Welcome to the conversation!

I was thinking about something else, and then suddenly I remembered how it was I first discovered Adam Lambert. So, here is the story, if anyone is curious.

Even though I'm not living there right now, I'm actually from Serbia, and at the time, there was this LGBT-oriented magazine called "Optimist" - it was the only one in Serbia at the time, probably still is the only one, but I'm not sure. Now, as an LGBT activist, I was given copies of several issues and even though I gave away most of them, I was left with a couple of magazines, so I read through them while sitting at a cafe. In one of them there was an article about Adam Lambert, or rather, if I'm remembering it correctly, it was just a write-up, a mention, in terms of him being one of only few out and proud gay musicians. (I think the article had a whole list - though it wasn't a very long one.) I hadn't heard about him before, or heard his music even, but I was curious to learn more. Even though I can't remember the exact description of Adam, it must have been one helluva write-up - the writer must have been a huge fan - because it made me want to go online and search for his music. My first stop was youtube, of course, and there I fell into the rabbit hole of watching all sorts of videos, and there were a lot to choose from. When I discovered Adam, he had already been on Idol, made "For Your Entertainment" and did his first six shows with Queen in Europe. But that wasn't enough - I wanted to find more videos and music, so I searched everywhere for all the tidbits I could find, like his musicals, pre-Idol performances, etc. It was at this time that I started ghosting Adamtopia, because there is so much information here, and it is pretty well-organized. Plus, I fell in love with Cassie's Vocal Masterclass thread, because - as most people here - I am fascinated by that voice!

Well, there it is - that's how I was first made aware of Adam's existence. It wasn't through radio, although later I did hear Whataya Want From Me on the radio, and I remember thinking: "How come I did not hear this song before? Or am I just noticing it now because I've been listening to Adam so much?" Anyway, discovering Adam really did change the way I hear music, or rather - what I pay attention to when I listen to music. There are songs that I used to like and I still remember, but when I go back to listen to them, I feel like they are just badly sung... If they are good songs, I still like them, but I don't want to listen to them: I may sing them to myself, or I may like a cover version better (if they were covered by a good singer). I think I'm just vocally spoiled, like all the other glamberts  

Maybe I'm thinking about all this because I've been watching the Australian X-factor, which is a show where new talent is discovered for the first time, and because it seems like some Australians are now discovering Adam for the first time, as well. When I discovered Adam's music, he had already done a lot, so I remember thinking: "where have I been?, how come I haven't heard about him in all this time?" - it was 2012, and he rose to fame in 2009, so I felt like I had been living under a rock for 3 years. Now it seems a bit weird to me that there are still people out there who haven't even heard of him or at least have an idea that he is a singer. It's 2016, so it's been 7 years. But, whenever I do have that thought, like "where have you been the past 7 years?", I check myself, and I remember that if it weren't for an obscure magazine, which I didn't even buy, but which somehow wound up in my hands because I was involved in activism, I might not have learned about Adam when I did, and I could have been years later to the party. I am not the kind of person who regularly checks on what's happening in the current pop music scene, or goes to rock concerts, so I could have missed out on so much. I'm glad for the people who are finding out about Adam Lambert and all that his glorious voice has been involved with - his music, his collaborations, his acting. They're in for such a treat, because now there are even more goodies!

Have a great day, everyone! I'm still here most days, although I don't post actively. Stay positively adamtopian! Regards from China! 


ETA: Oh, wow, I forgot that "Trespassing" happened in 2012 before the first QAL shows, so I must have missed that as well :D

You're welcome
And I do understand the "envy" you mentioned. I sometimes try listening to some songs or watching some videos as if I were a newcomer to the Adam world - it's an interesting exercise, because I try to put myself in other people's shoes and experience what they might be experiencing. It's not the same, perhaps, but it can be fun. Still, Adam always surprises us with new and wonderful stuff... I know I'm still here because I'm never bored!