Newbie starlet Lady Gaga was born rich and heads to Dallas for National Gay Pride month.
Let's test her fame-hungry mettle
Lady Gaga is the newest diva being rushed through the pop-star machine. Her debut album, “The Fame” (Streamline/Interscope), drops in September. So she’s spending Gay Pride Month dotting the country playing Pride events and hoping to change the world “one disco ball at a time.” On Saturday, she stops in Big D for a gig at Purgatory.
Born Stefani Germanotta, the 21 year old was raised in Manhattan and has an interesting pedigree — she attended the all-girls Convent of the Sacred Heart, Paris and Nicki Hilton’s alma mater.
Her new single “Just Dance” features Akon, the hip-hop star who’s known for disgracing women audience members while opening for Gwen Stefani’s tour. But Akon also wrote “Don’t Matter,” a song that’s being interpreted as a gay marriage anthem for it’s “Fight for our right to love, yeah” message.
Earlier this week, Gaga answered some questions via e-mail about claiming her status as a Pride performer.
You’re Catholic. And this summer, you’re playing Pride events across the U.S. The pope says being gay is a sin and condemns same-sex love. You have one thing to say to the bishop of Rome, what would it be?
Just because I am Catholic does not mean I believe in the institution of the church or the Vatican. I wouldn’t say anything to the pope. But to the gay community, I would say, “I love you completely. You are beautiful and powerful the way you were made in this world. And I am so proud to celebrate with you. It’s an honor.”
SOPHIE’S CHOICE: Missing Persons’ Dale Bazzio or Gwen Stefani?
Dale Bazzio lives. I had hair like hers for a while, and I’m floored by her use of kitchen appliances in wardrobe. But I would not kill Gwen, and in some instances she might beat out Dale.
Gwen was the only risk-taking new female in the ‘90s, and she murders with her pen. There are not enough blonde ambition references to begin with, but I’m not about to knock one off.
Your bio says you’re an “exhibitionist.” When was the last time you were naked in public?
Last week — at the community pool where I live. I didn’t have a bikini top, so I went topless.
But I don’t believe that nudity or being naked is necessarily exhibitionistic. It’s more about a portraying or inspiring a provocative concept. I have been fully clothed and been called an exhibitionist. And there’s also a difference between “naked,” which is raw and human and “nude,” which has an affiliation with expression.
What’s Madonna’s worst video and why?
I don’t love “Material Girl,” but I love her and the song.
You came from a privileged background. How much charity work have you done? Or are you a just spoiled, fame-hungry, pop starlet?
I’m thankful everyday for my education and my hardworking parents that instilled the same work ethic in me. I did a lot of community service work growing up in New York: I used to volunteer at a community theatre for under-privileged children.
But to be clear, I feel no need to defend my childhood, and the insinuation that all women of privilege are spoiled and fame-hungry is misinformed. My concept of the fame is built to inspire any kind of person from any kind of background to have inner confidence and value of their own sense of inner fame — out of a culture that posits fame as a product only of celebrity and paparazzi.
You have a flair for theatrical stage performances and you love the documentary “Paris is Burning.” How will your live performances change the history of culture?
It will inspire the idea that pop culture/pop art/ and commercial expression is not a lowbrow medium. I am the first Do It Yourself pop-star: I wrote the music, I designed the show, I make the clothes. The vision and the product are 100 percent from the artist, and it’s completely pop.
Akon appears on your “Just Dance” video. Many believe he’s one of the famously closeted gay rappers. Let’s pretend Akon needed advice on being the first successful hip-hop star to come out of the closet. What would you tell him?
Akon isn’t gay. He has a wife and children. And I wouldn’t call him a “rapper” either. He’s like the hip-hop sting, in my eyes. But if I would give advice to a coming-out-of-the-closet gay hip-hop star, I would say, “Be proud. And I will stand with you and perform at your coming out party because you deserve to free your sexuality!
— Daniel A. Kusner - Life+Style Editor
GAGA GIG: Lady Gaga performs June 14 at midnight. Purgatory Night Club, 2208 Main St. 214-651-8850.
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