Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour Arrives In D.C.

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It seems not since Madonna has a pop star taken the United States by storm as fully as Lady Gaga.
She seemed to rise up from nowhere — a songwriter for Interscope Records who took over the musical world almost as soon as she was discovered by Akon and signed to his label.

“A couple years ago and I had been hearing about [the song] ‘Poker Face’ … and I thought she was really interesting and her songs are really catchy,” said Charlotte Raskovich, 16, of Arlington. “She is one of the few people you can call a performer these days.”

Raskovich is in good company with others who share the same opinion of the woman born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who chose her stage name after the Queen song “Radio Gaga” and now is a superartist at age 24.

According to her official biography, her destiny was almost preordained. As a child she’d sing along to her mini plastic tape recorder to Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper hits and enjoy the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

“I was always an entertainer,” said Lady Gaga, who would perform around the house and sometimes not wear clothes when greeting new babysitters. “I was a ham as a little girl and I’m a ham today.”

Established and up-and-coming musicians think that Lady Gaga may be the most original musician on the pop scene.
In her official biography, Lady Gaga said discovering Queen and David Bowie was something of a watershed moment for her because she realized she could meld rock, pop and theater — her three great artistic loves.
Paul Stanley, co-founder of KISS and certainly no stranger to flashy personas that trumpet the way toward building a fan base built on solid music, called Lady Gaga a must-watch entertainer.

“Lady Gaga is doing something that is just unique on so many levels, it really is amazing,” he said. “There’s a depth to it that a lot of other things lack. It is art to me on so many levels. She is the real deal.”
Brian Aubert, lead singer of Silversun Pickups, said he and his band mates were somewhat star struck when they were nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best New Artist” and realized they were sitting not far behind Lady Gaga herself.
“That was pretty awesome,” Aubert said. “She is so cool, we looked at each other and couldn’t believe it. She’s always doing something interesting.”