I attended the AMA awards. The most offensive part of the AMAs for me was when one of the performers (I believe it was Rihanna) displayed large rotating guns on the big screens. Those guns rotated and then shot at the audience. I was appalled. Adam has a very valid point regarding Americans obsession with violence, and their weird incongruous fear of sex. We show people getting blown up on TV all the time, in prime time, on network TV. We show blood, guts, guns, bombs, war. Violence kills. It’s destructive and scary. Sex is neither of those things. I wasn’t at all appalled by Adam’s performance. It wasn’t remotely out of line with the other things I saw that evening. Most of the performances were about sex.

Regarding the FCC. The FCC does not regulate obscene/indecent behavior between 10pm and 6am (not that Adam’s performance was either). Why? Because children should be in bed. Adam is correct. It is a parent’s responsibility to monitor their children. If you are prudish, don’t go to Europe (or leave the US). They show porn after 9pm on regular TV.

The international reaction to Adam’s performance is interesting and very telling. The day after the AMAs, they ignored his performance. They are now only reporting on him because of America’s OTT and “typically American hypocritical over-reaction” to all things sexual.

As much as Idol fans want to believe that Adam’s vocals would have blown everyone away on the AMAs and had people talking the next day, I’m sorry, it’s just not true. That is people’s discomfort with Adam’s performance talking, not reality. If Adam has played it safe, nobody would have been talking about Adam’s performance. It would have been an invisible footnote on the evening. The big stories would have been: J.Lo’s fall, Taylor’s wins, MJ’s wins, Gaga’s performance.

sunsurger
11/25/2009 at 6:30 pm
Why he feels the need to continue to lie about the whole thing being ‘impromtu’  is beyond me, as is the media’s refusal to say ‘ok kid, yeah right.’ 

Accusing people of lying is a serious thing. No one accused Kris Allen of lying when he said his favorite restaurant was Chick-fil-a! We know it isn’t cause another restaurant (which must be his favorite) gave him a lifetime supply of cheese dip!

LOOOOOOOL your analogy is hilarious! Thanks! That made me laugh.

Unless…were you being serious? LOL

As for the whole Early show thing and the stuff he said to Slezak, etc. I don’t believe Adam when he says he forgot the AMAs was a televised event. It’s like saying he forgot American Idol was a televised event. I do believe that the controversial moves he did were improvised, but this only means ABC was not aware of them, therefore they had every right to go apeshit on him when he did make those changes. Networks need sponsors, and sponsors will not be happy if it is made out to be that the network OK’d something like a simulated blowjob onstage.

ETA: While I agree with Adam that he is no babysitter and he shouldn’t be responsible for what children see, he is responsible for how he represents himself, and IMO giving the finger to the audience (I don’t care how he explains it or spins it and tells people it was the finger to his detractors) is a stupid movie. It’s unprofessional, and it’s kind of like a try-hard thing to do.

ABC’s decision to cancel Adam’s performance resulted in a far better platform for Adam to discuss all the hoopla surrounding his AMA performance and showcase his outstanding talent. He handled the interviews extremely well and did what he does best, sing his face off. For those Idol fans who have not seen him since the finale, he projected a familiar persona. For those who have never seen him at all, he was charming, articulate and entertaining. For those who saw his AMA performance, he provided a very different type of performance. He did what he needed to do and he did it well. Mombert Leila’s contribution was also a nice touch.

Although I saw Adam on tour several times, I never had the opportunity to see him so close for so long just ‘being’  and not performing. He is stunningly handsome in person and exudes a quiet calm ‘“ exactly like others have previously described. He was relaxed and smiling throughout the morning, spent a lot of time on the plaza between segments, and after his set ended, signed autographs and took pictures with fans. I took lots of photos and was able to get my FYE album booklet autographed!

The event was very well organized, quite impressive given how little time there was to pull everything together. All The Early Show hosts and staff were friendly and interactive from start to finish. Even standing on line in the dark with other fans was fun. I met so many nice people from all over the country, including Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, all parts of New York State and NYC. I also recognized and spoke briefly to the fan who threw the red boa to Adam in Bridgeport, CT – she was wearing it. There were several foreign fans in attendance who appeared to be particularly mesmerized by Adam. On the plaza itself, there were numerous media outlets covering the event.

While we were waiting on line in the dark, those of us standing on east 59th Street were able to see inside the studio while Adam and the band rehearsed and did sound checks. Not only did Adam sound and look amazing, the band did, too. Collectively, they are all very interesting visually. During his actual performance and after I watched it again at home, all I could think about was how much I want to see Adam on tour. After the show ended, I saw Adam’s publicist from RCA Records, Roger, and asked him about future tour plans, but he reiterated that none have been finalized. However, he did say that spring 2010 would be a likely start date.

A few pages back a poster wondered what people were saying to Adam as he walked through the crowd. Around me, fans told him: how much they loved him; commented positively on his album/songs; told him that he had changed or influenced their lives; told him how many times they had seen him on tour; encouraged him to be himself; said they supported him and asked what more they could do to demonstrate their support.

Ironically, I was one of those people who had guaranteed seats at the Hudson Theatre via the Hot Topic promotion. While I almost passed out when I heard that GMA had been canceled, I truly believe that everything worked out for the best.

4evrmomof4, Happy Birthday! I was glad I could share part of this happy day with you.

Although Adam is a seasoned theatre singer, he is not a seasoned artist who has sung nationally on an awards show in front of his comrades right before his cd was to drop.

Good post, Jim. My husband and I watched a documentary on Woodstock, tonight. Crosby, Stills, and Nash remembered their performance and said it was only their second performance as a group. They were terrified, but not because of the 400k people in the crowd. They were petrified because Janis, Jimmie, The Who, and Richie Havens were going to be watching them perform. Adam let it get the best of him. He’s human.

<blockquoteI totally didn’t believe him when he said he forgot the cameras were on him, and that he innocently forgot to tell ABC about the thing he was going to do on the show. Don’t believe that he ‘got carried away’ . I think it’s all BS. Honesty is important to me and I think he’s a dishonest person. So, I don’t care how good he sings. and one thing for sure, if he is lacking in character, it will show over time and catch up with him. It always does.

Have you ever been driving and when you got to your destination, you couldn’t remember how you got there? I think everyone can relate to that. I also remember seeing an interview with Shawn Johnson, olympic gymnast, who said she barely remembered her gold medal routine at the olympics. She was just ‘in the zone’ , so to speak. She put in her time practicing, but when sit was time to compete, she went into auto pilot mode.

I totally can relate to Adam’s comments in this regard. Having two daughters who are athletes, I know that adrenaline can, and does, kick in when you are under pressure to perform. I also heard Adam talking about watching Gaga and his competitive juices kicking in, wanting to prove that he was capable also of putting on a show. I have been involved in competitive sports for over 10 years, and I can tell you that this is the very essence of competition. Totally understandable.

ITA

Have you ever been driving and when you got to your destination, you couldn’t remember how you got there? I think everyone can relate to that. I also remember seeing an interview with Shawn Johnson, olympic gymnast, who said she barely remembered her gold medal routine at the olympics. She was just “in the zone”, so to speak. She put in her time practicing, but when sit was time to compete, she went into auto pilot mode.

I totally can relate to Adam’s comments in this regard. Having two daughters who are athletes, I know that adrenaline can, and does, kick in when you are under pressure to perform. I also heard Adam talking about watching Gaga and his competitive juices kicking in, wanting to prove that he was capable also of putting on a show. I have been involved in competitive sports for over 10 years, and I can tell you that this is the very essence of competition. Totally understandable.

Adam was amazing this morning. I never doubted his good sense to keep things reasonably family-friendly during the morning show hour.

Me either. It just wouldn’t feel right anyway at 7:30 in the morning and he knows that. It would be like wearing an evening gown with your best jewelry to breakfeast.

You have just said that a *kiss* should be blurred out on morning television because it’s not ‘family friendly.’  Do you not see that this would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever be said about a male-female kiss???

Many of us are not big fans of any kind of kiss on a family program, male-female included.

Woo hoo!! Party like it’s 1950, baby!!

Oh wait, actually even Ricky and Lucy kissed on I Love Lucy and that was on in the early and mid 1950s so you’ve taken us back even further.

And someone please censor I Love Lucy immediately.