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Why Lady Gaga rocks

Thu, July 29, 2010

Music industry blogger Fong Chau

I have no shame in admitting I love Lady Gaga, but she sure does divide opinion.

My friend Gordo summed it up perfectly, "When one of her songs comes on the radio, you either want to turn it up or turn it off," before adding "it's more about the costumes, isn't it?"

Love her or hate her, there's no one else doing what she's doing ("That's because what she's doing is cack" says another friend)

Has there ever been an artist who has divided opinion as much as Lady GaGa?

Here's three reasons why Lady Gaga rocks:

She's successful even though she can't sing that well
There's never a killer high-note in any of her songs, giving hope to me and plenty of other mediocre singers that you don't need to wail like Leona Lewis to get up on stage and sing your heart out. She's a gift to karaoke enthusiasts everywhere. Even the Beyonce rap in Telephone is doable for a novice.

She's interesting
Yes, the silly costumes help, but in an age where most popstars are styled to within an inch of their life and even their personalities seem airbrushed, thank heavens for Lady G, who happily spouts outrageous, ridiculous and funny things, all for our entertainment. The gossip columns (and the fashion pages) would be far less interesting without her.

She's a powerful woman
So this might be a little controversial, but most of the Gaga haters I spoke to were men. Are they intimidated by a strong, successful, single woman who doesn’t need a man in her life? David Bowie dressed like a loon for most of his career and he wasn't that great a singer either - how come that's acceptable and Lady G's not? Hmmm?

What do you think of Lady Gaga? Do you love or hate her?



Name: Fong Chau
Age: 27
Signature karaoke song: Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Most embarrassing moment of my career: Knocking over a row of steel lockers while interviewing my favourite DJs.
First album: True Blue by Madonna - this must have belonged to one of my older sisters, but I remember making up my own dance moves and listening to it non-stop.
Funny fact: The end monologue in Thriller still scares me so much I have to leave the room when it's on.

About me
I've loved music ever since I was a kid and I have been lucky enough to be writing about it for a living for five years. Like many, I dreamed of being a in a band, but the only instrument my parents let me learn when I was a kid was the clarinet so I took to writing about pop music instead. In my career, I've had the pleasure of meeting Keane, Coldplay, Muse and Florence Welch.

Whenever I face a difficult decision I always stop and think "what would Beyonce do?"