Adam Lambert says ABC cancels more appearances

[Louisiana1976]

More than a week after his controversial performance at the American Music Awards, Adam Lambert says he continues to find himself an unwanted guest on ABC.

Late Wednesday night, Mr. Lambert, the singer and “American Idol” finalist, wrote on his Twitter account that his invitation to two more ABC programs had been withdrawn. “Yes, sadly friends,” Mr. Lambert wrote, “ABC has cancelled my appearances” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special.

Last week, ABC scratched a planned appearance by Mr. Lambert on “Good Morning America,” its morning talk show. That decision stemmed from Mr. Lambert’s performance on Nov. 22 at the American Music Awards, also broadcast on ABC, during which he simulated sex acts with his dancers, kissed a male bandmate and extended his middle finger to the camera.

snip

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/adam-lambert-says-abc-cancels-more-appearances/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Lambert's too hip for the room as far as ABC goes.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Well said!

Of course, Stephen Foster is too hip for the room at ABC, much less Lambert.

[Christa]

2. How backwards of them

He is one of the best and greatest we have.

[wysimdnwyg]

15. Seriously?

Am I missing some sarcasm here? If not, has Lambert even released his first album yet? Yes, I understand the man apparently has some talent. (I have not heard him perform, so I will not judge his abilities.) But come on, to call him "one of the best and greatest we have" is incredibly premature at best. No matter how much talent Lambert may have, that statement is an insult to the multitude of great artists who have come before him.

[Christa]

20. I have seen him perform

okay, it was just on tv (Idol) but still.

I have read somewhere that he was contacted by Queen to perform in Freddy Mercury's place.

Here he is with Queen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Jgx3vjK3E

From the movie 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY_pTTp2QBs

From Ten Commandments the Musical starring Val Kilmer. The song is performed by Adam Lambert as Joshua:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvwcJUhIa0U

[JackRiddler]

38. His performances give me hope that a new punk movement is coming to lop off his head.

[wysimdnwyg]

39. And still

None of that does a thing to change my mind. I can see why some might enjoy his music, but tell Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Will.i.am and Beyonce that Adam Lambert - who has been on the music scene for less than a year - is worthy of inclusion as a "greatest".

I'm with JackRiddler. Where is Joe Strummer when we need him?

[Thickasabrick]

24. His album is hot and here is a link to the hottest video I have seen

in years - check it out.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid10172910001?bctid=52480226001

[prole_for_peace]

27. And he is pretty dang hot too.

for some reason i always crush on guys who are cuter (and wear more makeup) than me

[Thickasabrick]

30. Word....the guy could have a career as a makeup artist - his eyes

just blow me away.

[izquierdista]

25. Timing is everything

I believe Jim Morrison had a few #1's behind him before he fished out the trouser trout for the audience.

[Bluebear]

41. Yes, speaking as a musician, the guy has brilliant abilities

[SoCalNative]

3. It's homophobia, plain and simple

THey replaced Lambert on GMA with Chris Brown.

So domestic violence is a-ok with ABC/Disney but being gay isn't.

[slackmaster]

5. Let me know when Chris Brown simulates pimp-slapping a woman on live TV

:nuke:

[Teaser]

8. He didn't need to run a simulation

he has the actual data in hand. And made the original project world-searchable.

[slackmaster]

13. I agree he's a known asshole, but Adam's conduct on stage was over the top

I feel the same way about simulated heterosexual acts on a program with an audience that includes children, BTW.

[Teaser]

14. I ain't arguing Adam's conduct

I simply don't care about the issue one way or another.

However, Chris Brown should be drummed out of public life.

[slackmaster]

17. Anyone who tries to drum Chris Brown out of public life will be tarred as a racist

I think you know that.

[Christa]

21. Did you condemn Madonna and Britney as well? nt

[slackmaster]

22. I've never spent a nickel on anything either of them have produced

:hi:

[cali]

26. I'll take a gamble on that

I certainly wasn't bothered by the kiss Adam laid on his band member, but the dragging around of the female dancer and the simulated oral sex thing were a bit different than a kiss.

[cbdo2007]

31. That was on cable...on MTV even. You can get away with a lot more there than

on one of the broadcast networks.

Though MTV has banned people for cursing during the MTV Video Music awards live show before because they knew they could do it differently than how it was practiced and they would slip by the censors. That's why I think this has more to do with him flipping off the camera than the kissing or dancing suggestively. I think flipping off the camera is an FCC violation, which is the same as saying "F*ck you" but unlike something they can bleep out with a delay, they would have to completely blank out the screen which isn't as easy for them to do.

[joeybee12]

4. Well, a company owned by Disney is of course gonna be assholes...n/t

[sui generis]

6. I think the outcome would have been the same if the sex acts

had been simulated with the opposite gender.

I really like Adam Lambert and I believe in pushing boundaries, but those got pushed too far to support advertising revenue. ABC is in the business of providing entertainment to support advertising, PERIOD. It's not a social development organization, no matter how much we'd like it to be.

[marshall]

7. He could have handled the fallout better

They want people on television that are somewhat predictable, and he basically said he didn't have any control and that he didn't understand what happened.

[Kolesar]

9. Who the fudge is this Lambert?

I never heard of him

[cali]

10. well, that performance was about as bad as anything I've seen in a while

shock schlock and lousy vocals.

[hlthe2b]

18. There is an adage in public speaking that should apply to entertainment...

Know your audience..... AMA was a bad choice to push the shock value... IMO, he would have gotten far more mileage from a solid performance with "true" vocals... Instead, he chose to focus on pushing the envelope with the theatrics. It failed. While I don't doubt generally that there is homophobia at play among the corporate "suits" who make programming decisions, I think to suggest this to be the only explanation for Lambert's problems now, somewhat misses the point and certainly overstates his level of talent... That said, I think subbing Chris Brown for Lambert was a despicable and hypocritical decision...

[cbdo2007]

11. Are any of those things that he did FCC violations?

I don't think simulated sex acts or kissing a guy are but I do think it is an FCC violation to flip off the camera and is more difficult for them to censor on a live show than just bleeping someone's voice if they say something bad.

[Fuzz]

12. His music sucks anyway.

[WolverineDG]

19. He said on "Ellen" that he performed the song differently than he had rehearsed it

so, yeah, I'd be gun-shy about letting him back on my programming too. Had he rehearsed the song the way he performed it & ABC had still let him on the air, I'd feel differently about them cancelling his appearances.

dg

[Zywiec]

33. Agreed

You don't let people on live TV who are unpredictable and could cause you to be fined by an over-sensitive FCC. I blame this on Adam and the FCC.

[Thickasabrick]

23. I love him and he basically said on Ellen the other day that he's learning

and would think more about his audience next time. They are homophobic assholes and just one more reason for me to never watch them.

They are taking the side of 1500 (probably organized by that Parent Organization) vs tens of thousands of his fans...idiots.

[cbdo2007]

29. All they are siding with is their desire to make money. They aren't siding

with 1500 people from some wacko fringe organization. He just isn't worth the risk to their censors.

[hlthe2b]

32. Do you really think there are no gay parents who likewise felt

that venue on network tv during prime time to have been inappropriate for such an adult-oriented performance?

It sounds like he has recognized that a performance that focused more on solid vocals would have gotten him further at this juncture, leaving him free to "push the envelope" at a later point... :shrug: Just sayin...

[Thickasabrick]

34. But that is the point - he went on at 10:55. One of the earlier female

performers grabbed a male crotch and we don't hear crap. It's bullshit. If people are so worried about "the children" they need to turn the TV off after 9:00 or Tivo it before you let kids see anything.

[hlthe2b]

36. It was network tv that is commercially sponsored...

Had it been on HBO, Showtime or other cable that is totally subscription based, rather than dependent on commercial sponsorship, I would agree. However, he opted to change his performance from what he had presented in rehearsals. There is an element of breach of agreement there, at the least. And, yes, I am sure many kids watch tv after 10 PM... I know that I did.

Successful performers adapt to their changing audiences. This is something I think Adam is learning, the hard way.

[SoCalDem]

28. Is he surprised?

Perhaps a Showtime special or HBO is his his future, but the "bland-stream" networks will avoid him like the plague.. he embarrassed them, and they hate to be embarrassed.

[hlthe2b]

35. Heaven knows, I hate to defend the networks-- at all..

But, it seems to me that he did break a commitment to them when he changed his performance so radically from what he had led them to expect in his rehearsal...

And, yes, I agree that cable is a much more appropriate venue for performers to push the envelope, given the subscription nature of programming that is not dependent on commercial sponsors to satisfy any particular demographic.

[ohheckyeah]

37. I like Lambert

but he brought this on himself. The AMA is not the place for a whole dance routine about S&M and shoving a dancer's face into his crotch was way over the top for a network t.v. show. Add to the face to the crotch all of the crotch grabbing and it's no surprise ABC wasn't happy.

[whistler162]

40. Who ever he is he must be happy with the publicity he is getting