One of the more controversial points of the petition is that Lambert should not perform because of his "active promotion of a highly sexualized lifestyle and LGBT rights, both of which are contrary to mainstream Singaporean values."

The petition highlights previous public performances in which Lambert "engaged in sexualized acts, including kissing a male band member on stage" and that his recent music video featured "female showgirls and male strippers performing acts of indecency."

The reason? Adam Lambert is "hardly the kind of performer to send off our historic Jubilee year or to usher in the New Year," according to the petition .

A petition to stop one-time American Idol finalist Adam Lambert from headlining Singapore's New Year countdown concert has gathered more than 12,000 signatures.

The individual or group that began the petition is not known, but it is signed by "Concerned citizens, Concerned parents, Concerned individuals."

P.N. Balji, former chief editor of Singapore newspaper Today and media consultant at RHT Comms and Relations, told CNBC he believed "the real reason why the petitioning group wants Adam Lambert banned from performing is his LGBT lifestyle."

According to Balji, the term "family-friendly" is used frequently in the petition and in its comments section, which he believes is another way the petitioners are expressing an anti-gay view.

The petition website has attracted more than 4,800 comments.

"For the sake of our young viewers as well, we must not permit such negative and destructive influences," wrote Chen Yijing in a comment on the petition website.

Another comment written by a user called Maria said, "No disgusting acts for family events."

Now, social media is abuzz with people taking sides for or against Adam Lambert's performance at the Celebrate 2016 concert.

There's even a counter petition calling for Adam Lambert to perform in Singapore's Countdown concert.

There are also tweets that rally Adam Lambert's fans or 'Glamberts' as they are known, to sign the counter-petition.

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The New Year concert is organized by Singaporean media and entertainment company MediaCorp. Debra Soon, MediaCorp's head of English-language family and premier segments, said, "Celebrate 2016 will be suitable for family audiences and conform with broadcast regulations."

Despite its super-modern reputation, Singapore is aconservative country where, although being homosexual is nottechnically illegal, homosexual sex acts are.

In 2014 the National Library Board forced libraries to pull from their shelves a book called "And Tango makes Three," about a male penguin pair that raised a chick together at New York's Central Park Zoo. The board had said the book went against "social norms" but later backed down on an order to have it pulped.

Only this week the country cut the number of publications it bans from 257 to 17. Among those now legal to sell in Singapore is the 1748 novel Fanny Hill. Playboy, Penthouse and other similar magazines remain banned, as do the Watchtower publications distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses.