Lady Gaga releases 1st fashion shoot

LOS ANGELES--Pop star Lady Gaga has teamed up with Dutch fashion photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin to produce five fashion-inspired vignettes for her latest single "You And I."

The first video, entitled "You And I: Nymph," was released on Thursday and featured the singer posing and pirouetting in a series of black-and-white clips shot by the famed fashion photographer duo.

The 2-minute 10-second video was the creative brainchild of Lady Gaga, who partnered with her stylist Nicola Formichetti to deliver a minimalistic performance dressed in a simple dress with neutral makeup, a far cry from her usual elaborate style as seen in her previous videos.

The pop star, who is known for her quirky avant-garde outfits, first collaborated with high fashion photography duo van Lamsweerde and Matadin in May this year for V Magazine's Asian issue.

The photographers have shot campaigns for fashion brands such as Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, and have had their work featured in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle Magazine, among others.

The official video for "You And I," the fourth single from the album "Born This Way," premiered on Aug. 18. Thursday's fashion film release coincides with Lady Gaga's latest column in the October issue of V Magazine, in which she attacks New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn for recent, negative reviews of the singer.

Horyn criticized designer Donatella Versace for praising Lady Gaga's Versace outfits, in her June 17, 2011 "On The Runway" blog, writing "Be choosier, Ms. Versace."

Lady Gaga responded to Horyn in her column, asking "shouldn't columnists and reviewers, such as Cathy Horyn, employ a more modern and forward approach to criticism, one that separates them from the average individual at home on their laptop?"

There was no further announcement from Lady Gaga on when the remaining four videos by van Lamsweerde and Matadin will be released.

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Lady GaGa: 'MTV Best New Artist award changed my life'

Lady GaGa has said that winning the MTV Video Music Award for'Best New Artist' in 2009 "changed [her] life".

The 'You and I' singer recalled the "surreal" moment of being honoured with the prestigious prize in an interview with MTV News.

"I will always remember 'Best New Artist'. I just remember that I won and I was surprised and I was really taken aback," GaGa recalled. "It was a super surreal moment, where you have to think very quickly.

"You can't hear yourself, because they are screaming so loud, and you don't have an in-ear [monitor] and you've got a microphone and you've got to get everything out, and I just remember I said, 'To God and the gays' and I remember when I was done, I thought that was the right thing to say."

The Born This Way star went on to say that she was "overwhelmed" by the recognition, adding: "I'll never forget that moment. The first time that MTV recognised me, that changed my life."

Lady GaGa will perform at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards this weekend in Los Angeles.

She recently promised that her performance at the ceremony will not disappoint fans.
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Lady Gaga's little sister is to create the costumes for a new off-Broadway show

Lady Gaga's little sister is to create the costumes for a new off-Broadway show.

The 'Born This Way' singer's 19-year-old sibling Natali Germanotta - who is currently studying fashion design at legendary New York fashion school Parsons - is to design the outfits for 'Simon Says', which is about three strangers who meet at a seance.

Last year, Natali interned at Allison Parris helping backstage at its fall/winter 2010 show, where she impressed with her work ethic and style.

Allison told WWD: 'Natali has an edgier sense of style like her sister. Initially when she went to the Grammys a few years ago, she wore one of our little lace trapeze dresses, but she styled it up with leather and hardware. She is so nice and so easy to work with. She is such a great girl.'

Gaga, 25, recently revealed she feels famous because of her style.

She said: 'I used to save up my money to buy Mugler vintage archive. I used to save up all my money. I had to have it. That's really what fashion is all about for me. I already felt like I had made it before I had made it.

'All of you made me feel like a star before I was. Thank you for believing in me.'

Sources --> http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Entertainment/2011/08/21/Lady_Gagas_designer_sister_652643.html 
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Lady Gaga Accused Of Copying 'Judas' From Singer

Lady Gaga has been accused of copying her hit single "Judas" from a Chicago-based singer and songwriter.

Rebecca Francescatti filed a lawsuit against the outlandish star, claiming she plaigarised her song "Juda", which she recorded in 1999.

Ms Francescatti claims that "substantial original portions" were lifted from her song.

She worked with Brian Joseph Gaynor, a member of DJ White Shadow, on the title - who also worked with Lady Gaga on the album "Born This Way".

DJ White Shadow claims to have written 17 of 20 songs on "Born This Way", the lawsuit says.

Ms Francescatti is seeking profits from the sale of the record, or damages of an unspecified amount.

Mr Gaynor, DJ White Shadow, Interscope Records and its parent company Universal Music Group are also named in the suit.

A spokeswoman for Lady Gaga was not immediately available for comment, and a spokesman for Interscope declined to comment.

The singer is currently embroiled in another lawsuit over claims she profited from charity wristbands she sold to raise funds for Japanese tsunami victims.

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LADY GAGA SAYS 'BORN THIS WAY' VIDEO SHOWS 'THE BIRTH OF A NEW RACE'

Mother Monster gives birth to a new race of non-judgmental people in her music video 'Born This Way.' The message of equality through self acceptance and the acceptance of others is portrayed through this new race of little monsters.

Lady Gaga is known to put a lot of thought into everything from her performance art to her over-the-top outfits and everything in between. Her brand-new video for "Born This Way" is no exception. Shortly before its premiere on Monday (February 28), the pop titan called into BBC's Radio 1 to dish a few details about the seven-minute clip.

"It's the story about the birth of a new race," the pop star told DJ Greg James. "A race that bears no prejudice and a race thats primary sort of ambition in life is to inspire unity and togetherness."

Gaga also said she was "very proud" of the clip, admitting that her team collectively worked to breathe life into her concept. "I had an absolutely sublime time working on it," the singer said. "I actually did it with a U.K. filmmaker and very famous fashion photographer Nick Knight. I worked on it with him. I wrote the script for the video and the concept, and between himself and Laurieann Gibson, my choreographer, we really brought the story to life."

While many have pointed out that "Born This Way" is reminiscent of Madonna's 1989 classic "Express Yourself," Gaga was the first to admit that the clip was inspired by a few other creative greats. "It's very inspired by, especially in the beginning, Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon, the surrealist painters," she said.

Not only did Mother Monster stress the clip's symbolism and visuals, but the songstress revealed that she wanted to make a video that would really show what was going on in her head while writing the celebratory '90s-esque dance tune. "The song is very meaningful to me, so I wanted to make something that would really show what was going on in my head when I wrote 'Born This Way.' "

Hours before the premiere, Gaga took to Twitter to share a mostly black-and-white video still from the anticipated clip, which depicts an evil Gaga pulling a gun out from her thigh area.

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2011–present: Born This Way

Gaga's second studio album and third major release Born This Way was released on May 23, 2011. She announced the title of the album during her acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.^[89] Described as "a marriage of electronic music with major [...] metal or rock 'n' roll, pop, anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats" and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid",^[90]She stated, "It came so quickly. I've been working on [the album] for months, and I feel very strongly that it's finished right now. Some artists take years. I don't. I write music every day."^[91]Likening Born This Way to "bad kids going to church" that are "having fun on a high level",^[92]Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she will take music to the "next level."^[93] Its arrival followed the release of its eponymous lead single on February 11, 2011,^[94]which was performed live for the first time at the 53rd Grammy Awards two days after its release. The song debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts.^[95]

Two other singles, "Judas"^[96] and "The Edge of Glory",^[97][98][99] the former being criticized for its references to Biblical characters Judas,Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene,^[100] were released before the album, both placing in the top ten of the major musical markets. Upon release, Born This Way sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the United States, debuting atop the Billboard 200, and topping the charts in more than 10 other countries.^[101] Lending her vocals elsewhere, Gaga paired with Elton John to record an original duet for the animated feature film Gnomeo & Juliet. The song, titled "Hello, Hello", was released on February 11, 2011, without Gaga's vocals. The duet version is only featured in the film.^[102][103] She undertook her job as a fashion columnist for V, where she wrote about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme.^[104] In May 2011, Gaga told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that she would be coming to Sydney to perform a one-off concert in July 2011, to promote Born This Way, which occurred at Sydney Town Hall on Wednesday 13 July 2011.

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BORN THIS WAY

Born This Way is the second studio album by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released on May 23, 2011 by Interscope Records as a follow up to her internationally successful, The Fame (2008) and the extended play The Fame Monster (2009). Born This Wayis notably different from The Fame and The Fame Monster as it incorporates a broader range of elements of several musical genres such as opera, heavy metal, disco, and rock and roll, and fuses those elements with sounds of electropop and dance. The album is heavily inspired by synthpop and electronic music from the 1980s and 90s. In the album, the central themes include those of religion, sexuality and feminism. Gaga worked with several producers, includingRedOne, the only hold over for her previous work. Gaga took more control of her musical direction and the album composition. Production first took place in early 2010 and recording sessions at various recording studios around the world.
The title was revealed in September at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards after Gaga's win of the Video of the Year Award for "Bad Romance". A week before the album's scheduled release, the contents were leaked online, but were shortly removed due to copyright violations. Three singles and one promotional single were released for the album. "Born This Way", the lead single, topped the charts in over eighteen countries including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It would become the fastest selling single in iTunes history, having sold over one million copies within its first five days. "Judas" was the second single for Born This Way. The song peaked on the top ten in nineteen countries. "The Edge of Glory", originally released as one of two proposed promotional singles, was made as the third single of the album. The song debuted at number three on the Hot 100 and topped the charts in Brazil and South Korea. The promotional single for the album, "Hair", peaked at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted in sixteen different countries.
The album received generally positive reception from music critics, who complimented Gaga's vocals and the album's varying musical styles. The repetitive use of the word "Jesus", in addition to the employment of church bells and monk voices in many of the album's tracks including "Marry the Night," "Bloody Mary" and "Electric Chapel" have resulted in negative reactions from some Christian societies, including those in Lebanon, where Born This Way was temporarily banned. Born This Way topped the charts in twenty-three countries. It debuted atop the USBillboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 1.11 million copies. Over 430,000 of these sales were at a special price of US$ 0.99, which Amazon.com offered for two days during the album's first week of release.
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