Among other preferences. Can we move on now?
I know there were people out there who would rather Adam had come out while appearing on Idol itself. Whatever—I have a hard time judging how someone handles coming out while at the same time competing on the number-one TV show in America; if he doesn’t want to add “become national civil-rights figure” to that particular to-do list at the same time, that’s fine by me.
What I think has been striking about Adam’s not-exactly-shocking revelation is that, even as he held back from saying outright that he was gay (how many Idol contestants declared themselves straight, by the way?), neither did he particularly try to hide it.
And in his public presentation and Rolling Stone appearance, he doesn’t seem especially concerned with trying to present an “unthreatening” gayness for America, nor some kind of exaggerated super-gayness. He’s simply as swaggering and sexual as, well, a rock star. His appearance on the Rolling Stone cover, shirt opened to the waist and an—ahem—trouser snake prominently displayed, is a classic kind of ’70s-rocker sexuality. A sexuality that—as Adam’s performances and song choices reminded us—was developed in the ’70s by signal-mixing, transgressive rock stars gay, bi and straight, from Gene Simmons unfurling his tongue to David Bowie tonguing Mick Ronson’s guitar.
In other Idol news, Adam, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta all signed with 19 Records this week. Now the real competition begins.