Extremely popular American Idol contestants have made a major showing during Pacific Amphitheatre‘s concert series this week. First up was 2011 winner Scotty McCreery on Wednesday; Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert followed Thursday.

Over the past few weeks, the latter singer has popped up in entertainment news reports on a regular basis. He had the rare distinction of serving as Queen’s frontman during a half-dozen European dates and got rave reviews in London. The YouTube clips are so good, the band should team up with Lambert again in America sometime soon.

He’s also among the rumored replacements for departing Idol judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez – a far better proposal than Mariah Carey – and he will have a cameo role on the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars in October.

This past spring, the San Diego native’s sophomore album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The infectious songs are more dance-oriented this time around, with contributions from Pharrell Williams, Bruno Mars, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, Sam Sparro and others. Lambert co-wrote all but one of the tracks, which he describes as “more honest and self-aware. It paints a clearer picture of who I am.”

Inside Pacific Amphitheatre, many devoted fans (or “Glamberts”) dressed in black-and-yellow striped attire, just like the artwork that adorns the latest album, Trespassing. Some even waved homemade cardboard signs and cutouts. One middle-aged woman and two teenage girls all wore matching blue hair extensions.

Read more on Adam Lambert’s Pacific performance on the Soundcheck Blog.

Article by George A. Paul, photos by Kelly A. Swift, for the Orange County Register.

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