Adam Lambert: MTV #3 Man of the Year, Rolling Stone Reader's Poll Top Artist, and one of Us Weekly's Stars of the Year!!!

When season eight of "American Idol" premiered January 13, no one knew who Adam Lambert was or what he'd become. Sure, his first audition — he took on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" — raised a few eyebrows, but in the early stages of the show, Lambert was outshined by the likes of Normund Gentle and that chick who wore a bikini.

That all changed with a vamping take on Michael jackson's "Black or White," a decidedly demure version of the Smokey Robinson-penned "Tracks of My Tears" and, of course, his now-legendary cover of tears for Fears' "Mad World." Suddenly, improbably, Lambert — the theater kid with the 100-octave voice and the penchant for dangly jewelry — became the "Idol" front-runner.

Of course, we all know how that turned out. Despite his defeat at the hands of Kris Allen in the season-eight finale, Lambert was unquestionably the biggest "Idol" star of the year, if not of all time. He graced magazine covers, pundits speculated about his sexuality — he was everywhere you looked. Post-"Idol," well, he just kept rising.