Adam Lambert paid tribute to Madonna’s 30+ years of hitmaking at Sunday night’s VH1 “Divas,” with this odd cover of “Ray Of Light.”

Dressed in some kind of very strange hieroglyphic robe, or perhaps as a medieval knight,  Lambert starts off really shaky vocally, but then he rises to the occasion.  It’s an amped up version of Madonna’s take on the song.  We’re not sure about the squat thrusts.

[More after the jump...]

If you want to skip the Madonna tribute and go straight to Lambert’s performance, go to the 1:30 mark.

Lambert wasn’t the only one paying homage. As Miley Cyrus continues to put as much distance between herself and her Disney past as she possible can, the leather-clad singer crowd surfed, grabbed her breast and did her best Billy Idol imitation on a cover of “Rebel Yell.” The song came out almost 10 years before Cyrus was born, by the way.

She’s belting as hard as she can, but there’s still something strange about watching an artist trying so hard to reinvent herself by stepping a million miles away from what the public had perceived to be her comfort zone...when it turns out it was our comfort zone, not hers.

Like Lambert, she give it her all. That doesn't make it enjoyable.

 There were plenty of other performances, as each singer seemed to want to shriek louder than the next, whether it was Natasha Bedingfield/Booty Collins/Iggy Azalea's remake of Dee-Lite's "Groove Is In The Heart" or Jordin Sparks, Ledisi and Melanie Fiona giving it their all in their salute to Whitney Houston. If you guessed that their medley would include "I'm Every Woman," you would be 100% right. A newly-engaged Kelly Clarkson got to sing her own song. Check out her take on "Catch My Breath."

Do you think Lambert and Cyrus give the originals their due?

If you missed any of it, you can watch the full "2012 VH1 Divas" here.