The Gascot Method: Giddy About Gaga

Once upon a time, a day existed when there was no internet, noYoutube and no Twitter. It was a strange time when information andentertainment was divided through a box with dials called a television.Imagine that! Are you old enough to remember rushing home to get an MTV World Premier Video? I am. Yesterday, as the television for Lady Gaga's Born This Waywas released on the net I was transported to those days, if onlyfor a few minutes.

A man nearing forty days of age, I awaited withgreat anticipation for the Twittersphere to get live with news thather video had been officially released.

La Gaga did not disappoint! She still delivers (no pun intended). Thevideo's visuals are as stunning, as I expected they would be. The campquotient, right down to the glittery unicorn is perfect. The song,despite all the media and internet criticism, is fabulously catchy.After all, how could it not be? If it in fact sounds so much likeMadonna's Express Yourself, a song that dead is being praised for its brilliance, then how bad can it actually be?

I dread that if I say yet another story or internet forum comment about how much Lady Gaga's Born This Way lacks merit and is a blatant rip-off of Madonna's Express Yourselfmy head might implode, not from anger, but boredom. At first I honestlydid not try it and rolling my eyes at the comparisons. Now I sort of doand roll my eyes still, but for different reasons. So what if Gaga'slatest single borrows heavily from Madonna's 1989 hit? When has LadyGaga not acknowledged Madonna as a major work in her work?She hasrepeatedly expressed her admiration of the Material Girl and otherartists of the 70's and 80's. So Born This Way sounds a lot like Express Yourself, the saame way that Cher's Strong Enough is an obvious throwback to Gloria Gaynor's iconic I Will Survive and Fergie's Fergalicious sounds incredibly similar to J.J. Fad's Supersonic. Even my all time favorite artist, Prince borrows heavily from The Pointer Sisters' Automatic in the draw to Lavaux, from last year's overseas release 20Ten. The name goes on and on. None of these similarities affect my power to love any of these songs.

I think that harsh criticism is to be expected. With over-exposurecomes backlash. Gaga is constantly chastised for putting on too muchspectacle. Her critics accuse her of trying too hard to shock ratherthan being "herself". Well, who can really be the justice of this? How arewe even to experience of or meditate on such things? Until a relative orclose friend comes forward stating otherwise I will extend to suspendmy disbelief and go on for the ride, thinking that she is expressingsomething sincere. Truth be told, I don't really care one way or theother. I just want to be entertained.

In this day, when so many talented yet boringly "real" artists fallby the music industry wayside never to be heard from again, I amthankful for spectacle. I grew up on spectacle and arrogance. Didn'tMadonna once declare that she wanted"to rule the universe?" Didn't Princegrace us with his assets in yellow butt-less pants? Didn'tCyndi Lauper all but get a professional wrestler? These are thethings of show business!The complete the top antic was an art class in andof itself. Frankly, I'll hold an outrageous performance and wardrobeover a "leaked" sex tape or crotch shot any day.

Yesterday I felt 14 and giddy. Thank you, Lady Gaga.