America\'s Got Talent / YouTube Simon Cowell and Adam Lambert
“American Idol” season eight runner-up Adam Lambert reunited with former “Idol” judge Simon Cowell after Lambert performed in the finale of “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars” on February 27.
Lambert sang Sia’s “Chandelier” during the episode, while two of the competing acts, aerialist Aidan Bryant (“AGT” season 16’s runner-up) and acrobatic trio Bello Sisters (“AGT” season 15 finalists), performed around him.
Simon Cowell Shares a Message With Adam Lambert
After Lambert’s performance with the two finalist acts, host Terry Crews asked if he’s ever performed with aerialists and acrobats like this before, to which Lambert joked that the bedazzled, platform heels he was wearing may have been a “hazard” during the number.
Crews then asked Cowell what he thought of the performance, and Cowell addressed Lambert, whom he has known since 2008, directly. After remarking on how long they’ve known each other, Lambert said that he was “having major déjà vu” being on stage with Cowell behind the judges’ panel, but Cowell promised, “this time I’m going to be nice, because Adam, you are honestly one of the nicest people in show business I’ve ever met. Such a star, I’m so proud of everything you’ve achieved. Thank you.”
These nice comments from Cowell come after a long history of the judge’s changing opinions on Lambert. At Lambert’s original “American Idol” audition, Cowell called Lambert “theatrical”, implying that this would distract from his singing voice and performances, however Cowell still agreed with his fellow judges that Lambert should move on to the Hollywood Week phase of the competition.
In 2018, Lambert said in an interview with NME that prior to his run on “Idol”, “anytime someone came on the show that was perceived to be gay or it was obvious enough that they were gay, they were a joke. They were made fun of. Simon would make fun of them. That was the comic relief.” He said later in the interview that he had seen Cowell for the first time in 10 years on the set of “The X Factor”, and that their interaction was a positive one, with Cowell saying “Good to see you, good job”.
By the end of the season, Cowell was giving Lambert standing ovations after his performances and appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to talk about the season. DeGeneres asked Cowell who he thought should take home the win and he said “If it was me, based on originality, worldwide appeal, I would say Adam”, giving a special nod to the singer’s fearlessness.
Adam Lambert Releases New Record ‘High Drama’
Fans of Lambert’s “America’s Got Talent” performance will be happy to learn that his cover of “Chandelier” is already available to stream, as it is one track of his newly released album of cover songs, called “High Drama”, which was released on February 24. The album sees Lambert perform songs from all different decades, including “Mad About the Boy” (written by Noël Coward in 1932) and “Getting Older” (originally released by Billie Eilish in 2021). The 11-track album is out now, and was released along with a music video for Lambert’s cover of “Holding Out For a Hero”.
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