On the eve of American Idol‘s return (which I’m oddly excited about), Adam Lambert, one of the strongest stars to have emerged from the previous ten seasons of the singing competition, visited The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to perform his latest single, “Better Than I Know Myself.”

There’s really no denying Lambert’s vocal talent and sheer magnetism, though admittedly I did during his original Idol run, finding it all a bit too much for my tastes. But my opinion changed with the release of his debut album, 2009’s For Your Entertainment, a collection that unashamedly mixed pop and rock to ear-catching results. As I remarked to a friend over the weekend, Lambert has since become the only current major male U.S. pop star I’m interested in (and not in that way, I assure you).

Written by Claude Kelly and produced by pop maestro Dr. Luke, power ballad “Better Than I Know Myself” previews Lambert’s sophomore album, Trespassing, out March 20. The release also reportedly features contributions from some of pop music’s heaviest behind-the-scenes hitters, including Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers (!), Benny Blanco, Sam Sparro (!!), Bruno Mars, Bonnie McKee, Nikka Costa, and BC Jean.

For his premiere live performance of the epic-sounding “Better Than I Know Myself” on The Tonight Show, Adam was rocking a new, polished look. Gone was the hard-edged mix of leather and metal (still present on the single’s cover art), replaced by a buttoned-up shirt and blazer combo that to me reads very ABC (or Hurts, if you prefer a more modern-day reference).

“Better Than I Know Myself” has yet to breach the Billboard Hot 100, but with a music video on the way soon and a visit to Ellen tomorrow afternoon, Lambert’s latest should be scaling the chart in short order.

Purchase Adam Lambert – “Better Than I Know Myself” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.