Postmodern Jukebox - Bad Romance

With an adorable tap-dancer. And whistling!

Gaga Joins Cast Of American Horror Story

Via Entertainment Weekly:

Monster casting news: In a stunning coup, American Horror Story has signed Lady Gaga to star in the next edition of the FX anthology series. EW can reveal the Grammy winner will be a series regular in the fifth edition of the popular thriller, which is expected to air this fall. This will mark Gaga’s first starring role in a major production as an actress. What kind of character will Gaga play? Not yet known. What is the new season’s theme? Not yet known. The only confirmable news at this time is that Gaga is firmly in. The move follows the “Bad Romance” singer’s head-turning performance at the Oscars on Sunday where she surprised fans accustomed to her wild outfits and heavily produced pop hits by taking the stage in a traditional flowing white gown and belting out a full-throated tribute to The Sound of Music. One Time critic declared the performance “could redefine her career.”

Lady Gaga Rocks The Oscars

Last night Lady Gaga reminded the world that she's insanely talented with her spot-on take on Julie Andrews, accent and all. When this clip gets yanked from YouTube, you can watch it at ABC's Facebook page. When Gaga finally does land on Broadway, I'm gonna watch the hell out of whatever she's in.

Gaga & Bennett - It Don't Mean A Thing

Out today is the latest single from Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett's album of American songbook standards, which was a surprise hit and made 88 year-old Bennett the oldest living artist to achieve a #1 pop album.

RELATED: In other "gay icon remakes oldies" news, Bette Midler tied Babs for a chart record last week.

Bette Midler celebrates a fifth consecutive decade of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, as It’s the Girls debuts at No. 3. She's only the second woman, following Barbra Streisand, to notch Top 10 albums in each of the last five decades (1970s through 2010s). The new album's arrival gives Midler her highest debut ever, her second-highest charting album, and sixth top 10 overall. The three-time Grammy Award winner's first Top 10 came with her debut, The Divine Miss M, which arrived almost 42-years ago on the chart dated Dec. 9, 1972. It peaked at No. 9 the following March. She later visited the top 10 with a self-titled album (No. 6 in 1974), the Beaches soundtrack (No. 2 in 1989), Some People's Lives (No. 6 in 1991) and Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook (No. 10 in 2005).

Giorgio Moroder Remixes Gaga/Bennett

Bennett/Gaga Duets Album Debuts At #1

Cheek To Cheek debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart today, breaking Tony Bennett's own record as the oldest artist (88!) to reach that chart's summit.

The standards album, released Sept. 23 on Interscope/Columbia Records, sold 131,000 copies in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also hits No. 1 on both the Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums charts. 88-year old Bennett is the oldest living act to earn a No. 1 album, beating a record he set himself back in 2011. That year, a then 85-year old Bennett scored his first No. 1 album with Duets II (which included a collaboration with Gaga on "The Lady Is a Tramp"). Gaga previously led the list with ARTPOP, less than a year ago, and Born This Way, in 2011.

Cheek To Cheek dethrones Barbra Streisand's duets album Partners, which was her tenth #1 album including greatest hits compilations and soundtracks.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Fly Life, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is Cheek To Cheek, the new all-duets album from Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, which went on sale today nationwide at retailers and online.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer raves:

Lady Gaga rarely does anything subdued. So when she does, listeners should take note, even if it's just for the shock factor. Yet, the only thing shocking about "Cheek to Cheek," Gaga's collaborative album of jazz standards with Tony Bennett, is just how good it is. Gaga holds her own with the musical icon on an album that will likely be a contender for Album of the Year come Grammy night. "Cheek to Cheek" opens with "Anything Goes," a lighthearted tune from composer Cole Porter that's right in Bennett's wheelhouse. Gaga does her best Barbra Streisand impersonation, proving that her voice doesn't need an assist from wild costumes or electronic beats to come off as stunning. She further emphasizes that point on the piano ballad "Lush Life." Gaga goes solo on the tune with a powerful voice vocal performance. "Lush Life," along with the amazing "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," is enough to make you fall in love with Gaga the singer, rather than the stage performer. Not to be outdone, Bennett, who sounds youthful at age 88, delivers a fantastic vocal on the Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" and the string-heavy "Don't Wait Too Long." Both songs underscore a key component of "Cheek to Cheek," which is the flawless backing instrumentation.

We have five copies of Cheek To Cheek to give away. Enter to win by commenting on this post and please leave an email address in the text. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time.

Lady Gaga And Tony Bennett: I Can't Give You Anything But Love

Last week we got the lyric video. Today comes the production clip. The duets album, Cheek To Cheek, comes out September 23rd.

Lady Gaga And Tony Bennett: I Can't Give You Anything But Love

Another track from their coming duets album. From the press materials:

Cheek To Cheek features classic jazz standards sung by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett in a combination of vocal duets and solo performances. From the title track to “But Beautiful” to “I Won’t Dance,” the record’s duets showcase the chemistry between the two artists, who span 60 years in age. As Bennett says, “What I really love about being a jazz singer is that jazz artists are very creative, very honest, from phrase to phrase” and Lady Gaga adds, “We wanted to make something that sounded perfect because of the quality of the emotion…the honesty.” Cheek To Cheek also features the Lady Gaga solo, “Lush Life,” accompanied by Tony Bennett’s solo of “Sophisticated Lady.” The two songs complement each other, as Lady Gaga explains, “I loved making ‘Lush Life,’ Tony mentored me emotionally through the process,” and Tony Bennett adds, “I sang ‘Sophisticated Lady’ to answer her on ‘Lush Life,’ and because Duke Ellington wrote it, who collaborated with Billy Strayhorn, the writer of ‘Lush Life.’”

On October 24th, PBS will air a special on Cheek To Cheek that was taped at Lincoln Center.

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Anything Goes

The first single from their duet album, due in September, was released today.

Cheek To Cheek features classic jazz standards sung by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett in a combination of vocal duets and solo performances. Each song was handpicked by the artists, and the album features classic selections from the Great American Songbook including “Anything Goes,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)," “Sophisticated Lady,” “Lush Life,” and the record’s title track, “Cheek To Cheek.” Recorded in New York City, the record took over a year to complete and features jazz musicians associated with both artists including members of Bennett’s quartet, Mike Renzi, Gray Sargent, Harold Jones and Marshall Wood as well pianist Tom Lanier. Jazz trumpeter Brian Newman, a long-time friend and colleague of Lady Gaga appears on the album as well with his NYC based jazz quintet. Jazz soloists on selected tracks include tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano and flutist Paul Horn, who passed away earlier this month.

Lady Gaga - G.U.Y.

Lady Gaga & RuPaul - Fashion

Watch it now before it ABC yanks it.

(Via JMG reader Wayne)

NEW YORK CITY: Roseland Ballroom To Close With Four Lady Gaga Concerts

As I noted last month, the legendary Roseland Ballroom will close in the spring.  Here are the details for the final days:

Lady Gaga plans to play four shows at the 3,500-capacity venue: Mar. 28, 30, 31 and Apr. 2. Tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 25, at 10 a.m. Prices range from $50 for general admission floor access to $200 for the mezzanine. Roseland has operated at various times in the city since it opened in 1919, in a space located right around the corner from its current location on 52nd St., west of Broadway. The ballroom ascended with the upswing of jazz in the ‘20s and ‘30s, hosting shows by Louis Armstrong, Count Basie (who had a song called “Roseland Shuffle”), Harry James, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.

The Saint-At-Large has thus far remained silent as to the future of the Black Party, which is traditionally held on the first Saturday after the vernal equinox. That would be March 22nd.

Lady Gaga Opens SNL

UPDATE: NBC has removed the opening clip. Here's her performance from later in the show.

RUSSIA: Organizers Of Lady Gaga Concert Fined For Her "Pro-Homosexual" Speech

The organizers of Lady Gaga's 2012 Moscow concerts have been fined because she advocated for LGBT rights from the stage. According to the judgment, Gaga "harmed children" with her message.

A magistrate’s court in St Petersburg yesterday (14 November) fined Planet Plus 20,000 rubles ($614, €455). During the gigs in St Petersburg and Moscow on 9 and 12 December 2012, the US singer dared Russia to arrest her and made a speech about the bravery of LGBTs in the face of anti-gay laws. ‘I can't even really believe that you're all here because when they first called me they were like, “We want you to go to Russia but we might have some problems because of all the gay propaganda in your show”,’ she said. ‘Thank you, Moscow, for spreading the message of equality around the world. Thank you for spreading the message of Born This Way.’ Later, to screams of support, she said: ‘So stand up for yourself, or stand up for your friends. Where's all my gay kids tonight? ‘Tonight, this is my house, Russia. You can be gay in my house. And if you ever need me Moscow, I will just be a telephone call away.’

The organizers say they will appeal the fine.

RELATED: Last November a Russian court acquitted Madonna of charges that she threatened the national birth rate by promoting gay rights during a concert there.  Madonna was served a summons at her Upper East Side mansion, but she never acknowledged the charges, which were brought by the Russian Orthodox Church, nor did she appear at the trial.

Lady Gaga To Sing In Space

Lady Gaga has booked a ticket on Virgin Galactic and will perform a song from low-orbit in 2015. Seriously.

The "Dope" performer, 27, is set to blast off in a Virgin Galactic ship and belt out a single track during the Zero G Colony high-tech musical festival in New Mexico. "She has to do a month of vocal training because of the atmosphere," says a source, who adds that the diva's glam squad will join her in the shuttle. Zero G Colony is a three-day hi-tech festival set to take place at Spaceport America in New Mexico that features world-class entertainment and cutting-edge technology. Gaga's performance in space is planned to take place on the third day at dawn, which is approximately six months after the first Virgin Galactic commercial flight.

Gaga will be the first pop star to perform in space. That's if you don't count Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's amazing rendition of David Bowie's Space Oddity, which he performed from the International Space Station in May.

RELATED: Openly gay boy band-er Lance Bass was supposed to fly to the ISS in 2002, but Russian officials canceled when television producers failed to raise the $2M fare.

Lady Gaga - Aura

Also an ad for Machete Kills.

Quote Of The Day - Lady Gaga

"I like girls. I've said that (before). I know people think I just say things to be shocking, but I actually do like pussy. It just depends on whose pussy it is. It's similar to how I feel about guys. I like them because I find lesbians to be way more daring than straight men, when it comes to coming on to you. And I really like that. And it wasn't until I found a guy that could come onto me as strong as a lesbian that I fell in love." - Lady Gaga, on last night's episode of Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live.

Lady Gaga As Dorothy Gale

Today on Good Morning America.

(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Lady Gaga Live At iTunes Festival

The full 71-minute show.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)