Article submitted by reader “Ariel” — thanks for this great find!
The Inside Edge with Sarah and Drew
American Idol’s Adam Lambert’s ties to figure skating
 Adam Lambert and figure-skater Nick LaRoche (right) |
| American Idol’s Adam Lambert (left) with friend Terrance Spencer (middle) and skater Nicholas LaRoche (right) in L.A. recently. (courtesy of Nicholas Laroche) |
By Sarah S. Brannen and Drew Meekins, special to icenetwork.com
Wicked Adam
We were glued to the finale of American Idol, along with the rest of the country and most of the skating world. As it happens, Drew met runner-up Adam Lambert in Los Angeles last year; Adam and Drew are both friends with retired skater Nicholas LaRoche. We got the whole story from Nick this week.
“I met Adam when he was performing in Wicked with my partner Eric,” Nick told us. “He was in the ensemble, and he was also the understudy for Fiyero [the prince]. Eric was also in the ensemble.”
Wicked ran at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood for two years, and Nick, Eric and Adam became good friends. In the 2007-08 season, Nick was looking for music for a new exhibition program.
“I heard the song ‘I Just Love You’ by Five for Fighting on the radio, but didn’t necessarily like the arrangement of it,” he said. “I teamed up with Adam and the music conductor from Wicked, Brian Perry, who played the piano. We went into a private studio and recorded it. They only did the song three full times; it was amazing. Adam was thrilled when I asked him to record the song and it was so much fun to stand in the recording studio with the headphones on and listen to his wide range. I heard the ‘belts and screams’ first-hand. It was incredible!”
Nick has performed the program twice, and Adam came to one of the shows to see it.
“After seeing the performance, he couldn’t thank me enough for giving him the opportunity to do this,” said Nick.So what is the glam rocker like in person?
“He is great — very humble,” said Nick. “I watched him do endless performances here in L.A., all for charities and benefits.”
Nick watched every episode of American Idol, of course.
“It was odd to see him without his fun makeup on and the glam look he carries,” said Nick. “When he would come out each week and be so conservative, it was weird. I’m used to seeing him in the glam stage like he was in the finale, when he had the crystals around his eyes, extravagant clothing, and belting those high notes that you would never think would come out of his mouth.”
Because Nick is in Los Angeles, he couldn’t wait until ….. Read the rest of this great article by clicking here now!
I love hearing from people who know Adam personally. He is always spoken of as being so humble and nice. I love him even more now.