Without a doubt, Adam Lambert is the splashiest singer to ever lose on American Idol. The glammy 28-year-old has a knack for grabbing attention, from his costumes (Ziggy Stardust by way of Los Angeles) to the clubby pop-rock featured on his debut, For Your Entertainment, which went gold earlier this year. The album hit iTunes last November, and Lambert’s already released three videos to promote it—an anomaly in a time when the music industry is cutting back on such extravagances. But Lambert’s an extravagant sort of guy, the kind of performer who puts the emphasis on spectacle. “I really enjoy Gareth Pugh,” he says, discussing his go-to designers. “I like the late and great Alexander McQueen. I like Galliano. I love a Dolce & Gabbana suit. For more casual stuff, I like Diesel and Rock & Republic.” And he’s as comfortable in his clothes as he is in his role as a lightning rod for controversy, which is to be expected when you’re an openly gay megastar.
“Most of what I do doesn’t feel controversial,” he says. “I’m just the same Adam I’ve always been, and in the circles I run in, it’s not all that shocking.” Born in Indianapolis and raised in San Diego, Lambert showed a flair for the dramatic at an early age, appearing in various school theater productions; he went on to tour with a production of Hair and worked as a performer on a cruise ship for a year. That was all pre-Idol. Now he’s calling the shots, looking forward to an upcoming summer tour and hoping eventually to cross over into acting. “There’s been a void in mainstream music of a male performer who’s theatrical, campy, over the top. That’s something that used to be celebrated, and I haven’t seen that lately. So I think that’s an interesting challenge—to fill that spot.”
JONATHAN DURBINAdam wears a jacket by Gucci and shirt by Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers. Makeup: Eryn Lefkowitz. Hair: Max Pinnell for Bumble and Bumble at See Management.
------------------------------------------------------------Cable procedurals are famous for their ripped-from-the-headlines plots, but when USA debuted White Collar, starring Matt Bomer as a white-collar criminal-turned-sleuth, in the wake of Madoff, well…. “That was completely fortuitous!” Bomer laughs. “We did the pilot, and shortly thereafter the Madoff thing went down. I just thought to myself, ‘Wow, this is really out there in the zeitgeist right now.’”
As Neal Caffrey, an ex-con whose sentence is commuted in exchange for helping the FBI put away other criminals, Bomer has the sort of reckless charm not often associated with the stern, sad-eyed federal agent. “I watched The Hustler, The Sting, and To Catch a Thief,” he says of his research into the role. “But I also tried to throw in a little bit of Ferris Bueller and Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours.” Bueller with a badge? “I like characters with flaws, who have shadow,” Bomer explains.
He was a high-school football player in small-town Spring, Texas -- Friday Night Lights country -- an hour outside of Houston, when the acting bug first bit. “I started acting professionally when I was 17. I quit the team and did a production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Alley Theatre in Houston. I used to drive down at the end of the school day, do the show, do my homework during intermission and drive an hour back to Spring to go to school the next day.” The footballers didn’t object. “I think they understood that this was what I wanted to do with my life,” he says. Of course, he goes on with a smile, “If I had been the All-State quarterback, they would have had some objections to my playing the young collector in Streetcar.”
MATTHEW SCHNEIERMatthew wears a blazer and pants by Calvin Klein Collection and shirt by Converse by John Varvatos
Original Article:THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE 2010 LIST
