Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Beautiful gay man the next American Idol?


He freakin' better be.

I'm almost ashamed to admit this ("almost" is about as good as I can ever do in the shame department), but I tuned in "American Idol" tonight. Even though I rarely watch TV, it was a go-to-town day for us, which meant I was worthless when it came to doing anything remotely productive. (If I don't start writing first thing in the morning, and I have other crap to tend to, I don't write . . . unless I'm on a super roll.)

So anyway, I haven't paid much attention to this show in three or four years. The talent has been derivative and less than stellar, and Paula Abdul gets on my nerves something fierce. But tonight JLA was watching some program with motors in it on the main screen, so I wandered into the bedroom and came upon "Idol" on the little--and I mean little--set.

Same old tripe, for most of the two hours. Then, BAM, contestant #11 came on. Adam Lambert. Pretty, 27-year-old man from Los Angeles. I got the impression he was gay but certainly wasn't sure, since the dweeby host didn't announce, "Here's our gay contestant, Adam Lambert."

Damn! Boy blew me away. Incredible voice and stage presence. Really, truly incredible. Rocked the judges, too--every one of the nine or however the hell many they now have. And I thought, Son of a bitch, now I have to watch this shitty show for the next ten weeks just to hear this one guy sing. Son-of-a-bitch.

Turns out the fearsomely talented Adam is indeed gay. (I checked out some sources, because I hate making false assumptions. It's something that does deeply embarrass me.) Oh, how I hope he takes it all. Imagine an openly gay man winning American effing Idol! Too, too cool.

4 comments:

Jenre said...

Hey, KZ.
You know the first UK Pop Idol was won by a gay man - Will Young. He's still selling his music here as well, long after the other pop idols and X Factor wannabees have gone back to their day jobs.

K. Z. Snow said...

Hi, Jenre!

That's great to hear. Any inroads into the social, religious, or cultural mainstream (excuse the mixed metaphor) are only for the good. And since "American Idol" has millions upon millions of viewers, this could be a good-sized inroad.

(I've heard of "Pop Idol" and how "AI" spun off of that, but I've never heard about any of the winners. I'll have to check YouTube.)

Jeanne said...

Oh, KZ, so you didn't know? This year is gay year on AI.
Contestants who made it through Hollywood Week to the final 36 included several contestants who were almost assuredly gay.
Frankly, I was asonished that Simon liked him so much. He usually hates anything that hints of "Broadway" and Adam's performances show so much of his stage experience.
I guess his evident training and skill plus talent just can't be denied.
Frankly, talent wise the only other contestant I found memorable was the little red/purple? haired 16 year old girl.
Man, wouldn't it be a trip?

K. Z. Snow said...

Jeanne, I get the impression, just from watching one night, that Cowell only grudgingly gives this man the credit he deserves. I imagine he (Simon) is thinking, Oh, shit, this guy's by far the best of the lot, but how are we going to peddle a drag-queen queer to the record-buying public?

All I know is, Adam Lambert is gorgeous, in or out of drag (you should see his photo album on Tribe -- WOW), and his talent is extraordinary. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even consider watching AI this season; it's become the bland leading the bland.