Is Adam Lambert too gay for America, or a savvy businessman?

May 21, 8:24 PMInternational LGBT Issues ExaminerKelvin Lynch

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     Adam will be laughing all the way to the bank

There is a lot of bitterness and disappointment today about Adam Lambert losing American Idol.  He is trending higher than Kris Allen on Twitter, which is the de facto pulse of the Internet.  Most tweets go something like, "Adam was robbed" or "the voting was rigged" or "do u want to make money online?".  Well, that last one was spam, but it seems a majority of people felt Kris' win was unjust and are still seething.

Grassroots Equality Examiner Brandon Santo said Adam lost because he's gay.  Santos said,

I think it comes down to one major factor: Adam was too gay for America. A number of pictures came out that showed him in drag and kissing on his boyfriend. America, well at least the backwoods version, likes their homos hidden and unknown.  Kris Allen did not deserve the crown, and Adam Lambert wouldn't have gotten it no matter who he was up against.  One day, America will be ready for a drama ridden drag queen who likes men, but not today.

Santos makes a good point. Although the drag photos didn't seem to hurt him during this season, it seems like an awfully big coincidence that after Adam introduced his boyfriend to the world, he lost. 

Adam said he enjoyed the speculation about his sexuality this season.  There were clueless teenage girls in the audience holding up signs saying "MARRY ME ADAM" every week,  except this week.  Some of his fans vehemently opposed the idea that he might be gay, while others said they could care less about his sexuality, because he was the best singer, hands down.

However, consider this:  Up until last week, the voting was very close between Adam, Kris and Danny.  After last week, when Adam came out and ended speculation about his sexuality, the final voting wasn't close at all.  Kris reportedly won by a landslide.  Was it real, or the product of text voting tricks and/or the shenanigans of producers Simon Fuller and  Clive Davis, as some have suggested?

If the voting results were real (and I think they were), the better question to ask is, "Did Adam hurt or help himself by ending speculation about whether or not he was gay last week?"  Was he savvy enough to realize most voters would find him being gay (and taken) a turn-off, and he was better off cutting ties with American Idol sooner rather than later?  In others words, did he use Idol voters' homophobia to his advantage?  I think he did.

Adam wanted Kris to win as much as Kris wanted to win.  Kris is an amatuer who needs the grooming and promotion of Idol to be successful.  Adam is a seasoned pro who simply used Idol to propel himself to worldwide superstardom. 

By all indications, American Idol was planning on milking Adam's popularity for the next year (and possibly beyond).  Simon said two weeks ago that Adam would win, and the producers arranged an unprecedented solo cover on Entertainment Weekly weeks before the competition was over. Check. 

But I think Adam's coming out was a well-timed strategy designed to prevent that endless suckling by AI from happening.  Adam got his.  Checkmate.

I'm not disappointed by the results at all.  I think both Kris and Adam will have successful careers, but Adam undoubtably got the better end of the deal.  As soon as the Idol summer tour is over, Adam can say adios to the AI microcosm and hello to a world of fans that love him just the way he is, and can't wait to see what he does next.

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