Adam Lambert

Back in 1983, Frankie said "Relax" and a media unsettled by gay S&M did the exact opposite. A generation later, we pride ourselves on being a little cooler with queerness and BDSM, but I suspect there are still some double standards when it comes to gay men getting kinky....

Last night, Adam Lambert kissed another guy on live television — network television. He also pushed a dancer's face into his crotch, which makes this is his most daring performance ever. Having only come out as gay post-American Idol, he has maintained a fairly straight-acting demeanor until now, including a sexualized photospread co-starring a woman in Details and Out magazine taking him to task for only appearing on the cover of the Out 100 issue if he didn't look "too gay" and a straight woman was also on the cover.

On The View this morning, Elizabeth Hasselbeck predictably said she thought it was over-the-line and was glad ABC censored Adam's performance for West Coast viewers, who weren't able to watch the late night performance live. Barbara Walters said she was disappointment in the network for making the decision, but recanted after she heard about the face-in-the-crotch.

I don't really watch American Idol. I did tune in for an episode or two last season, when everyone on the planet was going nuts over the fact that Adam Lambert, a more-or-less openly gay dude and confirmed musical weirdo, had an actual chance at winning it. Unfortunately, the episode that I tuned in for was the one where he sang "Feeling Good," a song I have always really loved coming from Nina Simone, and around the time he hit that bizarre three-year-long air-raid-siren high note ("feelAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGG") I was like, "oh. Good for you, Adam Lambert! Allow me to support you through the use of the 'mute' button."

So, no. Aside from seeing the clips that everyone else sees (because they are everywhere, and there is no way not to see them) I'm not a fan. Still, the news that Ellen DeGeneres is going to be replacing Paula Abdul as a judge in the next season of the show is interesting.