Adam Lambert wows Kennedy Honors crowd with emotional rendition of Cher's hit song "Believe" (1999)

Surprised he went light on the guyliner.

Who is the Asian woman crying behind Cher.

Cher's "Believe" is the National Anthem for grown bottoms everywhere.

I bet she was all "Why the FUCK couldn't they get a bigger name to honor me???" before he sang.

Now, if they had gone with Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves, I would have been more impressed.

I don't care what you jealous hags say, I really like Adam Lambert.

I find his take very whiny. They could have gotten Adele to do the same thing.

That was beautiful, thanks OP.

Wow, that was great.

Adam is great and so, so talented. I really wish he had a bigger career, but he's done better than most American Idol alums, and he's done much better than the busted O-face winner Kris Allen.

The most impressive thing of all is that Cher still has functioning tear ducts.

the song doesn't work with this arrangement and I find his singing smarmy and insincere. he's a phony.

Cher usually sings it as a woman's victory march of woman over man.

Lambert sang it as a wounded gay man surviving love to live, and love, again.

Both are beautiful.

Sting had a similar reaction during his KCH induction to Gaga’s astounding rendition of his “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You.”

I agree with r12, this isn't a good song when sung as a ballad. I really did like his slow version of "If I Can't Have You" when he appeared on American Idol though.

Ouch. Someone's getting fat...again.....but it was a nice take on Cher...

He’s doing quite well, I hear. He’s been lead singer for some band called “Queen”. Hope they do well. He’s hot and I bang him hard.

R10, Adam's recordings could be bigger but he has made A LOT of money touring with Queen.

r14 Didn't take long for someone to somehow bring up Lady Fug and her "outstanding" rendition. And no one cares still. No one. As no one cares about Adam's.

Chair is looking good.

He is awesome.

there were a few others i enjoyed and thought deserved this, reba?? NO. that hamilton cast thing?? NO all in all a snooze..... and who was that dancing blond woman who got so much air time?

i was just glad they did CHER last but thought they could have done a much better tribute to her. Her sister was behind her.... where was chaz??

I didn't like it either, supposed to be up-tempo, not ballad.

Of all the major singers from the 80' s/90's Lauper is the only one who still looks like herself.

It's okay. I like the original more.

r23 Not really.

R25, yes really.

[QUOTE]Who is the Asian woman crying behind Cher.

Tina Lai, the wife of billionaire Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie.

It was beautiful, heart felt and magnificent.

I thought it was beautiful and tender.

I've never been an Adam Lambert fan, but I really enjoyed that. It opened up the song in a way I wouldn't have otherwise imagined.

I like his version better. And Cher looks goofy and horrible.

Lambert was not doing a Cher cover, he was doing a Cher tribute.

Wel done!

Not at all.

Cher looks great. She shouldn't have messed with her lips, but otherwise fine. Body is rocking for 72.

I was hoping to like it, but I prefer the original.

Gay men hate “fat,” “bottom” Adam Lambert.

Those are the two worst insults they can say about another gay man.

[quote]And no one cares still.

YOU certainly do.

r37 No, it's just pathetic. They find a way to insert it is EVERY thread they can. They are as desperate as her.

Yuck to Lamb and Gag. Both are baaaaad. Give me some Mr. Peter Cetera any time.

Anthony Ramos was the hottest guy on the show.

It must be embarassing when a singer doing a tribute can actually sing better than a person he's supposed to be honoring. And that misplaced implant in Cher's lower lip is distracting as hell. Can't she have that thing fixed? Other than that, she looks pretty good.

r41 It isn't as if Reba has such a great voice, either. Or were you including her?

R42 Don't know a single Reba song so I can't comment on that. But I did hear she was amazing in "Annie Get Your Gun" on Broadway - I can't imagine Cher doing a live show 8 times a week (even when she was in her prime).

Yea but Reba has that kind of voice where she doesn't really have range and sings in the same tone so it isn't hard to sing 8 live shows a week.

I don't particularly care for the song or Lambert, but that was a very warm and beautiful tribute to Cher.

That song is pure trash and people are doing the most with this performance.

Anyone else notice the HUGE stretch marks on his neck. Any ideas?

Poor Cher. They could only find D-list celebrities to honor her.

R36 No, frau. Gay tops love bottoms. Go back to trollilng your limited tidbits gleaned from “People” magazine elsewhere.

r47 a lot of singers have those neck wrinkles from singing so much.

r44....youre high. Reba was superb in AGYG and sang the shit out of the score.......also, Reba has been around a LONG time and has been extremely successful at everything shes done.

Little Big Town is hardly D list, and Cyndi isn't either and Cher's friend.

Adam was a nice nod to her gay fans.

BTW, Cher can't fix the lower lip or it would have been already.

She could guest star on Botched.

Umm...Cher did appear live 8 times a week on Broadway in the 80s when she stunned in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean. Get your Cher facts right please.

Just rewatched Burlesque.

Showgirls for the talented.

Love it.

What a snoozefest. So over Adam.

Waaaay over the top.

I was laughing over the overwrought title CBS put on the YouTube video.

Some bottom all up in her feelings must have written the title.

"This Beautiful Rendition Of Cher's "Believe" Is Adam Lambert's Gift To Us All"

Who watches all this shit? I am so over the type of singing singers do now. It is all over the top vocal gymnastics. Not saying Adam's was like that but almost no one makes me feel anything when they sing. Everyone trying to show off. It is the equivalent of chewing the scenery.

Adam and Leona

I thought it was very restrained.

He could have out sung Cher on the "And I know / That I'll / Get through this but he sang it in a low voice.

R36 Lambert is top

R60 Great performance thanks for sharing

Adam Lambert with Cyndi Lauper tribute to Cher "I Got You Babe" , Kennedy Center Honors, December 2

R48 underrated D-list > Vastly overrated A-list like Beyonce

He’s getting fat again.

Adam is FUGLY

Not Broadway, but Cher did 2 shows a night back in her early solo Vegas days.

Interesting find. He has change his style somewhat.

Nice but a little too much. Haven't seen him in years and he's put on some weight.

That rendition of a song I hate was really impressive.

AMAZING

That was quite pretty

Gaga's Sting tribute and Adam's Believe are my two favorite KKH performances in recent years.

Er, KCH...

The tribute to Cher was the best of the night. How could it not be? But it could have been better. It was good, maybe even great, but there was something missing.

It was a bit overwrought.

I wish he had done this gem instead

And whom would you have recommended for that song, r4?

The Reba bashing here is because she's a Republican. Every queer here knows she is a superstar in the country world whether you like her or not. Lambert was a theater queen. He was doing "Wicked" when he auditioned for AI. He is now in a gloried cover band but making the bucks. He should star in "The Greatest Showman" when it comes to Broadway.

R80, Brian and Roger would be interested to know that they are in a "glorified cover band."

Adam ‘s Dance moves ... who knew?

One more of Adam’s moves!

He definitely did learn this from American Idol.

I feel like he turned it into a ballad about struggling with suicidal thoughts after the end of a relationship.

Beautiful.

He has just . . . never done a thing for me, in any way. I gloss over any mention.

But I liked this. Thanks for sharing, OP, and reminding me to revisit evaluations every once in a while.

Who's the blonde woman shown singing in the audience at 1:55? She looks super familiar.

Did Cher's two children attend? This was a big honour, no? Shouldn't her children have been there?

Her son hates her and she was so homophobic to her daughter that Chastity is now Chaz. What do you think r88?

I dunno. It seemed strained to me. I much preferred his slow version of "Tracks of My Tears."

bump

It was a great rendition, but I'm sorry, at no time did Cher cry. Nary a tear was shed from her cold dead eyes.

I saw her wipe them^^^^. But her expression didn't change. She looked like a fish that was slightly stunned. Throughout the entire show.

Of course his version is better, it's performed by someone with legitimate vocal talent. Cher's such a hack she lipsynched the song on Divas Live.

R41, Actually, I don't think Cher had a lip implant. My guess is that she instead had fat grafting to the lips in the early 90s and over the years, there's been an accumulation of adipose tissue in the mentolabial sulcus area. It would prolly be too risky to mess with at this point.

Here is a bootleg (so low sound quality) of the ballad version of Believe from the Cher Show which has been replaced with a different version from what I gather.

Block's Cher is interesting. I kind of hope they go ahead and put this on the cast album.

I have never been a fan of Adam’s until now.

Damn, he's got a great voice.

Wonder what a cast thinks when a new actor comes in and sings the shit out of the songs like he did.

Cher is a tranny

Adam is an A.H.

I love Adam. But as someone who is emotional sometimes to the point of sentimental, I have to wonder if Cher was recalling lost loves and youth, whence the tears.

Cher's version of "Believe" is accusatory; Adam's is wistful. The world has room for both.

Cher's frozen face is freaky.

Why would Cher's son hate her? He's never worked a day in his life and Cher has supported him very nicely. She bought him a gorgeous house in LA that cost several million.

This is my favorite Adam live performance. Queen's Save Me:

Meh, I would have lived to see Dolly Parton do it.

r106, it could definitely be done with a country flavor. I'd like to hear Reba sing it.

Adam is great, but the best Queen/Mercury tribute that I’ve ever seen was from the rock band Extreme. Lead singer Gary Cherone is a huge Queen fan, and he would have been a great replacement. This medley from the Mercury Tribute concert in 1992 would have made Freddie proud.

Canadian singer Marc Martel does a good job capturing Freddie vocally. In fact, he provided some of the vocals in the offstage parts in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.

When the narrator sings "I really dont think you're strong enough, no" - is the narrator singing to the narrator or is the narrator singing to the narrator's ex-lover?

R110, I think the narrator is singing to the narrator.

THANK YOU R78! I'd forgotten about that song and I love it.

I said something about Reba's being a Republican on another thread and people took my head off. They claimed she is and always has been a Democrat.

Man, Celine Dion needs a facelift STAT. She'd look so much better with some very minimal surgical help. She's gotten really jowly.

R112, I think Céline has had Ultherapy to tighten the jawline since that clip above.

r14, thanks for the link, that was a great performance by Gaga.

Celine sings backstage with Cher

R110 The lyrics could not be more self-explanatory, you fucking moron.

I can feel something inside me say I really don't think you're strong enough

To lift that jowly face it would take surgery, not fucking Ultherapy.

Let's face it, Celine was always borderline beast.

Tried 2 write Feelings About Adam Lambert Singing

Believe In Words,but Cant seem 2.When Your senses are Overwhelmed All Can you feel with your ❤️. I Was Shocked AND Over The MOON When Cindi (Lauper) came out Rocking the house. Shocked Because SHE TOLD ME SHE WAS IN LA,

Absolutely beautiful.

Absolutely overwrought.

I think Cher was crying because of Lambert's pockmarked complexion and because he's fat.

R87 Melissa Peterman she was there for Reba, as her breakout role was as Barbra Jean on the sitcom Reba, she also was on the sitcom Baby Daddy.

Lambert's version he's crushed and trying to convince himself that the other one will be lonely. It had nothing of Cher's triumphalism but was sad artistic but not terribly appropriate for the circumstance.

How the Hell is Cher's neck and chest area so smooth? Plastic surgery, heavy makeup and special lighting combined doesn't even look that smooth.

[quote]How the Hell is Cher's neck and chest area so smooth? Plastic surgery, heavy makeup and special lighting combined doesn't even look that smooth.

Good genes help too. Her Mom is in her 90's

I thought that was lovely. Love Cher (of course) have not followed much of Adam's stuff but this was done very well and as mentioned - gave an entirely different interpretation to the song.

R124, and a song about a young woman basically forced into prostitution by her mother is? Where are the #MeTooers?

FFS.

Re: Reba

This performance made me cry. Beautiful.