It was disco night and as it rolled along there were twists and turns, but one of the most memorable performances of the night was once again turned in by the most consistently creative contestant, Adam Lambert. The lyrics of Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You" have always seemed a bit incongruous with the grand, bubbly arrangement of her hit performance. Last night Adam Lambert stripped that all down and put the song in a downbeat ballad context that gave new meaning to the words, "If I can't have you, I don't want nobody." The self-deprecating ache of the song was impressive. It remains to be seen when he is signed to a recording contract (and he will be signed whether he wins or not) whether he can deliver new material in a hitmaking fashion. However, he is possibly the most brilliant interpreter of songs by other artists that American Idol has yet known. Odds are we will see Adam Lambert in the finale, but many of us thought that about Chris Daughtry, too.
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With the current avalanche of troublesome news and a deepening sense of crisis in the United States and by extension in Canada too, and the innumerable heartbreaking stories of personal loss and suffering and of individual tragedies woven into forming the clouds, Adam Lambert’s honesty and integrity in portraying his raw emotions through his singing connects with both the broken hearted and those who are afraid and often desperate. He cannot emote such emotions without having experienced the pain of them himself. I believe our hopes for him to achieve well deserved universal success and recognition are borne out of our need to believe that things can and will get better.
Adam is not a saviour but he is a shining symbol of what needs to be rekindled in the hearts of America, of North America.
Adam is hope wrapped in brilliance crowned with humility.
Hear hear.
With Adam’s exceptional ability to interpret songs originally recorded by others as if they were his own, it is hard to imagine how he could not interpret original material in the same way or better. Having a voice that could sing the telephone directory with feeling and the performance skills to make a big number out of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star don’t hurt either.
Chris Daughtrey’s name is one that in constantly brought up but I have to admit to being one who wasn’t surprised by his elimination. No one was going to be Taylor that year, Elliott was a better singer than Chris and Katharine a better performer.