Adam Lambert 24/7 News

The American Idol runner-up talks to Adrian Wan about being in the spotlight - and staying there.

Adam Lambert's rise to fame has been nothing less than meteoric. He has found his privacy diminishing with equal vigour, but the American Idol finalist says his life is a “dream worth holding on to”.

The 28-year-old from California came second on the eighth season of American Idol last year. But despite being the runner-up, he has been hugely successful, his exceptional vocal range and zealous performances enchanting many, including judge Simon Cowell, who once described his vocals as “immaculate”.

Young Post had an exclusive phone interview with the artist this week and asked him all about his new-found celebrity.

“My parent played a lot of music at home and I would sing and dance along. When I was a child I wanted to be a performer of some kind…but I never thought about being famous,” Lambert says.

Although he has found renown for his musical skills, the singer-songwriter actually started out in theatre when he was 10. “It was mostly about acting when I was a kid,” Lambert says. But his parents started taking him to watch musical theatre when he was teenager and that inspired him to explore his ability to sing.

He says, “Now I definitely like singing more than acting. I can act, but considering my gift that I’ve been given, the thing that makes me special is singing.”

Lambert is inspired by musicians like David Bowie, Boy George and Michael Jackson because, he says, “they would put on make-up and look glamorous”. He has made waves with his distinctive, heavily made-up look, which brings the heady days of glam rock to mind. The singer admits this love of sartorial drama stems from a young age, saying, “I was very precocious and I always liked to dress up.”

Though Lambert finished second to Kris Allen, Allen was quoted on the show as saying Lambert “deserved to win as much as he did, and that he [was] seriously one of the most gifted performers I’ve met”.

Modestly attributing his impressive voice to a combination of hard work and flair, Lambert says, “I’m definitely lucky that have a voice and that I am recognised for it. But voice lessons helped make it even better. It taught me the tricks, skills and whatnot.”

Lambert has discovered that fame is far more than glamorous parties and showing up to sing. “We don’t think of fame as going to the grocery and having photographers following you, and being recognized wherever you go,” he says. “We think about the glamorous part only, but there’s a lot of work, and considerable lack of privacy.

“It can be really, really glamorous, but it can also be a lot of work. It’s hard because sometimes I don’t want to be ‘on’,you know, but I have to be. Sometimes I just want to be anonymous, but I don’t have a choice.”

But despite the pressure, Lambert is grateful to have been given the opportunity, and is willing to work to keep living the life.

“I don’t want anyone to think that I’m complaining because I feel this kind of work is all worth it. And this is my dream. I will work very hard to hold onto my dream.”

The singer once spent a day in Hong Kong as part of a cruise, so is looking to include the city as part of his world promotion tour in April or May, which will come as welcome news to the city’s fans.

Young Post junior reporter Nicholas Yiu asked the star to give some advice to young, aspiring singers in Hong Kong. Lambert says, “You have to find something that makes you special and unique,which makes you stand out, but something that’s honest and genuine.”

Credit: DarkMavis