Here are some photos of Lady Gaga in Japan over the weekend, where she performed at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan concert, which raised money for the Japanese Red Cross. Gaga has done a lot to raise money for Japanese relief and rebuilding funds in the wake of the March tsunami, which left so much of Japan devastated. Before we talk about how Gaga is a good person for focusing so much energy on Japanese relief funds, can we talk about her “eyes”? When I first saw the photos, I thought she had actually attached something ON TOP of her eyes to make them look like those big-eyed girls from anime and manga that the Japanese embrace. But Gaga achieved the look with makeup, I think. She just did the “big eye” look on her eyelids, and THEN SHE KEPT HER EYES SHUT. The entire time.

Gaga not only performed, she did a press conference (video below) where she discussed her struggles (although I think she’s still telling some lies about what it was like for her to grow up in Manhattan, but whatever), and she says that her own struggles made her understand that people should “Never give up on the dream of Japan; never give up on the dream of its people; and never give up on the dream of the future.” A lovely sentiment, which Gaga said WITH HER EYES CLOSED. She’s… crazy…? Or is she just trying too hard? Or should we give her credit for really believing in a look and working to pull it off? Eh.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This is kind of a convoluted story, but it has some good parts. Where to start? Okay, remember how Lady Gaga flashed her boobs when she won the CFDA’s “Style Icon” Award a few weeks ago? We didn’t use any of the Gaga Tit photos, but they were all over the place, and you get the idea. Well, the New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn took Gaga to task for Gaga’s usage of vintage Versace. Apparently, Donatella Versace opened up the Versace archives, so that Gaga could wear vintage Versace to the CFDA gala AND in the music video for “Edge of Glory”. I didn’t know that the costumes in that video were vintage Versace, but it makes sense, given how friggin’ dated and “Totally ’80s” that whole video seemed. Here’s part of what NYT critic Cathy Horyn wrote:

In a week, I told myself, Lady Gaga’s vintage Versace studs (seen in her new “Edge of Glory” video) will be history. If that. “Never be afraid to dream,” she tweeted to her followers, but I had already unfollowed, like a skiff breaking from its moorings. Goodbye!

….As funny and as fresh as Gaga was in her speech at the recent C.F.D.A. awards, she looked embalmed in the black Versace harness (apparently from Gianni Versace’s final collection), and I don’t know why Donatella Versace said she was honored by Gaga’s selection, unless, of course, she thought she had to say something nice about the superstar. But a D.O.A. video doesn’t help the House of Versace. Be choosier, Ms. Versace.

[From The NYT]

Oooooh, snap (was that too dated as well?). I agree with Horyn’s point about Gaga looking “embalmed” and I completely cosign her criticism of Donatella Versace opening the Versace archives. I mean, it’s not like Gaga is Madonna! Remember when Madonna and (Gianni) Versace went together like drag queens and lipstick? I remember. For a large chunk of time, Madge only wore Gaultier and Versace, it seemed. Those were good years, and Madonna sincerely changed the fashion industry. You’d think that Gaga would be more conscious of it, then. She probably figures that her monsters won’t even remember Madonna’s contributions to fashion.

Here’s the vintage Versace in “Edge of Glory”:

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I don’t know how much coverage I should do of last night’s Much Music Video Awards in Canada. I’m kind of meh on most music awards shows, and it doesn’t seem like the event was for anybody but tweens. Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were there (Selena hosted, I believe). Colin Farrell was there. And Lady Gaga… with some new costumes. That about it. Re: Gaga and her costumes… if what I think about this show simply being aimed at tweens (Canadian tweens, at that), Gaga’s outfits bordered on inappropriate, but mostly they just looked dated, and like she was trying too hard. I also don’t know what to say about her hair – and I think the long, blue hair is actually Gaga’s. I spy roots. Anyway, Gaga spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about her dream of launching a fashion line:

TORONTO – She may have book-ended the MuchMusic Video Awards with two stage performances, but Lady Gaga made her biggest exclamation Sunday night in Toronto when she told the media she hopes one day to be a fashion designer.

“I really, really have such admiration for fashion designers and I’m such good friends with them,” Gaga said while fielding questions backstage.

“I’d love to have a fashion line when I stop making music for a while, for a year. But that’s not going to happen soon. I’m in love with song-writing right now,” she added.

Gaga, in a celebratory mood after winning two trophies Sunday night, including for most popular international artist in the fan category, offered advice to fellow artists about dealing with the paparazzi.

“I would say the press is your friend, and it’s all an art form. You choose what the public views and what the public sees of you. And I believe I’m in public all the time,” she said.

The New Yorker also said she’s not giving up her humble East Side apartment anytime soon, even as she spends more time in Los Angeles.

“I wrote so much music in that place, I got so inspired living there. Part of me is terrified that if I leave, the courage and feeling of survival in New York City will leave my spirit,” Gaga told reporters.

“Every day I say such a deep thank you to the higher powers for being able to make music and follow my drams. My apartment grounds me and it’s nice to get in the bathtub sometimes and know there’s some hot water,” she added.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

At some point, Gaga really needs to stop with this whole Madonna-esque origin story where she describes the horrible existence she had before she was “discovered”. She graduated high school and worked as an amateur performer for a few years, she comes from a wealthy family who helped support her, and she was (and is) coked out her skull much of the time. Sure, I’m guessing she had some bad moments. But let’s not act like she was just toiling away for years and years and that time was so overwhelmingly awful.

Meh. Here are some of her many costume changes:

Photos courtesy of WENN.

As you may remember, I actually liked Lady Gaga’s single “Edge of Glory”. It reminded me of the truly wonderful hit songs from the soundtracks to ‘80s classics. “Edge of Glory could very easily fit into the last few minutes of The Karate Kid. I could see it being embraced by John Hughes for a critical moment at a 16th birthday party. The song is dated – in a good way. Well, now Lady Gaga has made a video for “Edge of Glory” and it seems like she’s embracing the ‘80s completely. She made sure that the video looks like it came out of 1985 too.

You know what bothers me? Lady Gaga always talks about NYC, how she’s a New York girl and New York is what she’s all about and then… she films a video on an LA soundstage made to look like NYC. Just a small thing, I realize, but why not just shoot a video in New York?

But seriously, this video is both horrible and great. It’s horrible just in the sheer “I give up”-ness of Lady Gaga. It’s like Courtney Love foretold – Gaga is now a sad drag queen with no more ideas. It’s great because once you strip away all of the extra crap, Gaga still has a powerful voice, and she’s still capable of making hit music. STRIP AWAY THE DRAG QUEEN!!

Sidenote: does anyone else think that Gaga filmed this on the same “balcony” set as the end of Pretty Woman? Strikingly similar.

Screen caps & cover art.

By now, we’ve already begrugingly accepted that Lady Gaga, the “Fashion Icon” who has usurped Oprah Winfrey on the Celebrity 100 List and has inexplicably gone bankrupt to pay for an endless cache of crazy costumes, will be around for the forseeable future. As such, Gaga sat down for a chat with Us Magazine to fill the collective void that’s lingered after her most recent publicity tour that concluded with her album release for Born This Way, as if we couldn’t live without a few words from Her Wackiness.

Within this interview, Gaga covers a lot of territory, which encompasses her recent appearance on “SNL” (including “The Golden Rule”) and her relationship with boyfriend Luc Carl as well as the general accusations that she’s conveniently designed her “art” as sacreligious statements against the Catholic church. Gaga’s responses to these questions are well-rehearsed but still slightly illuminating, for what it’s worth:

Us: I obviously want to get all into the album, but I have to start with your recent appearance on Saturday Night Live because everyone is blown away with how hilarious you were.

LG: Well, it was a nice surprise all the support I got for the skits and for being on the show. I was really super honored that Justin [Timberlake] and Andy [Samberg] wanted to be a part of so many of the skits, especially Liquorville and the Three Way. Cause those are super iconic for both of them as actors… I swear I wet myself I needed a diaper on set I was laughing so hard…it is nice to be able to show my fans the other artistic outlets that I am in love with and what else I can do and I went to theatre school for so long so it is a tremendous part of who I am and I can’t wait to host SNL one day!

Us: Was it in your mind that you wouldn’t be able to top The Fame and The Fame Monster with your new album?

LG: Of course, that’s always in my mind and I’m always trying to push forward musically and artistically. But more importantly, I want to not rest on the laurels of what I already created. I wanted it to be super pop, I wanted it to have huge choruses, I wanted it to be fun and everything that my fans love about the music I’ve created already but I wanted it to be a big giant step forward for my song writing, for my compositional arrangements, lyrically, and I think I did a great job.

Us: I wanted to ask you about particularly the religious themes. What made you decide to sort of tap into so much of that this time and where did that come from?

LG: I am Italian and I grew up Catholic, so I grew up with a lot of religious imagery and I became obsessed, you know, during the Monster Ball with this idea of a quote on quote electric chapel which I think is going to carry into the next seas of the new tour.

Us: Did you feel that it was hard live up your image?

LG: I would say this album is just as over-accessorized as I am. You know there is something really epic and opus like about the record and its meant to be this huge celebration of a sort of grandeur in terms of you know self love and self worship. This record as a stand alone, I wanted when you listened to it to not only be transported to reality but also to know that I’ve licked and touched and kissed and made love to every single note and melody and lyric on that album.

Us: Did you know you were going to be this big, the biggest pop star in the world?

LG: You know what, I had already thought I had made it. I always did. I know that sounds so crazy but when I was singing in bars in New York, all the pictures that you see in the Us Weekly special issue that you created, you know, I am sure you can see all the joy and the bliss on my face and that was because I was just happy making music and happy that people were coming to see me live.

Us: There’s also expressing yourself in fashion. Do YOU ever feel your look is too much?

LG: No. I think it’s I’m just feeling so brave and secure and confident lately I really had to become the message of the album in order to put this record out and no. Lately I have been feeling very good. I’ve been feeling like I know exactly what I want to do, exactly what I want to say, exactly what I want to perform. So no, I know what I am doing and feeling.

Us: I know you recently said in London that you broke up with Luc Carl, your on-off boyfriend, again. Are you interested in dating again at all? Do you even have time for it?

LG: Well I would just say that I don’t like to talk about my love life so I sometimes skirt the questions and maybe not so honestly sometimes. And that’s all I will say.

Us: What’s next? Can you give us a little bit of insight on how the next tour is going to be?

LG: The next tour, I am already planning it, and it is going to be absolutely incredible and I am so excited. I was so afraid that I would never be able to top the Monster Ball but the ideas are just pouring into my brain and vomiting out my mouth.

[From Us Magazine]

Well, so much for Gaga’s fear that she’ll die before getting her ideas out, right? In other words, Gaga shall be only as selective as her handlers permit her to be, but I still can’t be that rough on her. After all, she just did happen to be born both Italian and Catholic, which is quite like Madonna but not purposely so. Or at least, that’s the case if we should choose to believe Gaga’s statements. I’m inclined to allow her at least that much, but as far as “creativity” goes, I wish she’d just own up to the massive team that helps her create all of her “fashion icon” looks. Ultimately, I still adore the bitch, but we all know that she’s not doing all of this on her own.

Photos courtesy of Fame Pictures

I’ll admit it, this story made me like Lady Gaga after too many months of being totally over her. When Gaga accepted her “Fashion Icon” award at the CFDA Awards on Monday night, she gave a little speech and told a funny story about Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue. Anna is a big fan of Gaga – Gaga has performed at Vogue-sponsored events, been featured in a Vogue pictorial with Oprah, and this year, Gaga got her own Vogue cover. So, Gaga and Anna have the kind of professional friendship in which they could conceivably call or text each other. So when Anna found out that Gaga was receiving the “Fashion Icon” award, she texted Gaga. What happened next is great:

Lady Gaga should probably add Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s name to her contacts list. When the 25-year-old “Edge of Glory” singer appeared at the CFDA Fashion Awards on Monday, Gaga shared an embarrassing story involving the famed fashionista during her acceptance speech.

“I can’t believe I’m allowed in here. When I was told I won this award, Anna Wintour sent me a text message,” Gaga said, pausing for dramatic effect. “She text messages.”

After the crowd cheered, Gaga continued to recount her awkward conversation with Wintour. “So she sent me a text message, and it said, ‘We’re so excited to tell you you won the CFDA fashion icon award.’ And I actually thought it was Anna Treblin, who was one of my very close friends and [my stylist] Nicola’s assistant, who I go out and have drinks with all the time. I have a couple Annas in my phone, so my reply was, ‘Yes, bitch, we did it.’”

“Quite quickly I got a reply that said, ‘How lovely, and we will all be waiting to see what you will wear,” Gaga recalled. “And then I thought, ‘Well won’t you be helping me choose what I will wear?’ And then I said, ‘Oh! it’s Anna Wintour.’”

[From Us Weekly]

I would have loved to see Anna’s face when she read Gaga’s message. I bet she looked like she sucked a lemon. Or maybe she laughed. God knows.

By the way, have you heard about Eminem’s new single in which he disrespects Lady Gaga? The track is below – the lyrics about Gaga are “Tell Lady Gaga she can quit her job at the post office/ She’s already a male lady/ Wouldn’t f— her with her d—/ The verdict’s in.” Meh. I like Em, but that sounds like an easy one, I think. Oh, there’s also a Bieber reference too. Here’s the song (beware – it’s very NSFW):

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I swear, by the time Lady Gaga had actually collected her award at last night’s CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) “Fashion Icon” Award, her sketchy Thierry Mugler dress had slipped down to the point where Gaga was exposing full-on boob, nipples and everything. I’m not going to be using those photos, because even though I unwittingly exposed myself to Gaga Tit first thing this morning, doesn’t mean you have to see it too.

Anyway, I guess Gaga is on to a new “look”. No more sheer leopard-print catsuits and chola wigs and makeup? On to an electric blue Louise Brooks wig and more subdued makeup. She’s a “fashion icon” now!

By the way, after the CFDAs, Gaga partied at The Standard, wearing nothing but a g-string, and a sheer catsuit. Oh, and round nipple pasties. You can see those photos here. Personally, I’ve seen enough of Gaga to last me the rest of the day.

Sidenote: Did you hear what Courtney Love said about Gaga during Love’s The Fix interview? Now that C. Love said it, I can’t get it out of my head. It’s pretty good: “She may be doing fine at the moment, but I’m worried about her future. She’s very young, and she’s very talented, but she doesn’t seem to have any female friends. Or any straight guy friends for that matter. Instead, she surrounds herself with this coterie of gay stylists and advisors who’ve turned her into this weird, sexless Barbie doll. I was raised by gay guys myself, and I turned out all right in the end. But you know, you can only pull off this meat-dress act for so long. If she doesn’t watch out she’ll turn into a lonely drag queen. Straight guys just aren’t in to that kind of thing.”

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Last month, we covered the story that Forbes placed Lady Gaga at the #1 position (ousting Oprah Winfrey) on the Celebrity 100 list, and it’s seemingly been nonstop Gaga ever since then. Due to the release of her second full album, Born This Way, Gaga’s been seriously working her publicity machine through such obstacles as a sanctimonious Rolling Stone interview, a morning show appearance, and an SNL three way, not to mention many other instances of assault on the general media.

Gaga’s efforts have paid off, for Born This Way went platinum in less than a week, which makes her the fifth female artist to do so as quickly. (The other four artists: Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Norah Jones, and Taylor Swift. Sadly, no Madonna.) Even more amazing is that Gaga has now set the record for female record sales in the first week with an inexplicable 1,108,000 copies sold. Although I will admit to contributing one of those units that were sold, at least I only spent 99 cents during the Amazon one-day sale, which might very well be cheating to sell more albums that way, right? Still, Gaga made the sales and duly crashed Amazon’s servers in the process.

Strangely enough, this news comes with a renewed admission from Gaga herself that she had went bankrupt a few years ago while spending tons of cash on her notoriously bizarre costumes:

Lady Gaga has admitted she was left bankrupt after spending millions on crazy outfits for her Monster’s Ball tour.

The 25-year0old singer said she was left £1.82million in debt after the production, which ran for 18 months and 200 shows.

However, Gaga – famed for her unique fashion sense, including the now infamous meat dress she wore to last year’s MTV Video Music Awards – revealed she had no idea about the extent of her financial problems.

She said: “Other than that I put everything in the show, and I actually went bankrupt after the first extension of the Monster Ball. And it was funny because I didn’t know! And I remember I called everybody and said, ‘Why is everyone saying I have no money? This is ridiculous, I have five No. 1 singles’ — and they said, ‘Well, you’re $3m in debt.’ ”

It was the rejigging at the beginning of the tour, which eventually brought in £138million, that cost the most money.

But Gaga said the reason she didn’t know about the bankruptcy was because money isn’t that important to her.

In an interview with Stephen Fry in the Financial Times, Gaga said: “It’s honestly true that money means nothing to me. The only big things I’ve purchased are my dad’s heart valve and a Rolls-Royce for my parents, for their anniversary. And that was only because my dad had a Lady Gaga license plate on our old car and it was making me crazy because he was getting followed everywhere, so I bought him a new car.”

[From Daily Mail]

While it’s obviously admirable that Gaga lavishes money on her parents (particularly for the sake of her father’s health), I sincerely doubt that all of her non-tour spending has been otherwise frugal. After all, there was that diamond-studded whip she gave Beyonce for her birthday as well as her own diamond encrusted lobster headpiece that she wore just for show. However, it’s Gaga’s money, and her team made an amazing return on investment with the continuation of the Monster Ball tour. That, and she buys pizza for her fans while they wait in line to buy her tickets (who else does that?), so even as much as I’d like to dislike her, it’ll probably never happen. Still, some of her costumes are completely ridiculous, and I can’t believe that anyone would spend millions just to look like that.

Photos courtesy of Fame Pictures

You know Lady Gaga is overexposed when you look at the same old half-sheer catsuit that she’s worn a million different times and you think to yourself, “Yes, at long last, I think that the catsuit is kind of cute.” These are photos of both Gaga and Rihanna, who both performed this morning on the Good Morning America and Today Show, respectively. Today is in the midst of their “Summer Concert Series” and GMA is in the midst of copying them. Lady Gaga memorably performed in the rain on the Today show last year – her performance was really endearing, honestly. That’s back when I liked her. Not so much any more. Anyway, for Gaga’s first act, she zip-lined her way onto the stage:

And here’s the Rihanna junk – you can see more of her performance and junk here, at the Today site. Here’s Rihanna singing “S&M”. I hate this song. Passionately. As Rihanna’s walking by the crowd of people, you can see her get grabbed by a “rabid fan”. Gross – hands off Rihanna, please, people!

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Here’s Rihanna’s performance of “California King Bed”. You know what? Just like Katy Perry, Rihanna really isn’t a live act. I would enjoy seeing Adele on this summer concert series though.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

Lady Gaga has officially run out of crap to talk about. That’s what happens when you’re on the cover of every magazine in the span of a year, a year in which you’re also touring endlessly and getting coked out of your mind: you literally have nothing new to say. You have no new stories. You have no interesting anecdotes. So, for Gaga’s latest Rolling Stone interview, she just gives us some meh soundbytes about how she was bullied for being different (wah), how she feels like Rocky (as in, Stallone), and how she’s not a famewhore. If you’d like to read Rolling Stone’s full excerpt, go here. Here are some highlights:

Performing: “When I am not onstage I feel dead,” she says. “Whether that is healthy or not to you, or healthy or not to anyone, or a doctor, is really of no concern to me. I don’t feel alive unless I’m performing, and that’s just the way I was born.”

Rocky IV: In the story, Gaga reveals that she’s recently derived a lot of inspiration from an unlikely source: Rocky IV. “My favorite part is when Apollo’s ex-trainer says to Rocky, ‘He is not a machine. He’s a man. Cut him, and once he feels his own blood, he will fear you.’ I know it sounds crazy, but I was thinking about the machine of the music industry. I started to think about how I have to make the music industry bleed to remind it that it’s human, it’s not a machine.”

How she felt when she first came on the music scene: “Being myself in public was very difficult,” she says. “I was being poked and probed and people would actually touch me and touch my clothes and be like, ‘What the f-ck is that,’ just so awful. It was like I was being bullied by music lovers, because they couldn’t possibly believe that I was genuine.”

She was bullied: “Being teased for being ugly, having a big nose, being annoying,” she says. “’Your laugh is funny, you’re weird, why do you always sing, why are you so into theater, why do you do your make-up like that?’ . . . I used to be called a slut, be called this, be called that, I didn’t even want to go to school sometimes.”

On her fans: “We have this umbilical cord that I don’t want to cut, ever,” she says. “I don’t feel that they suck me dry. It would be so mean, wouldn’t it, to say, ‘For the next month, I’m going to cut myself off from my fans so I can be a person.’ What does that mean? They are part of my person, they are so much of my person. They’re at least 50 percent, if not more.”

On being a famewhore: She is annoyed at the suggestion by some critics that her main goal is to attract attention. “I have attention,” she says, and begins addressing her critics directly. “Is it that you believe that I am attention-seeking or shock for shock’s sake, or is it just that it’s been a long time since someone has embraced the art form the way that I have? Perhaps it’s been a couple of decades since there’s been an artist that’s been as vocal about culture, religion, human rights, politics. I’m so passionate about what I do, every bass line, every EQ. Why is it that you don’t want more from the artist, why is it that you expect so little, so when I give and give, you assume it’s narcissistic?”

[From Rolling Stone]

Yeah, her argument for why she’s NOT just seeking attention for attention’s sake doesn’t really hold water. She’s not doing this crap just because she’s an ARTIST or because she’s a STUDENT of ART. That’s why she does some stuff, granted. But she does other stuff because she’s a coked-up idiot trying to be shocking just for the sheer idea of being “shocking”. And when she does that (hint: JUDE-AH!), it fails miserably. And can Gaga stop with the friggin’ pity party? She’s one of the most popular recording artists of the past decade, she has legions of fans and gobs of money. Stop whining, bitch! This is what happens in The Bubble, you know? She needs some new experiences.

This killed me though: “Or is it just that it’s been a long time since someone has embraced the art form the way that I have? Perhaps it’s been a couple of decades since there’s been an artist that’s been as vocal about culture, religion, human rights, politics.” How sanctimonious. How wrong.

I will say this, though: I don’t hate the photoshoot. I like the simplicity of the cover shot, and this (below) is my favorite photo from the shoot. I think Gaga looks like a woodland nymph. I shouldn’t say that. I’ll give her ideas.

Photos courtesy of RS’s slideshow.