I’m developing a bizarre conspiracy theory about Lady Gaga this year. Not only does she look really, really different these days, but she sounds different too, right? I had totally forgotten that Gaga was scheduled to sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl 50, so I was pleasantly surprised when she stepped out in a sparkly suit and did a “Broadway” version of the Anthem. But… I didn’t think she sounded like herself. Her voice sounded different to me. Is it possible that she pre-recorded the Anthem and there was some post-production trickery? Is it possible that Old Gaga has been replaced by New Botox Gaga? I’m just putting it out there. If “Paul is dead” can be a conspiracy that lasts for decades, so too can the “Gaga has been replaced” conspiracy.
She sounded fine. I’m glad that she treated the Anthem with respect and that she used the opportunity to show off her vocals, because it’s a notoriously difficult song to sing correctly. I’m also glad that Gaga wore an appropriate outfit, mostly because I’m grateful I’m not having to sift through 10 million headlines about “Why did Gaga wear a meat dress and nude panties to the Super Bowl?” Gaga’s sparkly suit is Gucci. Classy! Her blue sparkly mani got some attention too. Good for her. Man, 2016 really is turning out to be Gaga’s comeback year.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Going to disagree with you here and say she did a fabulous job. Considering what she could have worn, I thought her outfit was fun and appropriate.
Plenty of artists have reinvented themselves over time. It just seems like that is what she wants to do.
The difference between Gaga and some of her peers is that when she strips away the gimmicks, she still has talent.
yes. plus one. all of this. so reasonable!
YES!!!!!!! Completely agree!
Ye. I thought she looked and sounded fabulous.
I’ve never been a fan of hers, but she is starting to win me over. I think she sounded great and her outfit was fun and appropriate.
Completely agree. I’m beginning to LOVE her…and was never a fan in the past. That performance brought me to tears.
Same here. Never a big fan, but I think she sounded great and looked fabulous. Her eye makeup is amazeballs!
I wasn’t surprised at how great she sounded because I have always known that she had a great voice. But I was so glad to see that she showed deep respect and humility at the honor shown to her. Not that I thought that she would show up in the meat dress…..but, well, you just never know with her.
I watched on YouTube just now and I agree. She was great!!!
Totally agree with you. Underneath all that nonsense, there was always a whole lot of talent. I feel like she had a several year, public therapy session where she finally got to the point where she could strip off all the costumes and just be Gaga. I’m happy for her and thought she was great. My husband – not a Gaga fan – thought it rivaled Whitney Houston.
I don’t know if anybody can ever touch Whitney’s performance, but Gaga’s was excellent. Operatic even.
I thought it was the best singing of the National Anthem I’ve ever seen. I also think she’s being true to herself and her talent. Many people forget she was one of only 20 students accepted at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was even accepted at Julliard at age 11.
People change over time. Look at David Bowie’s earlier persona compared with how he evolved. The talent was always there, it just found new ways of expression.
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ditto!
Exactly. Best rendition I have ever heard. Period. Brava!
I thought she sounded really good too.
I agree. She really belted out it with gusto. In fact it was so good the announcers on the radio station I heard it on here in Australia were raving about the U.S. anthem and said that we need to get a new anthem because Advance Australia Fair doesn’t cut it.
As for her look she kinda reminded me of Karen Black in Altman’s Nashville.
100% And I never thought she show up in something crazy. I think she’s a professional and she wouldn’t make a spectacle out of something this big and important to people. She dressed nicely when singing with Tony Bennett and was beautiful when she sang the Sound of Music medley at the Oscars–and sounded great there. I think she knows which occasions call or craziness and which call for more toned down respect. The anthem is tricky to sing and that could be why she sounded different–though she didn’t to me.
+1. She is a musician. She writes lyrics and plays piano and sings beautifully. She was accepted at 17 to one of the most competitive programs at NYU.
hearsay and her lyrics are pubescent and her piano paying basic.
I’m a big fan, and I also thought she didn’t sound like herself. She was singing in her lower register, but it just wasn’t Gaga-like. I was underwhelmed.
Unless a singer is a true soprano (she’s a mezzo, I think), they have to sing in a lower key due to the range so they don’t have to go into falsetto when they get to the chorus.
She has a lot of different “sounds” in her cache…that is what makes her such a good musician. That ability to tweak your performance for the venue. The wig however, was distractingly strange, and I want her to STOP doing things to her face. I liked the older version of her face…even the American Horror Story version was ok with me….but THIS…it’s not unpleasant, but WHY!?
“She has a lot of different “sounds” in her cache…that is what makes her such a good musician.”
I agree. Long before the American Horror Story thing, I was calling her a vocal actress.
Guess my ears need a cleaning, I thought she was kind of shrill and screechy.
She sounded great but her face is unrecognisable and that wig is really obvious.
Apart from the fact she looks like a completely different person, she should just stick to singing and leave all the weird stuff aside because all that crap is so distracting from her real talent.
Hopefully she’ll sober up and realise that her voice is all she needs.
Her whole head situation makes her look like a egg.
Easter’s coming early this year, so maybe she’s being festive?
LOL!!!
She looked like Effie of the Hunger Games, but her singing was fabulous.
That’s exactly what my son said! “She looks like she’s from the Capitol!”
Just sad she lost the chance to perform “Telephone” with Beyoncé.
Love that song!
I love Telephone too! My favorite Gaga song and video, it’s just so fun and both her and Bey look gorgeous in it.
Omg, that would have been the best! I loved that song. Lady Gaga’s first two albums were so good
manda: 100. I miss the old Gaga. She sang well, but she seems like a different person. Telephone would have been the bomb though….
I have to agree: her first two albums were really good. And Telephone is probably the last Bey’s song I enjoyed.
I thought she sang live and I also thought she sounded fantastic. I think she rivaled Whitney for best national anthem of all time (and Whitney lip synced!)
The fit of the suit is budget looking!
Yes! The jacket looks good and properly fitted. Photos from the hip up look amazing.
From the hip down, it’s a disaster. The pants are a terrible fit and cut. If it had been a straight leg, cigarette pant or a wide leg (same width from the hip down) it would have looked 1000x better.
I know Gucci is doing a 70s theme right now, but the bell bottom fit of the pants ruined the overall look.
Yes! The bell bottom pants were so distracting. A cigarette pant would have been perfect.
So budget! Also, the mismatched shoes are the cherry on top of the whole demon Liza Minnelli look. She sounded really great though.
LIZA! Thank you. Nailed it.
yeah.. those shoes!! I noticed that immediately and said ‘dafuq??’ Maybe it’s that red eye shadow but her face def looks different..
She looked like a 60 year old woman on her way to play bridge.
Yes – bridge at the country club! I thought the suit was nice in that she was covered. Thought the pants were badly tailored and it had a “back in the day” vibe. The top fit nicely and she looked slim. The red eye shadow was strange. Her singing was phenomenal!
I loved everything about this. Her performance, her makeup, her hair, her blue polish and her red Gucci. Fabulous.
She was the best thing out of the whole show.I was never a GaGa fan before.I couldn’t stand all her gimmicks for attention.After yesterday a lot of people have so much respect for her including myself and look at her in a different light.The half time was the worst I have ever seen.I can’t wait for the write up on that.
This chick is a poser. She doesn’t know who she is any more, switching up her singing style in the middle of the song because otherwise she can’t hit the notes while faking sincerity. Fail. And she’s morphing into Liza Minelli.
-TheRealPinky
Please. She slayed it. Her voice sounded lovely.
I love Lady Gaga, but I also had a “she sounds like Liza Minelli” moment. Ha!
@PINKY – I totally agree. That was very insincere and kinda campy.
And NO this doesn’t rival Whitney. Whitneys version was delightful and effortless. Gaga’s reminded me of Disney princess movie singing.
I feel differently about Gaga but 1000% agree on Whitney. That will always be the definitive version to me. It was so awesome they issued it as a single and it went to #1. I actually have it on my iphone. 🙂 Really sends chills up the spine.
She sounded bizarre. I hated it. Her ‘affected’ voice she put on was weird as hell. Why was she giving British pronunciation to some of the notes? Just odd. Didn’t sound like her at all and I didn’t find the tones pleasing. Probably was lipsynched. Most of the SB performances are, because the SB wants to ensure no mistakes. The SB halftime musicians aren’t performing on plugged in instruments either.
I cried. I thought it was beautiful. I don’t know enough about her music to know if she sounded different, but I thought it was great. The timing was too good to be prerecorded. Plus the soldiers and the planes. I am getting choked up just thinking about it. Also, I loved her suit.
I wondered if it was prerecorded also.
Most of the act’s have been prerecorded and have a backing track.And that also includes Whitney Huston’s rendition.But I think GaGa was all her.
I think with a stadium full of people and the time constraints of the whole Super Bowl show, they have to prerecord. It’s too important to leave anything to chance.
Yes it was. People sing live in stadiums all the time and it’s not a big deal. It’s really about what the performer prefers.
Most of the super bowl songs are pre-recorded. Even Whitney’s iconic performance was pre-recorded.
It didn’t sound pre-recorded to me AT ALL. In fact I think she sounded sort of pitchy at times, but it was still an absolutely stunning vocal performance.
Agree. That is SUCH a hard song to sing. I thought she did a lovely job.
Me three. I knew there was a talented vocalist under all that gimmick, and I’m glad she is deciding to come out.
Do you guys remember in the fifth element the blue opera singer? I think she totally looked like her
Diva Plavalaguna!
OH!!! To me, the Blue Diva stole the whole movie! I loved her.
It was decent until she got a bit too “showy” with the vocals- can’t say I cared for whatever random hand gestures she was making either. On a side note, what was with all the lack of etiquette from the players? One would think they would have been told that you stand still with your left hand over your heart- not swaying back and forth playing with your towel. The flyover was great, though!
Players for any sport move during the national anthems, hockey, rugby, football (soccer). Part of it is adrenaline, part of it is to keep moving so they don’t cool down. As for the towels, yeah, they could put those down at least.
I thought she did a great job. She was interviewed beforehand and said she would do it without too many embellishments, that she would try to stay true. I think it was her voice, just without her trying to sound like Lady Gaga
I think the meat dress and some of her other weirdo things she’s remembered for were for a different persona that she does not seem to rock anymore. I feel like she’s been trying to channel, like, old hollywood class for a little bit now.
I personally thought the suit was ill fitting and the shoes were awful. Her face does look prettier. Nose job? Hmmmmm
Aw, I loved the shoes
I’m not American and I got the chills. She’s a star and she proved it yet again!
She looks ok i just hate the eyeshadow and the wig. Hideous wig.
That wig is just dreadful.
Just watched on you tube had to take a double take at her face but she has a fantastic voice and thought she did a great job and that song is one of the hardest to sing for the best of singers. Whitney did a great job too. Her voice is great she doesn’t need to do the gimmicky stuff but I prefer her plan self.
Even my mother thought she did a great job. Loved the outfit also. Very classy.
Welcome to the Lady 2.0. She was fabulous both artistically and style-wise. My thought she is widening her career goals. Good for her and us!
Hardly widening her career goals, also better singers out there.
I thought she did a good job. My only complaint was that it was a little bit slow, sometimes people drag the anthem out.
I didn’t think it was pre-recorded but it may have been, hard to tell. Beyonce and Bruno, on the other hand, clearly had moments where they were not actually singing. I think Chris Martin sang live, only because his voice was drowned out by all the other noise half the time.
Yes it was very obvious Chris Martin sang live because his voice will go in and out whereas you can hear the 2 b’s perfectly throughout the songs. Gaga sounds like it’s live too because at certain points you can hear her voice waver. If it was prerecorded, all that would have been tweaked.
Loved it. The vocals, outfit and the shoes, which were of the American flag, were awesome as well.
I was hoping for a performance like the Oscars last year-and she did it! She really did well. Not a fan of the wig, but will take vocals over looks any day.
On a purely superficial note, what’s up with her bottom front teeth!?!
Performance: She sang beautifully. Professional
Appearance: So much plastic surgery/injections on her face. It’s hard to look at the outfit. The ugly eye shadow. The yellow teeth. Eep.
Not going to say anything about the horrible wig placement? yeesh.
Who is that? Gaga, you say? Wow. That is the most dramatic face replacement since Kenny Rogers got a whole new head.
Yeah, I was thinking she looks like she’s been seeing Kenny Roger’s surgeon. Same eyes.
I swear to god in the header photo I didn’t recognize her. She doesn’t look like herself anymore. Man she must have been tortured by self hate what explains her crazy outfits for years. Now that she reshaped her entire face she gained confidence and wears/acts more appropriate.
How does one go through all of that plastic surgery/botox/fillers and forget to whiten their teeth?
I’m pleasantly surprised at how low-key her whole look was. A for her singing, I thought it was really good. Although I swear, a couple times she switched singing styles or something. But I’m not a singer so maybe she was just adjusting her pitch or whatever. But yes, the woman is talented.
She did good, but I felt bad for her trying to walk in those shoes.
She slayed it. Looked great, sounded great. Everything was perfect. She really does a great homage, and she understands how to show respect for classics. She was wonderful with Tony Bennett, wonderful in her Julie Andrews SOM tribute, and wonderful here. Cannot wait to see her doing Bowie.
She was great in the Frank Sinatra 100th birthday concert too. That aired late last year. She sang New York, New York and it was a very straight performance. I would have to say I’m impressed with her vocals. She can do more than pop after all.
That Frank Sinatra tribute was sub par and David Bowie is a totally different type of artist.
I loved it from start to finish. She sounded sublime and I loved the red suit and matching eye shadow.
For those saying it was pre recorded, you have to watch her tribute to Julie Andrews/The Sound of Music from last years Oscars and then try and tell me she can’t belt it out. She is a trained vocalist with legitimate talent. That anthem was all Gaga and 100% l live
That was super kitsch. She may hit notes (and not always) but that doesn’t make an interesting singer.
Not typically a big fan of “The Gaga” and her shtick–but have to give credit where credit is due. Her rendition was absolutely spot-on and gorgeous and she looked fantastically appropriate!!
She sounded great, but looks like Cesar Flickerman from the hunger games.
I loved it. I hate vocal histrionics, particularly when its a classic song. She nailed it. I also appreciated her hand over her heart (well, close) while she sang it. Score for Gaga.
I liked the hand over the heart as well. You NEVER see that!
When Gaga does something well (in this case brilliantly well), it seems like the commentary in the posts are aimed at finding some kind of flaw. She did a really beautiful job, and she’s shown off her voice in this way before.
This was not brilliant, it was like a song show contest performance.
Lady Gaga was excellent. My only complaint was her hair or wig. The color and style does her no favors.
I listened for a second time with my eyes closed, and it was an absolutely beautiful and original version. She did a great job. And if your comments are on her appearance, please see the half time show outfits. All are a sign of the times and meant to be a bit flashy.
Except the outfit looks abit dated not “sign of the times” ?
When Stefanie Germanotta just uses her natural born talent, she shows the world what a gifted vocalist she is.
I love GaGas first two albums and her performing with Tony Bennett also speaks volumes. She is not going to disappear any time soon. I think since she has much better musical chops than, say Madonna, she should be able to keep reinventing herself for decades as Madge has done and have further longevity. Madge has always had a bunch of collaborators and a team behind her to support her. While Artpop was an abismal failure for the most part— Gaga can write, sing, perform and even act. I don’t find any of it a huge stretch for her.
She did wonderfully and one of the best music videos of all time was Bad Romance. Just love that and her collaboration with Bey. Say what you will….she has worked pretty damn hard and handled tremendous fame and fortune and all the dark bullshit that goes along with it better than most.
Madonna never used shtick like Lady Gaga. Madonna never had somebody vomit on her then call it art. She never wore a meat dress. Madonna worked with what she had. Lady Gaga is very talented but you wouldn’t know that from all the shtick.
Funny that Madonna has the much better songs though ! And that Bad Romance video is super amateur, what are you on about ” one of the best music videos of all time ” ? Wow, talk about no music video knowledge lol
This was a classy and gorgeous rendition of the National Anthem befitting the occasion (the Super Bowl is nearly more American than the 4th of July). I hope she keeps up the class. I was a little grossed out by her artwork sex. If she wants to go the artistic sex route I think she can do better.
I am not a Gaga fan at all but this and the Oscar performance prove that the woman can sing.
As to the drawing out of the anthem, they are actually supposed to time the ending (the last two words, “the brave”) with the fly over. This is sometimes why the song gets sung the way it does. This is also why at the end she sang “the brave” again. She finished about 3 seconds too early.
Of all the pop stars that are out there right now, this is the one, weirdness aside, that seems to be the only one with true talent. Most impressive Ms. Gaga.
The Oscar performance was semi operatic kitsch ! And what weirdness ?
Whether it was live or pre-recorded, it was fabulous.
I love that she keeps us guessing. She’s doing weirdo things like making an entrance in an egg one minute and then going super classy and belting out Julie Andrews tunes at the Oscars the next. She doesn’t have to pick one certain way to be and stick with it – she can change things up every other day if she feels like it.
Her songs with Tony Bennett are amazing.
I think her singing basically sounds the same so not really ” she keeps us guessing “.
What pipes! What a redition! I’m all choked up after hearing this. Lady Gaga is one talented lady. And, I respect her choice of only piano accompaniment. With only a piano, there is alot more focus on the voice.
She looks kind of alien to me. Like a patriotic alien who is trying to convince the humans that she is a real person. ‘Merica.
Loved the pant suit and she sung so well, her look because second to her voice. She blew it out of the water. Also think her meat suit days are over, she hasn’t wore anything like that in a few years. The woman has an awesome voice. She was better than anyone in the half-time showtime.
Very middle of the road.
I couldn’t watch the whole thing, she’s just too overdone and not herself. It was like watching Liza Minelli singing.
She did a great job with the Anthem, which is very difficult to pull off. Super Bowl has had lots of flubs on that – off key, forgetting the words, etc. Her outfit was color-appropriate & she wasn’t flashing parts.
She’s had so much plastic surgery that she no longer resembles her earlier self but maybe she hated her natural face so much that she hid behind the crazy gimmicks.
I would have to say she is a close second to Whitney’s version. I’m glad she’s learning to let her talent do the talking instead of the gimmicks. She keeps it up she will have longevity in the business.
Whitney is on another level.
No one has come close to Whitney Houston’s 1991 performance.
The red eyeshadow was tragic, but I loved her suit and she sounded wonderful. Whitney and Marvin are still better though 😉
Didn’t sound recorded, but a lot like her really early songs with piano. She went pop music and invented gaga to get famous and out there, and is now trying to transition back to more of what she loves I think. But gaga is such a personality and culture piece…I almost think she needs to go by her real name for these types of songs and save gaga for pop music albums and meat dresses.
Culture piece lol ! What kind of culture is that then ! egads
Her nose is completely different. I didn’t even recognise that preview pic and I’m honest to God a super-recogniser when it comes to faces. Her shoes are cute. Her rendering of the anthem was beautiful at face value and light on the usual Gaga weirdness. Pure Panem. She’d have been great as a character in the Hunger Games films, but that would have made her real life singing career a bit ironic.
Lady GAGA was the best performer last night and very respectful!
Yes she was! I totally agree.
The red eyeshadow reminded me of Voldemort
Fug. Esp that gross hair.
I had no idea she had so much talent until I saw her tribute performance for Julie Andrews at the Oscars and then singing “Imagine” at the 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony.
Her performance at the Super Bowl highlights the tremendous voice she has.
[*Gaga: Ditch the stupid costumes and simply sing.*]
Kitschy. Her singing.
She really looked like she was going to host the Hunger Games, but overall think she sang well. I prefer it anytime she showcases her singing instead of gimmicks.
She did great but it wasn’t perfect…started off a little tepid. I think people underestimated or pre-judged her and so perhaps there is a little hype. There is that accent thing going on, sort of like when Madonna was drifting into that ersatz british accent. She should watch that. Some singers have voices that are not so strong in the lower range or register. I think she has to keep working on that as she does more classical performances and her voice will get stronger in that lower range. Even professional singers have to work on their instrument.
She has to work on the higher range, she borders on shouting sometimes.
That look is atrocious. And she acts as if she’s high fashion. *shakes head* lol