Congratulations Adam and thank you for the extraordinary journey that’s only just beginning!

Of course we all hoped to see Adam as tonight’s winner, but let’s look at the amazing positives! As we’ve discussed and Adam has said, American Idol was what he needed to establish visibility and introduce his artistry to America and the world, and he’s accomplished that and so much more! Kris and Adam are both winners with different audiences and artistry; and thanks to your support, positive energy and encouragement, something truly miraculous happened: Adam Lambert has become a worldwide star! How about having Queen and KISS on the show tonight? Adam heard your wishes!

Blessings to Kris, his family, friends and fans, he’s a tremendous talent with a great career ahead of him as the new American Idol. It’s fantastic to see how well they’ve gotten along, and hope everyone follows their lead and congratulates and respects Kris’ success.

As you’ve seen from his interviews and videos, Adam has been humble and overwhelmed by this experience. At the beginning of this discussion, I mentioned I’ve always followed the motto, “success is when preparation meets opportunity.” Adam said that five years ago he didn’t think he would have been ready as an Artist to undertake this journey, but he has certainly shown that this is his (and our) moment. We should all be so proud that Adam will be representing us around the world, bringing music, light and joy to millions of people worldwide.

We’ve seen from all the wonderful international fans that the world is ready for Adam and his unique artistry. You’ve heard over and over from Adam that what’s been most important has been for him to be true to himself as an Artist; whether in his choice of songs, his stage technique, his personality and everything else that makes Adam Adam. I’m confident that Simon Cowell, Sony and 19 Entertainment recognize that the elements that have made Adam so special should be celebrated and we’ll see Adam be true to himself and all of his fans. Adam’s future is going to be incredibly exciting!

Throughout the finals, everyone in this discussion has been thoughtful, focused, positive and enthusiastic. With over 2500 messages and 120,000 page views, you deserve the applause for being such wonderful and fantastic supporters. Many people have asked for the discussion to continue and I think it will be a fascinating one as we watch Adam’s career unfold, I’ll have more information about that soon but let’s all keep posting on this message board and I’ll be right here with you.

I’ll post again later because your recent comments have been amazing, but for now I wanted to pop open bottles of virtual Cristal champagne and lead a toast: “Congratulations Kris! And to Adam Lambert, his family, friends and fans… here’s to the dawning of the Age of Aquarius and a new dawn, a new day and a new life.. here’s to feeling good!”

Cheers! Michael

This follow-up post is from May 20, 2009 at 11:33pm:

Hi everybody!

As mentioned in my previous message, we all wanted Adam to win tonight. But there is always a reason for everything, and, at least in this thread, we’ve always looked at the positive. Of course I understand it’s going to take time to process, but I think this has been a place of encouragement and looking at the tremendous success story that is Adam. So I’m asking you to please try to post positive thoughts and comments for and about Adam in this thread because there are so many blessing! for example:

* He’ll probably have more artistic and creative flexibility (and he won’t be singing “No Boundaries” for the next year ;)

* As Rolling Stone said, he “single-handedly saved “American Idol” … “Lambert combines the different Idol archetypes, delivering the complete star thrill heretofore doled out one sliver at a time. He has the burning “say my name, b**” thing of Chris Daughtry, the cutthroat vanity of a Carrie Underwood, but also that innocent desire to give pleasure à la Kelly Clarkson. He packs a whole Gong Show of Americana into one pair of striped spandex tights.”

* 80smom has a much better shot of getting her laundry done by Adam!

* He’s inspired the world with his artistry and Simon Cowell is genuinely excited about making him an international superstar, remember what he said last night:

“You have been one of the best, most original contestants we’ve ever had on the show. And the whole idea about doing a show like this is that you hope you can find a worldwide star. I genuinely believe with all my heart that we have found that with you. Congratulations.”

Last night you asked questions about Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell and here’s some more information;  I covered this information in several of my early blog posts, including blog 36 and 34; and stress that the salient parts are basically accessible through the US Securities and Exchange Commission (though I’m distilling it for clarity).

“Simon Fuller is the creator of American Idol, and his company 19 Entertainment (which is owned by the public company CKX (that’s their ticker symbol, you can look up their company information) is the Producer who has the options (for recording, merchandising, licensing and management) for all the contestants.

“19 TV is the owner and creator of the Idol Format and entitled to acquire the exclusive recording services of the Artists. In exchange for Simon Cowell performing his services as a judge on American Idol 8, 19 agreed to grant to Syco (that’s one of Simon Cowell’s companies) the option to acquire or allow Nominated Labels to acquire rights in and to certain Artists (including the Winning Artist and any or all of the Finalists of American Idol 8). For Season 8, the Nominated Label is Sony BMG for the Winner; for other Finalists there’s a process where record labels provide expressions of interest (this is happening right now, it’s usually in play by the time the Final 5 are chosen).

“What this means is that because Simon performed his duties as a judge on the show, Syco has the rights to the Finalists’ recording contracts, which Simon then (as an executive of Sony BMG) assigns to Sony BMG (or potentially other labels based on the expressions of interest) for distribution deals. That’s why Simon is so important to this whole process; it’s basically his decision who’s getting signed. Keep in mind this is just on the recording side; 19 Management has an entirely different set of rights with respect to the overall careers of the contestants as we’ve previously discussed.”

So Simon Cowell plays a critically important role, and he feels as strongly as anyone about Adam’s incredible talent and worldwide appeal. This is great!

My point is simply to say that I truly understand the disappointment. But the past is the past and Adam will be moving forward at lightning speed and so will we!

Best, Michael

Update at 1:45am EDT:

Here’s a link to a terrific E! interview from about an hour ago: “We got to do a really cool finale, and we’re both gonna get to do great things in the future. For me, it’s not really about what happens tonight. It’s about tomorrow.”

Amazing breaking news from Fox16 in Arkansas:

“AT&T says about 38 million American Idol votes came from Arkansas last night. Chances are, most of those came from Kris’ home town of Conway. Hundreds turned out to watch Idol finale and the town seemed to erupt in cheers when Ryan Seacrest announced that Kris was the winner.” Now that’s hometown spirit, wow and congratulations Kris.

As MTV News reported at 10:54pm EDT tonight: “Say what you will about Adam Lambert, but you cannot deny the fact that the guy knows how to put on a show. Regardless of whether or not he’s crowned “American Idol” champ, he already stole the show with a jaw-dropping, fist-pumping, pyro-enhanced performance with legendary rockers Kiss.”

Congratulations Adam!

Posted in: Industry Perspective by nymichael / Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Entertainment, Industry Reaction, Positive Energy