by Jenna Holl

Lady GaGa shocked the world last year in 2010 when she attended the MTV VMA’s dressed in an outfit created entirely of meat. But this year she had an even bigger surprise waiting for us. Everyone was anticipating what bizarre outfit she would be wearing for the award ceremony and she didn’t disappoint. Jaws dropped as she attended the ceremony as her whiskey drinking, chain smoking, drag king alter ego, GaGa was fully committed to playing the role of Calderone as she opened up the VMA’s with her brand new single ‘You and I’ still in character. She even stayed in character throughout the whole night, collecting awards and taking interviews.

However, when she participated in interviews, she didn’t answer questions as GaGa, she responded to the questions from Jo’s perspective. Calderone claimed that Lady GaGa was his girlfriend and insisted to the crowd that Lady GaGa couldn’t make it to the awards so it was his job to fill in for her. He also made a statement that he thought Britney Spears was ‘hot’, and whilst on stage with her, tried to make a move on her, but Britney declined the offer.

Many people were confused by her decision to take on this character and take it seriously. Some critics say Gaga went too far with her drag routine “GaGa’s shtick wore out its welcome in the first two minutes. In her effort to be original and run away from the cube-hat-wearing copycats, like Katy Perry, I think she might have pushed the audience too far,” said television and music producer Edward Paige.

Despite the criticism, GaGa’s fans stayed loyal to her and supported her decision. Lots of people applauded Lady GaGa for sending out a strong message regarding sexuality choices. Murray Hill, a popular drag-king comedian in New York City said “There is barely any visibility for FTM, drag kings and lesbians on television. There is a huge imbalance.” He added “For Lady Gaga, the biggest pop star in the world, to go on TV with millions of people watching in drag as a man and then to actually say ‘lesbian and transgender’ live is undeniably powerful and creates change. She ups the visibility big time and gets the language into the mainstream.”

As usual, GaGa never fails to be the centre of attention and gets everyone talking about her. I wonder what her next stunt will be. Only time will tell…