Adam Lambert answers critics on 'The Early Show'

Adam Lambert appeared on "The Early Show" today on CBS to address his sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards on Sunday night and to perform two songs from his first album, "For Your Entertainment." 

Calling his being a gay male "a double whammy" and the reason fueling the uproar, Lambert said he got caught up in the moment and never stopped to think children could be watching since his performance began just before 11 p.m. His only regret, he said, is, "I would sing it a little bit better. The adrenaline took such a hold of me that I went back and reviewed it, it wasn't my best vocal performance. It wasn't perfect."

You can watch the entire interview in the video. For more coverage and to see his two performances, go to our sister Show Tracker blog.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

Video: CBS

Ann Powers on Adam Lambert's debut album 'For Your Entertainment'

Pop music and resident Adam Lambert devotee Ann Powers gets her first taste of his debut album, "For Your Entertainment."

But does she like the goods? Some thoughts:

"For Your Entertainment" is a polished affair, but stylistically, it shows Lambert running loose like a kid in a Comme des Garçons store. With the Hollywood pop A-list at his disposal, he chose to go for it all: The only names missing from his list of collaborators are those firmly in the R&B camp (wouldn't it be great if he worked with fellow drama club type Ne-Yo?) The results on "FYE" are inevitably mixed but never a bummer; Lambert's deft enough to avoid getting stuck in any one of the tropes he explores.

On many tracks, Lambert stretches himself by putting on the style of his more seasoned collaborators. He's pleading and soulful on the Pink co-write, sneering on the song Rivers Cuomo tossed his way, moody when it comes to parsing Muse and appropriately silly on the neo-glam crusher penned for him by Justin Hawkins, formerly of the English band the Darkness. Versatility is Lambert's strategy here, one he might consider changing in the future -- when the material's second-rate, it sinks him a bit. 

Read the full review here.

-- Denise Martin

Photo credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times

'American Idol' runner-up Diana DeGarmo joins the cast of 'Carrie'

From "Hairspray" to pig's blood: "American Idol" runner-up Diana DeGarmo is heading to Broadway once more, this time for "Carrie."

DeGarmo, who last starred as Tracy Turnblad's best friend Penny in "Hairspray," has been cast in the industry reading of "Carrie," a star-studded presentation that producers Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum ("Rent," "Avenue Q," "West Side Story") are hoping will help them revive it as a theatrical production.

Based on the Stephen King novel, the 1976 horror film starring Sissy Spacek as a telekinetic outcast, was previously staged as a musical in 1988. The production became one of the biggest flops in Broadway history, running for only five performances and losing $8 million. 

DeGarmo will join other cast members Sutton Foster, Marin Mazzie, Jennifer Damiano, Matt Doyle and John Arthur Greene.

The titular role has not yet been cast.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: Diana DeGarmo. Credit: Getty Images

Carrie Underwood's third album, 'Play On', tops the sales charts

Taylor Swift may have just swept the CMAs but country's other lil darlin', Carrie Underwood, also has reason to cheer.

Underwood's third album, "Play On", claims the top spot on this week's Billboard 200. It's the second album from the "American Idol" winner to go No. 1 in the last two years.

More than 318,000 copies of the disc were sold, making it the year's biggest seller from a female artist.

Underwood's previous album, 2007's "Carnival Ride", sold 527,000 copies in its debut week. 

-- Denise Martin

Bring Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta to your hometown

Ryan Seacrest today announced that he'd be bringing last season's "American Idol" top 3 -- Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta -- to the town that most wants them.

Head over to RyanSeacrest.com to "demand" a special concert from the trio. The town (or city!) that receives the most votes wins. Attending the performance will be FREE.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert on "American Idol." Credit: Fox

Ann Powers and Adam Lambert, together at last

Anyone who kept up with the last season of "American Idol" via the Los Angeles Times knows that pop music critic Ann Powers is, well, a rather big Adam Lambert fan.

Months after the competition was called, and Lambert was declared the runner-up, Powers finally got to hang with the glam rocker while he geared up for the release of his debut album, "For Your Entertainment." Their conversation spanned his image, influences, and the primal screaming he could trademark as his own.

Here's an excerpt (after the jump):

Video: Kris Allen debuts the music video for 'Live Like We're Dying'

At long last: The premiere of the music video for Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying," the first single for his self-titled debut album, out Nov. 17.

Allen tells PopEater.com that the video was shot overnight in the Los Angeles desert. "The idea behind it is ... I plug in the clock and it starts counting down to zero and there's performance stuff in there. I'm playing the guitar and playing the piano and singing too. In the end when it hits zero, it's kind of like the song, it's like we only have so much time so we gotta do what we want to do."

What do you think? Sound off below.

-- Denise Martin

Rate it: Danny Gokey's first single, 'It's Only,' hits the radio

Danny Gokey premiered his first single, “It’s Only,” on Milwaukee 106.1 FM on Friday morning. According to MJ's Big Blog, the song is written by Dave and Charles from Lady Antebellum and produced by Carrie Underwood producer Mark Bright.

Listen to the entire song in the clip above (no video, just sound) and let us know what you think below. Just in time for the holidays? Or sentimental dreck?

— Denise Martin

'American Idol' meets Robert Pattinson?

Well, sort of. "American Idol" executive producer Simon Fuller has signed on to executive produce "Bel Ami," an erotically charged period drama starring Robert Pattinson and Nicole Kidman.

The film, an adaptation of French author Guy De Maupassant’s novel, revolves around a young man's rise to the top of Parisian society in the 1890s via the beds of the city's most glamorous and influential women.

Stage directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod will direct from a script by Rachel Bennette.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: Robert Pattinson. Credit: Associated Press

Randy Lewis on Carrie Underwood's new album, 'Play On'

"American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood releases her third album, "Play On," today. Times staff writer Randy Lewis weighs in:

If there's a slam-dunk aspect to Carrie Underwood's third album, it's that she's handed her "American Idol" benefactors a theme song for the next episode of "Idol Gives Back." That song is "Change," an exercise in social responsibility that challenges the listener to stay open to the possibility that a small gesture can make a big difference.

Underwood puts that idea across convincingly -- it's one that also would do wonders for her music. Unfortunately, there are no small gestures here. As on 2007's "Carnival Ride," Underwood and producer Mark Bright lunge for one climactic crescendo after another at the expense of vocal nuance, lyric subtlety and even aural clarity, thanks to the excessive sonic compression again applied to most tracks. 

Of course, the same formula has helped her sell more albums than any other "Idol" alum, but "Play On" exhibits a distressing lack of dimension for a singer with Underwood's obvious abilities.

Read the full review on the L.A. Times' music blog Pop & Hiss.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: Carrie Underwood. Credit: Associated Press