Spotlight: Adam Lambert

Another month is coming to an end in what already seems like a very quickly-passing 2012 and, as you may realize by now, the end of the month is when all but one of my monthly features here on Beausic come up! The Buzz Artist and New Singles & Leak Reviews posts for Music Mondays are the last two weeks of each month and the last Friday of every month is the Spotlight post… Oh, wait… this is the last Friday of April! It IS time to do a Spotlight post! I’ve had this month’s Spotlight artist in mind for a couple of months now but wasn’t sure when, or even if, I would actually wind up doing it. The stars kind of aligned in all of the appropriate ways and it became kind of clear that April was the perfect time. So, here it is – Spotlight: Adam Lambert.

Adam Lambert initially shot to fame as a contestant on the 9th season of “American Idol,” where he was the runner-up for the title, and has gone on to become a huge icon for the gay community, as well as releasing a few hit singles here and there. I was immediately drawn to him when he was on “Idol” because I obviously found his whole image/persona to be something I could relate to – a guy wearing makeup but not actually dressing in drag and not necessarily just doing the whole “guyliner” thing, he has the same type of skin issues as I do, (oily areas and acne scarring,) he is somebody who was considerably overweight in his childhood and teen years and has managed to lose it all, as I am trying to do now, and immediately performed the type of music that I love the most – Pop! So, I kind of automatically became a fan of his during his time on “Idol” and, in his post-“Idol” career, have yet to be disappointed with anything he’s done. Of course, his career didn’t actually begin with “American Idol,” so let’s take a look back at one of his most notable performances in his early career…

THE ZODIAC SHOW

Prior to his time on “American Idol,” Adam actually took a lot of part in the West Coast theatre community, widely considered a place for actors who couldn’t get cast on television or in films, appearing in productions of “Brigadoon,” “110 In The Shade,” “The Ten Commandments: The Musical,” a European Tour of “Hair” and, most notably, was a part of the first national touring company for “Wicked,” as well as appearing in the Los Angeles production of the show for a year. After all of this, though, Adam started performing with The Zodiac Show, a really cool, glam extravaganza at the Upright Cabaret in Los Angeles, co-created by Carmit Bachar of the Pussycat Dolls. They put on all kinds of really crazy, over the top performances, many of which can now be found on YouTube, including a performance of the song “Crawl Thru Fire,” which can be seen below. During this period, Adam also formed a band, The Citizen Vein, with Monte Pittman, who is still a part of Adam’s touring band. They recorded a few handfuls of songs working as studio musicians, which would later get released to capitalize on his fame, as the albums “Take One” and “Beg For Mercy.”

AMERICAN IDOL

During his time on “American Idol” in 2009, Adam was one of the first contestants the show ever had to have his sexual orientation be such a source of speculation, which he never actually acknowledged during his time on the series. It was a pretty big controversy during his time on the series, though, when pictures of him from The Zodiac Show and various other performances and personal pictures from his past were printed online and in magazines, including pictures of him kissing other men. This is really only notable because of the fact that there had never been a contestant on “Idol” previously who was so widely known to be gay before this and there was a bit of a political debate being played out on the “Idol” stage between him and more straight-laced, outwardly Christian contestant Danny Gokey and the boy-next-door wholesome eventual winner of the season, Kris Allen. Aside from all of that, though, Adam was the only contestant on his season to only be in the bottom 2 one time, (when there were only 5 contestants left,) and it was considered by many to be quite the upset that he didn’t actually win the season. He also gave some really amazing performances throughout the season, perhaps most notable was his performance was his performance of the Tears For Fears song “Mad World,” which is still included in his tour setlists and such. One of my favorite performances of his was actually on the finale night, when he performed the winner’s single, “No Boundaries,” which actually wound up being released by both him and Kris Allen, who actually won. Adam’s version wound up selling a lot more, although that is probably more to do with the fact that the song is just generally more suited to his style than Kris’. Check out a video of this performance below.

I also decided to recreate Adam’s makeup look from the “American Idol”  finale, which was actually pretty much his standard makeup through most of his time on “Idol,” featuring black-rimmed eyes and a smokey gray around the lashes, as can be seen in the images above.

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20 (used as foundation)
Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in Moderately Fair
Guerlain Meteorites Perles Illuminating Finishing Powder in 03
Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Sahara Sands

EYES:
MAC Eye Shadow in Brule
Pop Beauty Lip Silver Eye Shadow in Shade 4
Urban Decay Naked2 Eye Shadow in Blackout
Tarte for True Blood Eye Shadow in Stake
L’oreal Extra Intense Liquid Pencil Liner in Carbon Black
L’oreal Infallible Never Fail Liner in Black
Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara
Stila Matte Eye Shadow in Nanda Devi (brows)

LIPS:
MAC Lip Erase
L’oreal Endless Lipstick in In The Buff
Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Crystal Clear

POST-IDOL DON BACHARDY PORTRAITS

After not winning “Idol,” Adam definitely won in terms of media coverage, even being only the second “Idol” contestant to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone before actually releasing an album or anything. He also recorded a song for the soundtrack to the film “2012,” called “Time For Miracles,” which is still one of my favorite songs of his career. Check out the video for “Time For Miracles” below.

I also wanted to feature a look from a photo shoot Adam did with Don Bachardy just after “Idol” ended, which I had featured in my previous post “Men Can Be Pretty, Too.” You’ll definitely be able to see the difference in the image quality for these pics in comparison to the current pics. I really just wanted to feature this look because it is really the only look that will be featured in this post that isn’t primarily black or gray, which is a shame because I think these warmer tones actually work really well for Adam.

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Natural Beige
Clinique Quick Correct Concealer in Light/Medium
Neutrogena Skin Clearing Mineral Powder in Natural Beige
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (contour and highlight)

EYES:
Urban Decay Naked Palette Eye Shadows in Naked, Smog, Half Baked, Urb and Darkhorse
MAC Eye Shadow in Brule
Stila Matte Eye Shadow in Nanda Devi
Clinique Quick Liner for Eyes in Black Brown
Clinique High Impact Mascara

LIPS:
MAC Lip Erase
Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Crystal Clear

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

Adam released his debut album, “For Your Entertainment,” in November 2009. This album was, in my opinion, absolutely brilliant and remains one of my personal favorite albums. It was also a little shocking the caliber of artists who reached out to work with Adam on this record, which features tracks co-written by Pink, Lady Gaga, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and Matthew Bellamy of Muse, as well as production from some of the biggest names in pop music, including Dr. Luke, Rob Cavallo, Linda Perry, Kara DioGuardi, Greg Wells and, most notably, Swedish Pop Mega-producer and GENIUS Max Martin! Max Martin produced the album’s second and third singles, “Whataya Want From Me” and “If I Had You.” The first single from the record, though, was the title track, a brilliant, over-the-top, fun, sexually-charged track called “For Your Entertainment.” The video for the song, which can be seen below, is just as fun and over-the-top as the song itself!

I also wanted to recreate a look from the photoshoot for this album and, in looking through the photos from the promo shoot for the album, found that they all featured the exact same look, a sort of shimmery brown smokey eye with a shimmery light color on the tear ducts and dark black accenting the outer corners. On the album cover he has a bright yellow on the tear ducts but I chose to go with the shimmery white featured in most of the other images instead because I just felt like it was much more flattering. You’ll also notice that in this look, which was not featured in the looks before this but will be in, I believe, all the looks featured after this, the Adam Lambert signature technique of extending the brows downward into a bit of a contour on the nose. This gives the brows much more of a rounded shape, which men generally don’t have naturally. You may also note that for this look and at least one more ahead I used 2 different shades of foundation – a shade too light for my skin on the central panel of the face and a shade that matches my skin on the outer perimeters of the face. This is just an added measure to attempt to create a stronger highlight in the center of the face, which is also an Adam signature.

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundations in Classic Ivory and Creamy Natural
Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in Moderately Fair
Coty Airspun Loose Powder in Translucent
Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Sahara Sands

EYES:
Glamour Doll Eyes Circus Collection Loose Pigments in Bearded Lady and Electric Chair
Urban Decay Naked2 Eye Shadow in Blackout
L’oreal Extra Intense Liquid Pencil Liner in Carbon Black
L’oreal Infallible Never Fail Liner in Black
Clinique High Impact Mascara
Stila Matte Eye Shadow in Nanda Devi (brows)

LIPS:
MAC Lip Erase
Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Crystal Clear

WHATAYA WANT FROM ME

The second single released from “For Your Entertainment” is one of my favorite songs on the album, “Whataya Want From Me.” “Whataya Want From Me” was written by Pink for her album “Funhouse” but was cut from the final track listing. Pink did eventually release her version of the song on the deluxe edition of her Greatest Hits album, well after Adam had released the song as a single. Adam was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for this track, although he did not win. He also shot a video for the song, which I thought was absolutely brilliant. You can see for yourself below! I also decided to recreate the look Adam wore in this video, which you can see even further below.

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Foundation in Natural Beige
Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in Moderately Fair
Neutrogena Skin Clearing Mineral Pressed Powder in Natural Beige
Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Sahara Sands
Urban Decay Urbanglow Cream Highlight in Moonshine

EYES:
Urban Decay Naked2 Eye Shadow in Blackout
L’oreal Extra Intense Liquid Pencil Liner in Carbon Black
L’oreal Infallible Never Fail Liner in Black
Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara
Stila Matte Eye Shadow in Nanda Devi (brows)

LIPS:
MAC Lip Erase
L’oreal Endless Lipstick in In The Buff

IF I HAD YOU

My favorite track from “For Your Entertainment” was the album’s third single, “If I Had You.” Produced by Max Martin, this song is pure pop but definitely has an emotional core, which is my very favorite type of song – Pop with a heart of gold! I also thought that the video for this song, featuring a giant psychedelic love-fest/orgy in the woods, was absolutely gorgeous and brilliant! I actually really wanted to recreate his look from this video but it was a little much to wear to work this week and I didn’t manage my time well enough to fit it in on my day off, which sucks. Still, it is an absoloutely gorgeous look, featuring a really cool white design on his left cheekbone. Check out the video for this song below.

GLAM NATION LIVE

Throughout 2010, Adam embarked on his worldwide Glam Nation Tour, which performed over 100 shows throughout North America, Asia, Australia and Europe and ran from June-December 2010. The tour was also released as a live CD/DVD combo in March 2011, and featured a setlist that combined tracks from the “For Your Entertainment” album, some of his most notable performances from “American Idol,” as well as a few new cover tracks, like Sam Sparro’s “20th Century Boy” or Jimi Hendrix’ “Purple Haze.” One of my favorite performances from the live DVD is another of my favorite tracks from his album, a song called “Music Again.” Check out this performance below.

BETTER THAN I KNOW MYSELF

Adam kept pretty quiet throughout the rest of 2011, working in the studio on his sophomore album, until December when he finally released the debut single from his sophomore album, a gorgeous, heartbreaking ballad called “Better Than I Know Myself.” This has quickly become one of my very favorite tracks of Adam’s career. While his talents are quite evident in the dance and pop type music, I have always felt that Adam really drives the point home when he sings a ballad, especially one like this that seems really personal and from the heart. In February 2012, he also finally released the music video for the song, which is equally beautiful, featuring 2 different a light and dark version of himself kind of battling with one another – the dark version kind of a representation of the parts that we all have inside of ourselves that are kind of sabotaging the things that we want out of life out of fear. It is a beautiful video, which you can check out below.

I also recreated Adam’s look from this video, for the “dark” version of himself in the video, which I thought was absolutely stunning. I also filmed a tutorial for the Beausic YouTube Channel for this look, which you can view below. Also, while you’re at it, you can also click the link to the YouTube Channel and then click the Subscribe button! 😛

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundations in Classic Ivory and Creamy Natural
Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in Moderately Fair
Coty Airspun Loose Powder in Translucent
Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Sahara Sands
Urban Decay Urbanglow Cream Highlight in Moonshine
EYES:
Urban Decay Naked Palette Eye Shadows in Gunmetal and Creep
Glamour Doll Eyes Circus Collection Loose Pigment in Sword Swallower
L’oreal Extra Intense Liquid Pencil Liner in Carbon Black
L’oreal Infallible Never Fail Liner in Black
Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara
Stila Matte Eye Shadow in Nanda Devi (brows)
LIPS:
Nivea A Kiss Of Moisture SPF 4 Lip Balm
Glamour Doll Eyes Circus Collection Loose Pigment in Electric Chair

TRESPASSING

In just a few short weeks, on May 15, 2012, Adam will be releasing his second studio album, “Trespassing,” which will feature “Better Than I Know Myself,” as well as the just-released second single, “Never Close Our Eyes.” This album will also feature some really high profile productions and collaborations, including works with Pharrell Williams, Dr. Luke, Claude Kelly, Benny Blanco, Bonnie McKee, Nile Rodgers, Sam Sparro, Bruno Mars, Emanuel Kiriakou, Nikka Costa, Lester Mendez and BC Jean. There is also a sampler for this record out right now, featuring 90 second clips of every track on the album, and it sounds like this album is going to be absolutely AMAZING! Standout tracks on this sampler are “Trespassing,” “Cuckoo,” “Shady,” “Outlaws of Love” and, most of all, “Naked Love,” which I am completely obsessed. You can actually listen to this sampler on the embedded player below. I’m pretty certain you’ll just sit on this page and let it play through the whole 18 minutes – I know I did when I first stumbled upon it!

<a href=’http://www.sharebeast.com/8id1lvwlm2oi’>Trespassing_Album_Sampler.mp3</a&gt;

So, there you have our Spotlight artist for April! Like I mentioned somewhere in the post, I kind of wanted to recreate a couple of the more extreme looks featured in this post, like the Zodiac Show look or the tour look or the look from the “If I Had You” video, but my time management skills got away from me and I just couldn’t sort it out this week! Still, I feel like I did manage a successful little collection of looks and I can always use the classic excuse of “I wanted it to be more wearable.” In any sense, I really actually learned some really interesting techniques from doing these looks, as well, because Adam has very specific things that he does with his makeup all of the time, like the contoured eyes and brows extended inward, or his more straight line contour. In any sense, I really hope you guys enjoyed this month’s Spotlight, and I hope you guys check out some of Adam’s music if you haven’t before because he is genuinely one of my very favorite artists! In the meantime, I wish you all a beautiful weekend and a beautiful life!

Jason