A petition was launched online last Wednesday (Nov 25) calling on Singapore television network, MediaCorp, to remove pop singer and American Idol alum, Adam Lambert from its New Year’s Eve telecast. As of Saturday night, the petition has over 19,000 signatures.
The countdown show, Celebrate 2016, airing December 31, will be held at the The Float @ Marina Bay. The show will also feature performances by native Singapore acts THELIONCITYBOY, Nat Ho and Fauzie Laily.
It’s hard to say how big a deal this petition really is. In America, there are conservative groups like Focus on the Family and One Million Moms who boycott and condemn entertainment they deem “offensive” on the regular. The complaints make it into the news cycle, and generally disappear after a few days without any consequence.
Expect a few days of media covering the “outrage,” after which Singaporeans will continue to go about their business. Adam and his team will continue to plan his appearance on Celebrate 2016.
The petition cites the controversy over the 2009 American Music Awards, when Adam added a few moves that weren’t part of his rehearsal, which included kissing his male guitar player (not cut from the west coast feed!) and grabbing a female dancer. ABC, caught off guard, overreacted and cancelled the rest of his scheduled appearances on the network. There’s no point in even rehashing any of that. IT HAPPENED SIX YEARS AGO. All is forgiven and forgotten. Which makes the petition even sillier than it already is.
I mean (from the petition):
Adam Lambert is hardly the kind of performer to send off our historic Jubilee Year or to usher in the New Year. His track record displays a flagrant disregard for the sensitivities of his audience – including whether or not children are watching. Singaporeans can enjoy a good show without their consciences being affronted by lewd acts in the name of entertainment. In addition, a simple online search would reveal that he is well-known for his active promotion of a highly sexualized lifestyle and LGBT rights, both of which are contrary to mainstream Singaporean values.
Uh, no. A simple online search would quickly prove that even by the conservative standards of a country like Singapore, Adam’s performances would hardly be considered outrageous or lewd. Notable that the aforementioned stateside groups have not boycotted or complained about the dozens of TV appearances Adam has performed since 2009.
Warner Music SG considered the issue important enough to release a statement via twitter.
Show your support for @adamlambert at Celebrate 2016 here: https://t.co/N1qxiDwDZN pic.twitter.com/G6P9akRo26
— Warner Music SG (@WarnerMusicSG) November 27, 2015
Debra Soon, head of MediaCorp’s Family (English) and Premier Segments, also responded: “Celebrate 2016 will be suitable for family audiences and conform with broadcast regulations.”
A counter-petition is now circulating that has even MORE signatures–over 24K as of this writing. Many of those names are likely from people outside the country. But I’d be willing to bet it’s a small, but vocal group that want to replace Adam on the bill. That petitioner could have saved some time by merely writing, as an introduction, “NO HOMO.” Adam knows the score. His response to the petition, via twitter, was simply:
Fighting Homophobia one song at a time. — ADAM LAMBERT (@adamlambert) November 27, 2015
