Madonna's MDNA Tour: Controversy and Opinions (Paris Show, Lady Gaga, Nudity, and more!)

Hey everyone! I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm back! Today's post is going to be on Madonna's highly controversial MDNA tour. Madonna kicked off the large scale spectacle in Tel Aviv at the end of May, it met initially positive reviews but as it went on began to garner negative attention from critics and fans all over the world.

The extravagant show is in obvious contention with the immensely successful headlining tour by Lady Gaga, "The Born This Way Ball." The two past and present queens of pop have been in direct competition, ever since Madonna made a comment calling the lead single off of Born This Way "reductive" and "familiar." There's no denying that the massive 2011 hit does sound similar to Madonna's 1989 single "Express Yourself."

Madonna made the scathing remarks towards Lady Gaga in an interview with Good Morning America.

Madonna's clear dislike for Lady Gaga is depicted heavily when she performs "Express Yourself" on her MDNA tour. She throws in a chorus of "Born This Way" and ends the song singing "She's Not Me." It's pretty obvious that Madonna is communicating an evident dislike to the reigning Queen of pop music and social media. Gaga fans have been irate toward Madonna and her cronies, with Madonna fans openly expressing their dislike for Gaga and often referring to her as a "cheap rip off" of their beloved idol.

Just one of many hateful comments that can be found online, directed toward Lady Gaga from Madonna fans. 

It appears that Madonna is deliberately attempting to shock the world, many of her "stunts" seem planned and deliberately done to create scandals. While Gaga is surely doing the same thing, her scandals are being received as relevant and genuinely controversial- while Madonna's are treated as pathetic and childish.

Madonna got a huge backlash from newspapers and critics after exposing her breast at a concert in Istanbul. Many critics wondered why a woman of her age felt the need to exploit her body for media attention. Although it did garner a fair bit of media coverage, Gagas Born This Way Ball has been making bigger waves throughout the industry without her pulling any deliberately controversial stunts.

Madonna also caused a ruckus after disappointing almost 2,000 fans at her show in the L'Olympia  in Paris. Madonna writhed around the stage for a mere 45 minutes, after some fans paying up to 280 euros per ticket. Although tickets were priced almost identically to the tickets for a full size show, the Madonna enthusiasts that attended her Paris gig were not informed that it wasn't to be the full MDNA show. Some reporters even insist that the fans were so enraged, a mini riot ensued. Madonna claims that those who revolted at her show were "not fans" but rather "people pretending to be angry fans."

Dedicated fans queueing several hours at the Parisian venue  for a 45 minute set.

In my opinion, Madonna is desperately trying to become relevant again. This isn't to say that Madonna isn't an icon- because she is. Madonna changed the face of the music industry, and was incredibly creative and innovative during her time. Madonna seemingly is refusing to relinquish her role as "the Queen of pop" and is stubbornly not passing on her torch to this generations Madonna, Lady Gaga.

My general view on the show, is that it's a huge disappointment. Leading back to my point of "Madonna trying to be relevant" she packs songs from her latest album "MDNA" into the set of the nearly two hour show. With such an enormous repertoire, you would think she would spend her time trying to please the audience with oldies-but-goodies! But no, Madonna has to stay relevant by making the majority of her show all about "MDNA."

We get it Madonna, you want to have hit singles and you want to have number one albums. But the time has come for you to take a step back, and let the more current artists have their time in the spotlight. My advice to Madonna is to take a break after the MDNA tour, and not make another album. The best thing Madonna could do (from a fan-pleasing perspective) would be to embark upon a massive Greatest Hits tour.

Oh well Madonna....

Summer Lovin'

Summer is here! The most wonderful, care free time of the year has come upon us once again. Seeing as how school is over and most of our worries have been postponed until the next semester begins, I thought it would be a great idea to kick off the summer with a sun/water day. 

I would've described it as a "beach day" but we didn't exactly go to the beach..we went to Punggol! Punggol is a HDB residential area, but the government recently created a beautiful reservoir surrounded by grassy banks and cobble stoned paths. I saw a picture that a friend of mine posted of the reservoir, and I thought it looked so gorgeous! 

I invited my friends Gabi and Immy along to enjoy the beautiful scenery and have a delicious picnic simultaneously! We had no intentions of spending our time eating healthy food, so we stuffed our giant cooler bags with junk food and soda. 

Once we arrived at the scorchingly hot reservoir, we set up our towels and blankets along a stone bank that faced the water. We gossiped meaninglessly and munched on potato chips & haribo candies while listening to music through a portable speaker! 

After gorging ourselves on delicious but fattening treats, the illusive sun decided to grace us with it's presence for a good hour! Grabbing the opportunity, we broke out the sun screen and got changed into our swimming gear in preparation for a reinvigorating dip in the lovely reservoir water. And of course, we took the opportunity to do a tiny bit of camwhoring as well! 

loving the summer inspired singlet/board shorts I got at H&M for $7.90 and $24.90! 

It took us ages to actually venture into the water, we knew it was pretty deep and the water was murky- so it looked slightly intimidating! Eventually we all got in for about two minutes, none of us really wanted to stay in much longer as we had just been alerted by a passer by that swimming was strictly not allowed. After jumping out, we ate some more junk food and the REAL camwhoring began! It had also just gone 4pm and the beautiful/tranquil evening light shone down on the reservoir and it's surroundings. 

Only a short while after camwhoring a golf cart pulled up beside us and a man hopped out and told us to leave! I don't even know if he was a park official because he wasn't wearing any logos or uniform of sorts, but either way we left. 

All in all it was a really great day with friends, lazy and fun! We ate copious amounts of food and chatted for hours and hours. The reservoir was refreshing, and the scenery truly beautiful by Singapore standards. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing/cheap day out with little effort required! 

Born This Way Ball Concert Review

I was lucky enough to receive a glorious $288 standing ticket to see the incredibly talented Lady Gaga live in Singapore on the last show of her three night stint in Singapore on "The Born This Way Ball" tour. I'd already seen the Lady herself on her debut concert tour "The Fame Ball" in Fort Canning park, and the contrast between the two shows was phenomenal.

Stage/Venue 
Lady Gaga had the most elaborate, intricate, detailed, and extraordinary set I have ever seen at a musical production in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. With the venue typically not being very accommodating, the tour's promoter "Live Nation" had clearly invested a ridiculous amount of money into transporting her set. The stage was a gothic style magical stage, that was incredibly versatile and diverse. It moved constantly and felt more like an extravagant broadway production, than it did a concert stage.  With turrets and balconies standing with prestige in the air, Gaga looked like some sort of princess from a make believe world spinning around inside of her very own "Born This Way" fairytale. I was stunned at the sheer size of the beautiful monstrosity. Just when you thought you'd seen Gaga appear out of every turret and side door- she would even emerge from under the floor or somewhere else completely unexpected.

Setlist
I was generally extremely pleased with the set that Gaga performed. Although seemingly some songs were clumped together just to be over and done with ("Just Dance" "Love Game" "Bad Romance") she performed a fair balance of fan favorites and more unknown tracks off of her latest studio album "Born This Way" to adequately please her Little Monsters, while promoting her record simultaneously. The encore was fantastic, "Edge Of Glory" and "Marry The Night" were high energy songs that really worked the audience into a frenzy. My personal favorite had to be "Hair" where Gaga spoke of feeling like an outsider, and being bullied as a child which was something I identified with wholeheartedly. Gaga is a great testimony of persevering through times of hardship, as she reflects the great successes that can come of one's hard work and determination.

Merchandise
The merchandise up for grabs was really great. I was expecting it to be overpriced, as all concert merchandise is and my expectations where not only met but exceeded! A simple t-shirt varying in designs cost $50, and sweaters cost $80. There was an amazing faux leather "Born This Way" jacket on sale for a whopping $130. There were various other things for sale like lunchbox's and jewelry. I spent $155 (I know, my wallet is sobbing) on a t-shirt, sweater, and necklace! The quality of the sweater is amazing, and it's super soft and comfortable on the inside.

Fashion
Although no fashion expert like my close friend Veena, I was impressed and consistently surprised with the outfits of the notoriously wacky Lady Gaga throughout the night. Her first costume was reminiscent of a cockroach, with a metal shackle covering her entire face for the first two songs. She then changed into a latex condom inspired outfit for "Born This Way" and "Black Jesus." The next two numbers "Bloody Mary" and "Bad Romance" had similar white dresses varying in lengths, with a beekeepers helmet and goat mask respectively for each song. I was pleased to see the latex dress, as it was used in many performances of "Born This Way" and I think it merges with the song really well. I had a distaste for the goat costume in "Bad Romance" because it hid her face yet again, but this time during what is possibly her most giant hit. Other costumes Gaga had donned throughout the night were leather skin tight leotards complete with fishnet stockings and a thong! The infamous "Meat Dress" made an appearance (although thankfully made out of plastic this time) during "Americano" and "Poker Face." Her finale outfit for "Edge Of Glory" was a stunning two piece gold ensemble that would catch the light and blind audience members every so often.

Showmanship/Musicality
It has to be side, all gimmicks aside- Lady Gaga is a true artist. She's completely original and has as much musical talent in her toenails as fellow pop stars Kesha and Katy Perry have in their entire bodies. I was absolutely stunned by her stamina throughout the night. Not only did she slickly execute her innovative choreography, she managed to belt out high notes and sing up and down octaves while doing so. I was particularly impressed with "Edge Of Glory" as her true musicality was displayed throughout the 5 minute encore. She began with a beautiful piano ballad version of the song, using crescendos to convey an incredible sense of emotion while playing beautifully at the same time. After a verse and a chorus, Gaga went into the more up-tempo version of the song where she sang about being unafraid of death. Towards the end of the song where the vocals became particularly difficult, one of her dancers came on stage and did a gorgeous contemporary dance duet while Gaga sang like a bird despite being twirled around. Not to mention she played the piano twice during the show, and also the electric guitar during "Electric Chapel."

Overall Summary
To conclude I really feel like Gaga gave everything she had into her performance on "The Born This Way Ball" and she connected with a crowd in a way no other artist can. Her true musicality sparkled through her occasionally tiring facade of wacky stage antics, and she successfully blew away 11,000 people three nights in a row. It was also really incredible to see the contrast between her very first show in Singapore where she had three dancers, two screens and a 4 piece band.

Highlights: 
-Energetic performances of her most popular hit songs
-Ever changing fashion ensembles
-Amazing vocal skills
-Tightly executed choreography
-Dazzling stage/set up
-Incredible connection with the crowd
-General musicality (i.e. instrument playing etc)

Lowlights: 
-A few too many unknown "Born This Way" tracks
-Stage banter got slightly ridiculous at times (Screaming "I AM NOT AN ALIEN")
-Ticket prices were ludicrous
-Queueing system was horrendously organized


Thanks to Monalisa for letting me use her photos from the concert! 

Lady Gaga Arrives In Singapore (Pictures!)

Singapore, get ready! Gaga has arrived, and the Little Monsters are all in a frenzy over their beloved queen. The controversial pop star washed up on the Singapore shores through the CIP (Commercially Important Persons) airport while a few Singapore Monsters awaited her appearance. As always, Gaga created quite a stir when she pulled out in a discreet silver car. Apparently, two security guards stepped out in front of her as she rolled down her window- and asked everyone to step back. I've heard that one unruly fan refused to move back therefore, Ms.Gaga couldn't exit her vehicle. The Little Monsters were in complete hysteria as their figure head raised an illusive paw and drove away leaving her fans to chase after her.

Are any of you attending one of her 3 shows in the Singapore Indoor Stadium next week?

Lady Gaga Jakarta Controversy (Born This Way Ball 2012)

Controversial pop star Lady Gaga is planning to bring her cage rattling "Born This Way Ball" show to Jakarta on June 3rd 2012, but has been met with serious opposition by religious extremists. Deemed as "pornographic" and "satanic" her show has been interpreted by the IDF (Islamic Defenders Front) as Lucifers Kingdom and "will use physical force to prevent her from stepping off of the plane." 30,000 protestors are apparently in uproar about the arrival of the American songstress, and are obviously a threat to the singers safety. 

Indonesia is not the only country that has met the show with such animosity. In South Korea, the tour was said "to taint young people" and an age restriction of 18 years old was put on the elaborate production. Christians in South Korea handed out fliers reading "Lady Gaga needs spiritual restoration" and urging civillians not to attend the concert. 

In the Philippines, Christian groups once again declared her "blasphemous" and her show "evil." 

A former mayor of Manilla even suggested that the tour promoter and Gaga herself could face consequences for spreading an "anti Jesus Christ message" across the nation.

The tour has garnered incredible success, with every show sold out within minutes of tickets being available. Extra dates were added to many Asian countries due to incredible demand, this includes a three night stint in Singapore. With such success meeting such controversy, it provokes one to wonder what exactly Gaga is trying to achieve by stirring up religious groups. Is there a point where religious boundaries and being innovative and artistic cross? Or is Gaga just vying for attention desperately, for the sake of having the spotlight?

Furthermore, Gaga tweeted in reference to her Jakarta concert "If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone." Obviously this shows that Gaga has recognized the danger she not only is placing herself in- but also her dancers and stage crew. Wouldn't it be best to just cancel the concert all together and remove herself from harms way? Apparently not. Gaga seems to be insisting on the concert in Jakarta, despite the obvious safety concerns.

What seems to be the most controversial aspect of her show, are her flamboyant and risque costumes paired with her already at issue songs. Tunes like "Judas" have inspired responses calling the song "blasphemous" and "mocking of the christian religion." The constant negative energy that surrounds the song has not only been from Islamic and Asian countries- religious groups in her very own country the United States have protested against the scandalous song as well.

Despite the controversy, it's been reported that Gaga puts on a fantastic show on her current leg around the world with "The Born This Way Ball." It's easy to tell the amount of time the lady herself has invested in this elaborate production, just by looking at her stage and set list. Her set list contains all of the fan favorites, while including just enough songs off of her latest studio album "Born This Way" to promote it adequately.

The stage is an amazing colorfully lit fairytale esque castle, it's a basic reflection of everything Lady Gaga personifies. Magic, mystery, elusivity, artistry, and most importantly flexibility. Lady Gaga is one of the only "chameleon" type artists out there- artists that can break boundaries and cross genres effortlessly. Her pure musicality and talent sets her apart from others, but the amount of attention to detail she employs in her set design purely reflects just how hard working and invested this woman is in her career.

I'll have the opportunity to see this magnificent show on the 28th of May, her first night in Singapore. I'll be taking a lot of pictures- and a full review on the show can be expected!

Pixie Lott: Topshop Singapore

So in case you didn't already know- Pixie Lott dropped by TopShop on Orchard road this week! It was kind of under publicized, as it was only announced over facebook and twitter a couple of days before the whole shebang was to kick off. I'm going to be honest here- I'm not the most giant Pixie Lott fan. I know a couple of her songs, and like everybody else I think she's gorgeous but I've never gotten super into her music. That being said, when am I ever going to pass up a chance to meet a celebrity- for free?

The (now infamous) frosted glass "personal shopping" room door!

We arrived at TopShop at around 7 and did a little snooping to see if we could spot where Pixie was going to be. We were told she was going to walk through the main entrance, and make her way into the private personal shopping room to meet with some contest winners. At about 8, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs to the accessories floor and who could it be? Pixie of course! I couldn't get too many great pictures of her arrival as she was bustled into the personal shopping room super quick!

Like I said- she was very rushed! Only got a good quality picture of the back of her head. 

There were immense squeals that erupted from the room as Pixie entered- obviously some lucky fans had just had their entire teenage lives completed! We hung around outside the personal shopping room and talked to some radio hosts, myself and a couple others were even live on air! Apparently Pixie heard us. After sometime, we made our way over to a sectioned off area where racks of clothes were pulled out for Pixie to inspect. We positioned ourselves in the first row of that area so we could get the best view of her possible. She eventually emerged from the sacred shopping room, and began to browse through the clothes with the two contest winners. 

People were constantly fussing over her, it was difficult to get a clear shot!

We then asked one of the contest winners if she could call Pixie over for some photos- and much to our surprise she obliged! Being taller than everyone else, I asked first and got a picture with Pixie! As it turns out the picture was really blurry and I looked horrible so I was super upset at first. She took photos with 3 others before being dragged away by her uptight management. 

Pixie being extremely sweet and posing for photos with fans!

After shopping for a little longer, she made her way back to the room where she stayed cooped up doing interviews for another hour. We got really tired and almost went home- but a representative from the amazingly sweet Universal Music Singapore team came to tell us that Pixie was going to come out and spend some time with us! Most people had retreated to their homes after catching a quick glimpse of her, but 15 people stuck around to see what would happen afterwards. We were pulled behind a barrier when suddenly the door slid open and the gorgeous Pixie Lott strode out to greet us! I was in the front row with two of my friends and asked her for an autograph first. We made small talk, and she mentioned that she loved my pen! Then I asked for a picture and she obliged with such good nature! 

This is the second picture I got with Pixie- much better than the first!

After we got our pictures/autographs we moved to let other Crazy Cats get in for their Pixie fix! When the crowd had died down slightly and Pixie was about to return to her personal shopping room- we barged to the front of the line and asked for hugs! She was very sweet about it and gave all of us warm and inviting embraces!

Here's a picture I got with Pixie- such a cool shot!

All in all it was a really fantastic day, and we all had such a great time with Pixie! She was amazingly nice and spent a lot of time with us, I'm sure all of her Singapore Crazy Cats are still starstruck by the recent events! Did any of you go to see her? Do you like her? If you could meet a celebrity- who would it be?