“American Idol’s” Adam Lambert surprised and awed fans all season with his unique brand of vocal gymnastics and dramatic flair, but nothing shocked “Glambert” followers more than when he placed second to low-key Kris Allen in the ultra-popular singing competition on Wednesday night.

Lambert himself, however, appeared unfazed by the loss of the “Idol” crown. Backstage after the show, he said he looks forward to making an album, and blew off the suggestion that his sexuality had anything to do with the season’s outcome.

“First or second– it doesn’t matter to me,” Lambert, who was clad in a black Roberto Cavalli jacket with a flashy brooch, told reporters. “For me it’s not really about what happened tonight, it’s about tomorrow. It’s about next.”

When one reporter suggested that the blogosphere would speculate about whether he lost because of questions about his sexuality, Lambert avoided confirming or denying that he is gay.

“Blogs have a lot of opinions, don’t they? I think that Kris won because he’s a great artist and I was happy to be a runner-up to that,” he said, adding that he and Allen had found a lot of common ground despite their very different backgrounds and styles.

“If there’s anything that can come from this experience, and I hope that all the fans out there can pick up on, is that even if you’re really different there’s a way to get along with each other,” Lambert said. “And it’s not about ‘Oh, you beat me because of this,’ or ‘You, you’re different.’ It’s about finding the common stuff that makes it work.”

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Photo Credit: Fox/Ray Mickshaw (Adam Lambert performs at the “American Idol” finale)

They went head-to-head in the final showdown of “American Idol” on Tuesday night, but if any animosity exists between finalists Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, it was not apparent when they spoke to reporters backstage after the show.

The only moment of friction, and it was all a joke, came when Lambert, the taller contestant between the two, lowered the microphone for the shorter Allen after the two stepped onto a speakers’ podium. Allen laughed at the gesture.

Allen summed up his and Lambert’s attitudes when he was asked how he was handling the hype surrounding the finale.

“I think both of us are kind of chill guys, so we can totally deal with it,” Allen said.

The two finalists had been roommates until recently, and as a joke question a reporter asked which contestant looks better naked.

“We don’t get naked together, sorry,” Lambert said, to laughter from reporters.

As for the singing, the stuff that really matters in the competition, Lambert said that he found symbolism in the songs he performed on Tuesday, which included “Mad World” by Tears for Fears and “Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. 

“I think ‘Mad World’ is kind of symbolic, it talks about people that don’t feel like they fit in,” Lambert said.

“I think ‘Change is Gonna Come’ is also symbolic in that anyone who feels oppressed can relate to that song. It’s been a civil rights anthem for a long time, and there’s all sorts of new civil rights issues that are coming up right now,” he said.

When it came to praise from the judges, Lambert and his falsetto stylings seemed to edge out Allen, his more homespun competitor from Conway, Arkansas, in their final competition on Tuesday.

While alpha judge Simon Cowell called the first round of the competition for Allen, assailing Lambert’s first performance as too theatrical and comparing it to “The Phantom of the Opera,” Cowell’s criticism of the Allen’s second song, “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye, was notably harsh for a season finale.

“If I’m being honest with you, it was like three friends in their bedroom strumming along to Marvin Gaye,” Cowell said.

Judge Paula Abdul, appearing at the backstage news conference, provided the sunny view of the competition that she is known for, sidestepping a question about who she thought would win. Then Abdul was asked if all the judges will be back next year, an important question because Abdul’s own contract expires this season.

“Tune in,” Abdul said, as a handler dragged her away from the microphone.

Photo credit: Fox/Michael Becker

Adam Lambert and Kris Allen will be getting all the attention on Tuesday when they sing for the “American Idol” title. But new judge Kara DioGuardi will also be sharing the limelight.

Songwriter DioGuardi, who has worked in the past with Kelly Clarkson and co-wrote Ashlee Simpson’s hit single “Pieces of Me”,  is credited as co-writer of “No Boundaries”  — the new song that will be released as a single by the winner of the TV talent show, music industry sources say.

“No Boundaries” will get its first airing on Tuesday’s show in (presumably very different)  versions by Adam and Kris.  Web site Popeater.com will premiere the winning “Idol”’s recording of the song at 10 pm PT on Wednesday — moments after the 2009 “Idol” is crowned in the West Coast broadcast of the show on Fox.

Host Ryan Seacrest has revealed that Adam and Kris will also sing two other songs each on Tuesday — one must be a number they have done before on the show;  the other is a song chosen by “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller (Fuller is also the man behind British girl group “The Spice Girls”).

Among confirmed stars performing on Wednesday night as America waits to find out who they chose as their 2009 “Idol” are David Cook, Carrie Underwood, Queen Latifah, Black  Eyed Peas, Lionel Richie, Keith Urban  and actor Steve Martin — on his banjo?.

Rumors are flying fast about a host of other possible perfomers. Take your pick from Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Kiss — and maybe even ”Bikini Girl??”.

“Idol” producers aren’t saying — but who would you like to see singing a duet with Adam or Kris? And which of their own songs should they pick to clinch the title?

The elimination of Danny Gokey on Wednesday’s broadcast of “American Idol” answered a question “Fan Fare” posed the night before — namely if Gokey’s rival Kris Allen was really a “dark horse” contestant with any chance of winning.

The fans have spoken and Allen will face presumed frontrunner Adam Lambert in the finale next week. And importantly, he and Lambert were separated by just slightly more than 1 million votes, out of about 88 million total votes for the Top 3 contestants. Still, Lambert has by far attracted the most media buzz and praise from the judges, with Simon Cowell all but lobbying the viewers during Tuesday’s broadcast to vote for Lambert.

Allen, whose good looks have made him popular with female viewers, has become a fan favorite. On “Fan Fare’s” visit to the “Idol” set on Tuesday, nearly all the signs in the audience were for Allen. He appears soft-spoken and sensitive, never displaying the kind of boldness Lambert has flaunted throughout the season.

Allen specializes at smart, sensitive renditions of songs from the entire spectrum of pop music. Lambert is a rocker with soaring vocal abilities, who also has shown an ability to impress the judges with every type of musical genre, except maybe country. In some ways, the finale could echo recent presidential elections, pitting a contestant from the very Blue (or Democratic) state of California against one from the Red (Republican) state of Arkansas. While Lambert has been photographed kissing another man and in drag, Allen is a relative newlywed and a devout Christian who has traveled internationally on church ministry trips.

Is this Lambert’s competition to lose, or Allen’s chance to stage a surprise upset?

Photocredit: Michael Becker/FOX

“American Idol” on Tuesday entered the last week of competition before the finale, and we at “Fan Fare” had the good fortune to land second-row seats in the talent show’s live studio audience. (For the record, this twist of fate had nothing to do with our coverage of the show — it was good old-fashioned standing in line combined with almost two years of being on a waiting list.)

Watching “Idol” in its natural habitat revealed dozens of quirks imperceptible to the 25 million or so viewers who tune in at home. First off, the studio was smaller than expected — even more intimate than watching a live show in a theater. One audience member in our row even remarked that it was smaller than her college lecture hall.

Also, the judges seemed to spend more time out of their seats than in them. Accompanied by massive bodyguards, they walked backstage at every commercial break, rushing back to their seats sometimes with two seconds to spare. Judge Paula Abdul at least spent some time greeting celebrity audience members such as Kim and Kourtney Kardashian and their mom, Kris Jenner, as well as “The Hills” star Audrina Partridge.

Many in the mostly young, female audience also appeared to be partial to one contestant — supposed dark horse Kris Allen. There were more Kris-themed homemade signs (”Krazy 4 Kris”, for instance) being waved than those for either of the other contestants. And, one young fan was overheard after the show gloating that she had waved to Allen — and that he had smiled back!

So is “Idol”’s resident pretty boy Kris really a dark horse after all? His acoustic performance of Kanye West’s “Heartless” received universal praise from the judges, with Randy Jackson deeming it “better than the original.” His first song, “Apologize,” however, was less well-received.

But Allen rival Danny Gokey’s performances were by no means stellar, getting similar mixed reviews from the judges. They loved his version of “You Are So Beautiful” but were less enthused by his take on Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Dance Little Sister,” for which he was criticized for his dancing.

Golden child Adam Lambert, predictably, got rave reviews for both of his performances. Judge Simon Cowell, however, warned “Idol” viewers not to assume that Lambert would sail through to next week’s finale and reminded them that they needed to vote.

So who will be sent packing tomorrow night? Host Ryan Seacrest, toward the end of the show, made a point of saying that he had no idea what would happen on Wednesday night.

Is Lambert really the juggernaut he has been made out to be, and does Allen have a stronger wind at his back than many expected? Gokey is the only contestant never to be placed among the show’s bottom three vote-getters — but has he finally run out of steam?

With Allison Iraheta getting the boot on Wednesday night, three white men will duke it out for the “American Idol” crown for the first time in the show’s history.

Iraheta’s offing couldn’t have come as a huge surprise to the show’s viewers, who saw her land among the show’s lowest vote-getters three previous times this season. In that sense, she was no Chris Daughtry, whose shocking fourth place finish three years ago was replayed on Wednesday night’s show before his band performed its new single, the appropriately titled “No Surprise.” 

The 17 year-old Iraheta’s distinctive rock voice has been compared to that of “Idol” winner and pop superstar Kelly Clarkson, which is saying a lot because Clarkson has been on a tear ever since she graduated from the show in 2002, and in March she netted her second No. 1 album.

“Allison Iraheta, who has so much to be proud of, who is a role model to a lot of girls out there,” host Ryan Seacrest said immediately following the Los Angeles-born singer’s final performance.

Yet, if Iraheta was an inspiration to the young girls who make up such a large portion of “Idol” viewers, why didn’t she have the staying power of say, Clarkson, or other female “Idol” winners Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks and Fantasia Barrino?

And, what is it about this season’s final three contestants — Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen, that led to the formation of the first ever “Idol” boys’ club?

In contrast to last week on “American Idol” when it seemed the contestants could do no wrong, the judges found plenty of stones to throw at the Top 4 on Rock Week. Except for Adam Lambert, who as usual thrilled the panelists.

Lambert, coming off his shocking first trip to the Bottom Three last week, sang British supergroup Led Zeppelin’s hit “Whole Lotta Love” and struck all the high notes, jerking his head to the side in rhythm with the band and glowering with an expression Elvis Presley might have worn if he was fused with John Travolta. The judges loved it. 

“You are a rock god,” said judge Kara DioGuardi, who was wearing a studded leather jacket that looked a lot like Lambert’s own outfit.

Even alpha judge Simon Cowell was impressed. “No one can top that now,” Cowell told the contestant nicknamed “Glambert,” who on Tuesday night sported his usual eyeliner.

But after Lambert wowed everyone, the rest of the contestants all ran into some criticism. Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash was the night’s guest mentor, and told the camera that 17-year-old contestant Allison Iraheta had a natural rock style, but had to get past her “fear.” 

Iraheta went on to earn mixed reviews from all the judges, except the easily swayed Paula Abdul, with her version of “Cry Baby” from the late Janis Joplin. Cowell and a couple other panelists faulted her for poor song choice, which prompted an interesting exchange when Iraheta explained why she picked the song and was interrupted by Cowell. “Allison, at this point just beg,” he said. “Beg.”

“I’m not,” Iraheta said. “And you always say that I don’t talk enough, so maybe I should just talk a lot.”

“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul has opened up about the effect her dependence on painkillers had on her life, after her sometimes erratic behavior on the show and in television interviews has caused many commentators to say she at times appeared to be under the influence.

In an interview with Ladies Home Journal posted on the magazine’s Web site on Tuesday, Abdul said that for the first time in a dozen years she is no longer dependent on medication, after checking into a California resort last fall to wean herself of the medication.

“I could have killed myself … Withdrawal — it’s the worst thing,” Abdul told the magazine. “I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating.”

Abdul, 46, said she suffered a series of a injuries that caused her lingering pain, including an accident when she was a 17-year-old cheerleader, before going on to pop star fame in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Abdul suffered a broken leg from a stage routine gone wrong, a car collision and an airplane crash into an Iowa cornfield. She told the magazine she began taking painkillers and Chinese medicine to keep up with her performance schedule.

“I didn’t want anyone to count me out,” she said. “I tried to keep everything hush-hush.”

Adbul admitted to the magazine that the pain made her “get weird.” Her admission differed from past interviews she has given. The pop star told ABC News program “Nightline” last month that she has never abused prescription drugs. In 2007 on NBC program “Today,” co-anchor Matt Lauer asked if she had been addicted to painkillers.

“I’ve never been addicted to painkillers,” Abdul told Lauer. “Painkillers don’t work for me.”

Abdul is expected to perform her single “I’m Just (Here for the Music)” on the “Idol” results show on Wednesday.

In other “Idol” news on Tuesday, the show’s alpha judge Simon Cowell said on TV chat program “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that Kara DioGuardi, a new judge to the panel this season, will return next season. DioGuardi had said as recently as last week that she was not sure of her future on the show, telling TV Guide Magazine, “I’m only here for one season. That’s what we have discussed. So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully they’ll keep me on.”

At the time, Cowell was non-committal about DioGuardi’s future, telling TV Guide only that he would not appear on the show without host Ryan Seacrest and fellow panelists Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, and conspicuously not mentioning DioGuardi. Despite the possible change of heart, Cowell is still complaining that the addition of DioGuardi as the fourth judge slows down the show.

“American Idol” has experienced a death in the family, as the 37-year-old brother of the show’s 2008 winner David Cook died of brain cancer on Saturday, media outlets reported.

Adam Cook had suffered from brain cancer for years, and when David Cook competed on “American Idol” last year, Adam was there to cheer him on.

Singer David Archuleta, who was last year’s runner-up to David Cook, said to People magazine that he was saddened by the death and that his “heart really goes out” to Adam Cook’s loved ones. “Idol” judge Simon Cowell told People that he met Adam Cook a few times at the show, and he called him “an incredible guy.”

David Cook announced his brother’s death on Sunday at a brain cancer fundraiser in Washington, D.C.  On his debut album last year, the artist released a song dedicated to his brother called “A Daily AntheM.”

He may have lost the race to become the ”American Idol” but Matt Giraud says he couldn’t have wished for a better way to go out of the TV singing competition than with his rendition of ”My Funny Valentine” in jazz week.

“Going out with Simon (Cowell) calling you brilliant and comparing you to Nat King Cole is pretty much the best way you could go…I was at complete peace with myself, ” Giraud, 23, told reporters on Thursday after being voted off the show .

The dueling piano player said that being saved by the judges from elimination two weeks ago under the new “judges save” rule introduced this year, was something he will always remember.

“I’ve never felt so much love in the room. It was one of the coolest moments of my life…I really didn’t know that people felt that passionately about me,” he said.

Giraud had some advice for other “Idol” wannabes that echoes the weekly refrain from the judges — song choice. “There are a million songs that you love and they move you. But picking a song that you sing well is the hard part. Picking the song that is good for you is a different part,” he said.

But would things have turned out differently for Matt if he had picked another jazz standard?  “I’ve listened back to it and I wouldn’t change a thing…I’m proud of what I did,” he said.