I am no music critic; and I have no regard for the publicity stunts so many singers pull these days, which give the impression that they are more interested in attracting Facebook friends and Twitter followers than in making good records.
Perhaps this is why so many music fans (aka “little monsters”) took exception when I posted my take on Lady Gaga – a woman who seems to think dressing up like a fairy queen on stilts to buy a hot dog on the street in New York City will make her music more appealing:
Lady Gaga literally personifies the triumph of packaged and formulaic acts over talented performances. Which is rather a shame because this girl can sing.
But given this triumph, it seems perfectly reasonable that, instead of critiquing the way she performed on stage, most critics are hailing the way she spent the entire evening in character as Jo Calderone, her purported male alter ego – who looks like a cross between a wannabe Bob Dylan and Danny Zuko (John Travolta in Grease).
Never mind that the only people who could have found Gaga’s “Hey, I’m Jo” ranting entertaining are those who tune in to The Jersey Shore every week to catch Snooki’s latest drunken rant, which, granted, are millions. In any case, this Lady has clearly jumped the shark.
Come to think of it, though, most performers today seem to think that the key to success is looking and behaving in a way off stage that makes what they do on stage seem almost irrelevant: Exhibit B – Nicki Minaj.
By sterling contrast, Adele not only sings like an angel, but she might just be the music industry’s saving grace. Unfortunately, the VMAs have so little to do with musical talent these days that Adele performing on this show was rather like Andrea Bocelli performing on So You Think You Can Dance.
(“2011 MTV Video Music Awards,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 30, 2011)
It’s arguable, however, that “celebrity gossip king” Perez Hilton knows as much about today’s music industry as veteran DJ Rick Dees; and, more to the point, that he knows as much about artists promoting themselves at the expense of their art as über publicist Ken Sunshine.
Therefore, I commend to my critics the report in yesterday’s London Daily Mail, which not only affirmed Hilton’s bona fides as a music insider, but also quoted him essentially parroting my take on Lady Gaga (and, by extension, so many other singers, including Rihanna and, yes, Madonna too).
Perez Hilton re-ignited his feud with Lady Gaga on Tuesday during an appearance on the Australian talk show Mornings in which he claimed she has been ‘poisoned’ by fame.
‘I think she has unfortunately become a victim of this character she created. Instead of being an artist she became this freak and this cartoon character and so unrelatable to people,’ Perez said.
Enough said?
Related commentaries:
2011 VMAs…