Adam Lambert 24/7 News

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UPDATED! The article and interview is online!





By Fiona Shepherd
THE pop star scrapheap is littered with reality TV runners-up – and sometimes winners – but Adam Lambert, a former American Idol contestant who finished in second place in last year's competition, is a different breed of talent show alumnus – one who has featured on the cover of Rolling Stone (under the headline "Wild Idol"), who was allegedly considered for the imposing job of fronting Queen, and who was able to call on the songwriting services of Lady Gaga and Muse's Matt Bellamy, among others, when amassing material for his debut album.

With his soaring rock falsetto, megawatt charisma, fondness for outlandish costumes and lashings of panstick and eyeliner, Lambert was always going to be a stand-out performer, but perhaps the most telling sign of his singular talent is that he is one of the privileged few to break those reality TV ties and launch a truly global career. And that's about all he has in common with Susan Boyle.

Lambert was one of the older contestants on Idol and his experience told. Born in Indiana and brought up in San Diego, he has spent a lifetime in musical theatre since his parents enrolled him in a children's theatre group in the hope that it would provide an outlet for his boundless energy. Aged ten, he played Linus in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and, as an adult, he won roles in Hair and The Ten Commandments (alongside Val Kilmer). But when he moved to LA, he also channelled his innate theatricality into regular performances at alternative cabaret nights around the city, taking the same route out of the underground club scene and into the mainstream as his closest peers Lady Gaga and Scissor Sisters.

"The thing that I love about LA so much is that a lot of people come here to find an outlet for their expression," he says. "I've met a lot of incredible people that are searching for that so it's definitely a hotbed of talent and creativity and intensity and the club scene is no different."

According to legend, the idea to audition for American Idol came to him in a magic mushroom-induced vision while he was attending the Burning Man festival in the Californian desert, although when he speaks to The Scotsman, his reasoning is rather more grounded.

"It's difficult to get signed to a major label these days if you don't have a fanbase," he says. "I knew that I needed the exposure to put myself on the map so that something would happen, and American Idol seemed like the most amazing opportunity."

American Idol is subtly different to the equivalent reality talent shows in the UK. These days it tends to attract more jobbing musicians looking for a break than fame-hungry kids who just want their 15 minutes. Consequently, success on the show almost always translates to success in the US charts, and even a certain amount of kudos which would never be afforded to the likes of Shane Ward or Joe McElderry. Even so, Lambert approached the audition with some trepidation.

"I actually thought it was going to be a hopeless situation," he says. "I thought I was going to get immediately booted off because I'm so different. I didn't think they would take to me the way they did and I'm so thankful for the experience, for the producers trusting me and believing me and really helping me out on the show."

The producers believed in him so much that he was invited back to be a guest mentor in the most recent series – the first time a former contestant has been given that accolade. There have even been calls for Lambert to fill Simon Cowell's shoes as a full-time judge now that Cowell has left the show to start up an American edition of The X Factor. Lambert has the same no-bull self-possession as the TV supremo, but one suspects he might be a little too busy being a fabulous international pop star to add television personality to his CV.

His debut album For Your Entertainment, released earlier this year in the UK, features writing credits for some of the usual heavyweight suspects who are drafted in to provide commercial heft, such as Linda Perry, Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, Cathy Dennis and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder. But far more intriguing – and revealing – is the motley array of fellow performers who were lined up to contribute material, including his pop heroine Lady Gaga, geek king Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, electro popster Sam Sparro, ex-Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins, P!nk - who wrote his new single Whataya Want From Me and, like Lambert, straddles the pop/rock divide effortlessly – and Matt Bellamy of Lambert's favourite band, Muse.

Lambert is equally comfortable inhabiting all these artists' realms, whether pumping dancefloor pop, glam pomp rock or overwrought balladry, reflecting his diverse taste in showtunes, mainstream pop and the classic rock he discovered through his DJ dad's record collection. He cites Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Robert Plant, Michael Jackson and Prince as "kind of my guys". Unsurprisingly, they are all flamboyant showmen.

Lambert has been cited – on Wikipedia, so it must be true – as the first openly gay chart pop artist on a major label in the US.

Photographs of him kissing another man emerged during his Idol stint and he chose to officially declare his sexuality in the Rolling Stone interview. But he says he had "figured it out" in his teens: "Growing up, I didn't know anybody gay. I was definitely the oddball. I was lucky that my parents were so supportive. Part of the reason why I moved to LA was to meet other people like me. But it's something that shouldn't really have any bearing on the kind of music you make or people liking it. You know, what I do in my bedroom has nothing to do with my singing, which should be a universal thing, and I'm glad that we're progressing forward and are in a place and time where it's not that big a deal."

Maybe not in the UK, where we have been down with queer pop since the emergence of Boy George. But some have speculated that it was his sexual orientation which cost him the Idol title (he lost out to housewives' choice Kris Allen). And the laissez-faire Lambert was genuinely surprised when his overtly homoerotic performance at the American Music Awards earlier this year generated a squall of controversy.So who better to turn to in a crisis than veteran pop provocateur Madonna, who offered Lambert her trademark pep talk. "She was really great, she just said, 'Keep your eye on the prize, don't get distracted by all the media celebrity stuff,'" says Lambert.

"I don't want to turn into that guy; I want to keep two feet on the ground at all times. I think just being confident and proud of who I am and how different I am maybe serves as an example to young people who are looking for someone who's not afraid to be who they are."

• Whataya Want From Me is released by RCA on Monday


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