Adam Lambert - Whataya Want From Me

[rellybois]

Great video. This is the Adam I'd hoped he'd favor in his career. I think he's realized that most fans fell in love with beautiful, sweet, heartbreaking Adam, not FYE Adam.

[jink]

I like the video.

[poptartz]

The leaked video got yanked, but it's up on VH1.com now!

[Rumors]

I think the video did it's job in creating all kinds of nice screencaps of Adam. People that think he is good looking are drooling I'm sure. I like the color tones of it as well. As for the actual video, it's very boring. What's the storyline except for Adam looking in pain throughout? The song is pretty generic but I can see it becoming a hit. Very Pinkish in the lyrics and chorus. I don't know if songs like this will break him huge in the US and internationally though. The songs so far have been a major step down from the stuff I've heard from a recent superstar like Lady Gaga (just for comparison purposes).

First time I heard Use Somebody - instant hit. I didn't get anything like that with this song but I think it's a very safe song and what his fans on AI want from him so I think it will do its thing.

[Rumors]

Jan 14, 2010 23:02:21 GMT -5 Stephen said:

I see it as Adam struggling against his own persona. It alludes to the AMA performance and his expectations of himself and people's expectations of him. It's actually a pretty brilliant video. After the cluster f*ck that was the FYE video, I expected the worst.

You seriously got all that from that video. LOL! Okay.

[Rumors]

Jan 14, 2010 19:31:40 GMT -5 caitlin1974 said:

Labels don't tell stations how much to spin a song. Labels don't hold the power in this situation, the stations do.

Labels have staff that go around to stations. Those people very well let the stations know who they want them to support at any given time. The stations may not follow suit but they know what the plan is. This stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum.

[Kworb]

That's better. :) HAC adds kicking in!

POP:
34 33 ADAM LAMBERT Whataya Want From Me 1802 1547 255 13.743
+23 Spins
-36 Bullet
+0.230 AI

HAC:
41 40 ADAM LAMBERT Whataya Want From Me 370 300 70 1.471
+21 Spins
+11 Bullet
+0.114 AI

[Sarah.]

Nice!
And up to #33 on Pop. :)

[caitlin1974]

Jan 15, 2010 6:18:26 GMT -5 Rumors said:

Jan 14, 2010 19:31:40 GMT -5 caitlin1974 said:

Labels don't tell stations how much to spin a song. Labels don't hold the power in this situation, the stations do.

Labels have staff that go around to stations. Those people very well let the stations know who they want them to support at any given time. The stations may not follow suit but they know what the plan is. This stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum.

\

Showing support for an artist, and telling a station how many times to spin a song are two different things. You can't seriously believe that if this was the way that things are done that RCA wouldn't have told stations to play FYE, especially considering the amount of money that they poured into that song. Labels kiss up to radio stations, because the stations hold the power, and because it is up to the stations to decide whether or not they pla a song.

And up to #33 on Pop

Thank goodness for Colbie Cailliat.

[foxxden]

So when did VH1 end up airing the video on TV this morning? Was it just once randomly between 6am to 10am or was it at the top of every hour?

[saga]

Jan 15, 2010 9:32:49 GMT -5 foxxden said:

So when did VH1 end up airing the video on TV this morning? Was it just once randomly between 6am to 10am or was it at the top of every hour?

Every hour.

[mostlyharmless]

Jan 14, 2010 23:37:09 GMT -5 Arabella21 said:

It seems like parts of the video are filmed to look like it's from the love interest's eyes, what he would be seeing. Especially the part where he's packing the suitcase, you only see his hands and arms, and at the end when the guy comes back, that's why Adam gives "the camera" such a loving look, it's really just the boyfriend returning.

What's with all the guitars in the apartment, does Adam's video boyfriend play it?

*ahemkrisallenahem* JKJK I'm sounding like a fan girl LOL.

Anyways, the music video was so emotional, the man was GORGEOUS.

[Kworb]

Effect of the video is immediate; up to #40 on iTunes.

[foxxden]

Jan 15, 2010 10:01:13 GMT -5 Kworb said:

Effect of the video is immediate; up to #40 on iTunes.

Hello new itunes peak! lol This is great...the video is doing what it should do then. The VH1 every hour play was good promotion. Even if the song continues to slowly climb until Tuesday, I think it has a decent shot of mid teens on itunes after the big O! lol

Also...MTV's interpretation of the video:

Adam Lambert Shows Off His Many Sides In 'Whataya Want From Me' Video
Just-released clip paints 'American Idol' runner-up as an emotionally raw and exhausted man.

By Jim Cantiello

It's not easy being Adam Lambert.

That seems to be the message behind the music video for Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me," which premiered on MTV and VH1 on Friday morning (January 15).

The brand-new clip showcases the glam rocker in a sparse industrial apartment. But instead of the "glittery alien from Planet Fierce" persona we've come to expect from the showman, we're seeing an emotionally raw and exhausted man, uncomfortable in a cold, new-looking home and torn between the different roles he's forced to play in his very public life.

The various "Adams" are all represented in the video, and the one thing they share in common is that they're all miserable. There's slick-artist-in-a-tailored-suit Adam, happy in front of the paparazzi but depressed once the limo door shuts. We also meet plain-James Adam, clad in a simple black T-shirt and jeans, who spends his time lounging on a couch and crying. Of course, there's also rock-star Adam, who pops up with his band to sing the chorus of the song.

Which "Adam" persona is the real deal? The "Whataya Want From Me" video suggests that all of them are. Lambert's a lonely emo kid, a frustrated superstar, a glam-rock glitter addict and a guy who orders Chinese takeout when he's depressed, just like the rest of us. He can be all those things, so don't try to pinpoint him as just one thing.

At first glance, one could interpret this video as Adam's "fame isn't all it's cracked up to be" statement (see: Britney Spears' "Everytime" clip). Although most of the video takes place in a private apartment, Adam is always reacting to the ever-present camera that lingers, harasses and, at one point, slams the door on him. Adam's relationship with the intrusive camera runs the gamut from trying to ignore it to getting violent with it. Sometimes he wants it to be close; other times he's giving it death stares from across the room.

So what does the camera represent?

Is it the point of view of his lover, upset with Adam's newfound fame and the baggage that comes along with it? Maybe. Or perhaps the camera represents his fans. Adam's relationship with his obsessive fanbase is complicated, particularly after Adam recently tweeted begging his followers for a little privacy.

A case could be made that the camera represents everyone — his fans, his lovers, even his detractors. Early in the video, Adam cradles a television remote, which could either be a wink to his reality-show past or a nod to the controversy that surrounded his American Music Awards performance. The suit that "angry artist" Adam wears later in the video looks an awful lot like the outfit he wore on the red carpet of the AMAs, just hours before he became defensive and lashed out at ABC for censoring his awards-show debut.

Lambert performed "Whataya Want From Me" (co-written by Pink and Max Martin) during his post-AMA media blitz. The song's chorus — in which he's literally asking the listener what they want from him and begs them not to give up on him — seemed all the more poignant coming from a star in the midst of a public firestorm. One can't help but think that veteran music-video director Diane Martel (also responsible for videos from "Idol" alums Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson) was at least partially inspired by Lambert's complicated situation.

In the emotional video's final moments, the camera returns to find Adam Lambert sitting up in the bed he hasn't made. He's relieved that the camera/ his lover/ his fans/ the attention of the world took the song's meaning to heart. Despite all the drama, we haven't given up on him. In fact, we're happy to get back in bed with him.

www.mtv.com/news/articles/1629774/20100114/lambert_adam_american_idol_.jhtml

Wow, that's a lot to search for in a little clip lol. I'll watch more closely next time. But I do think it's a little early in his career for Adam to do his "fame sucks" video

[lucytor]

Jan 15, 2010 11:21:50 GMT -5 foxxden said:

Hello new itunes peak! lol This is great...the video is doing what it should do then. The VH1 every hour play was good promotion. Even if the song continues to slowly climb until Tuesday, I think it has a decent shot of mid teens on itunes after the big O! lol

Also...MTV's interpretation of the video:

...

Wow, that's a lot to search for in a little clip lol. I'll watch more closely next time. But I do think it's a little early in his career for Adam to do his "fame sucks" video

The video is ambiguous enough to merit any number of interpretations. I did not get the "fame sucks" thing from it at all; actually, I was surprised to read Cantiello interpret it as that. For me it showed the two sides of a relationship, with Adam playing both parts--the depressed, defensive, and emo-haired Adam vs the angry, aggressive, Elvis-haired Adam.

[sunpeach]

I didn't like the clip so much but I like the whole video. It is the best he has ever looked- I do like images- and two of these I really like for him- the whole kinda Beatlemania jacket and tie look and just the black t-shirt and dangling necklace (which is what he wore when he first sang Satisfaction on Idol) He almost is trying "too hard" to act and for a second or two it gets a bit too much, but overall, I like it, it's not the greatest, I wish he were more aggressively creative to show us he will be around longer (he doesn't come close to the creativity of a Lady Gaga or Madonna) but of course they are the big guns, but still- he has not convinced he is a superstar but he is making a little dent, the video's good and of course, some of his crazier fans will pass out when they see it unable to breathe, because he does look REALLY GOOD.

[foxxden]

#39 on iTunes!

ALSO

Entertainment Weekly weighs in...'

Adam Lambert's 'Whataya Want From Me' video: Whataya think of it?
by Michael Slezak

It’s probably folly to try to peek into the mind of an artist by watching one of his music videos, and yet the lovely new clip for Adam Lambert’s “Whataya Want From Me” plays out in such a personal-yet-enigmatic way, it’s hard not to imagine that the American Idol season 8 runner-up is feeling a little overwhelmed by all the change that’s come to his life in the last 12 months. Think about it: A little less than a year ago — Jan. 20, 2009, to be exact — Lambert caught our attention singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” during Idol’s San Francisco audition telecast. (If you’re a nostalgic sort, check out the recap of that episode here.) Since then, the guy has been a magnet for adulation, hateration, and controversy. His sexual orientation got discussed pretty much everywhere — even on The O’Reilly Factor! — before he came out as gay on the cover of Rolling Stone last summer. He got struck by flying sex toys on the subsequent Idols Live Tour. This fall, he was dissed by Out magazine for not being a hard-charging poster boy for the gay rights movement — at the exact same time he appeared on that magazine’s cover. And his sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards in November practically caused ABC to remove the first letter from its own corporate logo, paint it crimson red, and slap it on Adam’s chest. Lately, he’s had to ask his most rabid fans to dial back on organized request-line campaigns that have threatened to harm his relationship with radio.

And so it’s impossible, really, to look at “Whataya Want From Me” and not reference all those water-coolery moments in Adam’s public life. Conceptually, the video finds Adam interacting with the camera as if it was a second character and engaged in a strained pas de deux: There’s Adam turning his back, tuning out, fiddling with the remote; there’s Adam, standing by a bookshelf (that, woohoo, is fully stocked with books!) and offering a surly sideways glance; there’s Adam putting on a happy public face for the paparazzi, then betraying a completely different emotion as he slides into a limo; there’s Adam in the kitchen, angry now, bordering on menacing as he yells and charges at the camera; there’s Adam alone, pensive and repentant and reading some kind of note after the unseen character packs its bags and walks out; and finally, there’s Adam, welcoming his reconciled partner back into bed with just the slightest hint of a smile. Does Adam’s invisible partner in the video represent a lover, the media, his fans, his record label, or perhaps all of the above? Just like the song’s lyrics, the video is open to interpretation, but the sparseness of that dreamy apartment (Santa, I would like those kitchen cabinets!), the misty chill of the backyard scenes, the undiscarded remnants of a hastily eaten Chinese meal…they all contribute to a mood of slightly somber confusion, the idea that, yeah, even a pop star occasionally “needs a second to breathe,” to learn to navigate the public and personal relationships that get inevitably altered by the sudden arrival of fame and fortune, of all the good and bad that come with ‘em. Maybe I’m getting a little too heavy (handed?) in blogging about a music video on a sleepy January morning, but isn’t that what the best music videos do: Make us think a little more deeply about the lyrics of a song, allow us a little space to take away our own interpretations, let us see the artist in a variety of jaunty outfits/hairstyles? On those counts, “Whataya Want From Me” clip is a smashing success. Here’s hoping we can say the same for the song as it fights for its chance at radio and on the Billboard charts.

What do you think of Adam’s new video? Post your own reviews and interpretations below. Oh, and whaddoIwantfromya? Follow me on Twitter @ewmichaelslezak, then sign up for all the low-calorie, high-flavor goodness of our Music Mix blog @ewmusicmix!

music-mix.ew.com/2010/01/15/adam-lambert-whataya-want-video/

[blue in moonlight]

Jan 15, 2010 6:11:13 GMT -5 Rumors said:

The songs so far have been a major step down from the stuff I've heard from a recent superstar like Lady Gaga (just for comparison purposes).

Adam's singles definitely aren't as immediate as most of GaGa's (although I will say it took me a while to fall in love with BR but I'm head over heels now).

I wonder what happened with the RedOne tracks. I thought he was one of the first producers Adam went in the studio with. Did they not mesh well together? Anyone know?

[foxxden]

#38 on Itunes and #1 on Z100's High Noon Countdown today!

[mostlyharmless]

^^^^^
YAY! :) :) :)

[₫anny Jerz ♔]

As much as I don't want to, I really like this song. The video is good too. I much prefer this Adam to skanky Adamiva.

[P!nkch TheO™]

there's no such thing as Adamiva. but i thought it was funny! :)

wow at the itunes jump ... get it boy!


i love the video. simple and just perfect for the song! here is a new youtube link that works.

[sunpeach]

Such in-depth reporting for just a video proves Adam does have some star power;



It's funny, I started liking BR because of the video, too- and I've heard people say that many times so it must be true for a lot of people- that's one instance where a video really helped- and I love the song now.

[foxxden]

What's good about this song's progress is that once enough people actually hear it...they go buy it. I think the big reason why this started so slow on iTunes was the lack of airplay...and his airplay is only a little bit bigger now. But after each TV performance within minutes the song would jump up the chart. Now the video is spreading over the internet rapidly and new people are hearing it for the first time and buying it on iTunes. This bodes well for the song in the future if airplay catches up.

[lucytor]

Jan 15, 2010 14:06:43 GMT -5 foxxden said:

What's good about this song's progress is that once enough people actually hear it...they go buy it. I think the big reason why this started so slow on iTunes was the lack of airplay...and his airplay is only a little bit bigger now. But after each TV performance within minutes the song would jump up the chart. Now the video is spreading over the internet rapidly and new people are hearing it for the first time and buying it on iTunes. This bodes well for the song in the future if airplay catches up.

Do you think the airplay will catch up?

[foxxden]

^I think eventually yes. I do have my doubts but I think songs move up the charts a lot slower now than they use to. Either way...this sounds like a hit song so there really is no reason why it shouldn't be played like one.

[lucytor]

Jan 15, 2010 14:23:58 GMT -5 foxxden said:

^I think eventually yes. I do have my doubts but I think songs move up the charts a lot slower now than they use to. Either way...this sounds like a hit song so there really is no reason why it shouldn't be played like one.

Thank you! I'm a bit worried by the conservatism of American radio. Cumulus, which hasn't added WWFM, did ban Dixie Chicks back in the Bush era, so it's a worry. Hopefully, the song will pick up. As you say, WWFM is def radio friendly.

[soundUPsceneDOWN]

I wouldn't call reviews by Jim Cantiello and Michael Slezak to be "in-depth reporting." Jim is awesome, Michael is... well... anyway... but they're both Idol reporters for their particular entertainment entities (MTV and EW, respectively). Of course they're going to report on it.

The video is alright. I think I would have preferred it if they left the whole paparazzi stuff out of it. That reminds me of every other, "I'm a poor celeb, you've misunderstood by tough position" videos. I hate those videos because I can't relate to that. I'm not famous. So the video becomes all about Adam and not about how I can relate the song to an experience in my life that is similar. Note: I don't think every video needs to be relatable, but this song is one that begs to pick up on some part of everybody's life; without the paparazzi stuff the video would be about Adam asking ***somebody*** what they want from him, and how he can be what they want, and why he needs to be what they want. That's relatable. The famous stuff is just not.

I hate to sound self-absorbed (well, maybe I don't), but I don't give a crap about Adam's charmed life right now, or the problems that specifically come with that. I give a crap about my life. lol.

That was a long-winded way of saying that the video would have been better without the camera flash crap.

[lucytor]

Jan 15, 2010 15:17:27 GMT -5 soundUPsceneDOWN said:

I wouldn't call reviews by Jim Cantiello and Michael Slezak to be "in-depth reporting." Jim is awesome, Michael is... well... anyway... but they're both Idol reporters for their particular entertainment entities (MTV and EW, respectively). Of course they're going to report on it.

The video is alright. I think I would have preferred it if they left the whole paparazzi stuff out of it. That reminds me of every other, "I'm a poor celeb, you've misunderstood by tough position" videos. I hate those videos because I can't relate to that. I'm not famous. So the video becomes all about Adam and not about how I can relate the song to an experience in my life that is similar. Note: I don't think every video needs to be relatable, but this song is one that begs to pick up on some part of everybody's life; without the paparazzi stuff the video would be about Adam asking ***somebody*** what they want from him, and how he can be what they want, and why he needs to be what they want. That's relatable. The famous stuff is just not.

I hate to sound self-absorbed (well, maybe I don't), but I don't give a crap about Adam's charmed life right now, or the problems that specifically come with that. I give a crap about my life. lol.

That was a long-winded way of saying that the video would have been better without the camera flash crap.

Totally agree with being unable to sympathize with the "poor little celebrity rich boy" thing. However, when I saw the mv, that was the LAST thing I thought of. My first feeling was that the mv was describing two sides of a love affair, with Adam (possibly) playing both parts--the sweet emo boy, and the angry suited man. The pap thing took up about two seconds of video time, so I'm really not sure why the reviewers are limiting the entire thing to that. I mean, yes, I see it there, but that was not my first response to this video at all.

[soundUPsceneDOWN]

^^ Well, we all see something different. It was the first thing I thought of, especially with the paparazzi shots (more than a couple seconds), and Adam's recent dive into the world of bad performance decision-making--it all fit together. I think to get what you got out of the video you really have to do some deeper analysis, and I think only Adam's fans are really going to try to do that. On the surface, it seems like Adam is talking to the press or people who didn't like his FYE performance, saying "what do you want from me?!" To remove those pap shots would have made a world of difference, IMO.