Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Watch The Making Of Lady Gaga’s Grammy Tribute To David Bowie



Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie was a beautiful moment at the 2016 Grammy Awards. But behind that, there was a lot of work to bring us an unforgettable performance.



Watch the making of Lady Gaga’s iconic 58th Grammy performance:



Monday, February 15, 2016

The Technology Behind Lady Gaga's Tribute To David Bowie


Lady Gaga's breathtaking tribute to David Bowie at this year's Grammy Awards counted on Intel's technology. Vanity Fair published an article giving us more details on this partnership. 


"Holograms may seem like a bold new frontier for the entertainment industry. But for Lady Gaga, the envelope-pushing performer in all things audio-visual, holograms are already passé. Hence her mind-bending Grammys homage to David Bowie on Monday night, which paid tribute to various phases of the icon’s five-decade career, courtesy of Intel computer graphics, interactive video, and robotics. Given that Bowie passed away only a month ago, though, how the hell did Gaga pull together such a feat in a matter of weeks?

“Lady Gaga had been speaking to Intel as early as September, brainstorming ways in which she could use technology to express herself in a way that had never been done before,” explained Paul Tapp, Intel’s director of technology, by phone last week. “She’s an amazing dancer and she really pushes boundaries with fashion. She said, ‘Help me to go beyond these standard constraints.’” So, this past fall, a team of engineers began working on the technology that Gaga envisioned using. But when Bowie passed in early January, Gaga began re-imagining her multi-media performance as a tribute to the icon.

“Bowie had tons of iconic looks throughout his very rich career,” Tapp said, “so Lady Gaga was curious how we could pay an homage to that. We introduced ‘living canvas’ technology to her, which allows her to basically have what we call digital skin—which has been used in tech art installations, but never before for a live performance.” The digital skin is projected onto Gaga as she performs so that it looks like her “makeup” is changing instantaneously throughout her six-song performance.

To create the makeup animation—essentially C.G.I. done live—Intel’s team created a 3-D scan of Gaga’s face by capturing her in about 12 different poses with complex scanning technology. The team then created 3-D motion graphics based on Gaga’s facial measurements and the Bowie looks she wanted to replicate.

During the performance, those graphics—essentially “replacement skin”—are projected onto her face live, like a mask, thanks to real-time face-tracking. (Five infrared-sensing cameras pick up on infrared markers placed discreetly on Gaga’s face.)

“Once we’ve got the tracking in place, those cameras and markers are telling the computer exactly what angle and rotation and axis her face is and her facial expressions,” explained Tapp. “Are her eyes opened or closed? Is her mouth happy or sad? Are her cheeks up or down? We have to track all of that with very intricate detail and then in real time we have to adjust that digital makeup that we’ve computer generated, get it sorted according to how her facial position is, and project it exactly to the right place at the right time.”

Viewers have probably seen this technology before,” added Teresa Herd, Intel’s V.P. of global marketing, “but it’s all been a special effect done after a film is shot. This is done in real time—it’s literally changing and morphing right in front of your eyes.”




But the face-mapping projection is only one technological component Gaga incorporated into her Grammys segment. “She wanted to do a lot with space,” said Tapp. “She loves the cosmos. There’s obviously a lot of inherent beauty in the heavens, but it was more than that. She loves the kind of gravity and motion aspects of space as well. With computer graphics, you’re able to get some very rich, very photo-realistic, amazing looks, but we wanted to take that one step further and make those graphics respond to her. It’s not necessarily pre-rendered content. It’s content that actually reacts to how she’s moving onstage. Further more, we were able to project that content on to some very special materials, which make it appear like she’s hovering in space.”

Engineers also created a special accessory to give (or appear to give) her magical powers onstage. A bespoke ring tricked out with Intel Curie technology and holographic materials, Gaga’s ring allowed her to have real-time control of the stage, an L.E.D. wall, and the environment around her including a three-dimensional hologram of Bowie himself.

“The Curie ring gives her powers beyond her body and you’ll see that incorporated into this space, like a theme where stars and black holes all kind of come together under her control. We expect it to look very dramatic.”

The technology created for Gaga’s performance was so impressive and intricate that Tapp and Herd did not even reveal that robotic arms would appear onstage to move a grand piano until 35 minutes into a 40-minute conversation, almost as an afterthought.

“We’ve really tried to integrate robotics in a beautiful way creatively, and these are a rose gold,” said Tapp. It’s almost like an animate creature to some degree. We capitalized on that to do some unexpected motion effects with it live.”

In a statement issued seconds after Gaga’s performance, the pop star spoke about bridging music and technology at the Grammys. “I like to do things that integrate technology and art with powerful experiences,” she said. “I think that this collaboration with Intel has been very different than anything I have done before. They have really given me so much amazing technology to play with.”

Intel has a two-year contract with the Grammys, and will return with another technology-heavy performance next year."




Lady Gaga Pays Tribute To David Bowie At The 2016 Grammy Awards


Lady Gaga, in a partnership with Intel (read about the technology here), paid an amazing tribute to David Bowie, who passed away last month.
The performance happened at the 58th Grammy Awards and it was one of the most anticipated moments of the night. Nile Rodgers, who was friends with Bowie, was the musical director and performed alongside Gaga.


Watch the nearly 7-minute David Bowie tribute by Lady Gaga:




What are your thoughts on this performance? Comment below.



Sunday, February 14, 2016

Lady Gaga Gets A New Tattoo Honoring David Bowie



Lady Gaga got a new tattoo this weekend. She went to Mark Mahoney's tattoo studio in Hollywood and got a David Bowie tattoo. Gaga is a huge fan of Bowie and is very inspired by his work. “He’s sort of like an alien prince. He still runs my universe as well — like, every morning I wake up and I think, ’What would Bowie do?'” Lady Gaga told Alan Carr in 2013.

Gaga snapchated all the process of her new tattoo. Watch below:





Lady Gaga on Snapchat: "Mark Mahoney"
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016




Lady Gaga on Snapchat.
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016




Lady Gaga on Snapchat.
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016




Lady Gaga on Snapchat.
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016




Lady Gaga on Snapchat: "And it begins"
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016




Lady Gaga on Snapchat.
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016





Lady Gaga on Snapchat.
Posted by Lady Gaga And Little Monsters on Sunday, February 14, 2016












Did you like the new tattoo? Comment your thoughts below.



Don't forget: Lady Gaga will perform a special tribute to David Bowie at the 58th #GRAMMYs LIVE on CBS Feb. 15.








Thursday, February 4, 2016

Lady Gaga Will Be Honored At The Grammy Museum


Lady Gaga will receive the Artist Award and perform at the Grammy Museum's 2016 Awards on April 4 in Beverly Hills.
The information is from The Hollywood Reporter.

"Six-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga can update her résumé with yet another honor: the recent Golden Globe winner will receive the Jane Ortner Artist Award at the Grammy Museum's 2016 Jane Ortner Education Award Luncheon on April 4 at Ron Burkle's Green Acres home in Beverly Hills. 

At the luncheon, Gaga will not only receive the honor — doled out to a performer who has demonstrated passion and dedication to education through the arts — but she will also sing, as will nine-time Grammy winner and Oscar winner John Legend, who received the Grammy Museum's inaugural Jane Ortner Artist Award. Gaga is currently nominated for an Oscar with Diane Warren for their collaboration on "Til It Happens to You."

"The enormous impact Lady Gaga has had on artists and fans began with a strong educational foundation," Bob Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum, said in a statement. "Her career trajectory, marked by extraordinary talent and creativity, is one of the most inspiring stories in music." "






Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Lady Gaga And Intel Partner Up In A Mysterious Project




A partnership with Intel and Lady Gaga was announced today.

"As Intel technology continues to inspire people to create, invent and explore, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced a multiyear partnership with The Recording Academy® as part of its official "Next Generation of GRAMMY® Moments" to bring technological innovation to the program so people can see, engage and be amazed by the evolution of technology in music. The first artist to collaborate with Intel to create a unique musical experience - will be six-time GRAMMY®-winning global music icon Lady Gaga."

"Six-time GRAMMY®-winning global music icon Lady Gaga announced today her first collaboration with Intel, in association with Intel's announcement of a multiyear partnership between Intel and The Recording Academy® as part of the official "Next Generation of GRAMMY® Moments" program that will launch during Grammy week February 2016. Lady Gaga commented: "Intel has enlisted Haus of Gaga to work together on a project that will showcase technology through creativity at the highest level. The partnership culminates in a ground-breaking collaboration that inspires to remind the world of the seed of innovation." While Lady Gaga will not perform new material as part of the program, she promises to deliver an experience not to be forgotten."




Watch the announcement video:








Source: Business Wire



Saturday, January 2, 2016

Lorde Praises Lady Gaga's 2009 Perfomance





Singer and songwriter Lorde was all about compliments towards Lady Gaga today on Twitter.



Check out her tweets about Gaga's 2009 performance in 'Radio 1's Live Lounge':










Watch Lady Gaga's cover of 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay: