Less than a year after the 'American Idol' wild child  burst onto the scene in an explosion of glitter and leather, Adam Lambert readies his first album. Plus: a Q&A with 'Idol' victor Kris Allen.

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Adam Lambert-the man with the outsize personality who delivered an audacious octave-and-a-half sitar-tinged purr of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on the most-watched TV show in the country, dodged sex toys thrown at him onstage during the "American Idol" tour and did it all without smearing his eyeliner-is currently curled in the fetal position.


Video above: Adam Lambert talks to Billboard about his album, his success, and "American Idol."

Balled up in a patio chair on the 10th-story balcony at 19 Entertainment in Los Angeles, Lambert is the portrait of the goth as a young man-black clothes and combat boots; dyed black hair and nail polish; Egyptian-themed jewelry matching the Eye of Horus tattoo on his wrist. He grabs his knees and constricts himself even tighter as he reveals why he's so emo right now: He's attending the premiere of the film "2012" in a few hours. And his song, "Time for Miracles," plays over the closing credits.

LAMBERT PHOTO GALLERY | LISTEN TO "FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT"

"I'm going to be like this, in my seat, hiding in my popcorn bucket," he says. "It's going to be really weird." Lambert laughs, unfurls his legs and straightens up in the chair. His worry is, of course, all a joke, an act, a performance. Because, true to his album title, Lambert is here for our entertainment.

When "American Idol" launched in 2002, creator Simon Fuller must have dreamed of a contestant like the 27-year-old Lambert -- one that mixes style and substance, one that can sing anything and gives a damn about cultivating his public image. In a year, Lambert's gone from being one of a herd of auditioners at the San Francisco tryouts to landing the covers of Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone before his album was even released.

For 19 Entertainment, the eighth season of "American Idol" was something of an embarrassment of riches-the eventual winner, Kris Allen (see cover Q&A here) has sold 1.1 million digital downloads of his "Idol" songs, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and contestant Allison Iraheta, with her preternaturally gravelly vocals and artful red and blue hair is prepared to court the Hayley Williams/Avril Lavigne demographic.

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