More on that "Lady Gaga Moment" : "The Power of a Gimmick-Free Gaga"

[CannaeDrive 3,388]

From The Atlantic

The Power of a Gimmick-Free Gaga

Her Sound of Music medley at the Oscars highlighted her underlying talent, just at the right time.

SPENCER KORNHABERFEB 23 2015, 11:08 AM ETMike 

Going into Oscars night, ABC made sure viewers knew that Lady Gaga would perform; missing from the promotional ads and press material, though, was any mention of what she’d be doing. In the moments before she took the stage, host Neil Patrick Harris promised that what was about to happen would be talked about plenty the next day. And with Gaga's history at awards shows—hatching out of an egg, dying bloodily, getting dirty with Elton John, playing drag king,The Meat Dress—who could doubt him?

Gaga’s stunt, it turned out, was to have no stunt at all. After a montage of Sound of Music film clips honoring the 50th anniversary of the movie musical, she appeared on stage in a wedding-appropriate gown and, with great control and stillness, sang "The Hills Are Alive," "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss" and "Climb Every Mountain." The music was faithful; the décor was understated. Julie Andrews emerged afterwards with sincere-seeming congratulations—“it really warmed my heart, it really didâ€â€”and Internet commenters raved.Consequence of Sound called it Gaga’s best performance ever; Twitter was alive with the sound of people saying that they didn’t know she could sing like that.

Part of Gaga’s mystique has long been that underneath the Kermit frocks and EDM beats is Stefani Germanotta, a songwriter whose pre-Gaga performances earned her comparisons to Norah Jones. As she rose to fame, Gaga portrayed herself as something other than human—“Mother Monsterâ€â€”by sporting facial prosthetics on stage, wearing outlandish looks even when running daily errands, and making a point of not mentioning her personal life. Websites would post footage of Germanotta's stripped-down NYU shows as if they were exposés, and at a certain point it became more lucrative to run slideshows of Gaga out of costume rather than in it.

In the last few months or so, though, plainclothes Gaga has made her return. Her 2014 album with Tony Bennett, Cheek to Cheek, was a decidedly traditional affair, a collection of standards featuring untreated, jazzy vocals. While promoting it, and performing with Bennett at the Grammys, Gaga has kept her avant-garde costuming to a relative minimum. A week ago, she announced via Instagram that she was engaged to the actor Taylor Kinney. The Oscars, where she sang timeless songs about the timelessness of song, cemented it: The gap between Gaga and Germanotta is small right now.

Why the reversion? In interviews, Gaga has lately spoken frankly about feeling burned out, and burned by, the entertainment industry. High-profile disputes with members of her creative team and middling sales of her 2013 album ARTPOPapparently made her seriously consider quitting music altogether. In her words, Bennett’s friendship and his example—a long career, featuring more than 50 albums—saved her life. “When I came into this with Tony, he didn’t say, ‘You’ve got to take off all the crazy outfits and just sing,’†she recalled toParade. “He said, ‘Be yourself.’â€

What’s funny is that “be yourself†was Gaga’s motto when she was at the height of her pop opulence, around the time of 2011's Born This Way. Back then, she used bizarre clothes and brash, earnest rock music to dramatize the idea that being true to one’s own desires and identity was a radical act—that people might make fun of you, but that a community of like-minded freaks would always have your back. Her move to classic styles visually and sonically isn't necessarily a rejection of that idea; she feels like singing cabaret, and so sales be damned, she's doing it.

Her recent phase also might reflect pop culture’s hangover from peak Gaga and all it entailed. For a few years, it seemed like she, Kesha, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj were in a race to out-weirdo one another while slinging self-empowerment messages. Then Miley Cyrus came along with her dancing bears and twerking and cultural appropriation, testing the public’s appetite for pop stars who preached the “do what you want†gospel by being as outrageous as possible. Kesha’s gone mostly quiet, Perry and Minaj leaned hard on the ballads for their most recent albums, and the relative tameness of the current pop moment was made official by all the slow, sad crooning that dominated the 2015 Grammys.

In this environment, Gaga—truly talented vocally, with a peppy stage presence and a deep knowledge of musical history—could turn out to be as vital as she’s ever been. And her club-conquering days may not be over: RedOne, the producer who helped create Gaga's influential sound, says he’s working on a dance album with her that's aiming to be one of the greatest of the decade. For now, she's playing smart—still living for the applause, just a little less flashily.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/the-miracle-of-normal-lady-gaga/385762/

This is only one of the many positive press she received this week. A rapid Google search 800+ articles mentioning Gaga in an overwhellmingly positive light, from all sorts of media platform : mainstream, specialized, local, niche publications, blogs, etc. And this only for English language media. This is the actual Reverse Warholian Expedition y'all.

 

[The Child 18,994]

Fill me in please, I don't have time to read all this.

[NewYorkCity 10,462]

Another day, another slay.

 

 

I just hope they have this in mind for her next album release  

[Coop 14,968]

Fill me in please, I don't have time to read all this.

​+1

[yASSsss 35,510]

Such a good read. Thanx for sharing  

[JustPokeHerFace 2,564]

I'm happy with the way Gaga's reinvented her image, the public is finally realizing her talent. 

[Katie14 4,828]

The comments on that article are amazing. And anyone who does say something negative are argued against by multiple people.

[Miel 15,009]

From The Atlantic

The Power of a Gimmick-Free Gaga

What’s funny is that “be yourself†was Gaga’s motto when she was at the height of her pop opulence, around the time of 2011's Born This Way. Back then, she used bizarre clothes and brash, earnest rock music to dramatize the idea that being true to one’s own desires and identity was a radical act—that people might make fun of you, but that a community of like-minded freaks would always have your back. Her move to classic styles visually and sonically isn't necessarily a rejection of that idea; she feels like singing cabaret, and so sales be damned, she's doing it.

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I think they really, really get it.

[Echo 326]

Good article. It's rather true honestly.

[darkchylde 14,857]

It's not a bad article but I've never understood the need of bashing others when prasing someone. Specially when you're only bashing female artists. 

[Neptune 156]

I'm still watching that performance. It warms my heart, especially when she starts crying at the end. So proud of her.

[ChicaSkas 21,063]

Excellent article! thanks for posting!

[Curunir 7,510]

[cd9904 175]

Wow. It's a great article. It's well written and the facts are right!

[Duella Dvil 10,183]

What’s funny is that “be yourself†was Gaga’s motto when she was at the height of her pop opulence, around the time of 2011's Born This Way. Back then, she used bizarre clothes and brash, earnest rock music to dramatize the idea that being true to one’s own desires and identity was a radical act—that people might make fun of you, but that a community of like-minded freaks would always have your back. Her move to classic styles visually and sonically isn't necessarily a rejection of that idea; she feels like singing cabaret, and so sales be damned, she's doing it.

 

Because Born This Way it represents an infamous moment in life the birth of your "self." It's not once, it's not twice, it's forever. You define who you are, your core and center are born from what you are not what you were (per se). This message is not be ONE thing it's be what you need to be to be happy BE HAPPY AND NEVER LOSE YOUR SELF. 

 

(I separated your and self for a reason)