Adam Lambert Brings Robert Mapplethorpe S&M Bondage Photos to Life; ABC Censors; CBS Welcomes

Adam Lambert served the expected unexpected with his wild improvisation on theAmerican Music Association (AMA) Music Awards show during his pop dance song 'For Your Entertainment'- which has a glam-style shuffle beat- from his debut album of the same name. The glam man brought male-to-male sado-masochism to the American public in a rough living-art performance of black-leather bondage last notably seen in the photographs of American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose work was considered by the prude-minded to breach indecency and obscenity laws.

'It's gonna get rough for you'. With a male dancer simulating oral sex on Adam, with Adam tugging on the leash of a harnessed male dancer, and with Adam simulating a wild make-out session with the good-looking heterosexual male keyboardist, Adam and his off-the hook-fashion-clad backup singers, musicians, and dancers conjured up a dark fantasy of erotica- live imagery that the late Mapplethorpe would have applauded.

Adam Lambert and Robert Mapplethorpe Canceled.
When Mapplethorpe died at age 42 on March 9, 1989, a group of political and religious-right activists were on the verge of putting on trial seven of his photographs that had already been on public display for the last twelve years. 100 days later, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington caved in to political-religious pressure and canceled Mapplethorpe's solo exhibition of 175 photographs, The Perfect Moment.

On November 25, 2009, censorship continued to infest American culture in the form of ABC's cancellation of Adam Lambert's appearance on their Good Morning America talk show after the uncontainable singer's purportedly outrageous exhibitionist performance on the ABC-hosted AMA Music Awards show. ABC dreaded a repeat.

Yet, in both Mapplethorpe's and Lambert's cases, the censorship vaporized as efficiently as the meteors of the recent Leonid Meteor Shower vaporized upon hitting Earth's atmosphere. Days after the cancellation of Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment, the Perfect exhibition re-opened at The Washington Project. For Lambert, the turnabout time took moments. Upon his cancelled ABC appearance, he was invited onto CBS's The Early Show.

On the Early. Adam performed two songs from the For Your Entertainment album- the heart-gut-wrenching 'Whataya Want From Me' and 'Music'. With his supportive loving mother by his side, Adam told The Early Show's hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez that 'Whataya Want From Me' "is about vulnerability and hope and trust" and that "'Music' is a lot of fun".

Formerly of the glam-rock band The Citizen Vein, Adam Lambert brings originality, anticipation, and exhilaration to the music industry, which periodically needs a reviving booster. Few performers care or dare to provide that. The Rolling Stones were the first of the 1960s British Invasion to be as outrageous as possible on stage and off-as shown in the 1972 documentary film Cocksucker Blues.

Adam continues to prove that he is 'Adam' and not a genre. As he told Entertainment Tonight, it's not about what he can do but about what anyone can do- an inspiring thought. For his finale act on AMA Music Awards show, Adam sought to entertain and to cause fireworks. That is what he did. In true glam style, he showed his confidence in who he is and owned it. Adam Lambert, in his own words, was 'over the top and extravagant'. His talent and individuality continues to draw multi-generational fans- of any sex and sexuality... and of any race, creed, and culture.

** To read more from this author, CLICK HERE. There are Lambert articles from his American Idol 2009 days and also a sexy comparative with a look-a-like.