Lady Gaga's 'Edge Of Glory' Video: Glory Days

E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons appears in the video pre-stroke.
By James Montgomery


Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty Images

Remember, for a while there, when everyone was complaining that Lady Gaga's videos had, perhaps, gotten too big, too arty, too obtuse? That maybe the hype surrounding each clip's premiere overshadowed the clip itself? Well, for the foreseeable future, those criticisms can be put to rest.

Because on Thursday (June 16), Gaga premiered her brand-new video for "The Edge of Glory," a piece that's a little bit Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach," a little bit Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and a whole lot of " '80s videos where someone dances on a fire escape while smoke pours from a well-lit window."

There is no hyperkinetic, women-in-prison kink, no odes to Weimar Germany and no birthing of a machine gun. Shoot, there's not even a single Christian allegory to be seen (OK, maybe one, when Gaga strikes a Christ-like pose on the concrete).

Instead, "Edge" is little more than five-and-a-half minutes of classic pop, brimming with imagery, style (and moves) that could've been lifted from millions of videos in the pop heyday of the 1980s. It is Gaga's free-spirited youth in New York's East Village, only reimagined on a Hollywood level (in another nod to the videos of yesteryear, it makes no attempt to hide the fact that it was clearly shot on a "New York"-styled backlot): She sashays and struts on a fire escape, descends to the perfectly foggy, still-wet streets of the city, and poses on the front steps of her apartment building, while none other than Clarence Clemons hits a note-perfect saxophone solo. It is a fantasy in every conceivable way, and if it reminds you of something you've seen before, well, that's because you probably did — not just in '80s vids, but in films like "Fame" and Broadway hits like "Rent," too — and chances are you loved it.

And while all the feel-good nostalgia is dampened a bit by the very of the moment drama surrounding the video (Clemons is currently recovering from a stroke he suffered over the weekend), "Edge of Glory" still manages to shine, mostly because of its simplicity. You wanted a straightforward, dance-till-you-drop, unabashedly-indebted video from Lady Gaga? Well, now you've got one. It's not a stretch to call it a classic, mostly because, well, it is — at least in its inspirations. And its aspirations too.

What did you think of the video? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665952/lady-gaga-edge-of-glory-video.jhtml

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Lady Gaga, Weird Al Find 'Happy Ending' After Parody Beef

'She's totally cool and she really likes the parody,' Al tells MTV News of 'Perform This Way.'
By Jocelyn Vena


Weird Al at the "Bad Teacher" premiere
Photo: Stephen Lovekin/ Getty Images

All is well between Lady Gaga and "Weird Al" Yankovic. After some initial drama over his parody of "Born This Way," Gaga eventually gave Al her stamp of approval.

When MTV News caught up with Weird Al on Monday night at the "Bad Teacher" premiere in New York City, he told us the pop star is actually of a fan of his track, "Perform This Way."

"Where we stand is my music video 'Perform This Way' world-premiered [Monday] and is doing quite well," he said. "My album comes out [today]," he said of Alpocalypse, which was released on Tuesday (June 21). "It all got resolved."

On the Gaga parody track, he sings, "Got my straight jacket today/ It's made of gold lamé/ No, not because I'm crazy/ I perform this way." Then he goes on to lampoon, among other topics, that famous MTV VMA meat dress: "I strap prime rib to my feet/ Cover myself with raw meat/ I'll bet you've never seen a skirt steak worn this way."

Initially, it seemed Gaga wasn't too pleased with the song's lyrics, but according to Al, she has come around. So, what exactly happened between Al and Mother Monster before things got straightened out?

"It was a big misunderstanding, miscommunication," he explained. "The bottom line is it's a happy ending. Lady Gaga approves it; she's totally cool and she really likes the parody."

In the brand-new video, Al portrays Gaga in some of her signature looks, from her Grammy egg to her bubble dress, but it wasn't easy to narrow down wardrobe for the clip.

"It's a challenge because she's got so many different looks," he said. "I mean, she's got such a bigger-than-life persona, so a big part of figuring out the video is figuring out how we're going to do two-dozen costumes in three minutes. On top of putting my head on a woman's body, that was difficult as well. So [making the video took] a lot of CG effects and wardrobe, basically."

Gaga isn't the only superstar lampooned on Alpocalypse. Al also has some fun with Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and T.I., to name a few. "It's very eclectic, it's very odd, which I guess you come to expect from a guy like me."

What do you think of Weird Al's "Perform This Way" video? Tell us in the comments!

Watch The "Perform This Way" Video Below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666137/weird-al-perform-this-way-lady-gaga.jhtml

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Latest Dish!

Lindsay Lohan -- The Rooftop Victory Celebration

Filed under: Lindsay Lohan, Celebrity Justice

Lindsay Lohan was so fired up about the way things went down at her pee test court hearing on Thursday, she celebrated on the roof with a HUGE smile on her face ... sans alcohol, of course. 
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We're told Lindsay's brother Michael Jr. (pictured above) and their sister Ali will be staying at the pad while Lindsay lives out her remaining days under house arrest. According to our sources, Lindsay will continue to spend her time cooking, reading, watching movies, and catching up on business.

As for drinking, even though Lindsay legally can ... we're told she won't.

It's safer that way.

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/25/lindsay-lohan-photo-court-hearing-probation-violation-jail-brother-roof-apartment/

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Rakim Calls His Longevity In Rap Game 'A Blessing'

'The MC's life span in the game is maybe seven years, 10 years, 12 years,' pioneering MC reflects to MTV News on 25th anniversary of Paid in Full.
By Rob Markman


Black Thought and Rakim
Photo: MTV News

In the 1980s, critics largely labeled hip-hop a passing fad, refusing to believe that the budding art form would grow into a respected genre. So for hip-hop pioneer Rakim, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his and DJ Eric B.'s 1987 debut album, Paid in Full, is rather humbling.

"It's a blessing to be in the game this long and to have your work recognized after 25 years," Rakim told MTV News on Wednesday from his dressing room after performing the first of two shows with the Roots at legendary New York jazz club the Blue Note.

Even though the RIAA's website lists Paid in Full's original release date as July 9, Rakim Allah celebrated early with Philadelphia's (and "Late Nate With Jimmy Fallon" house band) the Roots. Together they ran through select cuts from the groundbreaking album. Fans were treated to spirited renditions of PIF classics like "Eric B. Is President" and "I Ain't No Joke," as well as other favorites like 1992's "Juice (Know the Ledge)."

"It's a big thing," Rakim said of the occasion. "The MC's life span in the game is maybe seven years, 10 years, 12 years, so to be around and to get respect at this point is a blessing."

Roots rapper Black Thought can still remember the impact of Paid in Full and how "The R" changed things in hip-hop, particularly by introducing the teachings of the Five-Percent Nation to rap. Five Percenters, as the Nation's followers are called, brought a heightened sense of spirituality to the music with their ideologies based on many Islamic principles. "Pre-Paid in Full, you didn't hear too many records — there were MCs out there, I used to hear some types with MCs rapping about having knowledge of self and dealing with that type of spirituality — but before Rakim, like, pre-Paid in Full, it wasn't out there like that. It was very much still a rarity," Thought said.

Ra opened the door for Five-Percent MCs, most notably, the Wu-Tang Clan who based many of their songs on the Nation's teachings. But that wasn't all. With Paid in Full, Rakim is credited not only with introducing a more sophisticated vocabulary to hip-hop, but also more complex flows and rhythms and an interlaced rhyme structure.

"I'm not saying lyrics or rap was simple or simplistic before that," Black Thought said, "but the complexity of it, the musicality of it changed after Rakim came out."

Share your memories of Paid in Full in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666408/rakim-paid-in-full-anniversary.jhtml

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Lady Gaga's Meat Dress Stays Fresh At Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

It's 'definitely one of the stranger pieces' on display, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Jim Henke tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga at the 2010 VMAs
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ Getty Images

Oh, that meat dress! Nearly a year after Lady Gaga wore it at the MTV Video Music Awards, the costume made of various cuts of meat that designer Franc Fernandez and stylist Nicola Formichetti put together is still making headlines.

On Thursday (June 16), that dress will join the "Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power'' exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, where it will sit on display along with Gaga's childhood piano and Armani Prive orbit gown, which she wore to the 2011 Grammys, until February 2012.

"I was talking to Lady Gaga's managers, and this is probably around November [of last year], and basically talked about different things, and we talked about the meat dress and we thought it would be great to add it to the exhibit just because of all the notoriety it has, so that's basically how it came about," RRHOF chief curator Jim Henke told MTV News. "We thought the meat dress would really be cool."

So, how will the folks at the Rock Hall keep it fresh until it wraps up its stint there? "It's going to be in a case and we are putting some canisters in there to control the humidity, and then we have this other canister that soaks up the glutens," he explained. "But it's in a sealed case and we have the gels to control the environment in there."

However, it took some work to get it to the point where it can hang around the Rock Hall along with a number of other high-profile memorabilia without seeming super-gross. Henke explained, "We went back to Franc Fernandez ... ultimately what we decided to do, we sent it to a taxidermist, they put it into a meat locker and then we started working on it and created this [chemical] solution and treated it with that.

"And then they had a body form, and when it was still wet, they put it on the body form and then it dried on there," he continued. "And then they had to do a little bit of painting to bring it back and give it a little bit more color."

Gaga hasn't been shy about making the dress into jerky or wanting to have her extensive wardrobe in a museum, as she shared on "The Graham Norton Show." "I keep everything and dream of having a museum of all my clothes. I have an archive house for all my clothes," she said. "[The dress has] been jerked. It stank. It was fabulous. I never want to talk to anyone at those big celebrity functions because I feel awkward, and it was great — because it stunk, I didn't have to talk to anyone."

Having the dress in the exhibit is quite an honor and it's an interesting piece, but Henke notes this isn't the most bizarre exhibit at the RRHOF. "Definitely one of the stranger pieces," he laughed about the dress, adding, "There are some other weird things. We actually have [pioneering radio DJ] Alan Freed's ashes."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665885/lady-gaga-meat-dress.jhtml

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TMZ Live: Metta World Peace Didn't Tell Wifey!

Filed under: TMZ Live, TMZ Live Large

Ron Artest -- aka Mr. Metta World Peace -- stopped by TMZ Live today ... telling Harvey and Jason he kept his name change so secret, he never even told his wife.

And, Harvey will tell you why MTV is smart for giving the "Jersey Shore" cast the axe.

062311_tmzlive

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Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/24/tmz-live-ron-artest-name-change-metta-world-police-jersey-shore-mtv-lindsay-lohan-tea-alcohol-house-arrest/

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