14 DAY TRIAL // At the American Music Awards 2009, held last night at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater, Adam Lambert made his live debut outside the American Idol circuit. Performing the title song and first single off his album “For Your Entertainment,” Adam danced, tripped and fell, sang his heart out and danced some more in what is being described as either the most daring and shocking performance of our times or, oppositely, the most disgusting and deplorable one.
Earlier in the day, the singer tweeted for his fans, promising them a very daring and, as he put it, “edgy” performance but it’s perhaps safe to assume, at this point in time, that few actually expected something like this. The entire world knows of Lambert’s orientation, but during the performance, he made it so that it was its very “center-piece.” Also, the entire world that Lambert likes to shock so, again, he took that to extremes too.
At one point during the performance, Adam also tripped and fell but, in all fairness, he did not let that stop him from belting out those specific notes that fans have come to love him for. After taking the tumble, the singer rolled on the floor and then sprung back into position, without as much as missing a single beat. He then continued to grope dancers and dance like there was no tomorrow as before.
Like with everything Adam does, be it in terms of music or of promoting himself, the AMAs gig did not fail to get mixed reactions – and we’re not talking even one “meh” type of comment either. Some fans, for instance, took to the Internet to say that, where they once had nothing but respect and admiration for Lambert, they have been bitterly disappointed by the performance, because they would have wanted him to put more emphasis on his voice than his onstage persona.
“Adam Lambert has quickly become the talk of the AMA awards, and many who sailed along unchartered American Idol territory with the star are quickly jumping ship. Many have vocalized wanting a more subdued Adam Lambert, the introspective kind that sang Mad World on American Idol. What was revealed tonight has left many wondering what happened to the Elvis look-alike singing soft, ballads. ‘For Your Entertainment,’ Adam Lambert’s title track on his new CD, has left many stating that they were far from entertained and rather horrified by his performance,” Examiner writes of the performance.
For other fans, though, this was just the thing to prove that Adam Lambert is anything but mainstream: he wanted to shock and that’s precisely what he did. With the entire media and critics focusing on aspects of his personal life and his onstage flamboyant persona, Adam had no other choice but to place emphasis on those very things, in a very “in your face” manner. Whether others but his devoted fans like that or not is not his business, Adam seemed to be saying during last night’s performance: his sole purpose is to entertain. And that he does.
Here is where you can see a video of Adam Lambert performing “For Your Entertainment” at the 2009 American Music Awards. *Please note that it contains images that might be considered offensive.