American Idol singer draws complaints from TV viewers for his sexually-charged man-on-man show during the ABC American Music Awards
By Robin Rowe

Adam Lambert, no apology

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/24/2009 – “I’m a sexual person,” says singer Adam Lambert, who declared he was gay after American Idol ended in May. “And, maybe people didn’t see that on American Idol.”

At the ABC American Music Awards on Sunday, Lambert gave a male keyboard player an open-mouthed kiss, rammed the face of a male back-up dancer into his crotch, and gave the audience the middle finger during the closing act of the live television show. Dick Clark Productions disavowed fore knowledge of Lambert’s raunchy improvisations. Lambert says he was just being “in the moment”.

Reaction is split regarding Lambert’s racy performance. Lambert’s fans seem to like it. Others don’t, including some music critics on strictly artistic grounds. Perhaps nobody dislikes Adam Lambert more than conservative gay advocates.

After years of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” conditioning to try to blend in, some shocked gay rights proponents are speaking against Lambert, calling his blatantly sexual behavior “the kind of sex that turns people into animals.” Lambert is being accused of being too gay, of turning mainstream America homophobic and told to expect “very real consequences your actions will have on others’ civil rights.” In other words, in the future it will be Adam Lambert’s fault that gay marriage was banned.

Gay marriage has lost in every state, 31 in all, where it’s been put to a popular vote. However, it’s a close race. Gay marriage activists hoping to win in Maine this month were narrowly defeated. Gay marriage proponents say they’re in the fight for the long haul. After all, it took women’s rights activists seventy years to get the right for women to vote in America, in 1920.

Adam Lambert on stage with AMA backup dancer

ABC Television says it received about 1,500 complaints on Monday for Lambert’s controversial act. After the live uncut broadcast to the East Coast, ABC removed images of Lambert rubbing the face of a male dancer into his crotch from the U.S. West Coast telecast that aired later on Sunday.

Janet Jackson famously blamed a “wardrobe malfunction” for her indiscretion. Lambert offers no excuses.

“I don’t feel like I owe anyone an apology,” says Lambert. “I did something female performers have been doing for years. All of a sudden a guy does it, and it’s crazy.”

The FCC eventually fined CBS $550,000 for broadcasting a glimpse of Janet Jackson’s breast to 90 million TV viewers during the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show. However, ABC faces faint risk of an FCC fine this time because Lambert’s performance was broadcast around 11pm, outside the FCC’s 6am-10pm broadcast ban on indecent material.

Not taking any chances, ABC canceled Lambert’s appearance this week on Good Morning America, which airs at 7am. On Twitter, the topic #shameonYouABC has been a hot topic since the GMA cancellation.

Adam Lambert, too gay?

CBS has announced that Lambert will perform live on Wednesday, Nov. 25th, on The Early Show, airing at 7am, and will discuss his controversial American Music Awards performance. On Monday, Lambert pre-taped a performance for the Late Show with David Letterman that airs Wednesday.

Lambert appears on the Ellen show on December 1st, where same-sex marriage seems a likely topic. Ellen DeGeneres wed actress Portia de Rossi in a same-sex marriage on August 16, 2008. After the passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on their legal status, a Supreme Court judgment upheld their marriage because it occurred before November 4, 2008.

On Monday Lambert released his debut album “For Your Entertainment.” By midday it was #11 on the iTunes albums charts.