Born This Way

Lady Gaga Delivers A Show Big On Flash And Inclusiveness

... patriotic from the start, opening with snippets of "God Bless America" and "This Land is Your Land" with red and blue lights twinkling above her, before guide wires delivered her to the stage below. Gaga included her hit "Born This Way," which became a gay rights anthem, but that fit into a theme of accepting differences that was a thread through much of the game's commercial messaging. Her most notable ad-lib? Saying hi to mom and dad. Once onstage, she commanded a large troupe of dancers and musicians, props that breathed fire and audience members swinging lights in synchronization - the usual excess that has become a cliche of Super Bowl shows. Unlike some predecessors, who often brought in several guest stars to bolster their acts, Gaga handled it herself. A billed guest shot by Tony Bennett, a frequent duet partner, didn't take place - although he made a brief appearance in a commercial. With that pressure, Gaga acquitted herself quite well. Hits like "Poker Face" and ...

A Superstar Born This Way

... valuable player _ had the league’s No. 1 offence and a staggering collection of weapons on that side of the ball. But the Patriots had Brady, which means they’re never really out of it. “We were just worrying about beating them by one point,” New England receiver Danny Amendola said. “We knew we had to come out in the second half and play, no matter what. They were coming at us with a lot of things. We just wanted to be resilient, we wanted to be tough mentally, and we got it done.”. Getting it done meant digging out of a 16-point hole in the final 5 minutes 56 seconds. That was accomplished with a six-yard touchdown pass to Amendola, followed by a conversion run by James White; then, a one-yard run by White with 57 seconds left, and a Brady-to-Amendola conversion pass to forge a tie at 28. The final tally for White was three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving. “We went into the locker room at halftime and said the game wasn’t over,” said White, who called the comeback “an amazing ...

Conservative Media On The Super Bowl

... The right-wing site the Gateway Pundit wrote about how Trump predicted the Patriots’ victory and included a tweet of a photo of Brady and Trump with the message: “The left loses again!”. National Review focused on Super Bowl commercials, blasting Airbnb’s ad as a “lecture … on diversity” and 84 Lumber for “portray[ing] illegal immigrants in the most sympathetic way possible.” The post called the ads “sheer propaganda” and said that “conservatives watching … these odes to tolerance, compassion, and diversity, they know they’re watching a lie.” The Blaze took exception with Audi’s ad addressing the pay disparity between men and women in the U. S., writing that the gender pay gap is a “myth.”. Right-wing media did, however, praise Hyundai’s Super Bowl ad featuring U. S. service members. One of the top stories on conservative Facebook pages was a post from the Independent Journal Review, which wrote that the ad captured the “true meaning of service members’ sacrifice.”. Similarly, conservative media ...

Pro-trump Boycott Calls Follow Super Bowl Ads

... Trump himself mentioned repeatedly in campaign speeches. A Budweiser commercial also triggered a backlash for being anti-Trump and pro-immigration. The ad showed Adolphus Busch, one of the founders of Anheuser-Busch, journeying to the United States as an immigrant, only to be told he was not welcome. A spokesman for Budweiser said 78% of the social media reaction that the company tracked was positive. Airbnb's ad about acceptance said "we all belong" - regardless of religion or country of origin. It didn't sit well with some Trump supporters. Coca-Cola's "It's beautiful" ad, which has aired since 2014, featured "America the Beautiful" sung in several languages. Coca-Cola said the ad "promotes optimism, inclusion and celebrates humanity" and did not address Trump's immigration order. Kia's commercial starred Melissa Mc Carthy, who appeared this weekend on "Saturday Night Live" and mocked the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. The Kia ad, set to ...

Without You Noticing, Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Performance Was Pro-lgbtq

... In the end, Gaga didn’t actually make any blatant political statement (aside from her opening number), but she did perform “Born This Way,” which celebrates individuality and takes a specifically pro-LGBTQ stance with the lyrics, “No matter gay, straight, or bi / Lesbian, transgendered life / I’m on the right track baby / I was born to survive.”. We are so proud of our Co-Founder @ladygaga for an amazing halftime show performance! #SB 51 __link__/ru EKr 9 LU 6 P. via GIPHY. In October, the singer revealed that her halftime show was 26 years in the making. “I’ve been planning this since I was 4, so I know exactly what I’m going to do,” Gaga said interview with Fox Sports. “For me, it’s all about giving to the fans and bringing people together that wouldn’t normally come together.”. She added, “The thing is it’s such a big world stage in terms of ...

Teen Lady Gaga Hugged During Halftime Show

... Monday morning (Jan. 6). "It was an amazing surprise to me. We knew she was going to go around and high five people but I never expected her to hug me. It was. amazing.". The Longhorns had been chosen to participate in the halftime show and they'd spent several hours a day rehearsing their choreography on the field in the weeks heading up to Sunday's thrilling game. Bellini said Gaga was there during some of the run-throughs, and she surprised the team at one of them last week by running in to say hello. "We were all star-struck," she says of the Gaga pop-in. "We were just screaming and excited.". Bellini, an avowed Little Monster, explains that she was just excited to be that close to the action. "I'm a huge fan of hers and when I found out we were doing this I cried for days," the Dobie Lariattes member says. Did she practice the hug with Gaga before Sunday night? "No! It was completely random!" Bellini swears, still sounding breathless about the whole ...

Lady Gaga’s Most Inspiring Quotes About Mental Health

... We both walk our two feet on the same earth. And we’re in this together."—During a Today show segment about her visit with kids  at the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth in New York City, December 2016. On challenging assumptions. "Traditionally, many associate PTSD as a condition faced by brave men and women that serve countries all over the world. While this is true, I seek to raise awareness that this mental illness affects all kinds of people, including our youth. No one’s invisible pain should go unnoticed." —A letter on website of her Born This Way  foundation, December 2016. For more stories about mental health, sign up for our Healthy Living newsletter. On what PTSD really feels like. "My body is in one place and my mind in another. It’s like the panic accelerator in my mind gets stuck and I am paralyzed with fear." —Her letter on the  Born This Way  site. On managing her anxiety. "I need my mantra to help keep me relaxed. 'You are brave. You are courageous.'" —During ...

Gaga's Halftime Show Catered To Longtime Fans

... Sunday night. One that gave her the ability to perform songs that came almost exclusively from her older, more popular albums. One that gave her a crowd that danced and knew every word to all of those chart-toppers. Her choreography, pyrotechnics and pure stage presence have given her a reputation for fantastic live performances. I am one of Gaga's adoring fans, and I enjoyed every moment of her performance. As a fan of Gaga since 2008, I felt a wave of wonderful nostalgia hit as she referenced her iconic music videos. The monster claw from “Bad Romance,” the teeth clench from “Telephone” and the side-to-side hop from “Born This Way” were all there and executed to perfection. She hit every beat, every note, every descent into the crowd — even while simultaneously catching a bedazzled football. ...

Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Halftime Show

... nations out of the apartment complex we call the United States; on Sunday night, with some 100 million sets of eyes upon her, Lady Gaga turned toward another Woody Guthrie song to open a Super Bowl performance full of pride and solidarity in a moment heavy with protest and patriotic questioning. Gaga, the pop star born Stefani Germanotta, has always married her music to a cause. She's been a staunch ally of the LGBT community and one of its musical favorites since "Just Dance" and its neon Eurodance beat blasted into pop culture in 2008. Her Born This Way Foundation has fought for tolerance and empowerment; she has spoken out for body positivity, against campus sexual assault, and was moved to tears last summer at a vigil for the 49 victims murdered in Orlando, Florida at the gay club Pulse. "We represent the compassion and the loyalty of millions of people ...

Lady Gaga’s Halftime Show Was A Patriotic Tribute To A Pluralistic And Pretty Queer America

... and spectacle of a greatest hits concert into under 15 minutes, perform it in a less-than-ideal venue to a viewership of millions, and then, for their efforts, almost certainly piss off some segment of the audience. There’s potential for ire in everything from not singing the right song to not being the right person. And in the temple to masculinist American nationalism that is the football stadium, the likelihood of political offense is particularly high. — Unapologetically LIT (@Hey Pariss) February 6, 2017. After Mother Monster safely landed in a Mad Max–esque set, things improved. We got to hear the best of Gaga’s anthems, including “Poker Face,” “Bad Romance,” “Just Dance,” and “Telephone”—notably sans Beyoncé cameo :(. The most overtly political moment of the show—if you can call singing the standard lyric of a 7-year-old chart-topper political—was “Born This Way,” with its explicit shoutout to LGBT people and the existence of various racial and ethnic identities. — NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2017. Political expectations aside, the show was unquestionably fun. Gaga—channeling Pink in full Cirque du Soleil mode —flew and ...