Post by admin on Dec 18, 2009 22:44:51 GMT 8
It's been a big year for Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, but there's not much question that 2009 was Lady Gaga's year. New York native Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta began the year as a hot hopeful and will end it as one of the biggest pop stars in the world. And there's no one who challenged, provoked, entertained and, well, titillated us over the past 12 months quite like she has.
Her debut album, The Fame, was released on October 30, 2008, but MTV News was on the case early, and when we spoke with her four months earlier, her vision was clear even then.
"What has been lost in pop music these days is the combination of the visual and the imagery of the artist, along with the music — and both are just as important," she said. "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear onstage. It's all about everything altogether — performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us."
And it's all come true (well, except maybe the licking part): Gaga truly made her mark in 2009 as the most remarkable pop star — and possibly the most memorable fashion figure — to come along in many, many years. She has proven herself to be both a songwriter and musician of unusual talent, — thanks in no small part to her primary producer/co-writer RedOne, whose pumping beats and soaring synthesizers drive many of her best songs — and a media-savvy public figure of equal skill. She's both a classic pop star and one very much of the moment: Her music is dance-pop in format, but with a pop flair that stretches across many different genres and generations. Her message is provocative but positive, and she's smart enough to engage her audience (with tweets and constant reminders of how much she loves her "monsters") and still always keep them guessing.
Gaga's work shows a sense of performance-art and theater that, these days, is arguably rivaled among major artists only by that of Kanye West, which is why their ultimately cancelled "Fame Kills" co-headlining tour made sense artistically (although many were baffled by it). She makes every public appearance into an event: She "died" a bloody death at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards (after arriving with her "date," Kermit the Frog), smashed bottles over her piano at the American Music Awards, performed inside a giant gyroscope on "Saturday Night Live" and raised millions of eyebrows with the "alien disco" "American Idol" appearance that introduced her to much of the world. And her brilliant music videos evoke the eras when artists and record labels actually had big budgets to spend on them. "Pokerface" is a striking statement of intent; "Just Dance" brings the viewer into a deliciously decadent house party; and her latest, for "Bad Romance," features super-futurist sets, semi-nudity, wild costumes and the unforgettable closing image of sparks shooting out of her breasts.
All of that and much more is what made Lady Gaga MTV News' Woman of the Year for 2009.
TOP 9 WOMEN OF THE YEAR
9. The Kardashians
8. Susan Boyle
7. Kristen Stewart
6. Britney Spears
5. Miley Cyrus
4. Beyoncé
3. Rihanna
2. Taylor Swift
1. Lady Gaga
MTV
