We may sometimes look at celebrities and feel as if they have had a perfect life and everything has been handed to them on a silver platter. In reality, however, many of the celebrities struggled and took chances to be where they are today.
In today’s world, we have the opportunity to reveal our talents to a worldwide audience in ways that were not possible before. This includes being on the talent shows on television, such as American Idol.
In one particular episode, an unknown individual stood up before the judges, including Simon Cowell, and sang a song with all their heart. The song choice was Bohemian Rhapsody, and the judges were not quite sure what to think.
The individual we are talking about is none other than Adam Lambert, and things didn’t exactly go his way right from the start. Simon even told him before the audition that he had selected his ‘favorite song’, so the stress must’ve been off the charts.
Even after he performed, he still had to deal with the judges. We may know what happened to Adam Lambert after the season, but he almost didn’t make it into the show. The judges were torn.
In the end, Adam Lambert would perform at sold-out stadiums around the world when he was singing with Queen. At this moment, however, he was standing in front of four judges and just hoping that they didn’t send him home.
In the video, you can see the moment that it almost happened. He sang what many would consider to be the perfect acapella version of Bohemian Rhapsody, but now the 27-year-old was going to be scrutinized by the judges.
Those judges, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Kara DioGuardi argued about his performance and skills. Simon says he was ‘too theatrical’ but eventually agreed to let him slide.
The judges didn’t realize that prior to the competition, Adam realized that his theater past may stop him from being on the show.
He said: “I didn’t think I was the right kind of performer to … I didn’t think I would work on the show. I thought ‘Oh, I’m not the type that they look for.’”
It wasn’t just that they were arguing about his musical abilities, the rules of American Idol state that a contestant cannot be under contract at the time.
Adam said: “That was my income; that’s how I was getting my health insurance, all that stuff. I had to quit the job that I had in order to move forward, so it was a big risk for me.
“When it came time to go in front of Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara, it was like in the back of my head, it was like “If this doesn’t work out, you’re screwed.
“I got up there and it just all kind of worked. I was nervous but I felt a good connection with the judges. I was looking at them and I was chatting with them and I felt it was a good repertoire and they were paying attention.”
“The first song that I performed for them was a Michael Jackson song — “Rock With You” — and it didn’t quite connect like I wanted it to, and they were kind of looking at me sideways.
“[The judges] said, “What else do you have?” That’s when I performed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ That seemed to click for them and that’s what they ended up using on television.”
In the end, he became a superstar but it’s amazing how close he got to being sent home. You can see that audition and look at it with a different appreciation in the following video:
