Adam Lambert has been interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on KISS FM – the audio is here:

Adam told Ryan Seacrest among others:

“Obviously I respect their decision, they gotta do what they gotta do. It’s too bad, I think there were a lot of fans who were excited to come see me.”
“They probably had a lot of pressure coming at them from certain people who weren’t happy about it. I respect their decision – I don’t necessarily agree with it, but they need to do what they need to do.”

Please see also the first part of the link collection after Adam’s AMAs performance.

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Reuters.com: Adam Lambert’s sexually-charged act draws complaints

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – ABC television said on Monday it had received about 1,500 complaints about the sexually-charged performance by “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert at the American Music Awards on Sunday.
Millions of viewers saw Lambert simulate oral sex with a back-up dancer, plant a passionate kiss on the mouth of a male keyboard player and gesture to the audience with his middle finger during the closing act of the live music awards show.
Lambert, 27, said his goal was “not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom”.
ABC cut the most controversial part of his act — Lambert rubbing the face of a male dancer in his crotch — from the U.S. West Coast telecast that aired later on Sunday.
But by then, the singer’s racy rendition of his debut single “For Your Entertainment” was already on its way to becoming one of the most provocative TV moments in the music industry since Madonna and Britney Spears kissed on the MTV Video Music Awards show in 2003.
Adam Lambert was among the top 10 most popular topics on Twitter on Monday.
American Music Awards producers, Dick Clark Productions, said they were unaware from rehearsals what Lambert had planned. “We did not expect the impromptu moments,” a spokeswoman told Reuters.
(…) It was unclear whether ABC could be at risk of an FCC fine because Lambert’s performance was broadcast around 11 pm in most of the nation, outside the FCC’s 6am-10pm time frame prohibiting the broadcast of indecent material.

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yahoo.com: ABC: Lambert’s performance draws 1,500 complaints

ABC said more than 1,500 people complained, what it termed a “moderate” response, and the Parents Television Council also said it had heard from upset members.
“They’re outraged,” said Timothy Winters, president of the Parents Television Council. “They just can’t believe the nature of the content, the explicit nature, and how much graphic content there was.”
Winter said it seemed artists who appear on music awards shows are constantly competing to push the envelope.
“These programs are wholly unsuitable for children now and it’s pathetic, given the amount of economic support that children and teenagers bring to the industry today,” he said.
Lambert’s performance was a subject for the “hot topics” segment of ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” on Monday, but apparently too hot: Barbara Walters said it was too racy to be shown on daytime TV.
ABC spokeswoman Hope Hartman and Lynda Dorf, a representative of Dick Clark Productions, which put on the show, did not comment on how producers and network executives felt about the performance. Dorf noted that Lambert had not kissed any of his fellow performers during rehearsals of the song.

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yahoonews.com: Shock and Awe at the American Music Awards: Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Adam Lambert Shake Up the Place

The crowd was sighing for a different reason as Adam Lambert closed out the show and joined in on the bondage theme, with a touch of porno and homosexuality thrown in to drive the ABC censors crazy. His over-the-top finale was the talk of the VIP after party held at the Conga Room; that, and actress Kate Hudson’s fashion faux pas, as her plunging neckline silver lame mini dress revealed all on national television.

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Eonline.com by Joal Ryan: It’s a Sexy Job, But Adam Lambert’s Gotta Do It!

“Singularly distasteful.”
The Parents Television Council on Adam Lambert’s American Music Awards leash demonstration? Close. The Sept. 16, 1956, New York Times on Elvis Presley’s hip-censored Ed Sullivan performance.
If our outrage over rock stars is nothing new, then neither are our rock stars. From Elvis’ pelvis on down, they are nothing if not dedicated to sex, more sex, the next new single, which is probably about sex, and ticking off people who prefer their s-e-x to be not so explicit, thankyouverymuch.
Criticizing Lambert for what he did, smooched and pawed at the AMAs is like criticizing that Paula Deen lady on the Food Network because she made something with butter: It’s what they do.
And the other night, Lambert did his job very well.
Together, Lambert’s offenses are nothing less than the work of a rock star in his tight-pants prime. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to work the townfolk into a huff only weeks after the nation re-lost its innocence to the Gossip Girl threesome?
(…) Lambert wasn’t straying from who he was; he was being who he is. He wasn’t dishonoring the stage; he was honoring music’s shock-and-awe tradition. (According to Lambert, he was getting more blowback for it because he was a gyrating guy, and not a writhing Madonna, but he was probably more in the crosshairs because he was a gyrating guy on free TV, and not a writhing Madonna on cable.)
Ultimately, Lambert was doing what he was supposed to do, and, if it was displeasing that a child somewhere saw him do it in prime time, then somebody’s bedtime needs to be moved up. (The show-closing number didn’t air until almost 11 p.m. ET/PT.)

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Pop Eater girls about Adam’s AMA performance – among others. The Adam part starts around min 13.

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Boston Globe: Two standards or too racy?

Even so, the right to simulate sex on TV is hardly the most pressing cause for gay Americans. And the staging of yet another highly suggestive performance at yet another award show isn’t a political statement for equality; it’s a rehash of a now-familiar ploy.
Shock can be a great publicity tool, but as many seasoned artists learn, there is also beauty in restraint.

PART1 :
REACTIONS OF THE PRESS WITHIN & HOURS AFTER AMAs SHOW

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Reality Rocks by Lyndsay Parker: Did Adam Lambert Blow It On The AMAs?

But obviously Idol is over, and Adam’s been letting his fully unfurled freak-flag fly high ever since, whether he’s gluing rhinestones on his eyelids, dodging airborne brassieres and adult novelties onstage, making out with women in the pages of Details, or granting shockingly frank interviews about his personal life that’d render even Cowell speechless. Season 8 of Idol wrapped up in May, but people haven’t stopped talking about Adam Lambert since. And they’ll certainly be talking about his AMAs sexed-up spectacle tomorrow (seriously, it made “Ring Of Fire” look like a David Archuleta performance)…but will they be saying positive things? I am not so sure, sadly. I’m sure there are people who will say he’s finally gone too far, alienated too many potential record-buyers with this latest “shocking” stunt, which actually may be his most shocking yet (and that’s saying something). Some may argue that he was perhaps trying too hard to be controversial and scandalous for controversy and scandal’s sake, or that maybe he was trying to make a statement about whether or not he is “gay enough” according to Out magazine standards (at least you can say this performance will shut up Out editor Aaron Hicklin for a good long while). And then, there was what appeared to be an actual, literal stumble. (To his immense credit, Adam recovered like pro–as did Jennifer Lopez, who also fell during her routine. Did the AMA stagehands grease the stage or something?)

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Rolling Stone, by Daniel Kreps: Adam Lambert Shocks American Music Awards With Racy “For Your Entertainment”

For his first televised performance since the Season Eight finale of American Idol, Adam Lambert aimed for the kind of controversy Britney Spears and Madonna are known for generating, completely stunning the audience at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and the millions watching the American Music Awards live on ABC with a risqué rendition of “For Your Entertainment.” Rolling Stone didn’t label Lambert the Wild Idol for nothing, and Glambert definitely delivered on his promise of a “sexy” performance as he closed the live show with simulated oral sex from a male backup dancer, a brief make-out session with his male keyboardist and a giant mirrored prop so the audience could see the looks on their own shocked faces. Rolling Stone has learned that producers weren’t informed about the guy-on-guy kiss in advance, and after the show, Lambert told RS the musician he kissed is a straight man.

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Rolling Stone by Shirley Halperin: Adam Lambert Says Censorship of American Music Awards Song Would Be “Discrimination”

When Lambert finished his song — complete with simulated oral sex with a male backup dancer and a passionate kiss with a male keyboardist — earlier tonight, fans hit the Internet to debate whether the American Idol runner-up’s first major televised performance since the Idol finale pushed the envelope too far. Lambert tells Rolling Stone he didn’t do anything female performers haven’t done on television already — and that if ABC cuts any part of his performance for the rebroadcast it will amount to “discrimination. (…) If ABC opts not to broadcast several of the more risqué moments of “For Your Entertainment” in a few moments, “In a roundabout way it’s a form of discrimination because it is a double standard,” Lambert says. “They didn’t censor Britney and Madonna macking onstage did they? But yet two men kissing they’ll censor?” The famous 2003 Video Music Awards moment Lambert is referring to went down on cable television — on MTV, of course — rather than network television.

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CNN, By Alan Duke: Lambert says man-on-man kiss at AMA happened ‘in the moment’

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. (…) ABC editors did not appear to remove any of Lambert’s performance for the later feed. In fact, the network had teased the audience that it would be “an outrageous performance.” (…) Asked whether the sexual moves were rehearsed, Lambert said it was “in the moment.” “Part of what I love about being a live performer is that sometimes you just are in the moment and sometimes things just happen,” he said. “Adrenaline is a crazy, crazy, crazy feeling. Some of the things I love most about performing is when you’re up there and all of the sudden you just have these feelings, this rush that comes over you.”

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Huffington Post Adam Lambert FALLS At AMAs, Simulates Sex, Kisses Band Member, Flips Bird (PHOTOS)

not on “Idol” anymore! Adam Lambert, last season’s runner up, performed a raunchy performance at the American Music Awards Sunday night, interrupted by a quick tumble on stage. Lambert alternately had a dancer on a leash, had a dancer’s head grinding against his crotch simulating oral sex, and had a hand on his own crotch. He also made out with a male band member and flipped his middle finger. And it was on ABC prime time.

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OK Magazine: Adam Lambert Shocks, Awes at AMAs

This was no Coca-Cola-sponsored group medley on American Idol… No, with simulated acts of oral sex, scantily clad dancers and spit-swapping that crossed all gender lines, Adam Lambert’s performance at Sunday night’s American Music Awards appeared to be anything but family-friendly. The Idol runner-up sang his new single, “For Your Entertainment” as the closing number at the annual ceremony, and just like another of the night’s performers, Jennifer Lopez, A.Lam took a spill onstage mid-song!

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Mediaite.com by Rachel Sklar: Gaga and Glambert: Post-Sexy

There’s no question that Gaga — and Glambert too — stand firmly on Madge’s muscled shoulders, but after pushing the envelope for so long it seems to have gotten pushed into something into something different. In this seen-it-all age of the meta, the dramatic, fearless, hyper-sexualized personas of Gaga and Glambert are less transgressive than reflective — two operatic baroque, characters less pushing the envelope than wearing it. Call it “Post-Sexy”: Incorporating and heightening the conventions of a sex-charged culture, so as to move beyond it. (…) Watching them, you almost forget that they have boatloads of talent. Glambert can wail on a high note like nobody’s business, and the singing, dancing, piano-playing, songwriting Gaga is every kind of threat there is. There’s one kind of threat Gaga has that Lambert doesn’t though: Confidence. Lady Gaga has perfect confidence on stage — not bravado, just a serene comfort in who she is, what she is doing and why she is doing it. Lambert has confidence too, of course, but tonight showed it to be more the aggressive, defiant bravado of the over-confident. Lady Gaga and her dancers were flesh-toned, nearly naked, gyrating on the ground, but that wasn’t the focus, was part of the whole rather than a distraction from it. That, alas, could not be said of Lambert, whose performance lacked the pure, art-for-the-sake-of-art theatricality of Gaga (or, really, his album cover). It felt a little like a starlet timing her crotch shot just so for the paprazzi. S&M-garbed dancers and that already-infamous head-grab (yes, that one) are not exactly subtle. Or, really, even that edgy; crude gestures are nothing new to rock music, which is part of the in-your-face legacy that Lambert has inherited. Like Gaga, he wore rather than pushed the envelope; he just didn’t wear it well.

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LA Times blog, Ministry of Gossip: POLL: Adam Lambert’s AMA performance: Provocative or porn?

Holy cannoli, the Ministry of Gossip’s comments are going wild over Adam Lambert’s, ahem, unique performance of his tune “For Your Entertainment” on the 2009 American Music Awards. Folks are either “What the??” or “Oh yeah!” So the Ministry’s Division of Absolutely Accurate Online Statistics is jumping into research mode. What did you think of the number, which aired on prime-time network TV?

The results of the poll as per now (6 hours after the show): (looks like Adam needs some support here!)

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E! Online by Erik Pedersen: Adam Lambert: For Your Entertainment—Or His?

Adam Lambert is fully embracing his new solo career—as well as his keyboard player, too. The American Idol runner-up gave the final performance at the 2009 American Music Awards, and he delivered much of what earlier outings by Janet Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Shakira, Lady Gaga and others had: Lots of back-up dancers, a stumble or two and just a bit of raunchiness. OK, in Lambert’s case, there was more than a bit of racy material as he mixed together a so-so song, some S&M imagery and a bit of simulated sex. Oh, and that juicy mid-song kiss, too. For your entertainment, of course. Was it enough to make his performance the best of the evening?

Results of the poll so far (6 hours after the show)

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Celebrity Mania, Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert Fall Down During 2009 AMAs Performances

At the end of the annual awards show, Lambert also dealt with similar mishap. He took a tumble when attempting to make his way up a set of stairs while he sang his new single “For Your Entertainment” from his major-label debut with the same title, “For Your Entertainment”. Fortunately, the 27-year-old soon recovered and rolled into his next position. Adam closed the event by giving a very provocative performance by simulating oral sex with a male backing dancer and making out with his keyboardist, whom he described as a straight male.

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PART 2
REACTIONS OF THE PRESS WITHIN 14 HOURS AFTER AMAS SHOW

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EW.com, by Michael Slezak: Adam Lambert at the AMAs: Simulated fellatio, bikini-area snapping, and makeout sessions. But what about the vocals?

Look, as EW’s resident Idoloonie, I was rooting for Adam’s coming out party to the non-Idol set to be a smashing success, something that would propel his saucy, exciting debut disc to the top of the charts in what’s going to be one of the most competitive weeks in record stores all year. And in Adam’s defense, he took what appeared to be a rather nasty and unplanned tumble midway through his set that could’ve potentially thrown him off his game. Also, lest we forget (and it certainly is easy to do so), he is not a seasoned headliner, so nerves certainly could’ve played a factor, too
But the bottom line is that Adam’s AMA performance felt less like a genuine expression of his high-octane sexuality (so playfully erotic when he fondled the mic stand during “Whole Lotta Love” this summer), and more like a carefully planned stab at dominating the post-AMA blogosphere/water-cooler discussion. I’m certainly no prude…the idea of saucy boy-on-boy/boy-on-girl/boy-on-not-quite-sure action does not rattle my cage — certainly not at 10:55 p.m. on a school night. And yet, what’s sad is that unlike, say, a J.Lo or even a Rihanna, Adam could’ve had tongues wagging just from his vocals alone. Instead, that golden voice took a backseat tonight at the AMAs, and I’m not sure exactly who was occupying the driver’s seat.

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EW.com, by Ken Tuckner In defense of Adam Lambert: As a TV event, he was splendid

I have to say, however, that as a TV viewer, I thought Lambert’s performance was a gas, a delight, a blast of brash vulgarity in the midst of merely ordinary vulgarity.
Lambert was an event unto himself. The song he was singing was beside the point — and the point was, “Here I am, Adam Lambert, freed from the shackles of American Idol, I’ll push this dancer’s face into my crotch if I feel like it, isn’t it funny to lead human beings around on leashes, and can you believe how high I got my hair to stand up under these lights?”
As a post-music pop star in the manner of Lady Gaga, music takes a back seat to spectacle. Lambert’s AMA climax wasn’t a commercial for his new album; it was, in the Norman Mailer phrase, an “advertisement for myself.” As he did on Idol, Lambert simultaneously connects himself to pop history (his look, demeanor, and his multiple vocal styles gather together Elvis, Elton, Labelle, Pin-Ups David Bowie, with a dash of Lou Reed circa Transformer and Rock N Roll Animal) and disconnects himself from any earlier tradition.
(…) Nice job, Lambert.

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The Moderate Voice: Adam Lambert plays the gay card.

Sorry, but no. That won’t fly. Pushing a dancer’s face into one’s groin and overtly fingering and groping in another’s crotch isn’t problematic because people are homophobic. Adam Lambert’s getting slammed because he threw out a raunchy mix of bondage, soft porn, and not-so-implicit sex during a prime-time broadcast.
And speaking for myself, that’s really the bottom-line problem. I’m pretty much sick to death of having to send Adorable Child out of the room, or bar her from seeing certain performances on YouTube, because of the utterly inappropriate worldview of a disconnected entertainment industry.
Furthermore, the suggestion that people would be just dandy with it had it been heterosexual, or performed by a female, is flat-out wrong. While I’m absolutely sure that some folks are reacting negatively because overt gayness freaks them out, a woman emulating oral sex with a man, or fingering his genitalia (much less both) would also have brought widespread condemnation and revulsion. This simply does not have a place in our family rooms.
In fact, the correct word here is not “discrimination”, Mr. Lambert. It’s “vulgarity”:

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Barbara Walters, Elisabeth Hasselbeck from ‘The View’

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Mtv.com by Jim Cantiello: Adam Lambert’s AMA Performance: The ‘Idol’ Experts Weigh In

The problem I had with the performance is that Adam Lambert is better than just being a lightning rod for controversy. With his Mariah-esque range, his effortless-yet-controlled wail and emotional delivery, Lambert has the potential to go down in history as one of the most technically-gifted rock vocalists of all time. Adam had a gigantic platform to show the non-”American Idol” viewing public what us Idol Freaks have known since February: He can sing his face off!
But that talent was barely on display last night. Lambert hit more bad notes than spot-on ones. His rock yelps, used so precisely and carefully on the “Idol” stage, seemed like manic grandstanding. His phrasing, so masterful in front of Simon, Paula and Randy, felt uneven — especially after Kelly, Carrie and Daughtry’s solid offerings

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US Magazine.com : Adam Lambert Not Sorry for Simulating Oral Sex at AMAs

Adam Lambert is making no apologies for his racy performance during Sunday’s American Music Awards.
While closing the show with his new single “For Your Entertainment,” the American Idol alum, 27, simulated fellatio with a male dancer, kissed male keyboardist Tommy Ratliff, grabbed his crotch and flipped off the crowd. (According to Rolling Stone, Lambert didn’t clear the kiss with anyone in advance; he told CNN the smooch happened “in the moment.”)
His performance was edited for the west coast feed of the awards show.

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BLOG: gossipcop.com

Whether you watched it live or caught clips on the news this morning, Adam Lambert’s provocative performance at last night’s American Music Awards is the talk of the country.
The singer’s sexually-charged performance of his debut album For Your Entertainment’s title track widened eyes and set tongues wagging with its frequent hip thrusts, leash-led dancers, simulated sex acts, and one not-so-simulated kiss between Lambert and a male keyboard player. Lambert also flashed his middle finger in a gesture edited out by ABC for the West Coast.

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BLOG moreceleb.com

It was a shocking rendition of “For Your Entertainment,” even for those of us accustomed to Lambert’s flamboyant, over-the-top American Idol auditions. These photos explains why:
The performance was clearly meant to create buzz for the singer, whose debut album goes on sale today. As loyal Lambert followers, however, we wished he’d gone in the opposite direction.
For Adam, playing up his sexuality in such a showy manner is akin to Sarah Palin preaching about abstinence. Both strategies just play to each celebrity’s base.
To Lambert’s credit, he’s always done his own thing. Last night’s behavior was merely an extension to his American Idol acts, during the show’s run this spring and its concerts this summer.
However if the singer’s goal is to attract new fans and to move as many copies of his CD as possible, the performance was a failure. It went for shock value over vocal talent, the latter of which Lambert possesses in spades. He’s not a gay Britney Spears. Adam can really sing.
He wasted an opportunity to prove this to a new, national audience.

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BLOG: Chicagonow.com: Adam Lambert’s AMA Performance: What’s All the Fuss?

WTF is everyone’s problem about Adam Lambert’s American Music Awards performance? I mean, why can Madonna go around kissing every teen idol she sees with no recourse and an openly gay man can’t? Why is it that two girls kissing considered sexy and two guys repulsive?
I mean, I’m truly baffled. I feel like this is a “no,duh,” moment and folks are saying he has to be concerned about losing fans. Hello, have you met pop-stars and the gays? They love each other. Adam Lambert’s star is only beginning to rise and his immense talent could put him among the ranks of stars such as Christina Aguilera and Cher. Get over it America, he’s here, he’s gay, get used to it.

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Associated Content: The American Idol Winner Delivered a Sexually Explicit Performance of His First Single “For Your Entertainment”

(correction: ehrmm… Adam Lambert was NOT the winner of American Idol 8, but runner up…)

The shocking part of the act was not Lambert’s open affection towards other men, but the level of sheer sexual fervor that he performed at. The performance, in which Lambert came off as flat (a rarity for such a talented singer) had already generated a number of complaints by Monday morning. According to Reuters, ABC had received around 1,500 calls of dissatisfaction regarding Lambert’s sexually provocative act.
Although the gay community has seen marked advances in social justice in the past decades, there are still relatively few super-famous and openly gay celebrities. Are Americans not ready to be comfortable with openly gay performers such as Lambert, or was his act just too sexually charged, regardless of whether Lambert was kissing men or women?

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Reuters.com: Adam Lambert’s sexually-charged act draws complaints

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – ABC television said on Monday it had received about 1,500 complaints about the sexually-charged performance by “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert at the American Music Awards on Sunday.
Millions of viewers saw Lambert simulate oral sex with a back-up dancer, plant a passionate kiss on the mouth of a male keyboard player and gesture to the audience with his middle finger during the closing act of the live music awards show.
Lambert, 27, said his goal was “not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom”.
ABC cut the most controversial part of his act — Lambert rubbing the face of a male dancer in his crotch — from the U.S. West Coast telecast that aired later on Sunday.
But by then, the singer’s racy rendition of his debut single “For Your Entertainment” was already on its way to becoming one of the most provocative TV moments in the music industry since Madonna and Britney Spears kissed on the MTV Video Music Awards show in 2003.
Adam Lambert was among the top 10 most popular topics on Twitter on Monday.
American Music Awards producers, Dick Clark Productions, said they were unaware from rehearsals what Lambert had planned. “We did not expect the impromptu moments,” a spokeswoman told Reuters.
(…) It was unclear whether ABC could be at risk of an FCC fine because Lambert’s performance was broadcast around 11 pm in most of the nation, outside the FCC’s 6am-10pm time frame prohibiting the broadcast of indecent material.

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Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog: American Music Awards 2009: Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga Dazzle; Jennifer Lopez Performs New Song “Louboutins”

Performances by Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert were among the musical highlights.
(..) Lambert, wore a silvery suit, with spikes on his left shoulder, to belt out the titular first single from his album “For Your Entertainment.” As can be expected, the controversial performance — the last of the evening — was filled with plenty of writhing, groping, hip swiveling and S&M costumes. The singer even planted an intense smooch on one of his keyboardists. (Vote on what you thought of Lambert’s performance here.)