Madonna Vs. Lady Gaga: Who Gave The Best Oscars Musical Performance?
Even though it appears that Madonna and Lady Gaga don’t have a beef with each other anymore, their fans still do. If you go to any article about Madonna or Lady Gaga, the fans battle it out in a rather cruel way.
Well, now it’s time to battle it out again, but it should all be in fun. Both artists gave what are considered spectacular and classic Oscars musical performance. In 1991, Madonna blew away audiences with her near-perfect version of “Sooner or Later” from Dick Tracy, which went on to win Best Original Song. In 2015, Lady Gaga shocked audiences with what is considered a groundbreaking Sound of Music tribute. Let’s take a closer look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVV6rrY0Ow
Unlike Lady Gaga, who had recently had a career setback with her poorly received and poorly selling ARTPOP, Madonna was at the peak of her career in 1991. She had just released The Immaculate Collection, which would go on to become one of the top greatest hit albums in all of history.
It was believed that the performance started out with technical difficulties and Madonna can be seen a little nervous. However, she ended up blowing the audience away with her Dick Tracy hit. That Grape Juice describes why the performance was so iconic.
“Despite being known mostly for racy on air antics and questionable vocal skills prior, the showing saw the diva belting and sustaining notes with a passion and control rarely demonstrated in her previous hits. Minus her normal troop of dancers, Madge stood center stage with a microphone and mink sole and stole the show (despite her nerves getting the best of her in parts).”
Billboard also praised Madonna’s performance. They noted that even though Billy Crystal introduced it as the NC-17 portion of the show, the performance wasn’t as risqué as some of Madonna’s other award show performances at the time. They said that Madonna’s performance brought us back to the glamorous days of old Hollywood.
Speaking of old Hollywood, Lady Gaga recreated Julie Andrews with a medley of songs from The Sound of Music in 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXS1cpSwwbQ
It was a spectacular moment in Lady Gaga’s career; it made people realize that she could actually sing. Of course, Gaga has shown her power pipes since before her first album, but this is the time she really hammered in how well she could sing. Billboard describes Lady Gaga’s performance as a winning moment for Gaga and the Oscars.
“Her medley of songs to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music during last year’s show. It earned her a standing ovation in the room (and likely in many living rooms across the country), as well as an embrace from a clearly touched Julie Andrews, who took the stage immediately following the number. Dame Andrews later told Billboard she thought the performance was stunningly good.”
One of the few critics of Lady Gaga’s performance was Stephen Sondheim, who, ironically, wrote Madonna’s Oscar-winning “Sooner or Later.” According to People, Mr. Sondheim thought Lady Gaga was a travesty and that she had absolutely no relationship to what she was singing. Many in the comments section after the article disagreed with him.
So, who’s the winner? That’s subjective. Objectively, the “Sooner or Later” performance is a cornerstone in Madonna’s career and the Sound of Music medley is a cornerstone in Lady Gaga’s career. Which performance do you like the best — Madonna’s or Lady Gaga’s? Let us know in the comments section.
[Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
