Why You Should Get Off Your Ass and Vote for Adam Lambert

[zhai]

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

Comments

[jirel]

I vote for Adam - not every time but as soon as he appeared in the bottom two I made it a point to vote for him - if I can get through the phone lines. I think he is unbelievably talented and I've traced every one of his performances on youtube that I can find. I'm just bummed because he will probably create an album that is too rock for me and I can't afford the tickets (minimum $80) to see the show when it comes to Tampa. But that will not stop me from voting as much as I can for him on Tuesday.

[zhai]

I'm really curious about what kind of album he'll create and how well it will do. I was telling jsridler it would be fantastic/hilarious if he wrote (and designed for) a rock opera. I also think he would make an AMAZING Phantom someday.

[chicken_bazoom]

I was in choir with Adam in high school (though, not really, me being in Women's Ensemble and he in Classical), and have a vague memory of one of our concerts where he performed as Phantom. I could be wrong though; it was years ago, but I definitely remember the "Lily's Eyes" performance.

My sister became friends with him after high school when they worked at the Starbucks in Poway together. She just found out he was on AI and got really excited for him. :)

[zhai]

Ah, very cool. :) It does seem a natural fit for him, particularly considering the range of the part...

It's amazing to me how long it took the news to percolate out that it was the 'same' Adam -- maybe it moved faster among folk who were actually in the vocal program, but I imagine a lot of them don't necessarily talk much anymore...

[nelliebelle]

it's actually better for his future career to NOT win idol.

[zhai]

You mean just statistically, or because of the obligations?

[nelliebelle]

a little bit of both. for the most part it seems like the ones who are actually selling records (besides carrie underwood and kelly clarkson) did not win. fantasia really hasn't done much of anything, while jennifer hudson has an oscar. where is taylor hicks nowadays? did he even have a single on the radio? from the season he won, bucky covington and kellie pickler have play on country radio, elliott yamin had a pop hit, and chris daughtry is like the 4th most successful idol of all.

[nelliebelle]

I just wanted to ring in and say that these are all really good points.

I think at the end of the day, whether a contestant perseveres through, or in spite of, American Idol is a testament to their "artist-ness." It is the standard that a legitimate AI contestant can turn a Karaoke contest into a rock concert, but only a sliver of them have the marketability, charisma, and the ability to lay down their own music at the next level - the level of a recording artist. You need all three of those qualities to make it, and you can track every failed AI contestant to lacking one of those qualities.

[jetfx]

Virtually the same thing happened to me last summer. A guy I went to school with from primary until graduation, made his way onto Canadian Idol, eventually getting second place. I knew him quite well in school (there was less than 400 students), but we were never really friends.

[zhai]

Wow, interesting. Nova Scotia, eh? :) Six degrees of separation, I suppose...

[devilwrites]

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.Hey now. The former voice major protests this very much

[zhai]

Also, check this out:

http://twitter.com/pastorjpruitt/status/1851677824

This is what I was afraid of. It is being turned into a lifestyle/belief mission. We will see how it turns out -- a lot of fans seem to be mad about it.

(He was in the class after me -- a junior when I graduated.)

[devilwrites]

Yeah, I really hate that crap. I've been hearing about it over and over in the comments at EW, and it's disgusting. This is why I don't want to see Kris win, though I think an upset would be wicked.

[devilwrites]

And now, I shall apologize in case I got a little over-zealous. I do actually follow fan reaction on the internet (it kills time when it's slow at work), but I've never commented. I'll tell you what though: if you ever want to dig in to see what others are saying, I highly recommend EW.com. Michael Sleazak's columns are excellent, and their Idolatry videos are HYSTERICAL. Trust me. :)

And I must ask: when you sort of followed season seven, who did you root for?

[zhai]

Just tagging on another reply down here, even though I'm realizing I covered my main points in the first one. :) I'll just add that I don't think it's bias that leans me toward Adam. I think he's been in a class of his own from the beginning, and hope that can be recognized. It doesn't mean Kris sucks, and I think in particular in the finale he gave a good performance for the first song, but he's just not in the same league in range, originality, or fidelity of his voice.

Will check out EW.com, I think, or maybe I'll forget, but thanks for the recc. :)

Season 7, I got frustrated when Carly was eliminated, because I also felt like she was a far better vocalist than those ahead of her, but I think Jay was always rooting for David Cook, and I switched over to him when we watched the last couple of episodes (I did like him after Carly, and loved "Billie Jean" like everyone else), and both of us were stunned when he won.

[devilwrites]

He is definitely in a class of his own. I recognized his talent before I actually liked him (didn't like him until Mad World), and I definitely Adam deserves to win it. I went into the episode rooting for both of them, to be honest, but I think Adam came out ahead.

I didn't start watching last season until AFTER Carly was eliminated, but I saw some footage and I think I would've loved her. I'll keep an eye out for her post-Idol album. We started watching during Neil Diamond week, and David Cook was my immediate favorite. :)

[devilwrites]

One warning: EW hated Gokey, which is really apparent not in the recaps, but in the Idolatry videos. I'd suggest, when you find those, to scroll down and start toward the bottom if you want to see an overview of the competition from the start, but yeah. They're fun. :)