Why You Should Get Off Your Ass and Vote for Adam Lambert
Still in the process of catching up here, but as the event for this is imminent, I wanted to post quickly about the rather odd mental moment I had last week.
jsridler and I have been watching "American Idol". We watched last year, too, and this was largely his initiative since I have trouble keeping track of TV programs. (The TV is still an enigmatic box that has yet to reveal its full mysteries to me. I have the ability to turn on Animal Planet and sometimes Discovery and that's about it.)
I've been more interested this season because of the incredible performance offered every show by Adam Lambert, who, if you don't know who he is, is this guy. We've missed a few episodes due to travel, but seriously -- he was the reason I was watching, purely because of the level of showmanship he brought every single time.
Through the course of the season I would say, multiple times, because I was too dumb to actually follow up on this via google, "You know, I knew a guy named Adam Lambert in high school. I wonder what happened to him." In my defense, you have to understand that Adam looked like the guy on the left, and became the guy on the right. It did not even occur to me that they were the same person -- I assumed that because both of his names are not all that uncommon, it was someone else with the same name.
And then, up in Seattle preparing for LOGIN, I got an email from my dad, saying "This guy went to (your high school), did you know him?"
And holy shit -- I did.
This seriously threw me for a loop, and even now I'm not entirely sure why. I think in a sad way I thought there was no way someone from my high school's rather nerdy music program could achieve this level of rockstar-dom. ;) (And if you doubt the rockstar and haven't seen him perform, hie yourself to rock night and take a look. I'll wait.)
Adam was a phenomenal performer in high school. During my senior year I played principal horn in The Secret Garden, which to this day is one of my favorite musicals largely because of the amount of talent I was fortunate to be a part of in performance at such a young age. Adam sang "Uncle Archie", and anyone familiar with the musical is familiar with the keystone song from it, "Lily's Eyes", a duet performed between "Uncle Archie" and his brother, Neville, who are both (still) in love with Archie's dead wife, Lily. It's a stirring, gorgeous song, and Adam and Brett, the guy who played Neville, were riveting when they sang it. One of the last songs, "How Could I Ever Know", is between Archie and Lily's ghost, and the two of them had audiences sobbing every single show with it. I am not kidding. Sobbing. Very easily audible from the pit.
I also remember his performance of "Paper Moon" at the jazz concert, and that was a performance that stayed with me, too, among the many others that night. It's a great song, but any song has to be sold, and that was what he could do.
So here he gives me a convenient excuse to wax nostalgic about my high school years, this particular part of which I thought perhaps I'd mythologized in memory, but it turns out there was at least one ray of legitimacy there. ;) But all of this is not why you should get off your ass and vote for him tomorrow, even if you've never watched the show.
You should vote for him because I'm telling you to, and if you like me and want me to keep liking you you'll do it and thank me for it.
Or, you could vote for him because he's way, way more talented than Kris Allen, the other guy. I really don't think anyone with functioning ears or eyes disputes this. And if he loses, it will be because America decided he was "too gay", or rather, the 60 million or so squealing teenage girls who vote for American Idol will have so decided.
That may or may not happen. It can be a pretty surprising show. But even if you've never voted -- I never have -- consider taking a look tomorrow and dialing the number. It's free. Vote for who you think you should win. And if the squealing girls pick the guy who threatens their puritan upbringing less, at least you'll know you sided with the right guy and got off your ass long enough to do something about it.
He's a really nice guy. And he's set already, I'd like to think -- he has a hell of a career ahead of him, and I fully realize one blog post is not going to sway this one way or the other, not by a longshot. But I'd like to think I'm giving you the opportunity or encouragement to be part of something really cool. This is the Obama-love. This is telling the right wing fundamentalists that they do not run America. This is telling everyone that this country is not just "a Christian nation" or any ____ nation with a convenient label, but a place where you can be yourself and work your ass off and be deemed worthy by dint of your talent and sweat. At least, that's the America I want to live in.
This guy is truly talented and truly dedicated. He deserves to win. This isn't a national election or a charity drive or a social mission. It's just a phone call. But it could be a really cool phone call.
Thanks for your patience and tolerance in indulging my nostalgia. ;) If nothing else, check out the performances. He puts on a hell of a show.
jsridler and I have been watching "American Idol". We watched last year, too, and this was largely his initiative since I have trouble keeping track of TV programs. (The TV is still an enigmatic box that has yet to reveal its full mysteries to me. I have the ability to turn on Animal Planet and sometimes Discovery and that's about it.)
I've been more interested this season because of the incredible performance offered every show by Adam Lambert, who, if you don't know who he is, is this guy. We've missed a few episodes due to travel, but seriously -- he was the reason I was watching, purely because of the level of showmanship he brought every single time.
Through the course of the season I would say, multiple times, because I was too dumb to actually follow up on this via google, "You know, I knew a guy named Adam Lambert in high school. I wonder what happened to him." In my defense, you have to understand that Adam looked like the guy on the left, and became the guy on the right. It did not even occur to me that they were the same person -- I assumed that because both of his names are not all that uncommon, it was someone else with the same name.
And then, up in Seattle preparing for LOGIN, I got an email from my dad, saying "This guy went to (your high school), did you know him?"
And holy shit -- I did.
This seriously threw me for a loop, and even now I'm not entirely sure why. I think in a sad way I thought there was no way someone from my high school's rather nerdy music program could achieve this level of rockstar-dom. ;) (And if you doubt the rockstar and haven't seen him perform, hie yourself to rock night and take a look. I'll wait.)
Adam was a phenomenal performer in high school. During my senior year I played principal horn in The Secret Garden, which to this day is one of my favorite musicals largely because of the amount of talent I was fortunate to be a part of in performance at such a young age. Adam sang "Uncle Archie", and anyone familiar with the musical is familiar with the keystone song from it, "Lily's Eyes", a duet performed between "Uncle Archie" and his brother, Neville, who are both (still) in love with Archie's dead wife, Lily. It's a stirring, gorgeous song, and Adam and Brett, the guy who played Neville, were riveting when they sang it. One of the last songs, "How Could I Ever Know", is between Archie and Lily's ghost, and the two of them had audiences sobbing every single show with it. I am not kidding. Sobbing. Very easily audible from the pit.
I also remember his performance of "Paper Moon" at the jazz concert, and that was a performance that stayed with me, too, among the many others that night. It's a great song, but any song has to be sold, and that was what he could do.
So here he gives me a convenient excuse to wax nostalgic about my high school years, this particular part of which I thought perhaps I'd mythologized in memory, but it turns out there was at least one ray of legitimacy there. ;) But all of this is not why you should get off your ass and vote for him tomorrow, even if you've never watched the show.
You should vote for him because I'm telling you to, and if you like me and want me to keep liking you you'll do it and thank me for it.
Or, you could vote for him because he's way, way more talented than Kris Allen, the other guy. I really don't think anyone with functioning ears or eyes disputes this. And if he loses, it will be because America decided he was "too gay", or rather, the 60 million or so squealing teenage girls who vote for American Idol will have so decided.
That may or may not happen. It can be a pretty surprising show. But even if you've never voted -- I never have -- consider taking a look tomorrow and dialing the number. It's free. Vote for who you think you should win. And if the squealing girls pick the guy who threatens their puritan upbringing less, at least you'll know you sided with the right guy and got off your ass long enough to do something about it.
He's a really nice guy. And he's set already, I'd like to think -- he has a hell of a career ahead of him, and I fully realize one blog post is not going to sway this one way or the other, not by a longshot. But I'd like to think I'm giving you the opportunity or encouragement to be part of something really cool. This is the Obama-love. This is telling the right wing fundamentalists that they do not run America. This is telling everyone that this country is not just "a Christian nation" or any ____ nation with a convenient label, but a place where you can be yourself and work your ass off and be deemed worthy by dint of your talent and sweat. At least, that's the America I want to live in.
This guy is truly talented and truly dedicated. He deserves to win. This isn't a national election or a charity drive or a social mission. It's just a phone call. But it could be a really cool phone call.
Thanks for your patience and tolerance in indulging my nostalgia. ;) If nothing else, check out the performances. He puts on a hell of a show.