By ALESSANDRA STANLEY

It wasn’t really the man-on-man kiss or the simulated oral sex that marked Adam Lambert’s performance on the American Music Awards on Sunday as shocking. Mostly it was ABC’s reaction. By rescinding Mr. Lambert’s invitation to sing on “Good Morning America,” ABC self-protectively drew a line that networks usually prefer to keep blurred.

Or as Mr. Lambert said Wednesday morning on “The Early Show” on CBS, “There’s a lot of very adult material on the A.M.A.’s this year, and I know I wasn’t the only one.” Mr. Lambert, runner-up on this year’s “American Idol,” was referring to other risqué performances Sunday night, including Lady Gaga smashing whiskey bottles, Janet Jackson grabbing a male dancer’s crotch and Eminem talking about his character Slim Shady’s rap sheet of rape, assault and murder.

There is a lot of very adult material on television all the time, and mostly it flows unchecked and unpunished, except when it comes as a surprise and hits a nerve. Community standards are mutable and vague; lots of people don’t know obscenity until someone else sees it. Ms. Jackson transgressed during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show because she exposed a nipple, which is one thing that network television normally doesn’t show. Mr. Lambert, who just released his first album, startled viewers because he did things akin to what outré rappers and female pop stars have performed onstage to get attention, only he did it as a gay man.

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By ALESSANDRA STANLEY It wasn’t really the man-on-man kiss or the simulated oral sex that marked Adam Lambert’s performance on the American Music Awards on Sunday as shocking. Mostly it was ABC’s reaction. By rescinding Mr. Lambert’s invitation to sing on “Good Morning America,” ABC self-protectively drew a line that networks usually prefer to keep [...]

Adam Lambert’s sexually suggestive choreography — including kissing another male — on the American Music Awards stage Sunday night happened “in the moment,” the singer told CNN.

Lambert, who is openly gay, said it is “a form of discrimination and a double standard” for anyone to object since “women performers have been pushing the envelope” for decades.

As for the awards, it was a big night for country and pop crossover sensation Taylor Swift with five and Michael Jackson with four.

Source: CNN

Adam Lambert’s sexually suggestive choreography — including kissing another male — on the American Music Awards stage Sunday night happened “in the moment,” the singer told CNN. Lambert, who is openly gay, said it is “a form of discrimination and a double standard” for anyone to object since “women performers have been pushing the envelope” [...]