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For Lambert, 28, life has "flipped around 180 degrees" in the past year. His album, For Your Entertainment, was released right before Thanksgiving and has spawned three singles, as well as a slew of TV appearances to promote them. On Oprah, he discussed the "big deal" made out of his American Music Awards performance, which featured dancers on leashes and that surprise kiss with his male keyboardist.

The reaction, he says, "surprised me more than anything."

Lambert came out on the cover of Rolling Stone after his Idol run, but that didn't prepare him for the AMA backlash. "I didn't realize how ignorant people were about stuff like that and how hateful and negative they can be in response to that kind of imagery," he says. "It was sad because it was tongue in cheek and over the top and not meant to be taken seriously."

Yet looking back, he says, the incident has become "part of my learning experience. I'm more aware now of the public consciousness and how it's so divided when it comes to matters of sexuality."

Hearing fans' reactions to his album, on the other hand, has been more enjoyable. The album went No. 3 and has sold 553,000 copies to date.

"I read Twitter comments and fan message boards every once in a while," he says. "Everybody has a favorite song, and I'm really, really happy that the diversity of the album appeals to the diversity of my fan base."

Lambert looks forward to promoting his album overseas (he recently went to Australia). After that, a tour is in the works, although it's not certain yet whether he'll be opening or headlining. "If I had my way, I think I would like to go into medium-sized theaters, and do something a little more intimate and interactive," he says. "Something very theatrical, lots of costumes, dancers, turning each song into a number, something that would visually support it."

Idol, he says, was an "amazing experience" and a welcome challenge -- yet he could have done without some of the group numbers.

"Not because of the group, but some of the songs and staging was a little bit hard to deal with," he says laughing. "That country week one we did was really a nightmare."

Although some days, he can "go about a day and feel very normal, like nothing has changed," other days he has paparazzi "ganging up on me."

"I'm really fortunate to be renting a house right now," he says. "When I go out in public, I have to be 'on.' It's great, it comes with the territory, but having this place where I can just be myself and not have to impress anybody is really healthy for me."

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