Your right there are only a few mainstream artists that could have pulled it off live. Besides opera singers and some great entertainers in Vegas, who really put on a show each night, not to many have that much control to attempt it live. Props to him for going out on a limb with that ending. I can pretty sure that he is practicing twice as much as the rest in the house to give a vocal like that. You just don't show up and go "Hhmmm I think I will bust out big time at the end of this." and it happens. There are a few out there that can do it with little effort but not many would want to try it live on a whim.
Yup. I totally agree. It's true that Adam has been a little repetitious, choosing to showcase his big talent (those extraordinary high notes!) in the same way each week... but jeez, if I could do that, I'd probably want to show it off every week too! :) I have great respect for his vocal ability. Actually, I've thought it is a bit of a shame that his taste did not tend toward opera rather than pop, since I think he might have made a very good countertenor, and those have come back into vogue the last few years in the opera world.
As for the unpleasant photos circulating on the Internet (his kissing other men, etc.), I have to say in his defence that young people today basically have their entire lives documented, what with everyone snapping cell phone pictures all the time and posting them. So indiscretions that might never have seen the light of day 20 years ago now are part of the permanent public record. And gay young men have a LOT of opportunities for stupid indiscretions, since there are a lot of older gay men who basically prey on them, seeing them as nothing more than an available body. It is a much more cutthroat world than the heterosexual dating world. Of course, the cross-dressing and so forth does not bother me the way it does some others, since I spent a lot of time in the theater myself. But I guess I am just asking for a little charity for Adam. He never gave the judges any attitude, and to me, he still seems overawed at the reaction he gets from the audience when he sings, rather than taking it as his due. He seems like a nice young man in a lot of ways.