Friday 15 May 2009

One More Time


I watched One for the first time on TV last night, and I must say that I think I'm starting to love it. It's actually rising towards the top of my list and I know I'm far from alone in feeling this way so I started picking apart and analysing my initial reaction to it.

From One's opening, we were expecting a certain type of interpretation from Adam. We heard the pure ravishing beauty of those first few honeyed notes and we were completely spellbound. We wanted more and looked forward to the song continuing in the manner it started so we could get more of this wonderful drug, not only because it was breathtaking, but because we'd been a little starved of slow emotional numbers in the last couple of weeks.

Adam has surprised us many times with his performances and his interpretation of songs, so much so that paradoxically it was getting unsurprising. With Adam never settling for predictable, he managed to challenge and astonish us with a drastic change mid-performance that we were least expecting. I think the issue we had was the shock factor - which sent some scuttling towards wanting the safety of the song's opening - because it was so far from what we were expecting. Less than a minute until the end of the song wasn't enough time to get over that shock. With a little more time we might have been better placed to process and understand it within the limits of the song and left less bewildered. Is it fair to feel disappointed just because he didn't do what we expected, even if he did something better and put a glittering cherry on top? Ironically, the unpredictability was something I'd wanted, but when he hit me with it, I wasn't particularly receptive because I was completely unprepared.

If we look at the latest performances in the context of the competition, intentional or not, they were relatively 'safe', on the Adam scale. Maybe it was in preparation for a real treat when it comes to the final. I expect that in the same way when WLL came round we'd been yearning for a RoF type performance for some time, the little taster of a tender number in One has us completely ravenous for one in the final, and maybe it will taste so much sweeter for it.

I think One improves on subsequent viewings because I neither expect nor want the song to continue softly-softly. It no longer jars but works brilliantly and I think Adam provides a better representation of the lyrics to give us that huge and impassioned crescendo, than the more mournful and resigned original. I strongly felt the intensity and emotion first time round but I'm now able to really appreciate the full impact of this gem of a moving performance. Here it is again for your viewing pleasure:

6 comments:

  1. Adam Bombed, I am so happy I finally found you! Visits to all the main fan sites are "like eating ice for lunch." But here I finally found someone who truly, madly, deeply, lay-down-your-life LOVES this gorgeous man. I'm so way past the gay thing: shortly after "Black & White" I realized that I can feel fangirl-love for a gay man and nobody can stop me! I scored 220 on your excellent quiz, and it was only Ring of Fire that held me back from a perfect score, because as with "One," "Ring of Fire" also took some getting used to. Just more examples of Adam rocking my world. And I also appreciate your incredible insights and deeply observant musings on every available detail we have about him. Can't wait to read your earlier posts. Oh, and check out this YouTube video of a pre-Idol song by Adam, "Pop Goes the Camera," which has a shocking, impassioned defense of Adam from someone named "LoveBeingSassy", about his anorexia, acne, all kinds of heart-rending stuff. I almost hate to write this, not wanting spread unsubstantiated rumors, but I did hear an interview once where Adam talked about working in retail to make ends meet, as mentioned by "LoveBeingSassy," and we can certainly observe swings in his weight, makes you wonder . . .

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  2. Thank you for the post and thank you for the comment! One is at the top of my list - in both versions. I would even urge Adam to sing it as a repeat in a full studio arrangement - as a beautiful song and a powerful message!
    This blog along with Ann Powers' from LAT are the best places for all who love Adam.

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  3. What is it about Adam Lambert that makes my google him all day long? I literally get nothing done all day - waiting for some news to come my way. Have I been so starved of good music for so long and never realized it until now? Thank you for letting me have a place to vent my obsession. I feel like a school girl again - ready to carry my Adam Lambert lunchbox.....geez.

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  4. I love your blog and have been reading it religiously for over a month now, ever since I fell into my own Adam obsession and was trying to make sense of it. For many weeks, I have been letting you give voice to what I was feeling, and would check in on your blog every day. I was even worried in the last few days that you didn't post, thinking something may be up with your mother. I am a Hospice social worker in the U.S. and so have a lot of experience with aging/dying folks. Anyway, that is off topic, but I want you to know that I feel very connected to you as a fellow Adam obsessive and thank you for your eloquent posts on the subject!

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  5. I live in vancouver Canada and I wish I could vote for Adam ... I think he is a very rare talent and I haven't seen anyone with such a range of voice in a long time! I think he is going to be The Elvis of new generation! Mark my word!

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  6. I had written in a previous comment that "One" after viewing and hearing again had grown on me so much is was up there on the top of my Adam favs. I am so happy that you actually wrote a blog about how similar you feel. I am constantly amazed how you seem to represent how us Adam obsessed fans feel. I check in with your blog daily and hope you will continue to update us even after he wins AI. Carmella

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