Lady Gaga Has A Monster’s Ball In HBO Special

Idolator Staff | May 7, 2011 11:00 pm

Lady Gaga may feel “like a loser” backstage at Madison Square Garden, but when she steps on stage for her HBO special, she is the ringleader of her own circus — in complete control of her little monsters, whether she’s battling an oversize “fame monster”, rocking the “Bad Romance” dance in a mirrored minidress or shouting out fans like… Liza Minelli. Gaga pulled no punches, and HBO didn’t pull many either, showing the pop queen in the raw anarchy of a live show, including rushed costume changes. Watch one of the HBO special’s highlights, a rousing acapella version of “Born This Way” — and hear more about the show — below.

The special, recorded well before she debuted “Americano” live at the tour’s Mexico City stop, was such a draw that even boxer Floyd Mayweather promised to tune in (instead of watching the evening’s marquee match between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley). Hayley Williams approved too. We hope they watched till the end to catch this:

As PopCrush noted, “Gaga kicked NYC’s a— with her six inch stilettos and then some.” (We can back that up — we were there, remember?) Gaga may still wonder how it all happened, but no one who watches Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour: Madison Square Garden possibly could. Gaga acquits herelf beautifully, showing off the true power of her pipes (after declaring that she does not and will never lip-sync) and leading her faithful straight to pop salvation.

While Gaga clearly appeared energized by the hometown crowd — who are paws up for the duration of the two-hour show — she reveals what may be the real secret of her success just before she launches into “Paparazzi”: even “when the turns its back on you, you always have yourself.”

What did you think of her performance?