Review by: Brittanie Shey; Houston Press
Aftermath fell in love with Lady Gaga last December, when she appeared on Barbara Walters’ annual Most Fascinating People special. Before the show, we viewed the artist as just a singer with a funky sense of fashion and a couple of catchy if mindless radio hits under her belt. After the interview, in which she said “The truth is that every bit of me is devoted to love and art,” we came to understand this: It’s easy to dismiss Lady Gaga as derivative, but to do so undermines her stated mission. It’s not about the music. It’s about the message.
Never was that more clear than Sunday night, when Gaga’s second world tour took her on an imaginary journey from the slums of New York, complete with a burnt-out taxicab, to the Monster’s Ball, “a place where you can be anything and anyone you want to be.” When Gaga paused between songs to utter that line, we suddenly understood the inspiration behind the concert.
Lady Gaga is Dorothy, a simple girl with a dream surrounded by a motley crew of friends and supporters, struggling to make it to the Wonderful Land of Oz. The metaphor was made blatantly obvious during “So Happy I Could Die,” when she emerged from backstage in an animatronic dress reminiscent of Glenda the Good Witch.
The thing about Gaga that resonates so much with Aftermath is that she is 100% willing to allow herself to be emotionally vulnerable, and she wants to convince everyone else that that’s okay too.
From talking about her parents and their mutual struggle to understand each other (she calls her father, who paid her rent and living expenses for a year so she could quit college and pursue music, her favorite drunk asshole) to reminiscing about “watching some stupid fucking bitch on stage and wishing that I was there instead,” beneath the Alexander McQueen and platinum hair Lady Gaga is always completely naked on stage.
“I didn’t used to be brave,” she said. “But you have made me brave. Tonight I want you to free yourself. I want you to let go of all your insecurities. I want you to forget everybody who made you feel bad for being who you are.”
Can you channel Gaga’s unique style better than anyone else? If so, you and a friend could be off to Sin City to see the Lady herself live in concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 25, 2011, courtesy of Billboard.com and Virgin Mobile. (We’ll even pick up your flight and hotel).
To enter, follow these simple steps:
1) Go to the Billboard Facebook page, “Like” us, and post a photo of yourself dressed like Lady Gaga on our Wall.
2) Get your friends to “Like” your uploaded photo.
3) Come back on August 17 to see if you’re one of our 10 finalists (the most “liked” Facebook photo, plus nine more chosen by Billboard.com editors).
4) Vote for the Gaga look-alike you like most on Billboard.com. On August 30, the Little Monster with the most votes will be announced.
10 year old child star Joey King, best known for her acting spots in Disney shows such as The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody, TV show Ghost Whisperer and movies such as Horton Hears A Who! and Reign Over Me, has spoken about how much of a Lady GaGa fan she is!
On being Lady Gaga’s biggest Little Monster: “But I am a humongous fan of Lady Gaga. I love her outfits! I like her because of her outfits! (laughs) And she’s really cool! I love her songs and I love her outfits, of course, and sometimes I’m like, ‘I want that. I want those sunglasses. I want that wig.’ I’m her biggest little monster cause she calls her fans her little monsters. If I ever meet her I’ll be like, ‘Lady Gaga I’m your biggest little monster!’”
Check out this video of Lady GaGa meeting a fan backstage who suffers from cerebral palsy. It’s a touching story and really proves that GaGa really adores her little monsters!
After two successful fan projects that have got to Lady Gaga herself we have decided to do yet another fan project for Gaga. You can submit a letter, picture of yourself, artwork, poetry or anything you would like Lady Gaga to see.
The fan book once completed will be given to Lady Gaga mid August.
Requirements:
- You can submit one or two pieces (whichever you desire) of A4 submissions (210mm x 297mm or 21cm x29.7cm)
- You must fill your a4 submission with your work, do not leave much blank space on your submission.
- Your submissions must be sent to gaganewsfanbook@gmail.com before the 8th of August
Be sure to submit 
This project will 100% get to Lady Gaga
You can purchase 'Alejandro' right now on iTunes by clicking here
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