American Idol, Adam Lambert Loses, Homophobia Win

The best singer didn't win a freaking singing contest

Adam Lambert,Homophobia photo

When Kris Allen defeated Adam Lambert as the Season 8 American Idol, it was, as predicted, a seismic upset. The Chicago Sun-Times said, David slayed Goliath. Endless bloggers posted reactions like The biggest robbery since Bush stole the election and The end of American Idol's last hope at relevance.
Everyone, from the judges to Google to Yahoo to the Vegas odds makers, predicted a Lambert victory. They were right, and everyone knows it. In the end homophobia won, and everyone knows it.

Yes, homophobia is alive and well, which is why Lambert lost the ultimate title. Go ahead give me another reason. Yes, Lambert is over the top and screams a lot and is campier than Liberace at Radio City. Sure, Kris Allen is a cutie, and has pleasant enough vocals, and he's nice. But a better singer, or performer, than Lambert? Please.
By anyone's estimation, Lambert was the best vocalist of the entire Idol season and one of the best, if not the best, in the history of the program. He towered over every contestant, exposing them as the amateurs they are. Every Lambert performance was an event. If this competition were only about singing, he crushed everyone else the second he walked onstage.

Kris Allen is a very affable and attractive young man. He is a decent vocalist with a very limited range and marginal talents. He should have made it to 3rd place at best. Time will tell if he reaches the level of John Mayer or Jack Johnson.
The final round, if vocals were the actual standard, should have been Lambert and Allison Iraheta, the precocious 17 year old with the whisky crusted Janis Joplin voice. But vocals, as evidenced by this and other Idol seasons, are not the final standard. In the end, a 'likeability' factor intrudes, turning 'Idol' into the Miss America Pageant or, more realistically, the high school Homecoming coronation.
Melinda Doolittle lost to Jordin Sparks. Chris Daughtry lost to Taylor Hicks. Jennifer Hudson lost to anyone. It's a real shame that Idol is decided by the public and not just music professionals, because let's face it, the voting public is not that bright. The public voted George W. Bush twice as president. The public thinks Halliburton is Liz Taylor and Richard Burton's daughter. The public votes on who they want to 'hang out' with.
In that event, Allen won by a landslide. Lambert hangs out with kinky L.A. theatre folk who dress wierd, stay out all night, and possibly do drugs and get into compromising positions. Allen hangs out at a local Arkansas bar, has a beer or two, strums a song, and then goes home to wedded Christian bliss. Of course, I'd rather hang with Lambert's crowd. How much fun do you think they are? Are you kidding?
If the contestants had zero backstory, Lambert would have decimated the competition. Instead, Allen's Christianity, church roots and corn-fed wife were exploited, as were Lambert's musical theatre roots i.e. his 'theatre fag' history. He didn't say a word about his sexuality, but didn't need to. For that we had the Internet, zapping anyone's private photo library to the world, so photos of Lambert swapping saliva with a guy went viral, as well as a lot of his very strange yet riveting LA cabaret performances, turning off the homophobic majority.
Yes, a majority of the country is homophobic. If it weren't, gays would have had their rights back in the 90s when the Europeans got them. We wouldn't have a majority of states with a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. We wouldn't be fighting for even rudimentary domestic partnership laws in some cities and states. We wouldn't have anti-gay imbeciles like Maggie Gallagher, Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber or the God Hates Fags morons getting publicity. Yep, if American weren't homophobic, Lambert would be waving to the crowds from a convertible.
Bill O'Reilly, a homophobe who knows what plays to his old white guy audience, did at least two features on Lambert's sexuality, creating an issue where none needed exist. He first brought up the Internet photos of Lambert kissing a guy and asked if this would be a problem for America, an America who might not have even thought about it until O'Reilly brought it up. And right before the Idol finale he brought on Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh, author of an article about the Christian vote going to Allen, again planting a seed in a public who might not previously have thought of it. O'Reilly is a skilled propagandist, warning us against the evils of the secular world before they even entered our minds. And Steoodeh wrote, post Idol about reasons why Lambert may have lost, neglecting to mention how he himself may have contributed.
I'm sorry a simple musical theatre actor from California and a simple guitar strummer from Arkansas have to bear this cultural burden, but there it is. Despite Allen's pleading that It's about music, it's not about religion and all that kind of stuff, it is indeed about religion and all that kind of stuff. Danny Gokey's pastor Twittered, We need a believer to represent. Even Rev. Ted Haggard, the most frightened homosexual in America, Twittered that he wanted Allen to win. A Lambert win would have scared the bejeezus out of him.
Conservatives are all still stinging from their defeat at the polls in November.

Hollywood Celebrities

Robert Pattinson Kiss Auctioned

Millions of Twilight fans would die for the chance to kiss Hollywood’s hottest vampire but would they pay $55,000 for the opportunity to lock lips with Robert Pattinson?
According to Online Marc Malkin, a kiss from Robert pulled in quite a hefty sum of money at the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS 2009 benefit auction Thursday night in Cannes.
While on stage, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein reportedly joked that his daughters had changed their last name to Pattinson after seeing Twilight, and then asked Pattinson to step up for charity.
Harvey then suggested auctioning off an opportunity for someone daughter to meet and get a kiss on the cheek from Pattinson, a partygoer revealed.
There were two bidders who paid 20,000 euros each for their daughters to have that kiss. A 20,000-euro kiss from Pattinson is equivalent to around $55,000 U.S. dollars.
Harvey put him on the spot, in a playful way, the source said. And Rob agreed to it in his usual brooding, modest way.

Hollywood Celebrities

Sean Penn

Calif Now that he has withdrawn his filing for legal separation from wife Robin Wright Penn, Sean Penn said he regrets his decision to file in the first place.

It was an arrogant mistake, the actor said in a statement to Access Hollywood.
As reported Thursday on AccessHollywood.com, Penn’s request for legal separation was dismissed and taken out of the system less than a month after it was filed.
Penn initially filed the papers on April 24 in Marin County, Calif. citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
It marked the second time the Oscar winner and his wife had filed for separation – the first time coming in December 2007. However, they reconciled in April 2008.
Penn, 48, and Wright, 43, wed in April 1996.
The couple has two children daughter Dylan Francis, 18, and son Hopper Jack, 15.
Penn and Wright have starred in several films together, including 1988’s Hurlyburly and 1997’s She’s So Lovely.

Hollywood beautiful hot actress

Drew barrymore's photostream

The Bible bill in America?

Ronald Reagan designated 1983 as one, with Congress’ blessing.

Broun’s simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with critics dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a waste of time. Jews in Congress and atheist activists are dismissing the resolution, while none of the many Democrats in Congress who are Christian have bothered to sign on as co-sponsors.
According to GovTrak.us, the resolution is among the most-blogged-about pieces of legislation, with most posts less than complimentary in nature.
Does that mean 2009 is not the year of the Bible? mocked Rep. Barney Frank who is Jewish. What is 2012 the year of? The Quran?
That’s an endorsement of religion by the federal government, and we shouldn’t be doing that,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), even though he has introduced his own legislation dealing with religion.
Republican lawmakers with apparently too much time on their hands and no solutions to offer the country are pushing a resolution that will not address the nation’s problems or advance prosperity or even untangle their previous governing mistakes,” blogged the Progressive Puppy.
Broun rejects the critiques leveled at this effort.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Christianity, he said in an interview with POLITICO. Rather, he says, it seeks to recognize that the Bible played an integral role in the building of the United States, including providing the basis for our freedom of religion that allows Muslims, Hindus and even atheists to vocalize their own beliefs.
And even as Nadler criticized Broun, he has done his own share of mixing religion and legislation.
Last year, he introduced a bill that would overturn a federal appeals court ruling an idiot decision, he says that a condominium board in Chicago had the right to ban Jews from installing mezuzahs, which consist of a piece of parchment inscribed with a specific religious text put inside a case and hung on a door frame.
Condo boards shouldn’t be able to interfere in an individual’s right to practice his or her religion, Nadler said.
But he himself declined to install a mezuzah on his congressional office door when asked by a rabbi, even though he does so at home.
That’s my religious symbol, and the office does not belong to me; it belongs to the people of the congressional district, and no one should feel uncomfortable walking into the office if it’s not their religion,” Nadler said, describing his feelings on religion and Congress.
Same thing with the Bible.It’s not everybody’s religion. And the federal government should not be imposing religious viewpoints.
Atheists, who might feel themselves a particular target with the declaration of a biblical year, aren’t even worried about Broun’s effort.
Right now, we’re seeing atheism on such a rise,said David Silverman, vice president and national spokesman of American Atheists, a group dedicated to fighting for the civil rights of atheists.
We are seeing Christianity on such a dramatic decline that we’re not particularly worried about it. We’re thinking that this kind of old-style George W. Bush Republicanism is about to go away,” Silverman said, referring to the latest Pew Forum survey of American religious life, which showed nonreligious Americans as the fastest-growing group.
And it may be the best-selling book of all time, as Broun’s resolution points out, but the Bible isn’t such a popular legislative topic.
A search of Thomas, the online congressional database, for “Bible” yields just one other bill: a resolution to have the Lincoln-Obama Bible” on permanent display in the Capitol Visitor Center.
The resolution specifically asks the president to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great democratic form of government.”
As for the economy, health care, global warming and all the other issues on Congress’ plate?

When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 2009, Paul Broun hopes you’ll be ringing in “the Year of the Bible.”

While we must focus on fiscal policies that provide relief to families during these tough economic times, an endeavor I have been working tirelessly towards in this Congress, we must also not forget to protect and celebrate our fundamental freedoms that the Bible has influenced,” Broun said.
Broun has gathered 15 co-sponsors, all Republicans, but says he’s looking for more and hopes Democrats will sign on, as well.
This is not a partisan issue,he said. I want it to be bipartisan.
Whether he’s successful or not — the same measure didn’t go anywhere last year — at least Broun and his fellow supporters can take heart in one fact: They already had a “year of the Bible.”

American Idol finale's best and worst moments

American Idol finaleAdam Lambert and Kris Allen faced off for the crown in Los Angeles.more photos There were so many to choose from, but she tried to compliment Kris on disco night by saying “there aren't a lot of men who shop in the women's department. What she probably meant was that he was unusually good at singing women’s songs, but it caused the judges to devolve into speculating what he might have been purchasing in those aisles.
Best hype for the worst causeRyan broke out the hyperbole all season to describe The Judges' Save, a new wrinkle that allowed the judges to overcome the will of the voters and keep the lowest vote-getter around for an extra week. In theory, it meant that a united group of judges could prevent any gross injustices from removing a favorite from the competition too soon. However, in practice it was Simon who made the call each week, and when it was finally used all it did was keep Matt Giraud around for a couple of extra weeks. Big deal. So he finished in fifth place instead of seventh.
Worst innovationThe fourth judge. Kara DioGuardi was a better panelist than she is an Idol songwriter, which isn’t saying much, but in truth the issue wasn’t her. Four is just too many voices that take up too much time and take the focus away from the contestants. If the show wanted some new life in the judges’ stand, it should have had the courage to boot either Randy or Paula to make room.

Worst use of a clockBasic math would suggest that a show scheduled to last an hour should be completed in somewhere around 60 minutes. Any elementary school student knows that. But keeping the trains running on time was an issue for Idol all season, with the low point coming April 7, when the show ran so long that Adam Lambert’s Mad World didn’t start until all the world's DVRs apparently whirred to a stop. Next season, instead of a fifth judge, the show might want to invest in a stopwatch.
Worst reaction to time management issuesIn an effort to keep the show reasonably close to on-time, the producers decided on movie week to allow only two judges to comment on each singer. That experiment lasted just that one night, as everyone quickly remembered that the only judge anybody really cares about is Simon, and muzzling him for half the show was a bad idea.

Bryce Dallas Howard

Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her film roles in the M. Night Shyamalan-directed The Village and Lady in the Water, and as Gwen Stacy in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. She most recently starred as Katherine Connor – second-in-command of the human resistance and wife to John Connor – in the 2009 movie Terminator Salvation.
Conceived in Dallas, Texas the source of her middle name Howard was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Cheryl (née Alley), a writer, and Hollywood actor-director Ron Howard. Her paternal grandparents were actors Jean Speegle Howard and Rance Howard and her uncle is actor Clint Howard; her godfather is actor Henry Winkler, who co-starred on Happy Days (1974) with her father.
Howard and her younger sisters, twins Jocelyn and Paige, and their younger brother, Reed, were raised away from the world of showbusiness. Their parents didn't allow them access to television and instead encouraged reading, outside play, and hobbies. Nevertheless, all four Howard children can be seen as extras in some of their father's films, such as in 1999's EDtv.
She was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she graduated from Greenwich Country Day School in 1996. When she was in ninth grade at Greenwich Country Day School, she performed as Miss Adelaide in the musical Guys and Dolls, and in a variety show with her own unique version of Leiber and Stoller's "I Am A Woman." She later attended Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York, where she performed in a number of shows on their stage, and graduated in 1999. Howard also attended Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp in upstate New York, with one of her good friends: actress Natalie Portman. After graduating from high school, Howard studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for three years, during which time she also attended the Stella Adler Conservatory, The Experimental Wing, and International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam. During her schooling, Bryce took part in the concept recording of the Broadway-bound musical A Tale of Two Cities. She graduated with her BFA in Drama in 2003. Howard is also an alumna of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's prestigious School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and of The Actors Center in New York City.
She appeared in several of her father's (Ron Howard) films as an extra before her feature film début came in director Alan Brown's 2004 drama, Book of Love. She also appeared in numerous productions on the New York stage, but her breakthrough role came in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, which she was cast in without having to audition after Shyamalan saw her in a Broadway show. Following that, Howard was cast by Lars Von Trier to replace Nicole Kidman as Grace in Manderlay (2005). She collaborated again with Shyamalan in the 2006 release Lady in the Water, in which she plays Story, a type of water nymph called a "narf".
Howard at the Spider-Man 3, 2007 premiereIn 2006, she starred as Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's As You Like It, opposite David Oyelowo as Orlando. The film played theatres in Europe, but went directly to cable in the United States. Ms. Howard was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
In May 2007, she appeared as Peter Parker's new love interest Gwen Stacy in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. She dyed her naturally red hair blonde for the role (ironically the naturally blonde lead female,Dunst's hair was dyed red for the role of Mary Jane Watson). Howard beat out Elisha Cuthbert and Sienna Miller for the part.
She will play the lead role in her upcoming film, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, co-starring Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn and David Strathairn. She landed the role after Lindsay Lohan dropped out.
She also plays the role of Kate Connor in the 2009 movie Terminator Salvation.
She wrote and directed a short film, Orchids, starring Alfred Molina, as part of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" series funded by Cartier and FilmAid International.
Personal lifeOn June 17, 2006, Howard married Seth Gabel. They met at New York University and dated for five years. They currently live in Hollywood, California. Howard and Gabel welcomed their first child, a son named Theodore Norman Howard Gabel, nicknamed Theo, on February 16, 2007.
Until recently, she had been a devoted vegan since Joaquin Phoenix, her The Village co-star, showed her a documentary on animal cruelty called Earthlings, for which he had provided the narration at the request of Nation Earth. However, in August 2006, Howard announced that she had switched her diet from vegan to vegetarian in order to help her boost her amino acid levels in preparation for pregnancy.
She is close friends with Kirsten Dunst (her co-star in Spider-Man 3), Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal.