Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta has finally — in the public positing of her invisible rising — become herself.  She has dropped the silly “Lady Gaga” 24-hour performance persona in favor of a refreshing hyperrealism that is not only appealing, but necessary to the forward advancement of her musical career.

I understood why Stefani felt it was necessary to wear big sunglasses and dress outrageously in meat clothes as a new musical performer.

She was talented, and could sing, but talent alone doesn’t always win over the media.  Wild behavior gets attention, and so Stefani purposefully dressed as outrageously as she could to get noticed — even tempting a gender change to pull in headlines and eyes.

Stefani is not alone in creating silliness in the spatial realm between talent and performance.

Cher and Elton John are both exceptional examples of ultra-talented singers who rolled down the costume path in performance early in their careers only to later slough off that ridiculous theatricality and concentrate on being real and believable in performance.

Two performers who started out in silly costumes and continued that trend now or until their deaths are Madonna — who still uses unseemly costumes to mask her inability to carry a melody — and Michael Jackson, who actually reversed the operand by being a real person as a child in silly clothing only to transition into a completely fake adult still in silly clothing.

Stefani is not only becoming more real onstage, but in her public presentation as well.

There are a few superstar performers who never had to rely on spectacle over plot:  Barbra Streisand, Elvis and Adele.  From the start, they knew their voices were their shifting attention-grabbers and never had to relent façade over reality.

I’m glad the fake Lady Gaga persona is slowly being retired by Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, and I think she could have made this persona move a year ago.
I understand it can be scary to let go of what you used to make you famous, but the end reward will be so much richer as the only thing Stefani needs to concentrate on from this moment forward is her talent, and not the false frill she was previously using to mask the real woman behind the massive talent.

10 Comments

  1. David,

    I love this new stripped Stefani — makes me wonder if future albums will be released under her own name? Although to be fair, if you have seen the cover art to the new album, she is under quite an assortment of makeup — still a lot more stripped down than she has been in the past!

    1. Lady Gaga will slowly become Stefani. The record companies pick the album art. She’s finally showing her true face in public and PR venues and that’s a big change from how she used to behave. In five years, all the initial coverup silliness will be forgotten.

    1. I agree! The fact that Miley Cyrus updated Stefani — is not going to sit well in the Gaga. We may be getting more meat dresses and meatloaf shoes ordered up…

  3. Hopefully the Gaga will remember the long haul – this is her evolution – her transformation – one that Miley may never make .

    1. That’s right! You can never really recover from crude, and never from crass. Gaga has touched the line, but never crossed over while Miley lives on the other side of gross. Have you seen her “leaked” sex tape. It’s just… ick. Know better!

  4. Gaga definitely flirted with the line – in a similar manner to Madonna ……. have not seen the tape , have no desire to make myself sick !

    1. You’re right not to self-evict your good taste. SMILE! I started to watch and then stopped. I wanted those moments back in the crux of my life before I wasted them watching Miley grind. I can’t believe the “real news” people are still nattering about it today. Big score for the awards show? You bet! We’ll now get more and more of that gross out.

    1. That is the horrible old Gaga. She should’ve transitioned to Stephanie by now. She just fired her longtime manager, so I fear the end is nigh for her — her new album tanked — her legacy is spectacle and no substance.

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