Conventional wisdom says that all gay men (of a certain age) love Madonna. But to us queer contrarians, Madge has offered many years of addictive fun snickering at her flimsy image changes, atrocious dance skills, and reedy, studio-sweetened voice. Yes, I admire her business savvy. But Martha Stewart’s a master of marketing, too, and who wants to dance to her cinnamon nutloaf recipe? As the great Fran Lebowitz once observed, Madonna albums should come with a nutritional warning label that reads: “Talent Free.”
It’s still very early in her career, but 24 year old Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady Gaga is shaping up to be the imaginative and talented powerhouse that Madonna thinks she sees in her gym mirror. Gaga owes a lot to Madonna, I suppose, but then Madonna owes a helluva lot to new wave siren Debbie Harry and that debt has largely been forgotten if not forgiven. (Hey, Kabbalah Queen – why didn’t you inherit Harry’s sly sense of humor, too?).
Besides possessing a strong theatrical voice and a shark-like instinct for writing cynical love songs, Gaga has a trashy, blood-soaked sense of high concept camp that is its own worldview. (Call her the love child of Freddie Mercury and Gene Simmons). If you haven’t already seen the much-hyped, nine-minute, lesbo-licious video for her new single “Telephone,” dig in. Fun fact: Quentin Tarantino let her borrow the escape car from his “Kill Bill” movies. Also, Gaga recently announced she’s coming to the American Airlines Center in Dallas on July 22. Here’s a gay icon I can bow down to.
Gaga is white trash trying desperately to catch the attention of mindless viewers searching for the new younger Madonna, Gaga or as the blogs say “Kaka” has a long winding road ahead of her and at this rate she’s gonna burn out before the year is over.
atrocious dance skills and madonna should not be used in same sentence..she is an excellent trained dancer..gaga is an excellent entertainer but in her attempt to be shocking its almost comical..and her dance skills really are atrocious..
Yes, Gaga has a better voice and more visual than Madonna. But Madonna dances by far better. If you have ever been to their concerts, you should know that Madonna’s shows are slick and work like a clock; Gaga’s shows lack momentum, energy and there are often long unfilled pauses. With all my respect and adoration to Gaga, it takes more than talent to survive in this business. Madonna has been on top for 27 years. Gaga has a very poor health and she is not as calculating as Madonna. And this is business, first of all. I am afraid she will burn out in 10 years maximum.
It seems like everybody’s realizing that Madonna’s voice is bad ! But she has always been honest about it and admited it long time ago in her movie ‘truth or dare’ We all know that Madonna is an entertainer, a POP concept and a great dancer ! ladygaga’s voice is great. madonna’s voice is bad. But i Love Madonna not Gaga… (and I’m not old !)
Madonna could never do what Gaga does on that piano – her vocals are so controlled and powerful, but just because Gaga is so good, doesn’t mean Madonna is crap. We need people to follow in the footsteps of amazing talent for superstardom and Gaga is doing just that. She is incredibly talented, very well spoken, down-to-earth and actually a good role model for people of all creeds, colors, orientation, age…Go Gaga!
why do you have to compare the 2. gaga is gaga and madonna is madonna. however, madonna is our generation’s icon and the queen for many reasons. For starters madonna is so photogenic and glamorous that lady gaga could never compare. gaga has disent voice, dances average and plays a piano. so did Any Lanox , but she is not Madonna. Madonna is still defining, uniq, undeniably captivating. we will see how lady gaga compare to madonna in 20 years, and if she comes close to madonna ‘s status in pop culture one day then ,we will all celebrate her too. lets enjoy the music for now.
Who would have thought that the most measured, courteous, and thoughtful comments we’ve ever had on Blotch would involve a post about Lady Gaga vs. Madonna?
Madonna is a survivor and tough as nails…she has what it takes to weather the good and the bad times in this business ( has 30 plus years to prove it) …will be interesting to see if Gaga is made of the same mettle…I for one wouldn’t bet on it…
Wow, this writer is an idiot. Enough said.
Thank you Brant for restoring the comments section to its typically terse, name-calling, knee-jerk self. I was getting so bored with all the reasonable, insightful, contemplative and measured discourse.
You need to set down the crack pipe! THERE WOULD BE NO LADY GAGA WITHOUT MADONNA – M is worlds apart from Debbie Harry – HELLO! I cannot agree with anything you have said, GAGA is just a shock rocker, not a great talent, singing or dancing, and she is butt ass ugly. Too bad she drug Beyonce down the path of shame…as long as someone is offended and she creates press, idiots will continue to write such rubbish. One album a few hits and you compare her to the QUEEN! Shame on you !
I”m no Madonna or Gaga fan. However it bothers me how lately when some newcomer comes along they are instantly compared to the oldtimer that came before and are said to “be better than” or ‘the next”. To compare Gaga to Madonna is an insult. The same way it was to comprare Britney Spears to her. Madonna (and to some extent Janet Jackson) created the blueprint that every wanna be pop diva from Gaga to Beyonce now follows. Madonna gets a lot of crap, but there’s not a singer out there of any genre that wouldn’t sell their soul for her career.
Know this is an old thread but the writer is pathetic trying to build up some hot for the moment act from 2008, while tearing down the most successful female artist in history. Maybe you should write another puff piece (probably paid for by her team, like this one) about her many ailments, while scars (hip surgery) are never seen.