'Today' Goes Goo-Goo for Gaga

“Mommy, why is that lady dancing on stage in her bra?” might have been a common question in American households that were tuned in to NBC's “Today” show July 9.

The broadcast featured performances by and an interview with Lady Gaga, a pop star whose fashion sense is aimed at making eyes pop and jaws drop. For “Today,” Gaga donned a white bustier with “strategically placed” rhinestone crucifixes and skin tight white pants for her first two performances. The ensemble, which did not leave much for the imagination, was further impacted when rain started pouring at Rockefeller Plaza.

Lady Gaga's dancers were also dressed provocatively; female dancers wore tight white leotards.

Gaga's “Today” show performance would have been best suited for an evening concert in which the kiddos were left with grandparents or sitters. Many young children were present at the July 9 outdoor morning performance.

But “Today” did not seem to mind the tawdry costumes and suggestive dance moves.

Anchors reveled in the fact that the concert brought masses to Rockefeller Plaza. An estimated 18,000 attended Lady Gaga's concert, a record for the show's summer concert series.

“Rockefeller Plaza has never seen anything quite like this,” co-host Meredith Vieira said. “We knew we would have a big crowd for Lady Gaga but this is incredible.”

The gushing continued when co-host Ann Curry interviewed Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta. “It's been a wild two-and-a-half years for you. Have you even begun to absorb the fame?” Curry asked.

“No, I haven't, but I love and cherish my fans so much and I just want to say a huge thank you to all the television and radio and the underground clubs and the gay community for supporting me for the past three years and all the records that you guys have bought. I love you and I just cherish you,” Lady Gaga said.

Her interview was brief, but she still managed to squeeze in her gay agenda, and the family-friendly Today Show allowed it.

What they left out, however, was any mention of the numerous controversies surrounding Lady Gaga's music and public persona. Many of her songs focus on sexual fantasy and desires; the music video for her song “Love Game” was banned in Australia [1], perhaps because it showed lesbians kissing. The singer's sex-heavy lyrics are in contrast with some of her public statements, which seem to support abstinence [2].

In June, Gaga earned praise from many in the media for the video for “Alejandro,” which featured homoerotic, S&M and religious imagery in what some called “blasphemy.” [3]

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