Midler/Gaga Drama

Here's what I have to say about Bette Midler's recent tweet addressed to Lady Gaga concerning her Sydney Monster Hall...



The whole show looked great, but skip to 1:40 for the mermaid look.


Here's Bette Midler's response on twitter:

I'm not sure @ladygaga knows that I've performed my mermaid in a wheelchair for millions of people -- and many of them are still alive..... 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
Ive been doing singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980-You can keep the meat dress and the firecracker tits-mermaid's mine.

It's true!  Bette Midler did do a show back in the '80s that was entirely based around a singing, dancing mermaid in a wheelchair.  Check this out... 

I definitely think the Midler version was a lot more complete.  Gaga has yet to expound on the significance of Yuyi the mermaid, though she has made some tweets of late alluding to Yuyi in the next music video.  (I predict the single is going to be "You and I")  So in a way, her performance in Sydney really was really spontaneous and many on the outside could see that as a copy of Bette Midler's work.

However, looking back on the history of Gaga, you will see that both wheelchairs and mermaids have been repeated elements in Gaga's work.  You've got the wheelchair theme in Paparazzi, and Yuyi the mermaid has showed up (sans wheelchair) in her performance at Le Grand Journal.  So it would only make sense for them to be put together.

Gaga responded to Bette Midler's remarks very professionally.  It turns out she had no idea that Midler even HAD a mermaid act.  "I had no idea that she did that, and I'm a huge Bette Midler fan...  It wasn't [originally a tribute to Midler] cuz I didn't know that she'd done it, but I do now, and I think it's great...  Maybe we're just cut from the same cloth.  I obtusely admire her."  (See the whole interview about Midler here.)

Crisis has been averted.  Bette Midler's most recent tweet was as follows...

 @ladygaga, let's drink this over at the Emmys in September. Fabulous mermaids can coexist!

I think they're both "fin-tastic" performers!!

Listening to:  "New York, New York" as sung by Delores DeLago
Things Going On:  I go to Jensen's with a friend, last day in Minnesota
Blessings:  The internet.  My hair.
Learned:  Lady Gaga's grandmother only had intimate relationships with one man:  Her Husband.