Lady Gaga Breaks Airplay Record With “Bad Romance”

Becky Bain | January 19, 2010 3:10 pm

Lady Gaga is still recuperating after her bout with exhaustion, and has canceled even more appearances. But she’s got one reason to keep her gold-plated chin up: she broke yet another record. Already the first artist to snag the number one spot with her first five singles, Gaga just earned the distinction of having the biggest hit ever on pop radio stations. “Bad Romance” sets the record for most weekly plays ever in the 17-year history of Billboard’s Pop Songs radio airplay tally. Nerd out on her stats (and pick up a “Bad Romance” makeup tip!) below.

“Bad Romance” was played 10,859 times in the week of Jan. 11-17, which works out to 84 plays per station, or once every two hours. Gaga beat the previous record-holder, Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” which reached 10,665 plays back in May 2008.

Now those are some eye-popping numbers — so we thought we’d honor the occasion by explaining how to get those h-u-g-e eyes Gaga was rocking in the “Bad Romance” vid. Professional makeup artist Michelle Phan walks you through the steps to re-create the disturbing/cute anime look. It’s probably for the best we can’t see her freakish eyes on the radio.

Seems simple enough, but it’s harder than Phan lets on—big cartoon-y contact lenses are difficult to find, and even if you do find a place that sells them, it’ll cost ya. And good luck pulling off the trick if you’re unfamiliar with iMovie. All things considered, you might be better off biting a different (less time- consuming and more accessible) Gaga look—hey, there are plenty to choose from.

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