Bette Midler is joining the long line of celebrities who are being ticked off by Lady GaGa stealing their bits or entire acts. Last weekend, Lady GaGa rolled out onto an Australian stage in a wheelchair dressed as a mermaid. Hmm, sound familiar. No, it was not that furry porn you were watching last week it was Bette Midler who has been doing the same thing forever. It is such a unique thing to Bette that I am shocked Lady GaGa thought she could get away with doing it. No credit to Bette either, it was just lady doing what she does best, stealing the ideas others have come up with before.
Bette said, "Dear @ladygaga if you think a mermaid in a wheelchair seems familiar-it's because it is! You can see it on youtube 24/7-with ME performing it ...
I've been doing singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980-You can keep the meat dress and the firecracker t*ts - mermaid's mine."
Delores DeLago "De Tits from Chicago"
ReplyDeleteOne of Midler's best.
It's a shame she was forced to tone her act down for Disney.
Go Bette!
ReplyDeleteI like Lady Gaga but
ReplyDeleteto steal from Bette freaking Midler without at least SOME recognition is jacked up.
Good for Bette's sassy ass for tweeting that!
I LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteIt has been happening for a while now, swagga jacking as they call it. Beyonce, Rihanna, JLo, Lady Gaga, they all do it. So sad no one is original anymore.
You do not fool with Bette.
ReplyDeletesomeone is getting sloppy.
That's assuming she's heard of it. Granted it is an obscure thing but there's always a slight chance. Or whatever.
ReplyDeleteMeh, I think it was more of an obvious homage. They've already kissed and made up. No story here.
ReplyDeleteI love that Bette got a little "twittery" about it. But, seriously if Lady Gaga is not ripping somebody off (Madonna most of the time) she has got nothing. I don't predict a long career here.
ReplyDeletei'm with RQ on this one. and as for not giving the divine Miss M credit, how should she have done that exactly? by saying it right from stage? i guess she could have...
ReplyDeleteThat's no f*cking coincidence. Lady Gaga doesn't have an original bone in her body and steals flamboyantly and without giving a damn.
ReplyDeleteI love Bette, she came up the hardway starting in the bath houses in New York...
ReplyDeleteShe's one of a kind, and when she borrowed she gave credit, a perfect example is The Andrews Sisters...
Aren't "firecracker" tits Katy Perry's thing?
ReplyDeleteyes, I am tired of lady gaga acting as if she invented stage performance. people say that she is madonna with a better voice, but I don't think so. gaga is just repackaging everybody else. she has lots of talent, but she is not original. madonna was original in her time.
ReplyDeletebeyonce and rhianna have talent, even if they do rip others off, which they do, but not all of the time.
jlo on the other hand, has zero talent. can't sing, can't act, can't dance very well. my friend went to high school w/her in the bronx. jlo was not poor, both her parents were teachers. she was alot better off than most people in her (cough) 'hood. she is totally fake.
Maybe Lady Gaga isn't all that original (who is anymore, really?), but she can really sing, and I love how theatrical she is. When I heard about this I thought that she must be paying homage to one of the best...I hope that's what it was. I wouldn't fuck with Bette Midler! *L*
ReplyDeleteI thought Bette was being kind of b*tchy about it.
ReplyDeleteI really really liked her first single "Just Dance"....and then after that she lost me. Now I just wish she would go away. When I first read the article about how people were offended by her mermaid in a wheelchair...I was like...HEY, Bette did it first you slag!! Done with her blatant thievery.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason she kissed and made up is because she didn't want to upset the monsters (I would call them loonies) that were probably calling her every name in the book on twitter. Say a bad thing about her and they will jump your throat, just like Bieber's fans. But she steals from everyone and no one can say a thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd kudos for Bette for calling her on it, just like Gracie Jones did it.
I am so over this trick. (Gaga, not Bette) OK, you're weird, we get it. And it's not shocking when we expect you to be shocking. Bored of you.
ReplyDeleteBette is the Woman for calling her out on it. I'm not a big Gaga fan, but she did sound good on Howard Stern yesterday.
ReplyDeleteNo one has to like her, but I'm with Maja. The woman has obvious talent and pipes, and was writing songs long before she began performing herself. And she did it all herself. I will always respect her work ethic and dammit, I like her tunes.
ReplyDeleteI just think it's funny what she's actually fighting over. Not the principle but the actual mermaid in a wheelchair? REALLY? *Snicker*
ReplyDeleteI'm with Maja and Rocket Queen. It's 2011, pop music has been around awhile, how original can anyone be? She sticks to her thing, she writes, sings and dances and she loves to put on a show. That's great when talent can back it up. I don't like all her songs but I respect her as an artist. And anyone that argues with her gets some publicity.
ReplyDeleteNext she'll be doing that fake arrow through the head gag that Steve Martin did in the late 70's. How many of her little monsters were around to see that?
ReplyDeleteI read a few stories that claimed Lady Gaga stole her act from a girl she collaborated with on songwriting, who died from a drug overdose. That girl was all costumes and big show, and the story was that Gaga never did it before they worked together. That said, sometimes people change. I'll try to find a link.
ReplyDeleteLook, I like Gaga too, as I've mentioned. BUT to let her slide for taking other artists creative shit and cite your reasoning as pop being around for awhile and nothing is left to be original, is wrong.
ReplyDeletePeople, for several centuries, have continued to write original classical works and yet Im to believe that pop, which has been around barely more than half a century, is so finished that all new artists can do is piece together a hodge podge of material to work with? Please. Yes, I do believe she has greats pipes, yes she seems to have a good work ethic, and yes I dig her music. But I am sorta sick of her posturing about making these grandiose statements that she is turning music on its head and birthing out a new form of music or whatever bullshit she claims. AND her fans fawning all over her and acting like she invented pop are stupid. Lets just call her a good artist that is really a pieced together David Bowie/ Madonna hybrid and leave it at that.
@Jasmine, I couldn't have said it better!
ReplyDeleteWhat was she supposed to do? Work in "This is an homage to Bette Midler" in her lyrics? Or should she have had a disembodied voice give a disclaimer before she rolled out onstage? Does anybody who performs in a blonde wig & white flowy dress have to give credit to Marilyn every single time? Would Marilyn be gettin' her granny panties in a twist on Twitter if she were still alive?
ReplyDeleteWhatever.
I'm glad Bette called her out. I saw Bette perform at the Paramount in Seattle in the 80s and she can not be beat.
ReplyDeletePale pale imitation GaGa.
Try getting creative instead of high.
exactly, chopchop. All those Madonna fans seem to forget that she ripped her schtick off Marilyn heavily in her early days.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, this just strikes me as paying homage to Bette, not trying to rip her off.
ReplyDeleteLol @ annabelle9 & ChasingHeaven: Does JLo irritate you that much? You don't even know her, neither have you ever possibly had a conversation with her!
ReplyDeleteThat's really sad.
@ annabella9: By your comment we would think that you actually can act, sing or dance to determine whether a dancer, actress and songstress can do her job. LOL. You sound very bitter and dare i say jealous.
Also, having parents as teachers, even in the Bronx, doesn't mean that you have it easier at becoming successful and multimillionaire. It's pretty obvious and commonsensical.
@ChasingHeaven: What's up with the profile pic?
Of alll of JLo's pictures you decided to choose this one, which is your right. However, such a display of dislike and mockery of someone does not do much good to rallying support for the noble charitable cause you are defending.
This is a blog, but every actions and words have consequences.
*action and word*
ReplyDeleteyou're bitching people out for their profile pictures????
ReplyDeleteFirecracker tits is actually a bit from Marlowe's theatrical work in the 1590s, isn't it? Doctor Faustus, I believe. I remember the woodcuts accompanying an early Faustus text.
ReplyDeleteum, bette shouldn't have stolen that idea in the first place!!!!!!!!! that mermaid in a wheelchair bit is ripped straight off of a movie from the '50s called 'miranda' starring glynis johns!!!!!
ReplyDeletehypocrite!!
@Report -
ReplyDeleteWe don't have to know celebs to criticize them. J.Ho is a public figure - we can critique her talent because that's what she's selling. Same with Gaga. And Beyonce. They're talented, they have drive... But man, they rip-off other artists so often it's not even funny.
http://gothamist.com/2010/09/09/did_lady_gaga_cop_her_style_from_he.php
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to Gaga's copycat of dead friend story.