HOLLYWOOD DIRT OVERFLOW (11-24-09)

"AMA" FALL-OUT

ADAM LAMBERT THINKS IT'S "DISCRIMINATION" THAT HIS RAUNCHY PERFORMANCE WAS EDITED FOR THE WEST COAST:

If you watched the "American Music Awards" on Sunday night . . . from the EAST coast . . . you saw a pretty raunchy ADAM LAMBERT performance. (--He was singing the title track off his new album, "For Your Entertainment".)

If you missed it, it included: Adam parading around the stage with two male dancers on leashes . . . Adam making out with his allegedly straight male keyboardist . . . and Adam thrusting a male dancer's face into his crotch.

Adam apparently didn't clear that face-to-crotch move with ABC beforehand . . . and as a result, it was edited out of the show when it aired on the West Coast. --Backstage after his performance . . . but before he knew whether or not his performance would be edited for the later time zones . . . Adam said that he'd consider any censorship to be, quote, "discrimination." --He told "Rolling Stone", quote, "It's a shame because I think that there's a double standard going on in the entertainment community right now.

"Female performers have been doing this for years . . . pushing the envelope about sexuality . . . and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out. --"We're in 2009 . . . it's time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people's eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I'm not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom."

He added, quote, "In a roundabout way it's a form of discrimination because it is a double standard. They didn't censor BRITNEY [SPEARS] and MADONNA macking onstage did they? But yet two men kissing they'll censor." (--The notorious Britney / Madonna moment took place at the 2003 "Video Music Awards". It aired on MTV . . . not on a broadcast network like the "AMAs".)

(--And just to clarify, these comments were made BEFORE Adam knew for sure if the performance was going to be edited. ABC ended up keeping the man-on-man kiss . . . they just took out the racy part where he simulated ORAL RELATIONS.)

In another post-performance interview . . . this one with "Access Hollywood" . . . Adam said, quote, "You know honestly, if I offended some people . . . it's apples and oranges. I'm not an artist that does things for every single person. --"I'm not going to be surprised that they edit it. People are scared and it's really sad, I just wish people could open their minds up and enjoy things, it's all for a laugh, it's really not that big of a deal."

ABC EXPLAINS WHY THEY EDITED ADAM LAMBERT:

ABC has explained why they decided to censor the raunchiest moment of ADAM LAMBERT'S performance at the "AMAs" for their West Coast broadcast. (--That being the face-to-crotch thrust Adam did with a male dancer.)

In a brief statement, the network said, quote, "Due to the live nature of the show we did not expect the impromptu moment in question." --Yesterday morning, the "Associated Press" reported that around 1,500 people called in to complain about Adam's racy performance . . . but ABC later described the number of complaints as, quote, "moderate."

Adam has admitted that some aspects of his performance weren't planned. He said he did some improvising, quote, "in the moment." --Speaking to "Rolling Stone", he added, quote, "Adrenaline is crazy and sometimes things just happen. We had this great dance number totally staged. It's a sexy song about seduction and power and I was just doing the lyrics justice. --"My intention was not to try and create a controversy. But if a controversy ensues, then so be it." He also denied that he was trying to draw attention for his new album, "For Your Entertainment", which hit stores yesterday.

He said, quote, "Numbers are shmumbers, they don't mean anything. It's about the music. I'm creating art, and if they like it, they'll buy it, and if they don't, they don't. It really doesn't matter to me." --Speaking of numbers, an average of 14.2 million people watched the "AMAs", which is up about 2 million viewers from last year. That was also enough to give the show its best ratings since 2002.

A NEW MISS CALIFORNIA HAS BEEN CROWNED . . . AND MICHAEL PHELPS HIT THIS ONE, TOO:

CARRIE PREJEAN is officially old news. A NEW Miss California has been crowned. Her name is NICOLE JOHNSON. This one says she's NOT against gay marriage and she doesn't have any sex tapes floating around.

But she and Carrie do have one thing in common: The both dated MICHAEL PHELPS. Phelps dated both Carrie and Nicole in 2008. We don't know if he was juggling them simultaneously, but so-called "sources" say his relationship with Nicole ended over rumors of his infidelity.

(--Here's a pictures of Nicole winning the crown the other night . . . and one of her with Michael Phelps when they were dating . . .)

NEW ON VIDEO TODAY

--"Angels & Demons" - Tom Hanks returns as his "Da Vinci Code" character Robert Langdon to fight the Illuminati, a secret society out to destroy the Catholic Church. Ewan McGregor is the main villain, and a sexy Israeli minx named Ayelet Zurer is an Italian scientist helping him.

--"Four Christmases" - starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as a couple guilt tripped into making the grueling Christmas rounds together for the first time. Tim McGraw, Dwight Yoakam, Robert Duvall, Jon Voight and Sissy Spacek play some of their relatives.

--"Funny People" - Adam Sandler plays a famous comedian who hires a struggling stand-up comic to be his personal assistant when he thinks he only has a year left to live. Seth Rogen plays the new protégé. Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, and Jason Schwartzman are also in it and it's directed by Judd Apatow.

--"Shorts" - A kid finds a rainbow-colored rock that grants people wishes. The town is then overrun with the results of bizarre wishes after the adults get their hands on it. Jon Cryer and Leslie Mann play the kid's parents. William H. Macy and James Spader are also in it.
(--It's written and directed by "Spy Kids" director Robert Rodriguez. His kid, Rebel Rodriguez, is also in it but not in the lead role. That part went to 13-year-old Jimmy Bennett, better known as the kid who played young James Kirk in the new "Star Trek" movie.)

TV SERIES ON DVD:
--"Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Season Four" . . . a five-disc DVD set.
--"Beverly Hills 90210: Season Eight" . . . a seven-disc set. (--It ran for 10 seasons.)
--"Melrose Place: Season Five, Vol. Two" . . . a three-disc set. (--It ran seven seasons.)

NEW MUSIC OUT THIS WEEK

Because of Thanksgiving, most of this week's new music releases came out yesterday instead of getting a typical Tuesday release date. Here's another look at what's new this week . . .

--"Rated R", Rihanna (--It includes "Russian Roulette", her song about an abusive relationship. Plus a song called "Rockstar 101", featuring Slash on guitar. We'd also heard that Will.I.Am and Young Jeezy will make appearances on the album.)

--"She Wolf", Shakira (--It's barely hitting the U.S. today even though it's been all over the internet, thanks to some of the sexiest videos of all time. Here's the video for "She Wolf" . . .)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aEW_Z5Va5s

And here's the one for "Did It Again", featuring some pretty sexy acrobatics on a bed . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnZRP0KMlZs

--"The Fame Monster", Lady GaGa (--It's available as an EP of eight songs . . . and as a re-release of Gaga's debut album, "The Fame", along with the eight new songs. One of those songs features Beyoncé. It's called "Telephone" . . .)

--"I Am . . . Sasha Fierce" [Deluxe Edition], Beyoncé (--It's a re-release that now includes Lady Gaga on a remix of Beyoncé's "Video Phone". . .)

--"For Your Entertainment", Adam Lambert (--It includes include three songs he wrote . . . plus one written by the band Muse, another written by Justin Hawkins from The Darkness and one written by Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo.)

--"I Dreamed A Dream", the debut album of Susan Boyle

--"The Singles Collection (Deluxe)", Britney Spears

--"All Or Nothing", Jay Sean (--Featuring Lil Wayne on his hit song "Down".)