In Israel, Adam Lambert would have won

[IndianaGreen]

In Israel, Adam Lambert would have won

By Bradley Burston

If it had been up to Israelis, "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert would have won.

Not because he's Jewish. Because he can sing.

Israelis keep asking me why Adam Lambert, whose gargantuan talent clearly places him in the category of Touched By God, didn't win. Here is one reason:

Because many, many Americans don't want to think that God works that way.

I should state at the outset that is not a column about music. This is, at heart, about deviance, and how societies respond to the deviants in their midst - whether with fascistic denial ("In Iran, we don't have homosexuals"), or with an unease that spurs them to seek desperate refuge in the bland.

Seldom has a singing contest been so clear-cut a case of no contest. In a final duet alongside eventual winner Kris Allen, Adam Lambert sang him off the stage. And no one knew that better than Kris Allen.

So what was it about Lambert that moved tens of millions of Americans to make sure that he would not win?

Some, at least, decided to take a stand. It was time to cast a vote against deviant behavior. Against men who keep their eyeliner thick and their sexual preference determinedly indeterminate. Against a polite, generous, fearsomely gifted deviant.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1087783.html

[Christa]

1. I agree

I think the right wing voters would never have allowed a gay crossdresser to win. On one forum a girl actually said: "He does not look like a typical American Idol."

Another one accused him of being a girl dressed in male clothes.

We still have a long way to go.

[IndianaGreen]

3. And Adam is Jewish, while Kris was Assembly of God (Jimmy Swaggart's old church)

On the surface, the choice of Kris Allen - not unlike the choice of George W. Bush - suggests that the more unreliable America seems, the more unsafe, the more threatening it gets, that is, the more diverse it gets, the more the people who used to call themselves Real Americans, that is, Christians, are going to look for a Kris Allen to soothe them.

"Though never referenced on the show," the Associated Press commented, "Allen's religious background may have also played a role. Allen has worked as a worship leader at his hometown church, traveling on mission trips around the globe."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1087783.html

[kaiwai]

11. I don't even watch American Idol

But I'd vote for Adam because he simply doesn't look like the type associated with American Idol.

[teenagebambam]

2. Lambert will win in the end

with a longer career and his dignity intact.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Jennifer Hudson lost too, and early in the competition!

and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

[Metric System]

5. Interestingly, Adam is out-selling Kris on the iTunes top-selling albums chart in the US and Canada.

Each guy has an album out exclusively on iTunes entitled "Season 8 Favorite Performances" and the album costs $9.99. When I checked iTunes US yesterday, Adam was at #2 behind Eminem's new album, while on iTunes Canada Adam was at #3 behind the new Green Day and Eminem albums. I believe Kris's album was at #6 on iTunes US while his album wasn't even in the top 10 on iTunes Canada (Note: I believe the US and Canadian iTunes are the only countries where these albums are being sold). It's interesting to see that more people are shelling out $9.99 for Adam's album than for Kris's album.

[Left Is Write]

7. I heard Adam's version of "No Boundaries" on the radio this afternoon.

It's also being sold on iTunes.

What happens when Adam does better with the "winner's" single than the actual winner does?

[Chovexani]

8. I bought Adam's AI album on iTunes

The first time I've ever paid money for anything from anybody on AI

[Metric System]

9. I just checked iTunes US again and he's still at #2 behind Eminem! I find iTunes Canada to be the

most interesting because it gives a glimpse into Adam's international appeal. Like I said in my first post, Kris's album isn't even in the top 10 on the album chart on iTunes Canada. Also, I just noticed that Adam's Mad World single is one spot ahead of Kris's No Boundaries on iTunes Canada's top selling singles chart.

[Christa]

12. Fantastic!

Kris is a sweet guy, he knows full well Adam is the better singer.

I predict Adam will become really big on the world's stage. He even looked quite at home with Queen,and that says a lot.

I adore him.

[Left Is Write]

6. This part ---

In a final duet alongside eventual winner Kris Allen, Adam Lambert sang him off the stage. And no one knew that better than Kris Allen.

I said almost the same thing to my husband this afternoon. We were re-watching the "We Are The Champions" duet from Wednesday night, and in my mind, there was NO comparison between Adam and Kris. Adam was clearly better.

[kaiwai]

10. Adam is Jewish?

*shrugs* I'm not surprised at what happened given how far behind socially the United States is from the rest of the world.

Your right wing is still rehashing issues that most right wing parties left long ago. Maybe in 50 years time after the Republicans have lost again and again and again and again and again - that their social conservatism isn't wanted.