After the shocking eliminations of several top favorites this season against all reason, we’re left wondering why we should even try to predict the newest American Idol winner. This is a show where Taylor Hicks — bless him — should never have won and Adam Lambert lost out to that rather bland boy whose name we can never remember.

Still, it should be interesting to watch the final showdown between American Idol’s unlikely top two this season. I’d find it kind of fun if the little blond girl who nearly crawled into Steven Tyler’s lap during her first audition actually managed to stomp all over smirky country boy.

Then again, we haven’t seen a woman win American Idolsince 2007. And we’ve had some girls during those past years with pipes way bigger & better than Alaina’s.

I’ll be watching tonight but honestly it doesn’t really matter to me who wins this time around. James Durbin is the guy we’ll be buying records from at the end of the day. But that’s just me. What’s your opinion on who you think will take home the top prize in the American Idol results – and who really should have?

Even the other American Idol contestants seemed shocked all to hell by the elimination of James Durbin. Scotty McCreery looked like he was about to pass out on stage after finding out he had beaten out Durbin to join the top three. On Facebook, on Twitter, on forums and in comments sections across the Net, American Idol viewers are outraged and angry at Durbin getting the boot. Fans of the remaining top three, of course, call all this complaining sour grapes and point out that if everyone loved him so much, why did he lose the vote?

All is not lost for James Durbin fans, however. Let’s not forget though that in seasons past, it has not always been the winner who eventually rose to be the star of their season. Oh, you know, like Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson for example?

There was the usual outcry of voting manipulation, especially with the new online voting option this season. Of course, we’ve had plenty of those accussations before when favorites have suddenly been booted off, but we’ll never know if there is any truth to the conspiracy theories.

We do know, however, that James Durbin will probably do just fine as the fourth place runner-up on American Idol this season. He still gets to go on tour. He will undoubtably have multiple recording offers to choose from. And hopefully, without having the burden of being the American Idol winner, he’ll actually get to make music that doesn’t suck.

We can hope!

American Idol Top 9 (FOX)

We always expect Crystal Bowersox to knock it out of the park and this week was no exception to the rule. Bowersox wisely followed Adam Lambert’s advice to go electric for her performance of “Saved” and the song choice suited her well. Honestly though, we’re actually starting to get a little bit bored by Bowersox. We know she’s going to be fabulous, but now is the time she needs to push it way harder. We don’t just want to watch her and say “that was terrific” – we want to hear her sing and be stunned into silence by her performance.

Andrew Garcia was one of our least favorite of the night with his take on “Hound Dog”. MTV.com’s Jim Cantiello called it “cruelty to animals” and we have to agree. We love that Adam Lambert didn’t pull any punches with Garcia during rehearsal. “It’s boring,” Lambert told Garcia. “I was bored. I’m going to be totally honest with you. I know I can be straight up with you.” Sadly, Garcia apparently didn’t learn anything from Lambert’s words of wisdom when he took to the stage.

We were angry when Tim Urban actually didn’t suck completely on “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. We’ve been bashing this guy since the beginning and the past two weeks he’s actually managed to not have the worst performance of the night. We don’t agree with Simon Cowell that Urban has gone from a “zero to a hero” – but we humbly admit he is improving. That being said, he still sounds like a cheap knockoff of a drunken karaoke singer.

While Lee DeWyze impressed us a bit with his rendition of “A Little Less Conversation”, we still think he needs some serious lessons in vocal control. Still, we rate him probably second or third for the night.

Aaron Kelly‘s “Blue Suede Shoes” was a yawn and we’re pretty sure he is just continuing to skate through based on the “cute” vote. Kelly is the guy we consistently forget exists, which is just about the worst thing you can say about a singer.

We’ve always had a bit of a thing for Siobhan Magnus, just because she’s a little bit “different” than the usual Idol contestant, but her “Suspicious Minds” performance was trivial and uninspiring. Magnus has had her moments this season, but last night wasn’t one of them.

Michael Lynche gave us a happy moment with his version of “In the Ghetto”, but our love for Big Mike is starting to wane. He’s got a great voice, but it’s beginning to feel like he’s kind of a one-note performer. Even so, he still stands out among the guys as one of the few who does have a decent share of natural talent to work with.

Simon Cowell called Katie Steven‘s performance of “Baby, What You Want Me To Do?” “shrieky and annoying” and we’ll jump right on that bandwagon. We’re done with Stevens and we hope the American Idol viewers will be too as soon as possible.

The judges were not impressed with Casey James and his boring-as-hell take on “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”. We frankly wanted to fast-forward through it after the first few notes. We don’t hate James, but we feel he’s another contestant getting by on the “cute” vote. Then again, there are plenty of music industry ‘stars’ out there doing the same thing and making buttloads of cash.

We’re glad Adam Lambert was around this week to give us some entertainment on American Idol, because the contestants failed for the most part to do anything of the sort. We can’t wait until Lambert takes the stage tonight to show these losers how it’s really supposed to be done!

>> Previously:  American Idol Top 9 Prepare for Elvis Night

]]> http://snarkfood.com/american-idol-elvis-night-blues/37859/feed/ 3 http://snarkfood.com/adam-lambert-whataya-want-from-me-premier/36591/ http://snarkfood.com/adam-lambert-whataya-want-from-me-premier/36591/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:05:05 +0000 Laura Vess http://snarkfood.com/?p=6591 The new Adam Lambert music video for “Whataya Want from Me” (co-written by Pink and Max Martin) premiered on MTV and VH1 on Friday morning. Instead of the over-the-top glam rocker we usually see, Adam Lambert appears in the new video as an emotionally raw and vulnerable young man torn between public and private life.

Adam Lambert

In the new “Whataya Want from Me” video from For Your Entertainment, Adam Lambert leaves behind the glam rock persona and the overt sexuality, instead taking a much more serious and introspective tone. The video, filmed with a gray, industrial feel, focuses the attention on Lambert’s outstanding vocals, rather than his outrageous looks – which we feel is a good move.

Plus, Adam Lambert is kind of even hotter when he just looks like a sort of normal guy. Not that we want him to give up the glitter and five layers of eyeliner though, certainly not!

Check out the video below:

>> Previously: Adam Lambert on Oprah Soon But Glee Rumor Untrue

Adam Lambert

Although producers for The Oprah Winfrey Show aren’t confirming anything yet, Adam Lambert told fans via his Twitter feed that he would be sitting down with Oprah soon. “Oprah: def true,” Lambert Tweeted. Oprah’s minions have reportedly put out a call for Adam Lambert fans on Facebook, so we guess the appearance won’t be too far off.

“I’m really excited. I want to meet her,” Lambert told Extra. “We have the same birthday! She’s incredible. What a great leader, communicator, philanthropist.” Lambert said he was “really curious what she is going to ask me. Maybe she will dig and make me cry.”

Glee fans, sadly, will not be seeing Adam Lambert on an upcoming episode of that show. Lambert told fans on his Twitter feed the rumor he will be appearing on Glee are not true. “If I had to pick a show to guest star on I’d loooooooove to be on True Blood. Or Weeds.”

Oh yeah, we can see Adam Lambert as a hot True Blood vampire or a bad-ass Mary Jane drug runner on Weeds. Bring it on!

>> Previously:  ABC Cancels Adam Lambert Again After AMA Controversy

Lambert had been scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Dec. 17 and on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. ABC reportedly informed Lambert he was no longer welcome at either gig.

“Yes, sadly friends, ABC has canceled my appearance on Kimmel and NYE. (Don’t blame them. It’s the FCC heat),” Lambert posted on his Twitter feed about the cancellations.

Actually, the FCC does not monitor network programming after 10 PM. Adam Lambert’s AMA performance aired well after the cut off time. So basically, ABC doesn’t have the FCC to blame for their censure one bit.

In a press statement, ABC would only say the network “decided not to move forward” with the bookings at this time.

>> Previously: Adam Lambert AMA Performance Spurs Complaints and Outrage

Susan Boyle also topped the British album sales charts earlier this week. Boyle’s album sold a record-setting 701,000 copies sold, even beating out American Idol alumni Adam Lambert‘s debut album, which came in at number three. Andrea Bocelli‘s My Christmas took the number two spot.

I Dreamed a Dream slugged out Eminem‘s previous record sales this year for Relapse, making it the biggest debut album of 2009 by far.

In a week that featured new albums by Lambert, Rihanna and Lady Gaga, pulling the number one spot is quite a coup for Susan Boyle.

>> Previously:  Susan Boyle Sings on ‘Dancing with the Stars’

Adam Lambert at American Music Awards

Timothy Winters, president of the PTC, said members of the organization are “outraged” over the show. “They just can’t believe the nature of the content, the explicit nature, and how much graphic content there was.”

Adam Lambert at the AMAs was a whirlwind of sexual suggestiveness and BDSM imagery. Even hardcore fans of Lambert are torn in their response to the performance, which included Lambert leading two dancers on leashes, simulating oral sex on stage and French-kissing a male keyboardist.

Lambert said after the performance, “I had fun, my dancers had fun, the audience that was in the Nokia had fun. Anybody else who was watching it and enjoying it, thank you for being entertained.”

The American Idol runner-up said in an interview before the American Music Awards that he wanted to push the envelope in his performance. “We’ve seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years,” Lambert said. “They’ve been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don’t see men doing it very often. And I’m hoping to break down that double standard with this number.”

>> Previously:  Adam Lambert AMA Performance Shocks and Thrills

We’re doubting that ultra-strict contract forced on AI winners would have allowed anything like the extreme sexuality and BDSM insanity of Adam Lambert on the AMAs Sunday night. The boy shoved a dancer’s head in his crotch! Aggresively french kissed his male keyboard player! Oh, and let’s not forget Lambert leading people around on leashes!

Adam Lambert on the VMAs was a sight to behold, both extravegently shocking and entirely entertaining. We also have to laugh out loud considering juts last week, the editor of Out magazine was bashing Lambert for not being gay enough. Well eat that, Mr. Out editor!

Naturally, there are plenty of folks out there who took offense to Adam Lambert and his overt sexuality on stage. Actually, we do have to agree that it might have been a wee bit out there, especially for a show watched by a hell of a lot of teenies. On the other hand, is there really all the big a difference between Lambert’s psuedo-sex on stage and Janet Jackson’s crotch-grabbing? The West Coast broadcast of the AMAs actually cut out the simulated oral sex, though they did keep the same-sex kiss.

While Lambert’s vocal performance did suffer due to all the antics going on, it’s hard to deny his appearance on stage at the AMAs was a show-stopper. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out, it’s definately worth a viewing… or two… or three…

>> Previously: J Lo Falls at AMAs and Adam Lambert Takes a Tumble Too