Like most of her live, recorded, or otherwise heavily-produced efforts, Lady Gaga‘s performance on American Idol was highly anticipated by her monster-clawing public. Showcasing new single “Alejandro” with a partial piano rendition of “Bad Romance”, Gaga gave home viewers and the live audience her all, complete with bare-footed dancers, a flesh-baring fishnet ensemble and a burning angel. Interestingly her efforts have simultaneously made her one of the most respected and most scrutinized artists of the decade, and although she’s been on tour for the better part of the last year, she shows no sign of slowing down this year or the next. And why should she? What good is there in snuffing out a brilliantly burning fire – especially if it will burn you if you try?
Apparently FOX edited her six-and-a-half minute performance down to just under five minutes, we assume for time constraints to fit within the allotted time slot (view here). Gaga was not pleased, taking to her official Twitter account to vent (succinctly) her frustrations and link to the full-length version, found at PerezHilton.com:
http://bit.ly/apyBrH FOX POORLY + AMATEURLY edited+cut my performance/musical arrangement on idol. Watch real version. http://bit.ly/apyBrH
11:36 AM May 6th via OpenBeakhttp://bit.ly/apyBrH here’s my full american idol performance ALEJANDRO. Fox chopped up my performance in 4 places. Real version on itunes.
7:50 AM May 6th via OpenBeak
Having viewed both versions, it appears that the only edit was to the piano rendition of “Bad Romance” some fleshy bits, but not much else. While it’s safe to say that Gaga had every right to feel that her brand of art was slighted for what meticulous work she puts into it, sometimes television constraints are purely time- and therefore money-oriented, not a personal stab in the back. If this were an issue of her perhaps paying for the minute and a half that was cut off, only then would her comments be justified. We love you, Gaga, and enjoy watching you writhe onstage as much as the next person, but if this upset over issues of time, how pissed will you be when an overture cuts you off during an awards acceptance speech?