Tuesday, 05 January 2010

• Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle: Polar Opposites?

  

   

  I just read this headline:  Lady Gaga, Susan Boyle crowned Britain's 2009 best sellers in one of our daily newspapers and I'm thinking hmmm, very interesting!  I have listened to both these artists over the past year, and I can safely say (as many would agree) that these two female singers couldn't be more different.  Besides being born Catholic, one thing they have in common is that they're both crowd pullers, for obvious yet very different reasons.

   

  Let's start with Lady Gaga.  Interesting name!  Well, Stefani Germanotta, as she was born, is a native New Yorker of Italian descent.  She was born on March 28, 1986 which makes her just 23!  She's a songwriter, fashion designer, pianist and performing artist.  She started playing the piano at 4 years old and attended a private Roman Catholic school.  At 17 she was accepted at the NY University's Tisch School of The Arts where she studied music.  However, she scrapped this later to focus on her musical career.  While she claims to have been inspired by Madonna and Michael Jackson, she also states that her true mentor has been Freddy Mercury.  For those who didn't know this before, her stage name was inspired by Queen's song Radio Ga Ga.  She loved this song so much that she decided to call herself Lady Gaga (adapted from wiki). 

  Everyone has now heard of Lady Gaga.  A self professed bisexual, this sexual lady turns heads and makes headlines wherever she goes.  She's been compared to Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Blondie and others, yet she's definitely unique.  This first comes across in her music.  Whether or not you like her songs and sound, and despite its lyrical content, it does manage to make you move.  Her uniqueness and passion for fashion is more evident in her flamboyant if not crazy/outrageous hair, accessories and outfits.  And the imagery surrounding her musical videos are artistically crafted to blend her 'two passions' beautifully.  One can totally see that she will actualize her goal, which is to "revolutionize pop music", as her (in)famous predecessor Madonna did 25 years ago.   Love her or hate her - her albums sell like hotcakes!

  

  Now for Susan Boyle.  Well, no one had ever heard of this dowdy, plain-looking, 48 year old Scottish spinster before she took part in Britain's Got Talent on April 11th 2009.  Susan was actually born on April 1st (yeah April Fools), 1961.  Little did she know that one day she'd fool us all.  For, much to everyone's amazement (including the judges) no one expected the almost flawless strong voice to come out of 'that persona' last year. 

  Boyle was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland and is the youngest of 11 children.  During birth she was briefly deprived of oxygen which later led to her being diagnosed as having learning difficulties.  This, according to Susan, is why she was bullied in school and nicknamed "Susie Simple."  She left school with little qualifications and only managed to secure one job (for 6 months) in her entire life - a trainee cook in the West Lothian College kitchen. 

  In her early days, she visited the theater to listen to professional singers and took part in a number of local music venues.  She later started taking singing lessons from Fred O'Neil (a voice coach) and attended the Edinburgh Acting School.  Besides this, her main singing experience before she went on Britian's Got Talent came from her participation in her local church choir and karaoke nights at her village pubs.  She also auditioned for My Kind of People several times but never managed to secure a role in Barrymore's ITV show (adapted from wikipedia). 

  Like Lady Gaga, everybody has now heard of Susan Boyle.  The Youtube video of her singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables has been viewed by over 88 million people.  Wow!  While she didn't win the contest and took this very badly, which was insensitively and widely publicized in the press, as fate would have it, all was not lost.  In November 2009, she released her first album which debuted as the number one best-selling CD on charts around the world. 

  These two ladies, for very different reasons have taken the musical world by storm in different ways.  Outrageous Lady Gaga holds on steadfast to her goal, does her own thing, churns out one hit single after another and doesn't give a hoot about what anyone says about her.  She rocks.  So kudos for her.  As for Susan, she taught us the most "Christian" lesson of all: "never judge a book by its cover."  As she walked on stage that evening and introduced herself, everyone laughed.   Within a few seconds mouths began to open, hands began to clap and by the end of her performance she got a standing ovation!!!  She has since begun to live her "dream."  And I ask: what is more beautiful and courageous than to turn your back on everybody who shuns and mocks you, continue to persevere until you make your dreams - whatever they are - come true.  Susan, has to be my number one woman of the year!  Well done Susan, you've inspired me and so many people and surely deserve our applause. 

  I leave you now with the "I dreamed a dream" audition by Susan Boyle  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY.  The first time I saw this was through a mass message of the clip over facebook.  I cried in amazement then, as many of us did, I'm sure.  Enjoy!

   

   

  What do you think about these women?

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