"No llame mi nombre Alejandro"

"[It's about the] purity of my friendships with my gay friends, and how I've been unable to find that with a straight man in my life. It's a celebration and an admiration of gay love—it confesses my envy of the courage and bravery they require to be together. In the video I'm pining for the love of my gay friends—but they just don't want me to be with them"--Lady Gaga in The Times
(delovely article about her: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article7129672.ece)

Okay. Lady Gaga's new video for Alejandro premiered a little less than two hours ago. I've watched it twice. It's 8 minutes and 43 seconds. I think I have to watch it a few more times before it all makes sense to me. The video is directed by Steven Klein and features a new hair look for Lady Gaga. The video opens with a shot of a shirtless soldier with his feet up on a table. We see he's wearing fishnets and black high heels. Fantastic. Then some male dancers with these strange, black bowl cut wigs on do a march down what looks to be the opening of an airplane hanger which makes sense for the military theme Gaga mentioned. We are touching down in the place of fighting. Some of the men appear to have bags over their heads as if they are prisoners being tortured. Not sure. Just an idea. Finally we see Gaga, looking like the Wicked Witch of the West, the Evil Queen in Snow White, and the Evil Queen in Alice in Wonderland sitting in her castle with snow falling in the background. It look very old movie-like. We are meant to see her as a Queen-figure. There are images of a bleeding heart on a pillow as Queen Gaga leads a funeral processional for a soldier. The song's opening words: "I know that we are young and I know that you may love me, but I just can't be with you like this anymore, Alejandro" seem to be delivered by Gaga as a kind of eulogy at a funeral. Alejandro has died, but he still has a mental grip on her. Then there's Gaga sitting in her tower in her castle watching soldier/dancers do a routine or "train" with a video of something burning behind them. Some men appear to be doing a strange, tough tango-esque dance that involves pushing one man to the floor with a grunt. It is supposed to simulate anal sex? I think so. Then Gaga is lying in bed looking like an odd nun or queen wearing a habit and a red robe that appears to be made out of the material she wore to perform for the Queen of England. Then we get a bizarre sequence involving beds and ropes and Gaga doing strange sex positions with one of her dancer/soldiers. Now I'm going to be frank here but this frankness comes from a place of love and admiration: Gaga does not look pretty or glamorous or stunning in these scenes with her off white bra and underwear and I don't think she's supposed to. The men on the beds are wearing black high heels which I just love as a little detail. At some points, she seems to be simulating gay sex positions with one of the men. It's fascinating. Then the men are all around her and she's wearing a cape with red crosses all over it including one over her hoohah or lady parts. That's very subtle. Then her Queen self lying in the bed swallows a rosary while Gaga in cape stands in front of a video of something burning (a car?). It looks kind of cheesy and cheap, but in an intentional way. Then comes this wonderful black and white bit where Gaga's wearing a black vest and pants doing vaudeville dance moves. It's what was shown in the 19 second preview of the video and everyone thought it was her imitating Madonna's Vogue video. Not really the case. Anyway this bit is great. She does her dance moves as pairs of her soldier/dancers walk by her doing some fierce strutting. It's a very brassy dame, Judy Garland, let's put on a show moment. Then we're back in color and Gaga's wearing a gun or rifle bra. Now she's performing into a microphone in the lounge from the beginning for all the soldiers. It's weird to see her doing this because her videos are never the ones where the singer stands on a stage and sings into the microphone, but it's part of the concept here. There's a cross behind her (reference to Madonna's Like A Prayer?). Then there are black and white flashbacks of her in the bed with the man, her as the queen, and footage of what appear to be fiery riots. And there's an angry looking soldier. Who is he? Then her dancers throw her about and she takes off her cape and there's an orgy of sorts. They all want to touch her. Now we are back to the Queen Gaga in red in bed. Is she dead? An evil monster takes over the image, appearing to be coming out of her face. The end. I'm very confused, but intrigued and slightly disappointed. This isn't the hilarity of Telephone. It has less of a straight forward plot. The video for this song could have been a Spanish-themed romp a la Carmen (see here: http://zxlcreative.blogs.com/electroqueer/2010/06/eqtv-watch-alejandro-by-lady-gaga.html). I still don't totally see how the video relates to the song itself. I do find the video very interesting though and pretty kinky, sensual, and raw in some scenes (the bed scenes! the choreography!). I think there's a lot to decode here. Does Gaga want to be one of her dancer soldiers? See for yourself.

The Monster Ball In Boston, Dec. 1

Okay, yes I admit, this blog is turning into a GaGa fan land. I'll try to cut back a little. But first allow me to gush about the amazing Monster Ball show I saw in Boston on Tuesday night. Walking into the stunning Wang Theater on Tremont Street, you just knew this was going to be a good night. People were dressed up in snazzy outfits and the GaGa t-shirts were clever and visually glorious. Upon reaching our seats on the lower right side of the theater we watched Kid Cudi do his last song. Then, as they set up the Monster Ball stage, we watched as a dance party commenced to classic Michael Jackson being played over the speakers. People were dancing in the aisles. The man in front of me was MJ-ing it up and lip-syncing along to "Bad" with conviction and another young guy in suspenders and a t-shirt was doing some sort of dance that may have been the worm (probably not, I couldn't really see all his moves). When the intro GaGa video started playing the crowd started freaking out, me included, then the countdown clock started and I just couldn't wait. She appeared doing "Dance in the Dark" off her new album, and I was beyond excited. The Lady performed for two splendid hours. The costumes were daring and bizarre while the dancing had elements of Broadway and vaudeville. Highlights included: "Monster", off the new album as well, which involved a backdrop with demented, twisted trees and a black feathered costume for GaGa, a wonderfully choreographed version of the raw "Teeth", a sexual tormented love affair dance to campy "Alejandro" complete with a sassy cigarette (which I just noticed was there in a close-up video), "Boys Boys Boys" with GaGa wearing a black leotard-type outfit with a gun strapped across her chest and some male dancers grabbing their crotches and grinding while wearing black suspenders and pants, fun versions of The Fame (complete with shielding face from fame hand movements) and Beautiful, Dirty, Rich (remixed with great choreography including a funny don't mess with me crotch gesture). There was a slight lull when she did some of her lesser known songs such as Paper Gangsta (which did have a cool dentist chair, dead female dancer thing going on) and Fashion (good nonetheless-male dancer in high-heeled black boots). Perhaps one of the greatest moments of the night was one GaGa sat at her piano and played a fantastic, moving version of Speechless, her new ballad about her Dad. She had us sing along and was very touched when we knew all the words to the chorus. Poker Face on piano was also terrific featuring GaGa doing her usual crazy piano antics: crouching on her piano bench, standing on her piano bench, striking what seemed to be a yoga pose while we all cheered, and playing the keys with her sassy high heels (she did that at the House of Blues in March as well). When she played Speechless was when all the emotions I'd been feeling since the show started came out. I started crying. I think it was one of those moments of pop euphoria where you pretty much surrender to the music and performer. I was holding back emotion from the moment she appeared on stage. I felt uninhibited. I screamed, I sang along, I danced. Paparazzi was a dramatic staging with GaGa coming out in a black coat with super long, blonde braids and sitting in a hanging scaffold filled with theater equipment. She was lifted up while in the hanging scaffolding as she sang and her Rapunzel-like braids were cut with giant scissors by some male dancers. The high of the show had to be the Bad Romance conclusion though. When the song started, the whole theater went crazy. GaGa did the weird and amazing choreography from the video in white pants, a black bustier of sorts, and a white jacket with comically high shoulder pads. It was ferocious. We put our monster claws up in the air and danced with abandon. Throughout the whole show, GaGa had brief video interludes while she changed costumes. The best one involved GaGa in a white dress seemingly made of paper posing then another version of GaGa with dark hair (who I originally thought was an Asian model) spits up greenish liquid onto the white dress. The spit up occurs again and again. It is out there, but brilliant. Another clip involved GaGa wearing various masks (gas mask, torture masks, African masks?). One involved her smoking a cigarette through the whole in a gas mask or a diving mask. The last video we saw followed Bad Romance and was of her getting a tattoo that apparently said the word "Fans" within her heart. And boy, did GaGa profess to loving her fans throughout the show. She also had some great, zany quotes per usual (not all which I can post...scandalous!). Here are some: "I hate the truth. Give me a load of bulls**** any day.", "When I went around the world, people asked me 'GaGa, what did you see?' and I said (dramatic turn around) ' I saw monsters'", "Is this Menthol?", "Do you think I'm sexy? I think you're sexy.", "My mom's here tonight...she's like me but normal,", "I went to get a large coffee yesterday and the man at the counter didn't say anything. He gave me my coffee and said 'See you tonight' (the Lady then snaps and turns around imitating the sassy fan). That is a Lady GaGa fan." She also had a quote about Boston and certain male appendages. She has a whirlwind of an onstage persona. She screams and yells for us to scream which we do because what else would you do when GaGa asks you something like that. She lies on the stage with her legs in the air pretending to be Tinker Bell and we have to scream and cheer to bring her back to life. She commands us to show her our teeth. Also, her dancers were all superb especially two male dancers (one who was Mark from So You Think You Can Dance season 4). Mark was always the kooky, weird modern dancer on SYTYCD and GaGa is the perfect person for him to dance for. He fits her vision and gets completely into character. Many of the male dancers had a masculine and feminine side that came out in different numbers. Sometimes they flitted about the stage and sometimes they were grounded and firm. It was a fantastic change from song to song or set of songs to set of songs. The Monster Ball was an experience filled with camp, sex, fierce costumes (the revealing sexy golden Egyptian style outfit), the solar system set piece, and real artistic vision. I was moved or laughed at GaGa's vision at various points. She's very serious about her art, but also you have to take everything with a grain of salt. She's self-aware. What a night! What a crowd of lovable GaGa loons.

Bravo GaGa! Ooh, la, la!

(Thanks to CEG and GaGa Daily for the photos)

Here's the dual GaGa video interlude

Brilliant.

Mind Blown

Lady GaGa's new video for Bad Romance premiered on Tuesday and it is potentially her best video yet possibly even topping the absolute over the top decadence and drama of the splendid Paparazzi video. First off: the costumes are out of this world. It's sexy and alluring and weird. GaGa wears a stunning, ridiculous polar bear coat, a diamond encrusted top, a bizarre red top, and crazy tall high heels called Armadillos made by the English designer Alexander McQueen. The plot of the video is that GaGa is being sold into the Russian sex slave trade and she rebels and sears her buyer alive in a bed. It is genius. The dancing is odd and awesome. Le Lady looks truly beautiful in this video. My favorite parts: the dance routine when GaGa is being auctioned off in her diamond outfit, the fiery dance routine in the red outfit near the end, the part where the diamonds are suspended around her in the air and she's standing in the middle of a circle of men (the dark shoes in that scene are gorgeous), and the end bit when she enters in the polar bear coat then takes it off and the bed catches on fire, killing her horrible buyer. Also the end is hilarious when she's lying in the bed looking somewhat like Amy Winehouse smoking a cigarette with her cone bra emitting sparks, next to the burnt bones of the evil Russian man. There's also the bit where she is in flames, posing inher polar bear coat. Classic. Oh wait, and there's the crazy big eyes, the freaky cat, and the close ups of her crying! Overall, this video is a triumph that cleans the floor with pretty much every other video out there as well as every other major pop song out there. GaGa's vision is wonderfully original and passion-filled. She inspires me. I wish I was as brave and daring as her. This video is a huge present to the pop music world. I'm infatuated. I don't think my description does it justice. Just watch:

Here are some new photos for her new album The Fame Monster as well as new weird photos from Vogue (I adore the one where she's holding the pot and spoon--regard the shoes!) and retro ones from Vanity Fair Italy that look like old school lingerie ads and propaganda posters. Also, the Alexander McQueen shoes of amazingness (thanks to Coco Perez.com). Ahh, je t'adore, GaGa.

I WANT YOUR PSYCHO

Lady GaGa's new single, Bad Romance, from the re-release of The Fame (entitled The Fame: Monster) was premiered on UK radio station BBC Radio 1 this morning and it is a beast! It's another RedOne collaboration (he produced most of The Fame notably Just Dance and Poker Face), and they evolve their signature sound with this fortress of a pop tune. Bad Romance comes at you fast and it hits hard. GaGa sings as if she's singing a hard rock tune, but it works with the song's intensity. The chorus is fantastic and soaring and as XO Middle Eight blogger wrote last week: "The chorus is beautiful. When she actually sings in a full, throaty voice she transforms into a sort of Eurodisco Joan Baez,". GaGa digs into her grimy lyrics making them sound raw and primal (and she sings in French at one point). The "oh oh oh" part of the chorus is stunning and extremely catchy. The album version has a lovely intro that I wish was part of the radio edit. In short, Bad Romance practically compels the listener to react whether that be through dancing or singing along or turning the volume up as high as it will go. This is a song to blast. This song bodes well for her future and shows how her sound has expanded over the course of a year. Simply magnificent. Also check out that single cover. It's so weird yet awesome at the same time. I love how we can't see her face, and that red fabric just pops! Great font!

The Fame: Monster will include 8 new songs (yay!) and will be released on Nov. 24, 2009! She starts a new tour, The Monster Ball Tour, in November.

Full Version

Lady GaGa + SNL

Saturday night Lady GaGa preceded to steal Saturday Night Live from its host, Ryan Reynolds the other night. She appeared with Madonna in the Deep House Dish skit, and they got into a mock catfight. The most exciting moment was when Keenan Thompson announced them and they had their backs to the audience and we weren't sure whether it was really them or not. Then it was! Awesome moment. Then, GaGa did a good version of Paparazzi complete with a dangerously red "outfit" leotard thing. Her male backup dancer was really into it. She did a fantastic medley of LoveGame, a little bit of her new song Bad Romance, and a sweet and moving piano version of Poker Face devoted to her hometown of New York all while wearing a bizarre solar system around her waist. Her voice was in fine form. Overall, it was glorious. The last thing she did was a skit with Andy Samberg that was a send-up of the bubble dress she wore on her Fame Ball Tour. They were both wearing the bubble dresses and attempting to kiss each other. It was pretty funny. GaGa was very likable and even though she's not the greatest actress, I ended up loving her more than I already do by the end of the episode. Also, she looked pretty with her long, flowing blond hair.







P.S. Her debut album The Fame will be released as The Fame Monster on Nov. 24 with new songs! The first single from it will be Bad Romance which I can't wait to hear the studio version of.

Tidbits

-Across the pond in the UK, super cute British singer, Pixie Lott, has scored her second number one of the year with her infectious retro single, Boys and Girls. Those Brits have fallen for this gal. Congrats, Pixie.

-Tyler Perry's latest film, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, has topped the box office making 24 million over the weekend. His films always do well. He has a built-in audience. This movie actually got good reviews (most of his films don't) with the Boston Globe giving it 3 out of 4 stars. There's a part of me that wants to see it now especially cause Taraji P. Henson (Benjamin's adopted mom in Benjamin Button) plays the lead role.

-Shakira's new album, She Wolf, will be released in the US on October 13th. I am so excited.

I'm Your Biggest Fan/I'll Follow You Until You Love Me

I am so super excited for Lady GaGa's new video for Paparazzi. It is her next single release in the UK and the video was filmed in good, old Londontown. Here's what Digital Spy has to say about it:

Lady GaGa reportedly wanted to emulate Princess Diana's death in the video to her new single 'Paparazzi'. The 'Just Dance' star allegedly wanted to recreate scenes from the Pont de l'Alma tunnel crash in Paris which killed the Princess of Wales and her partner Dodi Al Fayed on August 31, 1997, The Sun claims...Further scenes in the music video reportedly show three brothers from US rock band Snake Of Eden acting out sexual acts on each other.

Here's what GaGa herself had to say about the video in that same Digital Spy article:

"I'm very proud of it. It has a real, genuine, powerful message about fame-whoring and death and the demise of the celebrity, and what that does to young people," she told The Canadian Press.
"The video explores ideas about sort of hyperbolic situations that people will go to in order to be famous. Most specifically, pornography and murder. These are some of the major themes in the video."

I am so psyched. This video sounds absolutely crazy amazing. The Princess Di idea: GaGa you crazy! It's kind of a cool (dare I say edgy) idea yet somewhat awkward and uncomfortable at the same time. Maybe it's best it didn't work out. Anyway check out the single cover art above: ravishing. She's also on the cover of Rolling Stone this week looking very 80's.

Lovely Ladies

Little Boots performed on this past weekend on a late night British talk show called Later With Jools Holland. She performed her debut single New in Town and her fantastic collaboration with RedOne, Remedy. Remedy is the perfect synthesis of RedOne and Little's sounds. RedOne didn't overtake this song and make it sound like Just Dance or Poker Face. As I said before, a true collaboration. The foreboding synths during the verses are delicious and the chorus is ecstatic. Her hair and dress are perfect (she should wear that dress all the time). Also, she played Le Poisson Rouge in New York the other night. Her US taster EP, Illuminations, will be out June 9th! Her album, Hands, comes out in the UK a few days before that.



Ms. GaGa performed her new jam LoveGame on the Dancing with the Stars finale last night. There was a disco stick, some sick dancing, a pink sparkly one piece outfit, and perfectly styled hair. I love around the 2:01 point where she is all up in the camera's face. Just watch:

Amazingness: Covers Edition

Swedish songstress Lykke Li has been performing her cover of Kings of Leon's aching Knocked Up all over the place. Her cover is fantastic. Surprisingly, her voice suits it perfectly. Magical. Here's a clip of her performing it at a concert in January.



Le GaGa recently performed a wonderful cover of Coldplays' epic Viva La Vida on BBC's Radio 1 Live Lounge show. She really makes the song her own, adding some funny lyrics about Chris and Gwenyth. She also namedrops designer Yves Saint Laurent. I love the rollicking piano and her low voice. The Lady has a truly great, visceral voice. Terrific cover.

Score!

Lady GaGa performed her second #1 single (as of this week), Poker Face, on American Idol Wednesday night. The performance was crazy awesome. The piano and violin part at the beginning is dramatic and amazing. She sang it perfectly. She did a similar piano version of the song at her fantastic concert Monday night at the House of Blues. I love how she makes Poker Face into such a truly beautiful song with this piano version. After the piano part, the regular version of the song came in. She sounded a little out of breath during this part to me. Some good dancing though. Then, this killer violin solo comes in, and she just goes crazy with her dancing. It's awesome. She ends it all with a fierce face. That eye-patch thing she was wearing was divine. American Idol needed a performance like this. It was original and full of creativity. Well done, GaGa.

Let's Have Some Fun, This Beat is Sick, I Wanna Take A Ride on Your Disco Stick

Lady GaGa has released another new video!! It's for LoveGame, the third single of her debut. This track is quite a stomper with priceless lyrics including the above mentioned disco stick. This video seems like her first big popstar production. There's dancing on cars and a choregraphed routine. The video is super hot and steamy and involves Le GaGa making out with a male and female officer. The part on the subway is delectable. Then there's the crazy ass threesome going on, on a table with a naked GaGa in the middle, covered in glitter and body paint while two-barely clothed guys with words shaved into their heads make out with her and etc. In short, the whole video is AMAZING. Also, the choregraphy at the end: well done.
http://perezhilton.com/tv/index.php?ptvid=915a5fcc14920

New Music!

Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
Light as air fluffy pop ditty that I've grown to like more since the video came out. It's a decent video, not as good as the Just Dance and Poker Face videos though. I love her yellow flower dress though and the white outfit she wears when she's on the motorcycle. Also, her hairstyles are awesome (especially when she wears the yellow dress). Cute GaGa, very cute.



Just Can't Get Enough-The Saturdays
Fun, super poppy, and fluffy cover of Depeche Mode's classic Just Can't Get Enough. The video is their best yet even though it gets a little repetitive after awhile. Nice costumes. I'm really starting to love these gals.



Taylor Swift-Fifteen
Very pretty and moving song. I love how Taylor Swift is this huge star but then her songs are so intimate and her lyrics so specific. She's a great storyteller. Her performance with Miley Cyrus of this song at the Grammy's was a great moment even though Miley over sang it. The perfect song for them to sing.

New Music!

Lady GaGa-Poker Face
My favorite Lady GaGa song finally has a video, but it's a little bit of a disappointment, for me at least. There are fierce moments especially when she gets out of the pool in the beginning, but it doesn't capture the raw energy of a party the way the Just Dance video did. I like the part in the end where's she's in the room with the guy, and she's wearing a bow. Her album came out on Tuesday!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdpSmNMg1is

Alphabeat-What is Happening?

Danish band Alphabeat's new single is so good. It's such a rousing song, but I didn't expect you could dance to it. The video really matches the song's energy perfectly. I love the concept of the video, and the lead singer really throws himself into the song. I love that. Around the 1: 50 minute mark there's a great part where they sing "ooooo" really softly and dance around. It's beautiful.


The Saturdays-Work

The Saturdays' debut album was released this week in the UK and from the clips I heard, it's very good. This is supposed to be the third single from the album. It's called Work, and I like it a lot, but not as much as Up which is absolute genius and one of the best songs of the year.

New Lady GaGa!

Lady GaGa, was supposed to be releasing Beautiful, Dirty, Rich as her second single, but now Poker Face is the second single. This is a better choice because Poker Face is out of this world good. It's hard-hitting and ridiculously fierce. I love the ecstatic chorus and the weird background sound that runs throughout the verses. It has elements of Just Dance in it, but I think I like this better. Check it out! It's awesome! Album out October 28!

Tidbits

-Lindsay Lohan will be the guest judge for the sixth season premiere of Project Runway in January on Lifetime (grr...Bravo is better, Bravo is the shiz). That will be interesting.

-Kings of Leon are Number 1 in the UK (on the charts and on itunes) with their song Sex on Fire from their new album which comes out next week. The ironic thing is that Sex on Fire or any other Kings of Leon song aren't even in the US iTunes Top 100.

-Lady GaGa's video for her second single Beautiful, Dirty, Rich is out. It includes clips from ABC's soapy, delicious Dirty Sexy Money which stars the wonderful Peter Krause. There is more Sexy Money than GaGa, but she still leaves a mark with her outrageous outfits. It's basically a promo for the show. Well, the new season looks like it will be super juicy and expectedly over the top. Perfect song for this show. Well done, GaGa.

Music Update!!!

-Here is the cover for the new Girls Aloud single, The Promise that I raved about earlier this week. It just gets better and better each time I listen to it. They all look super vampy and loverly in this photo.

-The Killers will be releasing their new album titled Day & Age on November 25, 2008. The first single is called Human, and will be released on radio September 22. Uber-producer, Stuart Price, is producing the album. He worked magic on Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor a few years ago.

-I heard M.I.A.'s amazing and gritty Paper Planes on a mainstream/Top 40 radio station yesterday, and I was shocked. This is huge, but I also think it could be bad. M.I.A. was always a very indie, edgy artist who no one ever thought could go mainstream, but after this song was used in the Pineapple Express trailer, everyone got into her. I first heard this song back in January and loved it then. They take out the gunshots in the radio version which is not surprising, but really detracts from the song's power. I don't think she'll get a big head though.

-Lady GaGa's debut album, The Fame, will now be released on October 28. I can't wait!