American Idol's Adam Lambert

He's the most exciting ''American Idol'' contestant in years: Huge voice, over-the-top theatrics...and that whole ''Is he gay?'' thing. He's a true original -- and just what the show needed.

As a culture, we like gay underdogs, but on reality-competition shows, we haven't seen many Adams before — someone who enjoys selling his sexuality, who looks you in the eye, flirts, and dares you not to flirt back. We're fine with gay men as vulnerable lost souls singing suicide-hotline emo ballads like ''Mad World.'' But what's exciting about Adam is that, despite that superb performance, he really isn't that guy. He's out, loud, and proud. Well, two out of three.

Many readers will say ''Why are we even discussing this? Why does it matter whether he's gay or not?'' It doesn't. Or rather, it shouldn't. Except that unlike his counterparts, who commodify their lives on their sleeves, Adam isn't talking about it. He's handled inquiries with disarming jokiness. Ambushed recently by a TMZ reporter who said, awkwardly, ''So, you could be the first...,'' Adam replied, smiling, ''The first what?'' daring the reporter to finish the thought. He didn't. But neither did Adam. Maybe it's still too costly to say who you are. It's certainly costly not to. Does he feel he can't? Does the show feel he shouldn't? Is his choice personal or strategic? Will it pay off? And does any of this represent progress?

I can, at least, tackle that last one. Progress is when all those other questions no longer need to be asked. But since, win or lose, Adam Lambert is going to be the most exciting new star American Idol has found in quite some time, I can't wait to hear his answers.

New Star Trek Comes Out Swinging!

I'm not the kind of person who normally resorts to pumping something full of hype, but if you are reading this and haven't seen the new big-screen adaptation of Star Trek, you need to be tied to something heavy so that "certain" people can know your whereabouts at all times. 

J.J. Abrams' new vision of TV's original Star Trek has everything you expect from a summer movie flick that costs $150 million to make and $8.25 a ticket: laughs, big explosions, smokin' hot alien babes who spend the majority of their screen time in skimpy underwear. 

However, it has accomplished something far greater than just being a great summer epic. It manages to appeal to an audience even wider than rabid Trekkies who still refuse to wash the hand they shook DeForest Kelley's hand with back in 1975. It also breathes new life into a sci-fi series whose bones were picked clean by the studio vultures long ago.

It's got a complex plot, but not one that takes the mind of a genetic physicist to understand and appreciate. A rogue Romulan, Nero (played by Eric Bana), pulls a Terminator and ventures to the past to exact revenge for the destruction of his home planet, and the Enterprise gets in his cross hairs. Of course, this isn't your Daddy's Enterprise. This is a crew of fresh faced cadets learning the ropes and each others' limits to defeat an enemy thirsty for blood.

Every level works to some degree, but casting deserves some major kudos. The cast doesn't merely imitate the original characters from the TV series. They build on them. They have fun with them, and the script gives them a lot of good material to work with. It's deeply emotional, particularly with the young Spock, played brilliantly by Heroes' Zachary Quinto who walks a very fine edge as a cold and calculating Vulcan wrestling with the power of human emotion. If the first few minutes alone don't give you a lump in your throat, check the color of your blood to make sure it's not green. 

It's action packed from beginning to end. The new James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine, bounces around the screen and gets into some over-the-top fights. There are big explosions, loud fights and giant climactic battles that assault the senses and throw fire in your eyes. The IMAX version could be considered a Class B misdemeanor in some of the wussier states. 

But most surprisingly of all, it's damn funny. There are the in-jokes that just about every pop culture junkie knows. A red shirt will die. Bones, played by Keith Urban, will exclaim that "he's a doctor, not an [insert random profession here]" (I was pulling for "secret shopper"). Scotty, played by Spaced's Simon Pegg, will complain that he's "giving her all she's got." Even if the scriptwriters eliminated every joke that relates to Star Trek, its own sense of humor could run on its own two engines. 

And the funniest part is, this is all coming from someone who's not a "Trekkie" perse'.  Don't bother with the comments. I know I'm evil.

BK's square butts ad

Ads for fast food kids' meals usually try to appeal to children. Not the child in all of us, actual children. 

Burger King's new Kids' Meal ad doesn't just try to appeal to the parents in the room who don't care about their child's cholesterol intake. Its choice of music tries to appeal to the parents who are deaf. 

The ad features a new rendition of Sir-Mix-A-Lot's classic big butt anthem "Baby Got Back" that talks about how he now "likes square butts and cannot lie." The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood isn't as amused and has started a letter writing campaign against the restaurant chain and the Nickelodeon network to express their disgust for cubed booty. 

Normally, I'm all for skanky dancers dressed as scantily clad cartoon characters shaking what the good Lord gave them for our amusement without having to pay for it. But Burger King has created the television equivalent of a swift kick to the boner. 

Whatever hard work these girls did in the gym to obtain such shapely figures are ruined by the shoebox the costume designers have shoved into their outfits' backsides. Plus that creepy Burger King "King" is lording over all of them like some great ghastly pimp who would smack them upside their head with his plastic hand if their butts are a degree under perpendicular. 

The CCFC should also add "ear shatteringly annoying" and "liable of first-degree manslaughter against my ear drums" while they are at it. This thing seems to run at all hours of the day or night, and even runs in succession in the same commercial break. Burger King has already damaged the nation's stomachs, colons, livers, kidneys and esophagi. Are they trying to hit for the cycle, short of going to each of our houses and jamming a cola straw in our ear canals? 

But the worst part is how bad it makes you feel. The very end features a nickel-shelling Sir-Mix-a-Lot sitting on the couch proclaiming that "Booty is booty." You really feel sorry for the guy. His song gets royalties when it's played at every wedding, bar-mitzvah, prom, glow bowling night, and even a few poorly planned funerals. Now he's reduced to schlocking burgers with the one thing the world barely remembers him for. Just watching it will give you more heartaches than one of BK's Ultimate Omelet Sandwiches dipped in liquid cheese and fried to a golden brown.

The Fashion Show: The Much Anticipated Premiere

So, was The Fashion Show a worthy successor and/or replacement forProject Runway, or did it just scream "copycat" (or maybe "copycatwalk")? The first episode (video below or here) aired last night, with Isaac Mizrahi as host. Let us know what you thought about it.

iPhone app tracks stimulus spending

Arkansas says it's the first state to release an application with the ability to search for projects.

Arkansas said Wednesday it launched the first iPhone application to track state projects funded through the federal stimulus package.

The free application, Arkansas.gov Recovery Project Search, is available through the Apple iTunes Store and can be downloaded to an iPhone or iPod Touch.

"We want transparency in the recovery process," said Chris Masingill of the Arkansas State Recovery Office. "This is taxpayers' money, so we want them to have the information and the tools to access it."

I like this and I feel that many more States should follow Arkansas' lead in becoming more transparent to their spending.  I also think our Federal government should do the same and living in NY dare I say that the same should be required of the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) since they can't seem to get their numbers (that change at every meeting) correct.

But alas good NY's worry not about the proposed Doomsday Budget from the MTA because the people in Albany actually agreed on something last night and it looks that instead of seeing a 33% increase it will now only be 8-10% with no additional increases this year.

Obama and Biden Go on a Burger Run

It's like this: When you want a burger, you have to have a burger.

I'm just surprised that Biden didn't put his foot in his mouth once again instead of the burger.  

But he does appear to be a bit picky when the food is delivered to the table.  LOL

The one going home is …

The remaining three are center stage and the second person safe is … Adam.

Well, duh!

We are down to the final two, Allison and Danny, and the person going home is … the little rocker chick!!!

Awwwww, the last girl standing is no more. She sings “Cry Baby” again and cries a little.

Hold your head up high, Allison, because you left your mark on “AI!”  To be honest I felt that it would be Kris packing

up his bags and heading home this week.