[DRAMA MAMA: Smack-talking Lady Gaga delivered a stellar five-song set and managed to pack in three costume changes.]

BY TAY YEK KEAK

AMERICAN pop star Lady Gaga proved to be a force to witness at her first Singapore showcase on Sunday.

The 23-year-old came across as an out-of-this-world super- blonde living doll (sometimes wearing giant Kim Jong Il shades), with a great arched back and even greater waxed legs.

She posed, preened and pranced around onstage in super- revealing outfits at The Dome in Merchant Loop for a crowd of around 1,500. The star, who has been compared to Madonna and who broke out in the United States just last year, was flown in to launch SingTel's AMPed, Singapore's newest mobile phone music-download service.

But to the crowd's pleasure, she also proved to be a smack-talking entertainer.

"I've been such a terrible b***h in not coming to see you (sooner)," Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, cooed to the crowd.

"Are you sexy?" she asked breathlessly at one point as the crowd cheered her on. "Are you dirty?"

Her comments punctuated a pulsating five-song set that included her electro-dance mega hits, Just Dance and Poker Face. The drama came from her Warhol-esque pop-art performance (complete with three outfit changes) and the way she held burlesque court.

She was Bjork's twisted sister as she sang Poker Face, dressed in a shimmering Ethel Merman -style corseted swimsuit and thigh-high sparkly platform boots.

Sitting at the keyboards, she launched into the crowd pleaser, turning it first into an acoustic number and showing off her truly stellar vocals before giving the audience the original, dance-driven version.

But to the crowd's delight, she got up onto her chair while playing the keys, standing up in her 5-inch heels to bend over and play (and thus perching her very toned butt high in the air).

In this weird position, she sang an entire verse of the song before she hopped off the chair.

One worried that she might topple over and break her nose if she fell.

That's the gall, humour and iconoclastic showiness the converted had gathered to see.

She changed into a yellow Barbarella-type outfit for Just Dance, and her jerky, stylised dance movements, together with the tiny skirt that would flounce up to almost show her nether regions, branded her firmly as a Strange Being From Planet Pantless.

She showed herself to be the frontrunner of glam popness (get in line, Adam Lambert), and yet she turned shameless cheerleader as she urged everybody to "sing, sing, sing along to sing, sing, Singapore".

You may apologise for not coming sooner, Lady Gaga, but really, who's complaining? We have been invaded and are thrilled to be part of your weird, grand design.

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