If you’re going to be a culture vulture you’re going to get tired. It’s an occupational hazard. Seasons are long, the same people promote the same projects forever so you feel like they don’t give you a chance to miss them…and you get jaded. Or I do. I roll my eyes. I feel like it’s impossible to be surprised.
I am usually right. Not always.
Lady Gaga singing in tribute to Julie Andrews was a revelation. She sang The Sound Of Music with such precision and attention to exactly the way Fraulein Maria had swished her skirt for all those years, but still with her own joy and lyricism – she didn’t sound like a robot.
What she did sound like was Julie Andrews. It was incredible! Even Julie Andrews thought so, you could tell. So, big ups to Lady Gaga, who has finally stopped hiding her talent under gimmickry (as opposed to the rest of Hollywood who hide their lack of talent there instead). As Dylan and I discussed last night, it’s not like Tony Bennett would be seen performing with her if she weren’t the real deal. And I’m sure Julie Andrews gets a say in who gets to honor the work she did.
So, okay, everyone has a new perspective on Lady Gaga, maybe?
….Except perhaps for Shonda Rhimes who thought, via Twitter, that:
That was not okay. I mean, Idina is there. She is right there. RIGHT THERE. And oh dear God, Julie had to hear that. #Oscars2015
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) February 23, 2015
!!!!!!
As you may know, Shonda rules Twitter, so I was surprised that everyone who replied had some version of, “What? Did you listen to the actual singing?”
Inexplicable showrunner enemy aside, I felt that Ms. Gaga acquitted herself quite well. Also, Julie Andrews was pleased, and when you can please Mary Poppins, you’re well prepared for the rest of your life. When did I become Lady Gaga’s cheerleader?
