It all started here, with a young stage actor trying to make it big in the music industry. This song may not be the first that comes to mind when you think of Lambert, but his haunting rendition of the Gary Jules track is a stunning reminder that the star can take any kind of song and make it his own. The song was so well-received, that he even came back in to perform it again. While this song also featured the eventual winner of season 8, Kris Allen, performing with the band, there was no denying that this performance belonged to Adam, as he embodied the spirit of Queen on the stage and showed us why he deserved to front the legendary band, three years before making that dream a reality. A decade after auditioning with the Queen track, Lambert returned to Idol for a stunning duet with season 17 contestant Dimitrius Graham, electrifying the audience while also giving the contestant plenty of room to make the song his own. The Biz premium subscriber content has moved to Billboard. To simplify subscriber access, we have temporarily disabled the password requirement. Don't show again.


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The eighth season of American Idol premiered on Tuesday, January 13, , and concluded on May 20, The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol panel. This was the second season where both of the final two contestants had been in the bottom three or two at least once before the finale, with the first being season three. The eighth season saw numerous changes to the format of the show. There were 36 semi-finalists instead of 24, and thirteen finalists instead of twelve, nine contestants chosen by the public and four by the judges in a wild card round. Another addition was the "save," which was used on the top seven results show to veto Matt Giraud 's elimination. Multiple contestants from this season were signed to record deals.
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Indeed, the Arkansas native with a slight Southern drawl came across as an anti-rockstar — humble, unassuming and with minimal swagger. This aw-shucks persona annoyed Simon Cowell , the always-opinionated Idol judge. And your modesty is actually putting me off a little bit. Round by round, he delivered memorable performances with original takes on songs from various genres. Behind the scenes, Lambert and Allen became good friends. They would eventually become finalists and on May 20, , each sang on the season eight finale. Queen were immediately taken by Lambert's talent and charisma, to such a degree that they later admitted they had to take pains not to show any favoritism. But there was that feeling with Adam, like, this kind of does work. Lambert's mother Leila also immediately understood something special had been discovered. But back to the 'Idol' finale.
Adam Mitchel Lambert born January 29, is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Since , he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert rose to fame in after finishing as runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. Billboard In , Lambert released his second studio album, Trespassing. The album premiered at number one on the U. Billboard , making him the first openly gay artist to top the album charts. In , Lambert released his third album, The Original High , which debuted at number three on the U. Billboard and produced the single " Ghost Town ".