Adam Lambert compared to Secretariat and other things about Adam

For an athlete analogy for Adam Lambert, Paula used Michael Phelps; we use LeBron James; Rolling Stone, May 28, 2009, p. 38 goes with Secretariat and gets it just right:

Ever see that clip of Secretariat at the 1973 Belmont Stakes, where he's running 25 lengths ahead of the other horses, but he's still all "Wheeee! Fast is fun! More, please!" That's the joy Glambert shows when he sings . . .

This is the first Rolling Stone issue I think I've ever purchased and I bought it just to read the AL story. Such is my obsession.

I'll offer a couple other snippets from the story that reference Bowie (since Adam spawned our previous Bowie discussion):

Where the hell did they find this guy? There's a "boy who fell to Earth" quality about him, like David Bowie's Lady Stardust come to life.

We don't know for sure if Glambert is gay -- all he says is he has nothing to hide or deny -- but if not, it's the gayest embodiment of flaming youth by a straight guy since Bowie sold the world.

You know how your basic glam-rock epic ends with the hero dying because he's too beautiful for the cruel world? Adam has left this fatalistic aspect of glam rock behind; he's picked Bowie, Queen and Roxy Music clean in term of stylistic cues, but he's not content to be a beautiful loser - he wants to be a beautiful winner.

I sure don't hear any Roxy Music in him. I hope to hear Queen on Tuesday. He's already covered the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson and U2. He's just checking icons off the list and Queen has been conspicuously absent. It's really quite an opportunity to unapologetically put out cover versions of great songs and he's made the most of it, generating an album's worth of masterpieces, IMHO. He's described that he's put his season together like it was a set, so we have to expect he's saved the biggest and best for last.

As I type this, I'm hearing Adam coming from the Magneplanar speakers in one of my partner's offices. He's "sharing" from my iTunes via the office network.

That last RS quote touches on something I've been mulling. It seems to be a truism that stars that shine the brightest, shine too briefly. Adam couldn't really shine more brightly, so I fear some sort of tragic end. But he just doesn't have any signs of self-destructive behavior, no angst, no brooding, no signs of a tortured soul. This past Wednesday (results night for those who don't know), Ryan Seacrest had some time to fill while waiting for the stage to be set for guest performer Katy Perry and he turned to contestant Danny Gokey to ask how he was doing. Danny said something about just wanting to get it over with, just get to the results, displaying that his nerves were shot. Adam chimed in gleefully (gayly, if you wish), "I want to see Katy Perry!" No stress, no nerves, just joy in the moment. As further evidence that he's not on a path to a heroin overdose, I've noticed that in the thousands of pictures of him plastered across the web, many of which are in clubs, in wild dress, at parties, his eyes are always completely clear -- no sign of even being tipsy, much less wasted. He's all about his body and voice being one, and taking care of his voice. (When asked what item his missed most from home when he moved into the Idol mansion, he listed his humidifier to keep his vocal chords in shape, but noted that he'd eventually gotten it sent over.) Maybe vanity will do him in via botched plastic surgery. It seems way too good to imagine that he'll crank out great music for decades.