Before Lady Gaga...there was Stefani

I don't like Lady Gaga.  I will not go to her concerts nor buy her albums at gunpoint.  But I have an impeccable respect for her...which must sound like I just debunked my earlier statement.

Her songs are undoubtedly catchy and danceable, her looks are nauseatingly outrageous that you can't help but notice her --she is the perfect package of an entertainer, a performer.  A circus performer, more like it.  But in this world where everything goes by fast and things are easily forgotten, Lady Gaga has indeed burned her impression into our tired brains.  She knew how to get our attention.  In that light, she is an expert.  And experts --no matter what their expertise are-- deserve respect.

Specially when I found out that Lady Gaga was never always Lady Gaga.  Before all those weird wigs and outlandish leather and lace and aluminum foil and garbage bag and wire outfit, there was a sweet girl named Stefani Joanne Angeline Germanotta.  A struggling recording artist who held onto nothing more than pure talent (which she had a lot of!  her singing voice and piano-playing prowess were just awesome!) until she realized that THAT wasn't enough.

It's all in the packaging.  The world relies on colors, shock value, visual rape.  The more it disrupts your senses, the more it shakes off the mundane from your life.  With that wisdom and talent, I respect Lady Gaga.  Just don't let her come near me.