Of everything that you listed, only the finger at the end was not broadcast.
I think in the end that the AMAs helped Adam by providing a platform for WWFM to be a hit, by helping him get the first support from the Gay "establishment" in the US, and by generating massive global press.
Oddly, I rewatched the AMA performance and it is not that bad and not that offensive -- it certainly would not be shocking in the US in 2013. I still hate the set, the production demands were changing for a "singer" who was lipsyncing and Adam was singing, the song is hard to sing even for Adam, and Adam just got into a bad, angry space during the performance. Not that best time for him to have a major adrenaline rush.
I disagree about the Male-Male kiss not mattering. It was all about gay sexuality and the associating with S&M when you read the complaints to the FCC. And since the "delightful" folks from American Family Radio are from my home town (Tupelo, MS) and they were behind most of the complaints and trying to get Adam banned from earth, it was all about his display of "deviant homosexual" behavior. I have battled these folks for years and will continue the fight.
And now that the dust about Adam's AMA performance has settled, I think a lot of the "shock" was orchestrated by RCA and Adam's ad libs were the kiss, figure at the end and amping the performance up a lot (the anger of the role.)
RCA picked the song as the lead single and it was about S&M sung by an out gay man, RCA picked the producer for the AMAs, RCA picked the song for the AMA's with Adam's input -- so the theme, leashes, and bi-sexual imagery was from RCA and their hired staff. I give them credit for one thing -- unlike the chicken shit lame suits at DCA and ABC who denied any knowledge of the "offensive" behavior in the performance, RCA supported Adam. So do GLAAD. But 19 Management just ducked.
Question 1 - isn't it curious how similar the Miley think was to what Adam did? (Not the specifics but the surprisingly sexual and "unplanned" actions.) She is also with RCA working with some of the same people who worked with Adam in 2009.
I know that many Adam fans would have like him to do a stunning vocal performance without the other stuff. If Adam had come out, done WWFM with his lasers (like on Idol May 2010), it would have gotten good reviews and been forgotten. Lady Gaga would have taken the night and Adam would be forever battling the image of the nice gay guy from Idol who sings power ballads. The AMA performance made Adam the news of the music world --worldwide -- for over a week. It burst him out of the Idol bubble. And it freed him to be Adam.Question 2 - would any fan who stopped being a fan of Adam's after the AMAs really be a fan of his live concerts or would they like the Glee floorbert?
Finally, my only wish for the AMAs is that Adam sung Fever -- a better song -- and that he would have had a simpler set. But I would leave that kiss right in there and that he would have pushed the boundaries a lot taking the news that night.
