adam lambert, youtube, and the perils of post-shopping posting

Okay, so, day three of Adam Lambert is awesome, which--okay, the thing is, I have been reading AIRPS since like last year because well, that's what astolat was writing and seriously, and what was I supposed to do, exert myself for entertainment? This is why I have an flist! To bring the entertainment to me!

Speaking of, quick rec from American Idol 7 RPS, and I say this with complete honesty, if you like to read, that's really all you need to read this one.

Real Forever If by astolat, David Cook/David Archuleta. Okay, I want to give a concise explanation of why I love this, but it comes down to, I really, really liked the blend of reality with a single radical difference that's handled in stride, and this single radical difference is not only cool as shit, it's unbelievably hot and involves pseudo-collars. Just, and I do not say this lightly, read it, if for no other reason than to watch the seamless handling of worldbuilding through show, not tell. And because it is hot like burning.

Right, Adam.



I'm seriously into his performances, and I--don't like performances all that much. I like videos, but fandom vidders have spoiled me and I don't want a video anymore unless it has at least three layers of subtext and a dual plotline with an emotional arc. And performances are--okay, I guess? I like music. I like music best when a vidders already vidded it and reinterprets it--I mean, come on, Circus is not a deep song, but I wrote an almost-novella from the idea that Jim was trapped on an eternal stage until he didn't know life isn't always twenty-four hour performance art. And don't even get me started on Poker Face--I had that on repeat while writing pon farr and how Jim doesn't get love unless it hurts and Spock shocks himself realizing he likes it. I mean, this is why I watch vids. After that, MTV and VH1 are like popcorn. And performances are kind of another version of that.

So color me surprised that I got the same reaction out of, of all godforsaken things, the Early Show and David Letterman, where halfway through the night I'd assembled between the two and his performance at the AMAs this long-ass plotline about how he's stuck in the uncomfortable and sometimes shitty position of being a hugely popular, cross-appealing, ultrahot role model/example/guiding light/pioneer for young gay performers as well as straight and other variations on sexuality, gender, and gender roles, and there is nothing he has done, is doing, or will ever do that someone won't use as an example of immoral/unprogressive/homophobic/evil/too-conservative/ultra-liberal blah fucking blah. Every time he steps on a stage, in front of a microphone, in front of a camera, an interviewer, a fan, it going to be a political statement,and unless we radically speed up our learning curve, that's his for life. Even if he walked into it knowing this is what he'd be, even if he wanted it, that won't make it less difficult or less painful at times, no matter the perks. He's a superstar, a rockstar, and that may be what he wanted all his life, but he had to give up a lot to get it, and some of those things aren't what straight male performers at his level had to sacrifice.

Seriously. I ended up on youtube and google watching and reading and so pissed and not just about ABC being insane--Chris Brown, are you fucking with me? I'd let my son watch Adam nailing half the male Idols on national TV before I'd let him anywhere near that. And I told him that, and I told him why, and then I showed him why.

I've been thinking about his comparison with Madonna and Britney kissing on stage, and the other racy-esque acts that have been done by various performers that were a shitload more edgy in a sane world than making out with a male member of his band, and while I get the arguments that it's not a good comparison, considering the differing power dynamics and Adam's white maleness, it--weirdly, does work for me in another way. Women can and do make out on stage, in videos, turn on and turn up sexual tension with other women, because a straight male finds that hot and thinks it's for him. The voyeuristic gaze on most (not all, but most videos that sexually charge women with women are still read by a lot of men as women acting because they want men watching with the presumption its a prelude to fucking (him, that is. Maybe her, too, hopefully her, too, but definitely, definitely him). Even if they don't.

(There is also the weird feeling I sometimes get, personal anecdata time, that there's a complex combination of preference for a woman to be theoretically bisexual for reasons that are pretty obvious, as long as it's leashed to a woman preferring cock. But that's like, an entire universe of sexual and queer theory that I don't have the necessary reading to get into with anything more than to say, yeah, anecdatally, that was something I noticed in college and moreso when clubbing.)

The AMAs were I suppose a shock on that level; two men kissing and it doesn't have anything for the straight guy. Worse, it was a guy who didn't read as their idea of a gay cliche they could laugh off, or someone too old to be considered threatening. This is also hitting gender theory I can't on any level speak about with authority, but--Adam walked through the AMA performance carrying a cane with gold-painted nails, wore eyeliner and made out with a guy, and was never less than in perfect control of the stage, the audience, the world that watched him that night. And somewhere very small and terrible, they know, everyone knows, he could do it in a miniskirt and heels, carrying a purse, putting on lipstick, and they think, maybe, he could do it to them. Like the straight band member who kissed him, like Kris hugging him, like the women who love him, like the people who scream for him at every concert and every appearance, the answer stops being, I wouldn't go on my knees for him if he asked, but he may not need to ask.

So when I listen to Whataya Want From Me, I sometimes read it as a question being asked and the way I think so many of us are trying to answer it, and how we want to answer it.

*throws up hands* I don't know. There was turkey and Starbucks involved, and trying to get an HD version of the Letterman performance wihout the .8 seconds of glitch that threw the vocals off, and finally doing it myself in Premiere Elements (don't ask. It took all night, and I'm still recutting footage to make up for the .24 second lag between video and audio, but I got it synched by lip reading), and I don't think I'm entirely sane. I ended up with like, thirty minutes of footage from that and The Early Show in various states of quality and recut them together, and it was six in the morning and I got all teary and also, singing along.

I blame vidders. Goddamn interpretation.



Speaking of, Easy YouTube Video Downloader 1.8 is pretty much perfect for all your download needs. 2.0, however, had 720p and 1020p HD and the HD is, to my eye, fantastic. I think the audio may not be as great, but I couldn't tell last night since I didn't have my headphones and laptop speakers aren't ideal. It won't, however, put the extension on when you download to HD, and that was a fun and frantic ten minutes tracking down the correct extension for importing to premiere (avc, btw), though it will play in avi just fine. It also does FLV, 3GP, MP3, and MP4, all of which I think are identical in quality to the original--at least, I didn't notice a glaring difference and my computer screen is HD. Again, I can't verify how the sound is--laptop speakers--but I have no real complaints so far. The interface will appear on the youtube video page beneath the URL link and imbed links, and you can pick which you want. HD downloads a lot slower, but MP4 can be done in under three minutes.

Seriously, if someone know about this and didn't tell me? I am going to be so put out.

Comments

[iteari.livejournal.com]

Argh. I may be a little--er, touchy on this one.

I don't blame you.

That report sounds both funny and tragic. All kinds of women *GASP* enjoy movies ? What's next, they're going to actually have jobs where they can use money to pay on their own?! They're actually going to have opinions?! The horror!