Ruth McCann of the Washington Post reviewed Tuesday night’s concert at the Verizon Center.

Sure, Lambert lost the “Idol” title to the clean-cut Kris Allen, but that hardly deterred the tweens, moms, daughters and everyone else who shrieked with dog-whistle-pitched delight when Lambert emerged onstage. In a ruffly, studded, knee-length blue tail-coat (later cast off to reveal a rhinestone-studded vest over a bare chest), Lambert looked for all the world like the spiky-haired, black-nail-polished love child of Eddie Izzard and Prince.
After eight of Idol’s top 10 finalists had done their thing on the Verizon Center’s stage, Lambert appeared (cue shrieks) to open his admittedly mesmerizing set with Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” an ace-in-the-hole, given that the crowd was liberally peppered with Adam Lambert T-shirts and signs that declared: “Adam is my winner,” “I <3 Adam Lambert," etc. So a song in which Lambert promises, "I'm gonna give you my love," was unsurprisingly successful.

On the Idols as a whole:

But at least the Idols sound much better in person than they do on TV. If you’ve ever shaken your fist at the Idol screen and promised you could do better, the Live tour might at least assuage your hissy fits. And some of the Idols managed to break through into a semblance of live-ness, including Iraheta, Lambert, and Giraud, who mercifully indulged in some chatty patter.