Queen at the EMAs

GratefulFan wrote:

e-man wrote:

imagine being on stage and the audience loves you, regardless of quality (and you KNOW I'm right. many of the contestantsdon't deserve a polite round of applause even) - and when 1, 2 or at max 3, people claim you were anything but brilliant  - the rest of the room starts to boo????? Give me a break.

It seems to me that Lambert has always inhabited a world where he was applauded, always the bees knees.  There was something floating around a few years ago  posted by a couple of his old high school classmates.  They said he was talented but arrogant and somebody that treated people in the social tiers 'below him' with indifference and disdain.  Now not everybody is going to get positive reviews from everybody else in high school, so don't want to overblow that, but he does have that aura of confidence about him that comes from things always having come easily rather than somebody who has had to dig deep and find real substance through adversity, rejection and difficulty.  The AI/TV talent show format is the perfect continuation of that.  Musical theatre class, suburbia and a life with too little resistance aren't usually key in the development of great rock stars.  Perfect recipe though for people who lack the humility required to recognize when a moment is not about them, and that they are not in fact a peer of the dead Freddie Mercury.

The thought ever cross your mind that these supposed classmates of his perhaps never liked him? or that some jealousy is involved? Or maybe they just wanted a brief bit of fame and say something that will get some press?

Michael Allred wrote:

e-man wrote:

fake artists have always been around, and always will be - but to make tv entertainment about it and portrait the contestants as superbartists (how can you be an artist without a record out???) is just a complete joke

and do you sincerely believe that some youtube comment has the same effect on a karaoke contestant who's in front of a tv audience which absolutely LOVES to be in the room, as a "fuck off and play another song" has on someone at the nearest club?
in my book - THAT IS NAIVE

imagine being on stage and the audience loves you, regardless of quality (and you KNOW I'm right. many of the contestants don't deserve a polite round of applause even) - and when 1, 2 or at max 3, people claim you were anything but brilliant  - the rest of the room starts to boo????? Give me a break.

So to be an artist, you have to have a record out?

and no, one single youtube comment doesn't amount to much. Clearly that's not what I was talking about. Blogs, Facebook, any number of web sites, etc etc etc. Twitter, you name it. Information spreads quickly, so does bad word of mouth. 

When someone is refered to as an artist, yes, I think they should have a record out. Otherwise, both you and I are artists. as well as anyone else who hasn't got a record out, but might have sung a song on stage in front of other people .

blogs and facebook compared to someone standing right in front of you when you're on stage and saying "bollocks - you stink!"? I'd take a million negative tweets any day

I found that thing I was talking about:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephhobbs/3410100083/

At some point in the conversation thread somebody notes that Adam may have acknowledged his own earlier attitude issues in an interview in his hometown.  It seems the man can evolve so maybe there is hope that someday he might chuckle over that time he rambled on about his big gay self out of left field in the middle of somebody else's moment at the EMAs.

In the end he has his fans and none of it entirely matters.  The weird adulation out there is not his fault, it's just a little discouraging to see the embrace of style over substance and opportunity over suitability on a flipping music forum. I don't think anybody would deny he should be earning a living with his voice, but  reality is unforgiving and it sets his talent on a screeching and dispassionate collision course with his artistic choices just about as often as it doesn't. Real artists have a better sense of who they are.

Donna13 wrote: I'm not sure if quoting always works for me but my post was in response to GFF's post regarding how Adam's high school friends remembered him.  So I was referring to my perception of his character based on how he comes off during interviews.

To me he's a study in concocted modesty and passive arrogance half the time.  Right from his first audition with Bohemian Rhapsody for AI his personality was sometimes like biting on tin foil for me.  Funny how people have such different responses.  I often wonder why that is.

I agree with pretty much everything Grateful has said in this thread, but I'll add that I find Lambert incredibly annoying , not just for his contrived modesty act, but also because he's such a blatantly poor copy-cat of Freddie (with a little Bowie, Plant and Elvis mixed in). As much as an "artist" as he considers himself, he really isn't very artistic or creative. Look at the older Queen and Bowie videos and tell me he isn't ripping off virtually every nuance and fashion statement already made by both of them.  To me, he's a guy with who was born with an incredible range in his voice, and not much of an artistic vision beyond ripping off the style of artists who paved the way for him.

FWIW, I liked him on Idol, even saw him in concert once,  and he really does have a beautiful voice, a stunning voice, but he just doesn't have any emotional depth and most of the good Queen songs are much to complex for him to even begin to comprehend, let alone perform. Maybe he should have lowered his sights and done Delilah or Yeah for the EMAs, because he fell so short with TSMGO, it was painful to watch.

Scofflaw wrote:

...he really does have a beautiful voice, a stunning voice, but he just doesn't have any emotional depth and most of the good Queen songs are much to complex for him to even begin to comprehend, let alone perform. 

I like your thoughts on this, going to start a new thread because of it, thank you!

Enjoy your negativity folks. I'm over it.

Ah, yes.  The last refuge of the uncritical.  Everybody else is just full of  'negativity'.

Michael Allred wrote: Enjoy your negativity folks. I'm over it.

also known as "the easy way out".
no personal offence there, really.

why is it negativity to have the opinion that freddie is a better singer, performer, and artist and adam cannot fill those shoes?

If you want negativity, though, I can give you that as well. His most successful days are probably behind him, and there are valid reasons why he was not able to get a record deal before idol.

He's not very creative or inventive despite his belief to the contrary
His voice is excellent, but his vocal stylings (the nervous goat vibrato, the screaming, and obnoxious oversinging of every note) turns off more people than it attracts
He has a habit of shooting himself in the foot. Often.

I also think if he had been able to nail Tsmgo, a good deal of publicity would have ensued in the states, but once again his nerves got the best of him and his voice was so shaky, the performance was largely ignored.

Scofflaw wrote: why is it negativity to have the opinion that freddie is a better singer, performer, and artist and adam cannot fill those shoes?

If you want negativity, though, I can give you that as well. His mostsuccessful days are probably behind him, and there are valid reasons why he was not able to get a record deal before idol.

He's not very creative or inventive despite his belief to the contrary
His voice is excellent, but his vocal stylings (the nervous goat vibrato, the screaming, and obnoxious oversinging of every note) turns off more people than it attracts
He has a habit of shooting himself in the foot. Often.

I also think if he had been able to nail Tsmgo, a good deal of publicity would have ensued in the states, but once again his nerves got the best of him and his voice was so shaky, the performance was largely ignored.

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You're also forgetting that Lambert was off key throughout the whole thing (like hitting Eb5s instead of D5s), and hitting halfway between B4 and C5 on WATC! :D

Wow, do you have perfect pitch?

I could tell the notes were off, but only because it sounded awful, and as if he was using the vibrato to cover it up, but  even with years of music lessons, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what those notes were. That's impressive!

Scofflaw wrote:

I also think if he had been able to nail Tsmgo, a good deal of publicity would have ensued in the states, but once again his nerves got the best of him and his voice was so shaky, the performance was largely ignored.

Was TSMGO even broadcast in the States?  I wondered about that...it was cut completely on the Canadian feed on Much Music.  They were introduced and then it went right into WWRY/Champions.

and so it happens that the Sunday Mirror reports that it was very nearly a duet of Queen and
Lady Gaga at the EMAs.  Brian & Roger had first approached her to do a medley of Queen hits
however she declined. According to the report the timing was just not right as she was keen to
perform Marry the Night from her latest album.  I'd like to see her perform Radio Gaga for sure.
I think she could be visually amazing with that - and have no doubt she could sing it.

Scofflaw wrote: Wow, do you have perfect pitch?

I could tell the notes were off, but only because it sounded awful, and as if he was using the vibrato to cover it up, but  even with years of music lessons, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what those notes were. That's impressive!

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I've got perfect pitch (Bob also has it), and it's a CURSE!!!! Many people have great relative pitch (able to tell if something's off), but having perfect pitch (able to tell the exact notes and tunings), is less common!