Adam Lambert vs Adam Levine (The Voice Controversy!)

The twitterverse erupted last night when news leaked that The Voice contestant, Nakia’s semifinal song choice was Adam Lambert’s “Whataya Want From Me”.

It’s always dicey when a contestant on a reality show singing competition decides to cover a beloved song by an Idol contestant. Comparisons are made, fan wars erupt.

But before fans got a chance to critique Nakia’s performance, a much bigger controversy erupted during coach Adam Levine’s post-performance critique of Nakia’s  performance.

“I’m not familiar with that song, but you just forced me to like it, ” said Levine post performance,   “I’m pretty sure, although I’ve never heard that song before…that you probably sang it better than the person that sang it originally. So, good job.”

No HE DID NOT! Oh yes he did.

The twitterverse erupted with responses from angry and/or perplexed Adam Lambert fans who could not believe that a. Levine never heard Adam’s hit song, and b. That he’d assume that Nakia sang the song better than Adam.

During the early morning hours, Adam Lambert tweeted a response, praising Nakia, teasing Levine and calming his fans all in one fell swoop, “Yeah Nakia! Saaaang boy!! Great performance. I think Adam might know who I am after this next album. Get ready for me Levine. Hahah…But for the record, Im def a Maroon 5 fan. Fans: there is NO reason to be angry. Thanks for being protective but it’s all good.”

Nakia also responded via twitter, “Before I go to bed: Fans, pls don’t hate on @adamlevine for his comments about WWFM. He’s a great guy & wasn’t trying sabotage anything. xo”

Adam Levine stuck to his guns, however, when he tweeted this response in the early morning hours today, “I had honestly never heard that song before. I thought that @nakia made me like a song that would have otherwise fallen flat. I’m NOT sorry.”

There was some speculation that perhaps Levine was purposely trying to turn Adam Lambert’s fanbase against Nakia with his remarks. After all, Nakia is a member rival Cee Lo’s team.

I’m taking Levine’s remarks at face value.  It might be the case that if somebody played the record for Levine he’d go “Oh THAT song…I’ve heard it before!” But the guy’s got a busy career. It’s possible that in the moment he could not recall the song. And I don’t believe for a hot minute that he cares or has any idea about what goes on in the Idol bubble world.  I would imagine he was totally shocked when his twitter @ replies suddenly went off the hook.

The song is not selling a lot of downloads so far. It’s currently languishing in the bottom 3rd of the iTunes chart.  I don’t think the poor showing is a result of a backlash, or has anything to do with Adam Lambert.  The performance was early, muddy and there were better performances that came later.

What do you guys think? Is Levine toying with the fanbase? Not completely truthful? totally clueless? Do you think he should apologize?

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!