apparently she said he can’t really sing well. Hahahah
Yes, yes…. let the singing begin! I’m tired of all the nyah nyah of “is he?” or “isn’t he?” or who is the best or who should or shouldn’t win. We all have our favorites and we’ll get an album from each of these guys! I’m pumped! I also always love the Idol finale with all its overblown productions and interesting pairings….. Toni Braxton and Taylor Hicks anyone? Good year, quite annoying year, but good year.
Also…. let Glee begin…. I do loves me some show choir action! It looks incredible.
Kris for the win (and if Adam wins… hoorah too)
Wow …this was a waste of time to read. I really couldn’t follow the link to see who wrote it…I got turned off in the first few paragraphs when the author referred to Adam as Androgynous. He is anything but….It seems pretty clear to me that he is all MAN. Never once did I doubt his gender. I would refer to (dear author) to the character Pat from Saturday Night Live, now that is androgyny.
I think the author was trying to make an issue out of nothing…And REALLY American Idol is “deeply conservative?” You realize that this show is made in LA right…not too far from Hollywood (West Hollywood too)
Strange article.