Born to not get bullied

Lady Gaga wants to put an end to bullying, which is both a human rights abuse and a hindrance to education.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When she was in high school, Lady Gaga says, she was thrown into a trash can.

The culprits were boys down the block, she told me in an interview on Wednesday in which she spoke — a bit reluctantly — about the repeated cruelty of peers during her teenage years.

"I was called really horrible, profane names very loudly in front of huge crowds of people, and my schoolwork suffered at one point," she said. "I didn't want to go to class. And I was a straight-A student, so there was a certain point in my high school years where I just couldn't even focus on class because I was so embarrassed all the time. I was so ashamed of who I was."

Searching for ways to ease the trauma of adolescence for other kids, Gaga came to Harvard University on Wednesday for the formal unveiling of her Born This Way Foundation, meant to empower kids and nurture a more congenial environment in and out of schools.

Lady Gaga is on to something important here. Experts from scholars to Education Secretary Arne Duncan are calling for more focus on bullying not only because it is linked to high rates of teen suicide, but also because it is an impediment to education.

A recent study from the University of Virginia suggests that when a school has a climate of bullying, it's not just the targeted kids who suffer — the entire school lags academically. A British scholar found that children who simply witness bullying are more likely to skip school or abuse alcohol. U.S. studies have found that children who are bullied are much more likely to contemplate suicide and to skip school.

The scars don't go away, Lady Gaga says. "To this day," she told me, "some of my closest friends say, 'Gaga, you know, everything's great. You're a singer; your dreams have come true.' But, still, when certain things are said to you over and over again as you're growing up, it stays with you and you wonder if they're true."

Any self-doubt Lady Gaga harbors should have been erased by the huge throngs that greeted her at Harvard. "This might be one of the best days of my life," she told the cheering crowd.

The event was an unusual partnership between Lady Gaga and Harvard University in trying to address teen cruelty. Oprah Winfrey showed up as well, along with Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services.

Kathleen McCartney, dean of the Graduate School of Education here at Harvard, said that she and her colleagues invited Lady Gaga because they had been searching for ways to address bullying as a neglected area of education — and as a human rights issue. As many as one-fifth of children feel bullied, she said, adding: "If you don't feel safe as a child, you can't learn."

Lady Gaga describes her foundation as her "new love affair," and said that, initially, she thought about focusing on a top-down crackdown on bullying. But, over time, she said, she decided instead to use her followers to start a bottom-up movement to try to make it cooler for young people to be nice.

I asked Lady Gaga if people won't be cynical about an agenda so simple and straightforward as kindling kindness. An exceptionally articulate artist, she seemed for the first time at a loss for words. "That cynicism is exactly what we're trying to change," she finally said.

Bullying isn't, of course, just physical violence. Lady Gaga's mother, Cynthia Germanotta, who will serve as president of the Born This Way Foundation, says that one of the most hurtful episodes in her daughter's childhood came when schoolmates organized a party and deliberately excluded Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga was reluctant to talk too much about her own experiences as a teenager for fear that her foundation would seem to be solely about bullying. Her aim is a far broader movement to change the culture and create a more supportive and tolerant environment. "It's more of a hippie approach," she explained.

"The Born This Way Foundation is not restitution or revenge for my experiences," Lady Gaga told me. "I want to make that clear. This is: I am now a woman, I have a voice in the universe, and I want to do everything I can to become an expert in social justice and hope I can make a difference and mobilize young people to change the world."

Yes, that sounds grandiose and utopian, but I'm reluctant to bet against one of the world's top pop stars and the person with the most Twitter followers in the world. In any case, she's indisputably right about one point: Bullying and teenage cruelty are human rights abuses that need to be higher on our agenda.

Source is http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2017651234_kristoff04.html

Lady Gaga to launch Born This Way Foundation with help from Oprah: Watch a live stream here

Lady Gaga will officially launch her Born This Way Foundation Wednesday at Harvard University, with help from Oprah Winfrey.

Cynthia Germonatta — Gaga's mother and the foundation’s president — doctor and author Deepak Chopra, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and professor Charles Ogletree will also be in attendance.

Gaga announced plans to create the foundation shortly after the suicide of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer. Rodemeyer had questioned his sexuality and was bullied by his peers at school and online, his parents said. The teen had created an “It Gets Better” video.

The singer, known to her fans as Mama Monster, vowed to fight bullying and later met with President Obama to discuss the issue.

According to the Born This Way Foundation's Web site, the group will work to create "a safe community that helps connect young people with the skills and opportunities they need to build a braver, kinder world." Read more about the foundation's mission here.

The day holds significance not only for Gaga, but also for some Harvard students and faculty members.

As the Associated Press reported, in 1920 a "secret court" of Harvard administrators expelled seven students for being or being perceived as gay. Current students and faculty want the university, which apologized for the expulsions in 2002, to award posthumous degrees to the affected students and will hold a rally Wednesday.

Watch a live stream of the foundation's launch, beginning at 4 p.m. ET, below.

Source is http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/lady-gaga-to-launch-born-this-way-foundation-with-help-from-oprah-watch-a-live-stream-here/2012/02/29/gIQAe7IdiR_blog.html

Lady Gaga: Straight, No Chaser

We observe Gaga in her natural habitat, with a good bottle of whiskey, in Bigger Than the Sound.

Lady Gaga is sitting down, which is probably a good thing, considering she's wearing 6-inch heels and has spent roughly seven hours drinking whiskey with dudes who look like they were roadies for Bang Tango.

Drinking wasn't the only thing she did, of course. She also danced, vamped, sang, bled and underwent more costume changes than Evander Berry Wall — all over the span of one very long day on one very big soundstage in New York City. I'm not allowed to write about exactly what she was shooting (at least not yet), but suffice it to say, Gaga certainly deserved a few minutes of rest. Especially since she had spent the first part of the day filming a wearing an outfit that could only be described as "houndstooth overdrive."

And yet, throughout the day, as the top-secret shoot went on and on, I never heard her complain — not even close. At one point, during a performance setup, when the director asked if she'd be willing to film another take, she joked, "My voice can only last for another hour and a half ... the rest of me can go all night."

Everyone laughed, and not just because it was a funny line. There was an air of astonishment mixed in too. Simply put, no one seemed to believe that a star of this caliber would be this willing to work. And then work some more.

While it was certainly amazing to watch Gaga come to life when the camera was rolling, her work ethic isn't exactly breaking news. In a way, it was even more fascinating to observe her in the moments when it wasn't. Last year, I followed her every step at the Video Music Awards and discovered that, beneath the 35 pounds of Argentinean beef, she was actually a pretty normal person. That was only amplified Monday, on this soundstage in New York, in the rare moments she wasn't wowing everyone in attendance. Surrounded by her closest friends — all of whom were extras in the shoot, and some of whom came dressed in their Steel Panther finery — she was decidedly down-to-earth. Shockingly average, even.

She cracked jokes, held hands, poured drinks. She danced and cooed with her old friend Lady Starlight while "Heavy Metal Lover," a standout track on her Born This Way album, blared overhead. She whooped for joy whenever someone she hadn't seen in a while (and given her schedule, that was pretty much everybody) appeared on set. In fact, she seemed very much like every 25-year-old you'd meet, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Getting to be a fly on the wall is certainly one of the perks of this job; it allows you to see the mega-famous at their least guarded — for better or (as is sometimes the case) much worse. But it's the few instances I've been able to hover around Gaga's inner circle that remain the most revelatory, mostly because, as I wrote last year, her public persona is somewhere along the lines of "a pneumatic lion tamer with a penchant for creative haberdashery, or a fire-breathing neo-Shiva in sunglasses." To see her unwind with her pals, well, let's just say it's the kind of thing you don't forget, mostly because it's the most normal thing imaginable. Which, given pretty much everything you think you know about her, is downright unimaginable.

So while I can't tell you what I watched being filmed, I can tell you that Lady Gaga enjoys Jameson and has excellent comedic timing. And that told me more about her than any of her videos ever could. To a certain extent, we all think we know who Gaga is, even if that's not really the case. At ease, with a glass of strong booze, enveloped by her confidants — that's the girl few of us get to meet, which is a shame. She seems like a really fun person to hang out with.

Britney Spears, Lady GaGa, Michael Jackson top Billboard video polls

Billboard has released the results for its top ten best music video polls.

Readers were asked to vote for their favorite pop videos from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to celebrate the 30th anniversary of MTV.

Michael Jackson topped the '80s poll with his iconic 'Thriller' video, beating Madonna's 'Like A Prayer' to the top spot. Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' trailed both in third position.

Britney Spears won the '90s poll with her school-based promo for 'Baby One More Time', which gained 40% of the total vote. Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson came second with their collaboration 'Scream', while Madonna placed third with 'Vogue'.

Lady GaGa led the '00s poll with her cinematic 'Bad Romance' video, which won 'Video Of The Year' at the 2010 MTV VMAs. Spears's video for 'Toxic' came in second, while Panic! At The Disco's 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' tallied at number three.

Jackson marginally failed to have a third consecutive top three entry, with his 2001 video for 'You Rock My World' voted in at four.

The Jackson family recently announced plans to hold a tribute concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for Michael this October.

Source is http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a332917/britney-spears-lady-gaga-michael-jackson-top-billboard-video-polls.html

Canada's 'Little Gaga' hits it big in the Philippines

CTV News.ca Staff

Months after young Winnipeg songstress Maria Aragon shot to fame on the wings of a YouTube cover of a Lady Gaga song, the 11-year-old has landed a big two-album record deal in the Philippines.

Aragon has sung with Lady Gaga and performed before Prince William and Kate, so she's had some big brushes with fame, but in her parents' home country of the Philippines, she's a superstar.

Last week, she did the talk-show circuit in the Philippines, appearing on entertainment shows with the country's biggest stars.

Star Records, a big label in the Philippines, has signed Aragon to a two-year, two-record deal. Her father, Veni Aragon, says he will know the exact worth of the deal when he flies there at the end of the month.

Aragon has developed a rabid fan base in the southeastern Asian country, a country that counts 40 million teenagers among its population.

"It's just a really big opportunity and I feel so blessed," she said in an interview in the country.

According to Hua Lee, a music producer, the deal probably isn't worth a lot in comparison to a record deal in the West. However, Asia's massive growing market could make her popularity too much to ignore.

"If they do the right songs for her, perhaps if they even do covers of the right songs, it could all eventually come back to the West," he told CTV News.

But the reality is, after Aragon finishes up her album and a song for a Philippine movie, she's back to being a normal Canadian kid.

She starts Grade 6 in September.

Meanwhile, the "hits" keep coming. Aragon's cover of Gaga's "Born this Way" has reached nearly 40 million hits on YouTube.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Jill Macyshon

Source is http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110725/gaga-aragon-110726/20110726/?hub=EdmontonHome

Lady GaGa: "Amy Changed Pop Music Forever"

Lady GaGa has issued a heartfelt tribute to the late Amy Winehouse, stating that the Love Is A Losing Game singer "changed pop music forever."

As we previously reported, Winehouse was found dead in her Camden flat on Saturday, with her death still being treated as "unexplained."

Following tributes from the likes of Rihanna, Mark Ronson and Kelly Osbourne, GaGa paid homage to Amy, crediting her for giving her "hope" as a jazz singer.

Speaking on Twitter, Lady G wrote: "Amy changed pop music forever. I remember knowing there was hope, and feeling not alone because of her. She lived jazz, she lived the blues."

The 25-year old has previously expressed her admiration of Winehouse to The Sun back in 2009, telling the tabloid: "Amy is a real artist. I get frustrated when I tour so much that my voice is messed up."

"But I always say to myself that I watch performances from Amy where I swear she didn't hit a note, and she was shot and shot deep on something, but I can't take my eyes off that beautiful girl. There's something about her that's so honest."

SEE WHY MTV LOVES LADY GAGA HERE!!

She added: "That was what the '70s and '80s were about, and what women were about then, and that's why legends were created. It wasn't about manicures."

In the same year, Lady G also told PopEater: "I will always have a very deep love for Amy Winehouse. Because of Amy, very strange girls like me go to prom with very good-looking guys. She's a different kind of woman…"

"I don't believe that what I do is very digestible, and somehow Amy was the flu for pop music. Everybody got a little bit of the flu and got over it, and fell in love with Amy Winehouse. And now, when more flu comes along, it's not so unbearable."

Amy's family have since released a statement addressing the Back To Black hitmakers death, claiming she has left "a gaping hole" in their lives.

Source: http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/amy-winehouse/325316-lady-gaga-amy-winehouse-dead-tribute

Lady Gaga Said Amy Winehouse Inspired Her

Lady Gaga is surely in mourning today for the loss of singer Amy Winehouse. The cause of death has not yet been announced. During her life Winehouse inspired many other musicians. Lady Gaga has spoken out about how she got a sense of freedom and acceptance from watching Amy Winehouse's career progress.

It is tragic that Winehouse is now dead at age 27. Musicians worldwide must be so sad at this news. She was unique and built her music career in her own way. She had an outrageous style, beloved by many people. She had a lot of talent, and now it is gone forever.

Lady Gaga previously said that Winehouse was the master at "opening the door for artists who dared to be different." She added "I will always have a very deep love for Amy Winehouse... She's a different kind of woman. notes the NY Post.

Even superstars like Lady Gaga have their heroes. It seems like Amy Winehouse was someone who inspired Lady Gaga and helped her realize that it was okay to be different. Now when listening to Gaga's hit "Born This Way" it will be a reminder of the struggle many creative people face over building self acceptance.

Amy Winehouse struggle with alcohol and drug addiction for years. Despite her musical talent, she appeared tormented and did not have control of her actions too often. And yet she also inspired others with her talent and her persona. Thus now those who admired her career must come to grips with the unfortunate truth that her inability to control her addictions may have lead to her death.

RIP Amy Winehouse. London is in mourning for your life. It seems that like the American writer Sylvia Plath, who also died in London, the world was too much for you.

Source is http://celebs.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979710720