Who is the one person allowed to stand up to corporate diva Steve Jobs and criticize the Apple CEO to his face? That would, of course, be musical diva Lady Gaga, who recently talked a little trash at Apple headquarters.
Just when you thought you were immune to the Susan Boyles of the world, along comes Korea's Got Talent's Sung-Bong Choi. With downcast eyes, 22-year-old Choi says he was abandoned at the age of three, then ran away from his orphanage at the age five and lived as a street kid for the next ten years, peddling chewing gum and sleeping outside public restrooms "like a dayfly." Now he's a manual laborer with a penchant for Italian opera. Here he is performing his debut aria, while every single female in the audience sobs uncontrollably.
At the beginning of the music video for her new single, "I Don't Wanna Be a Crappy Housewife," Norwegian "recording artist" Tonje Langeteig laments, "Hi, my name is Tonje. I'm a little pretty girl trapped inside a grownup's body." That's pretty much when things go the Rebecca Black route—and fast. There's even an inexplicable rap solo. Enjoy! [via WOW]
Gil Scott-Heron, the poet and musician, died in New York City on Friday at age 62. Best known for searing, funny spoken-word songs like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "Whitey on the Moon" — tracks that would later be cited as important influences for generations of rappers — Scott-Heron also wrote two novels and three collections of poetry. His most recent album, I'm New Here, was released last year. It's terrific — as is nearly everything he released, in particular his collaborations with jazz musician Brian Jackson.
Lady Gaga kicked off Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series today before a record crowd in Central Park. The spectacle wasn't without its technical difficulties, though, as Gaga failed to appear on stage until near the end of her opening number due to a stubborn zip-line.
Pandora just took a $30 million loan ahead of its IPO. That's on top of $86 million it took in venture capital and accrued unpaid dividends. Luckily for Pandora's users, the indispensable internet radio service can't be killed, debts notwithstanding.
The Financial Times has a long interview with Lady Gaga conducted by British actor/author Stephen Fry which the paper will publish over the weekend. We were given a little sneak peek of what Gaga said to Fry during the exchange, and she makes some insane claims, including that she went bankrupt funding her Monster Ball tour.
Behold, the power of Lady Gaga. The pop superstar's new album, "Born This Way," managed to crash Amazon.com's servers soon after the retailer offered it on sale for only 99 cents. Consumers, initially wowed by the discount, quickly became peeved by the dragging download speeds, and took to the album review section to complain not of Gaga's music but of their ridiculous experience using Amazon—one fan I know said it took upwards of six hours to download the CD.
Tonight's Billboard Music Awards opened with a raunchy performance of "S&M" by Rihanna, during which a bunch of random hands tried to caress her vagina. Then Britney Spears shot up from under the stage! Except that it wasn't good, because Spears lip-synced (Rihanna sang live), danced like she had arthritis, and even managed to mess up a song-ending pillow fight.
For its season finale, Saturday Night Live brought out two big guns: Justin Timberlake as host and Lady Gaga as musical guest. Here's the episode's soon-to-be infamous Digital Short, featuring Timberlake and Sandberg reprising their "Dick in a Box"/"Motherlover" character roles in a new song about a ménage à trois with Gaga called "3-Way (The Golden Rule)." After all, "It's not gay when it's in a three way—with a honey in the middle there's some leeway."
Here in the US of A, our summer is packed with boring competition shows like America's Got Talent, in which teenage girls sing Mariah Carey ballads. That's why this clip from the show's much more awesome Greek incarnation—of two guys playing a piano with nothing but their penises—should be required viewing for future American contestants. [via Guyism]
Here's the brand new music video for Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)." It has all the makings of a great Beyonce video—lots of sexy outfits and booty shaking, for example—but ultimately falls victim to a "more is better!" mindset. Because, come on, do we really need a fierce girl army, dangerous animals on leashes, and exploding cars all in one place?
Earlier today, an estimated 125 million people watched Azerbaijan win the 56th Eurovision Song Contest, an Olympic-sized television extravaganza/singing competition across the pond. But don't worry if you missed it, because this so-bad-it's-good performance by the squad from Moldova is the only one worth watching.
Today Lady Gaga unleashed her newest single, "Edge of Glory" to a flurry of internet squealing. To me it sounds like she traded in ripping off Madonna and went right for another '80s icon: Pat Benatar. There's even a sax solo!
Last night, HBO premiered the highly anticipated Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden, a 120-minute concert special—filmed over two sold-out February nights—that showcased the pop star in the core of her element: Performing for thousands of adoring fans, on her own terms and with an off-the-charts level of spectacle only Gaga can conjure up.
