CBS 'Early Show' defends blurring Adam Lambert AMA kiss, but showing Britney Spears-Madonna smooch
BY Neil Nagraj
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 26th 2009, 10:06 AM
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CBS blurs Lambert's AMA kiss
Do you think it's hypocritical for CBS's 'Early Show to blur the Adam Lambert kiss - but show Britney and Madonna?
True gentlemen never kiss and tell - but when two gentlemen kiss, is it okay to show?
If it's Adam Lambert and a fellow bandmate smooching onstage at the AMAs, that's off-limits too, says CBS' "Early Show."
The program is defending its decision to blur out Lambert's onstage lip-lock with his keyboardist when replaying a clip of the now-infamous American Music Awards performance, EW.com reports.
Seconds after airing the edited clip, "The Early Show" played footage of Madonna and Britney Spears snogging - unedited.
"We gave this some real thought. The Madonna image is very familiar and has appeared countless times including many times on morning television. The Adam Lambert image is a subject of great current controversy, has not been nearly as widely disseminated, and for all we know, may still lead to legal consequences," a spokesman for "The Early Show" told EW.com in a statement.
A spokesman for the national gay-rights organization the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation was quick to blast the censored smooch.
"'The Early Show's' decision this morning to blur Adam Lambert's kiss from the American Music Awards reinforces an unfortunate double standard that is applied to openly gay performers," the organization's president, Jarrett Barrios, said in a statement.
The "American Idol" finalist appeared on CBS' 'The Early Show' Wednesday after ABC exacted revenge for his unscripted, sex-charged shenanigans by yanking him off "Good Morning America."
Lambert conceded that his performance - in which a dancer also simulated oral sex on him - could be construed as offensive.
"I do see how people got offended, and that was not my intention. My intention was to interpret the lyrics of my song and have a good time with it," he told CBS.
But he stopped well short of offering an apology on "The Early Show."
"I'm not a baby-sitter," he told the program. "I'm a performer."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/11/26/2009-11-26_cbs_early_show_defends_blurring_adam_lambert_ama_kiss_but_showing_spearsmadonna_.html#ixzz0YH9veSLF
ABC revenge over Adam Lambert's 'simulated oral sex'? 'Good Morning America' cancels performance
By Richard Huff
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Originally Published:Tuesday, November 24th 2009, 10:18 AM
Updated: Tuesday, November 24th 2009, 10:35 AM
ABC is getting payback for Adam Lambert's simulated sex performance on the "American Music Awards:" It cancelled his appearance on Wednesday's "Good Morning America."
"Given his controversial live performance on the 'AMA's, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning," an ABC News spokeswoman said Tuesday of Lambert's scheduled Hudson Theater performance.
Soon after ABC dropped Lambert, CBS announced he'll perform live on "The Early Show" Wednesday and be interviewed about the uproar that has emerged since Sunday night. He's also on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" Wednesday night. The "Late Show" appearance was taped Monday, and he was not interviewed.
NBC's "Today" show was interested in Lambert for Wednesday morning, but couldn't incorporate a performance because Bon Jovi is already scheduled for an outdoor concert.
The cancellation was the latest fallout from the "American Idol" runner-up's Sunday night performance, when he thrust a guy's head into his crotch.
Lambert hadn't pulled the stunt in rehearsals, sources said, so ABC brass and viewers were stunned.
More than 1,500 complaints were leveled at ABC, The Associated Press reported. Network officials deemed that a "moderate" response when compared to other events that have stirred viewers' ire.
Though it's doubtful anyone at the network thought the controversy would go on this long, Lambert's show-stopping number - which also included a kiss with a male musician - was still fodder for morning TV debates over the artistic merits, or lack thereof, of his performance.
"When you're on television, that's public and you have children watching. I think you can tone it down," Dr. Steve Salvatore, a WPIX/Ch. 11 anchor, medical expert and parent of two teenage daughters said on Tuesday's "PIX Morning News."
"I think he went one step too far," said Ch. 11 anchor Sukanya Krishnan.
The "PIX Morning News" crew debated the topic and even showed the clip in question - twice.
ABC continuously touted Lambert's performance during Sunday's show as something "everyone will be talking about."
It was. Still, ABC axed the scene where the dancer stuck his head in Lambert's groin to simulate a sex act for West Coast audiences.
The Parents Television Council, a watchdog group with an ability to find fault everywhere, lashed out at the performance and urged viewers to complain to ABC, Dick Clark Productions and the FCC.
PTC President Tim Winter called the performance "tasteless and vulgar."
"Adam Lambert, the second-place finisher in last season's 'American Idol' competition, chose to treat American families to simulated oral sex and other demeaning behavior," Winter said.
"ABC and Dick Clark Productions had every reason to know what to expect, as Lambert himself proclaimed that his performance would be 'very sexy' and would include leather and chains. But the producers and the network chose to bury their heads in the sand."
The Ch. 11 crew Tuesday noted the issues with the performance didn't seem to be about the kiss, but rather the simulated sex, and had nothing to do with Lambert being openly gay.
Lambert told CNN immediately after the performance the kiss was spontaneous, and said if people were upset, "That's a form of discrimination and it's too bad."
Not surprisingly, the debate is likely to continue.
"The bottom line is these guys are performers and they want to go out there and do something you're going to talk about," WNYW/Ch. 5 anchor Rosanna Scotto said on "Good Day New York" Tuesday "They want you to remember them, because there's so much competition out there."
Critics see 'mixed message' in Lambert, Brown decisions
ABC and its "Good Morning America" show have sparked controversy with recent decisions to cancel a scheduled performance by "American Idol" winner Adam Lambert while going ahead with a planned appearance by R&B star Chris Brown.
Lambert's scheduled "GMA" performance was canceled the morning after he delivered a, sexually charged performance on last week's American Music Awards, which included the singer kissing his male keyboard player and simulating oral sex with a male dancer.
Brown, who was convicted in August of assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna, is scheduled to do a pretaped "tell-all" interview with co-anchor Robin Roberts, and then will perform live in the studio, though the details of the studio are still being worked out. The appearance will reportedly air as early as next week, though no date has been announced.
Gay rights groups are among those blasting ABC for suggesting that domestic violence is preferable to openly gay behavior. Even some ABC staffers are uncomfortable with the decisions.
"The network is giving a mixed message," one employee told the New York Post. "It doesn't trust someone who shocked with an unpredictable show and a gay kiss, but then it is happy to go ahead with Chris Brown, who was convicted of felony assault."
ABC has not officially commented on the matter. But sources within the network insist that Lambert's sexuality did not influence the decision to cancel his "GMA" gig,
that it was simply a matter of the singer proving he's "too unpredictable" to be booked on a morning show. (Lambert did appear on CBS's morning show last week.)As for Brown, ABC sources said he was booked before Lambert was, and the interview was seen as offering his response to Rihanna's recent interview with Diane Sawyer on "20/20" (which, coincidentally, drew huge ratings).
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Have a great day,
Tommy
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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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