Adam and ease

NASTY and violent?


POPSTAR: Glam rocker Adam Lambert will be performing at the 2010 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix this evening. TNP PICTURE: YAP NING
At least that's what one US photographer claimed about Adam Lambert just last week.

According to US entertainment website TMZ, the photographer told Miami police that the 28-year-old US pop singer grabbed his backpack carrying his camera and 'wrestled (the photographer) to the ground forcefully'.

But the American Idol 8 runner-up displayed none of that alleged misdemeanour at yesterday afternoon's press conference.

He was friendly and accommodating, despite a jetlag.

Perhaps that was also why he made a hasty exit even though local fans had waited nearly two hours for him on Friday afternoon when he arrived after a 20-hour flight from Los Angeles via Hong Kong.

The multi-octave singer, who had already put up a show last night, will be performing at the 2010 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix this evening.

When The New Paper on Sunday asked him about the allegations, the singer explained: 'I was kicking back at Miami beach with some friends. I posed for the photographers and was patient for the first 45 minutes. I even gave them the peace sign.

'Then they kept multiplying like cockroaches when I'd already told them to stop. (That photographer) provoked me by saying something I'd rather not repeat, but it was horrible.

'There were no punches thrown. He never touched the ground. I'm not that violent.'

Charges dropped

Lambert added that charges have been dropped.

When asked about American Idol, the US reality TV singing contest which catapulted him to fame last year, he said the judges are not to blame for the public's waning interest in the show.

US singers Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler of rock band Aerosmith are the new judges of the ailing show, which has seen its ratings fall after its peak in 2006.

US music producer Randy Jackson is the only original judge left in the show after the departures of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres.

He said: 'I hope the producers will go out on a limb this year to bring in contestants who are spicier.'

If he were asked to be a guest judge on the show, Lambert said he'd be honoured but would do it for only one episode.

'I had fun mentoring (the contestants) this year but I'd rather focus on my career right now.'

Lambert is riding high on his success, despite coming in second in Idol.

Sales for his debut album For Your Entertainment (2009) during its first week were more than double that of Idol 8 winner Kris Allen in the same period.

Last year, he was Young Hollywood Awards' Artist of the Year.

In February, Lambert beat US tween star Nick Jonas and R&B singer Justin Timberlake to top Billboard magazine's Top 10 Sexiest Men in Music, according to pollsters.

Jonas was second and Timberlake came in fourth.

He said he didn't know about the poll.

'I'm obviously flattered. I've never thought of myself as sexy. I was the fat and awkward kid in school. It's only in recent years that I've begun to feel sexy and beautiful, and I realise that comes from the inside.'

Lambert, who's known for his theatrical stage persona, joked about naming his F1 team The Glitz and decking the car with glitter and rhinestones.

In real life, he's gearing up to buy a new Maserati to replace his Ford Mustang.

Asked to pick his favourite team to win Singapore's night race, Lambert made a practical decision.

'I'll root for whichever team that's going to give me a new car.'
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