Lady Gaga

Hate her or love her. That's usually how people feel. She is very out there, different, outrageous, weird, ridiculous and everything in between. I used to be on the fence about her for awhile. I would sometimes enjoy her music while other times be annoyed by her. I told myself I needed to make a decision and I was going to do so fairly. Around May 2011, I watched her HBO Monster Ball special concert. I also bought her Born This Way album and listened to all the songs. I started to fall in love. I learned more about her over time and listened to her older music and loved that too.

For my Advanced Public Speaking class, our first speech was to be an informative one. I decided to do mine over Lady Gaga and her philanthropy efforts and work as an activist. I researched her more and my admiration deepened. Did you know that she was able to play the piano by the age of 4 and was granted early admission (which was only granted to 20 students around the world) to attend New York University's Tisch school of the arts? She has worked on the "It Gets Better" campaign which was a YouTube hit that was supported by numerous celebrities and people from the gay community. It is letting the gay community know that high school does suck, but it gets better when you grow older. She eventually created her own thing which is called The Born This Way Foundation which promotes and kinder and braver world, is against bullying, and offers help. You can get involved with the mission in different ways and also donate money to fight against bullying. She created this with her mom and it was officially launched at Harvard this year. It shouldn't be too surprising that she was bullied a lot growing up, so it is something that is personal to her. I love that she is using her fame and reputation to put it towards something good. A 14-year-old boy took his life last year due to being bullied because of his sexuality. He had made a tribute to Lady Gaga before the event. She found out about it and made a trending topic on Twitter in support of him and wanted to meet with President Obama to talk about the issue of bullying.

Some also dislike her music and may not think she is a good singer or have any talent. She doesn't lip sync at her concerts and on her Thanksgiving Special she had some great pieces that I love and wish I could have on my iPod! I looked up some videos from before she became Lady Gaga and was still Stafani Germanotta. There is some very raw good music that can give you some chills!
Here is some stuff you can watch!

Here is the It Gets Better campaign video. I sometimes tear up watching this because it warms my heart so much. I loved seeing my class smile and respond to this video during my speech.

This is my favorite performances on her Thanksgiving Special. She talks about being bullied in parts of this. Really cool video and shows some of her personality.

This is her performing while at NYU. It is composed and performed by her. I am in love with the first song and her voice is amazing in this. Wish I had this on my iPod too!

She tweeted this picture today and I love it because she looks so normal and like everyone else. She looks beautiful and I am loving the brunette hair :)

She is definitely a leader and doing amazing things to let people know they are great the way they are because "God makes no mistakes." I definitely look up to her and she is an inspiration to me. She is a strong woman that chased her dreams and wants to make a difference.

P.S. I got an A on my speech over her :)

Sparkle & Shine,
Rachel