Everyone knows the big Adam Lambert news is his upcoming appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. AfterElton.com just got a sneak peek at what Adam had to tell Oprah about being an out performer. (And you can watch the world premiere of Adam's new video here!)

ADAM: I said I don't want to deny it because that's not me. I want to own it. But what I chose to do is not give myself a label because I knew that label would be attached to me from there on out and I think people would jump to conclusions with that label.

OPRAH: Yeah, because then people would say there's the gay guy.

ADAM: Yep. And now that's what they say, actually.

OPRAH: No. They're saying — no, I heard they just say your name.

ADAM: Really?

OPRAH: You're the big rocker. I don't hear "the gay guy."

ADAM: I hope that's — I think that's how it should be in a perfect world.

OPRAH: Yes.

ADAM: I've seen a lot of press where they say openly gay singer Adam Lambert. You know, it's like the gay part comes before the singer part and I'm like, that doesn't define who I am.

OPRAH: But the fact that you have been so openly gay about it and open about it means that that will transition. So you are paving the way --

ADAM: I hope so.

OPRAH: — for people who can exactly say who they are.

ADAM: I hope so.

OPRAH: Don't hope. It's happening.

ADAM: It is?

OPRAH: You're doing it.

And here is more of Oprah's interview with Adam.

...On Simon Cowell's announcement that he's leaving American Idol:

OPRAH: So Simon Cowell made it official.

ADAM: He's done.

OPRAH: Can you believe it's going to be his last season on American Idol? What do you think about that?

ADAM: I think the audience will definitely miss Simon. And I think the contestants will miss out on like really honest criticism. I mean, sometimes it can be a little personal and I know other contestants took it to heart sometimes and got really stressed out about what he would say. I think that that's important to making you a better performer is you've got to hear the good and the bad.

OPRAH: Do you think the show will go on without him? Will the show be as effective, as strong without him?

ADAM: You know, I think that ultimately after the first couple weeks of auditions, the audience tunes in every week for the contestants.

OPRAH: Yeah.

ADAM: Mostly. I mean, I think people tune in to — they grow fond of one or a couple of the people and they get behind them and they're invested in them. And of course it's great to hear, okay, what's Simon gonna say? But we tune in to hear the contestants blossom or not.

...On what it was like to meet Madonna

ADAM: She walked into the room and her presence is very powerful. She's very intense.

OPRAH: Yes. Very Madonna.

ADAM: Very Madonna.

OPRAH: Mm-hmm.

ADAM: At first, you know, I could tell she was kind of checking me out. Scoping it out a little bit.

OPRAH: Mm-hmm. Like who is this Idol kid.

ADAM: Who is this boy coming over to my house? And the first thing I said was, oh, my God. (Laughter.)

...On the controversy over his performance at the American Music Awards

OPRAH: And if you had to do it over, would you do it?

ADAM: Yeah, I do. I — there's no regrets for me. I mean, I would sing it a little better. I went back and watched the tape and I was like

OPRAH: You would do the kiss and the — you would.

ADAM: I would. I think I would do it during dress rehearsal this time so I would allow ABC to decide whether or not they liked it.

OPRAH: Really.

ADAM: To be consistent during rehearsal. It's a professional thing. It was an oversight.

OPRAH: So after all the controversy there wasn't one moment where you thought, well, maybe.

ADAM: I definitely sat with it and in hindsight I can understand, okay, I understand why people were freaked out. I wasn't trying to upset anybody. I was just kind of —

OPRAH: Did you know ahead of time you were gonna do it?

ADAM: Not that — not the stuff people took the biggest offense to. The biggest staging was mapped out. The choreography. But the things that people freaked out about were kind of spur of the moment.

And we also got this pic of Oprah and Lady GaGa!

Check out Adam's appearance on Oprah next Tuesday!