Make-up wearing "American Idol" star Adam Lambert has ended the guessing game over his sexual orientation by confirming he is gay in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Glam-rocker Lambert, 27, who finished runner-up to clean-cut Kris Allen in the television singing contest last month, told Rolling Stone he had been living openly as a gay man for several years.

"I don't think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear I'm gay," Lambert told Rolling Stone in its latest issue due on newstands Friday.

"I've been living in Los Angeles for eight years as a gay man. I've been at clubs drunk making out with somebody in the corner."

Lambert, who wowed "Idol" judges with his extraordinary vocal range, was seen as the overwhelming favorite to take the title in the May 20 finale.

However he lost in a final hyped as a smackdown between the conservative values of "red states" represented by Arkansas-based Allen and the liberal mores of "blue states" personified by the flamboyant Lambert.

Lambert meanwhile joked that he had been attracted to "Idol" nemesis Allen, who he shared a room with during the series.

"He's the one guy I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type -- except that he has a wife," Lambert said. "I mean he's open-minded and liberal, but he's definitely 100 percent straight."

"American Idol" was exported to the United States from Britain in 2002, rapidly establishing itself as the most watched show on US television and pop-culture phenomenon.

The program aims to unearth the next big singing talent and past contestants such as Carrie Underwood and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson have gone on to forge successful careers in the entertainment industry.

Agence France Presse