'Glambert' fans hear an angel at Borgata

For all the controversy surrounding American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, you can't say he doesn't have the splashy goods to back up his public dramas.

Announcing to the world he was gay in a Rolling Stone interview was cool. Lambert hinted as much throughout Idol's eighth season (during which he lost to Kris Allen), so coming out of the closet was but a modest coda. Sucking face with one of his boy band members on the American Music Awards seemed uncool, but only because it came across as so contrived and forced, a calculated shot at Madonna-like notoriety.

He lost a couple of television gigs after those awards. Who cares? His voice is that of an angel with a powerful and dynamic range, a tenor with a glass-cracking falsetto touched by the hand of God and blessed by the spirit of Freddie Mercury. That's what brought "Glamberts" out to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City on Saturday night. That, and the costume changes, which ran from steampunk circus ringmaster to leathery lizard king.

The most noticeable thing about Lambert's live presentation was how much more electric he was on stage than throughout his 2009 album For Your Entertainment.

From a musical standpoint, the blipping techno of "Voodoo" and "Down the Rabbit Hole" borrowed liberally from Depeche Mode's thick synthesizer sound. That density gave Lambert something other than fluff to stand on as his voice leaped easily from moody lows to sweet high notes. Lambert yodeled throughout the snake-charming swirl of "Ring of Fire" (the Johnny Cash chestnut) and made tuneful panting into an art form during the lusty power ballad "Sleepwalker."

Better still were the stripped-down instrumentation of "Whataya Want From Me" and the piano-filled, Sondheim-like "Soaked," which gave Lambert room to breathe and provided grand cabaret of the highest order.

Australian-born Orianthi was the opening performer. Best known as the lead guitarist for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" concert comeback that never was - and featured in the film of that name - she took command of the stage with her own brand of edgy rock, a slashing guitar style reminiscent of Eddie Van Halen, and a squeaky but seductive voice that made "Shut Up & Kiss Me" into a surprisingly sweet pop anthem.