Adam Lambert Defends His Glittery Image

"People want to talk about whether I have rock cred, whether I'm selling out, the theatricality, the gay stuff. ... Chill out! And just enjoy yourself. It's not that deep. Sometimes it is deep. Some of the songs on the album are. Sometimes it's just, 'This is hot, I feel good, this song makes me want to go get a drink and flirt with somebody and have a good time.' Good energy is just as credible as the cathartic, dark, heavy stuff. It's just as important!"

-"American Idol" runner-up and budding glam icon Adam Lambert, who spoke to The Los Angeles Times about his debut album, his ever-evolving image and the public reaction to his work outside of "Idol." Lambert's first record For Your Entertainment drops in a few weeks, but he has already found himself defending his aesthetic choices — including his embrace of traditionally theatrical tropes. "People look at me and immediately say, 'Oh, he's doing the musical-theater thing,'" he explained. "But if you look at most female pop stars right now, how are they any less theater? Beyoncé is doing 'Single Ladies' with two girls in character shoes and leotards, doing Fosse choreography from 'Sweet Charity' and 'West Side Story.'" The singer credits his eclectic taste with his multi-faceted sound. "I was a Paula Abdul fan, a Michael Jackson fan, a Madonna fan. When Christina Aguilera came out when I was in high school, that was a great example of someone taking the pop-dance feel but who could really sing," he said. "Pop stars have done it; it's just not a lot of guys have done it."

Hang out In the Studio with Adam Lambert

Recording vocals at L.A.'s Capitol Studios, Adam Lambert has just uttered words that could strike terror into the heart of anyone who loved his over-the-top style on American Idol. ''In the verses I'm being really theatrical,'' he tells producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day's American Idiot), who's supervising tonight's session. ''Should I scale it back?''

Scale it back?

Fear not, Lambert fans. ''I think the ballsy way's better,'' Cavallo replies, and soon enough, Lambert's letting it rip on ''Music Again,'' a stomping electro-metal ditty penned by former Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins. He works his trademark wail so hard that he's eventually forced to request a notorious rock-star pick-me-up: Throat Coat tea. Lambert calls the stuff ''voice lube.''

Before he needed to soothe those vocal cords, though, he needed a sense of direction. ''When I got off the Idol tour, I had a little identity crisis,'' Lambert says during a break, backstage-casual in acid-washed skinny jeans, a Dickens-orphan scarf, and black leather cowboy boots. ''I was like, 'What do I wanna do?'''

The singer's management had solicited 28 songs from some of music's A-list writers and producers, and he had to decide exactly what kind of record he wanted to make. Inspired by the performances that seemed most successful on TV and on tour, Lambert settled on the idea of updating a guitar-heavy classic-rock sound with dance grooves and futuristic synths; he cites Muse and the Killers as influences. ''It's as if a '70s time capsule blasted off into space and you're watching it through a holographic filter,'' he says with a laugh. ''That's my big vision.''

In addition to Cavallo, Lambert's written and recorded with big names like Greg Wells (Katy Perry), Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera), and RedOne (Lady Gaga). This week he and his team are choosing which cuts will make the album, still untitled and due out Nov. 24. Cramming a year's worth of work into a couple of months has been ''stressful,'' he says, but back in the studio with Cavallo, where the singer's just nailed an especially Bowie-esque vocal riff, he's confident of one thing: ''Glam is back, motherf--ers!

Adam Lambert Swears he's no American Idol Puppet

Adam Lambert is like a modern-day Braveheart.

American Idol and 19 Entertainment may be putting out his debut album, but they're not taking his creative freedom—or so he claims.

"I think there's a little bit of a misconception out in the public that people that come out of American Idol are puppetted and kind of controlled," he tells E! News exclusively. "That hasn't been my experience one bit. They've been completely supportive and collaborative with me and all the powers that be are really trying to facilitate my artistic vision."

In addition to working with A-list producers RedOne (Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning"), Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera's "Keeps Getting' Better") and Ryan Tedder (the man behind the controversial Beyoncé and Kelly Clarkson tracks), Lambert is writing some of his own stuff.

"For a handful of these songs, I've gotten to write on them," he says. "So I really feel I've gotten to inject a lot of this music on the album with my own personal vocal stylings and my own lyrical content. A lot of it talks about stuff I really care about and that I find interesting, so that feels really good."

In addition to his excitement about his album's debut on Nov. 24, Lambert can't wait to see Ellen DeGeneres take a on a certain verbose judge come January…

"I can't wait to see her banter with Simon Cowell," the season-eight runner-up admits. "I think she'll give him a hard time. I hope she does."

While the funnylady doesn't have the music industry chops of Paula Abdul or the rest of the panel, the former contestant believes she'll bring the "everyman's perspective" to the judging table.

"She's obviously a fan of the show, and she's been in the entertainment industry for a long time, so, strictly from an entertainment aspect, I think she'll provide a lot of great insight and really speak for the people that watch the show that aren't all that well versed in the music industry and in music," he explains. "I think it's good in that regard."

Speaking of good, Lambert may dream big—his song, "Time for Miracles," for the 2012 soundtrack may be Academy Award eligible, which "would be wild"
- From E! Online