Carol
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 |  Subject: Adam Lambert Just Another Fan  28.01.10 23:38 | |
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- Even in an anonymous office boardroom, far removed from downtown Toronto – never mind Hollywood – Adam Lambert still finds himself followed by fans. Granted, today’s faithful happen to be Entertainment Tonight Canada staffers who’ve tracked the singer down as he shuffles between interviews. (Not that he’s hard to spot: heaped with silver necklaces and kitted in distressed leather, he’s likely the most glamourous person in the Toronto suburbs at this given moment -- and that record-label video camera that’s constantly trained on him? It’s a sorta-kinda giveaway.) Casually chatting from his seat as he preps for another interview, Lambert cheerfully jots his sharpied John Hancock on a copy of his CD, For Your Entertainment, as it’s handed to him.
A year ago, Adam Lambert wouldn’t have been flown to Canada to do a promo blitz in suburban Toronto. That was pre-American Idol – the show that took him from being a hoofer in touring Broadway shows to pop stardom. And long before he’d earned a snappy nickname (“Glambert”), inspired a rash of Avatar slash-fiction fan-art or incensed several thousand delicate television viewers with a sexually-aggressive performance at the American Music Awards.
Schmoozing with people who get as much (if not less) media attention than he does is also still a novelty. The morning of our interview, People Magazine ran a picture of Lambert chilling with Justin Timberlake at a luxe Screen Actors Guild Awards afterparty. That sort of thing, says Lambert, “that’s pretty surreal.”
“It was just such a treat to be able to talk to him for a couple of minutes,” says Lambert of how Timberlake and “his people” came over to introduce themselves at a SAG party that past weekend. “He’s a really smart guy and I respect what he does as a musician and a creator so much, it was really cool. And he knew who I was! It was like, ‘I can’t believe Justin Timberlake knows who I am,’” he says, talking out of the side of his mouth, conspiratorially.
Lambert’s debut, For Your Entertainment, doesn’t feature Timberlake, but the album credits are nevertheless extensive and eclectic – and stacked with bold-faced names. Theatrical British guitar heroes Muse contribute a song (“Soaked”), as does pop star P!nk ( “Whataya Want From Me”), camp-rock revivalist Justin Hawkins of The Darkness (“Music Again”), Lady Gaga (“Fever”) and Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo (“Pick U Up”) -- to name a few. Given the range, odds are you’re a fan of at least one of them. Lambert’s bananas for the whole pack – but in the rare instances where he had the opportunity to work with some of these idols in studio (Lady Gaga and Cuomo were among a small selection), he says his fandom wasn’t a liability.
“To be honest with you, I’m not that easily intimidated. I think that everybody’s human and I think that fame is kind of an illusion, to be honest,” he says – a reassuring fact considering he’s been recruited by Entertainment Tonight to be their red carpet style correspondent at the Grammys this weekend.
That much-repeated Oprah show anecdote about how he was “intimidated” upon meeting Madonna was a rare exception, he says. (“She’s someone who I grew up watching,” he says by way of explanation.) And, OK, maybe you could consider Christina Aguilera fanboy-spaz fodder, as well. “I think Christina Aguilera would be really interesting to perform with, and I think I might be a little starstruck by her because I respect her so much,” he admits.
But working alongside his favourite artists? Lambert says that was his cue to give’er, not gush.
“I mean, Lady Gaga in particular – I’m a huge fan,” says Lambert, who included her song “Fever” on his album. “We just had a great day recording it together. She really pushed me to my limit. […] I was sitting there [in the studio] and Lady Gaga was on the other side of the glass going, ‘Go crazier!’ This is Lady Gaga telling me to go crazier. Go! It definitely is inspiring.”
The song is a dead ringer for a Scissor Sisters single – with the addition of the Lady’s signature sta-sta-sta-stuttering lyrics. And while it’s a bit more disco-inspired than some of the other pop confections on For Your Entertainment, the album is weighted with dance-pop fare – the sort that Britney Spears usually speak-sings in her baby voice, but instead is being sung by a 28-year-old guy with the ability to unleash multi-octave shrieking vocals.
Lambert shares co-writing credit on a handful of tracks. And perhaps fittingly, they’re the “feelings” songs on the disc.
“Especially the songs that I wrote, there were definitely messages I was trying to get across; empowerment messages are really important to me,” he says.
“I like writing about feeling good, about feeling comfortable in your own skin, feeling beautiful from the inside and owning it,” he continues, citing the songs “Strut,” “Aftermath” and “Broken Open.”
But the song that seems the most loaded is one he didn’t touch: his current single, which was provided by P!nk.
“‘Whataya Want From Me’ took on a whole new meaning after the AMA controversy,” says Lambert. “At first, it was about a relationship to me … but then after everything happened I thought, ‘This is funny, because the double meaning here is to the public, and to the fans, like ‘What do you want from me?’ Do you want me to be this guy, or do you want me to this guy? Or do you want me to just be me?’”
“I’d like to choose to just be me!” he says impishly. “But the question still stands, ‘What do you guys want?’”
The pressure of public expectations has started to wane since that AMA media storm – which led to ABC cancelling a scheduled appearance on Good Morning America. “At the beginning – especially right after that controversy with the AMAs it was like ‘Ah! What am I supposed to do?’ But now I feel more grounded.
“It’s great to be talked about, and visible, when you have an album out, of course. But some of the negative attention I wasn’t too fond of. I was like, ‘Really, is it that big of a deal?’ And apparently to some people it was. But the good news is, to some people it was kind of cool, so I’ll just try to pay attention to the positive side.” http://www.dose.ca/music/Interview+Adam+Lambert+Just+Another/2496164/story.html?cid=dose_nav_drop | |
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