Lady Gaga flooded the pop scene and brought it back to life
written by Adam Payne graphics by Mary Alvarez
T
he year is 2009. It is a year of Twilight on screens, Silly Bandz on arms and musically, airwaves with the same sound on repeat. Tabloids were more concerned with Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan’s missteps than they were with music. The radio was pumping out hit after hit from artists, whose image and stage presence were all unimportant— as long as their beat was danceable, they sold. Artists like the Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida were ushering in a new wave of music that didn’t require you to be a global phenomenon as the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson had rooted before them. In short, the pop star was dying. However, there was one glimmer of something new—when Lady Gaga appeared on the scene. No—not appeared, flooded, propelled and erupted into the world’s eyesight with back-toback debut hits “Just Dance” and “Poker Face,” two of the best-selling debut singles of all time. The world was watching. Everyone was wondering what move she would make next. Was there something more to this girl than hair bows and lightning bolts? And in September 2009, new girl Gaga stood on the precipice of two choices: fade into irrelevancy with the rest of the radio hits or catapult herself into superstardom. I think you know which she chose.
The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was going to be Gaga’s biggest performance to date. Not only would she be singing in front of 9 million viewers, but she would also be scrutinized by dozens of pop stars that had already made a name for themselves in the crowd. Any sane up-and-comer would take to the stage and deliver a clean performance: solid vocals and tight choreography. However, Gaga is not sane. It’s in her name. Rather than doing what was expected, she seized the opportunity to elucidate everything she already knew she was, clutch the audience’s spotlight and teach the world a lesson on fame before she herself even was fully famous.
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