Lady Gaga's 'Judas' Video Is 'Groundbreaking,' Laurieann Gibson Says

'It's a phenomenal video: really powerful, really impactful,' creative director tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Vanessa WhiteWolf


Lady Gaga
Photo: Tom Briglia/ WireImage

Lady Gaga is ready to tell her version of the Bible in her "Judas" video, which recently wrapped production in L.A. MTV News caught up with the video's co-director and Gaga's creative director, Laurieann Gibson, to talk about the clip as well as her new E! show "The Dance Scene," debuting Sunday.

"I will tell you now, first off, I'm Christian, and my career is evidence of God in my life, and I think that most people are already thinking that Gaga and the blasphemy and they're premeditating the approach and I think they'll be very shocked to find out how huge and really groundbreaking the message is and how freeing the message is for all the right reasons," she said. "And it's really going to shock the world."

The cast includes some big-name cameos as well, including Norman Reedus as Judas. "He was so prolific," she declared of his performance, adding that the video is "badass" and that Gaga will play Mary Magdalene.

The two ladies took it upon themselves to make sure the video's direction was perfect — so they just decided to direct it themselves. "There was elements of 'Born This Way' during our collaboration [with director Nick Knight] and, as much as I loved it, there were moments where, for me, it didn't really evolve as I had inspired of the actual creative, which was still fine.

"But when we got to 'Judas,' it was very clear to me and the inspiration was very clear to her. We approached a director, but then the dates actually got messed up and it was conflicted and her manager and her looked at me [and asked me to direct it with her]."

Gibson said she took a moment before agreeing, as she had just wrapped up work on Lady Gaga's Monster Ball HBO special, premiering in May, but she "couldn't resist. It's a phenomenal video: really powerful, really impactful. She's such a strong, committed artist. Her loyalty to me is something I will be forever grateful for. We're spiritually connected. We need each other ... and 'Judas' is ultimately a representation of our true bond."

What are you expecting from the "Judas" video? Let us know in the comments!

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Lady Gaga Talks 'Judas' Single, Influence Of Alexander McQueen

'Right after he died, I wrote 'Born This Way,' she tells Harper's Bazaar of late designer.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga in the May 2011 issue of <i>Harper's Bazaar</i>
Photo: Harper's Bazaar

In Lady Gaga's latest Gagavision video, the singer opens up about the making of "Judas." In episode 42, fans learn that Gaga has been hard at work preparing for the highly anticipated release of Born This Way's second single, which drops April 19.

"I graphic-designed the 'Judas' single cover myself," she shares in the video. "I photographed the image with my cell phone for texture."

Gaga then sits in a Haus meeting, discussing the specifics of her album release. "I don't want the word 'deluxe' on the album," she stipulates to her team. "I hate that word." Scattered around Gaga are images, seemingly from something "Judas"-related. On one photo the word "Judas" is printed with a cross on it, looking like artwork that could have easily appeared in Baz Luhrmann's version of "Romeo and Juliet." More photos are also spread on the floor, one of which seems to be of Gaga, her hair long and blond.

Gaga also opens up about her May 23 album release in the new issue of Harper's Bazaar. She explains that she believes her friend the late Alexander McQueen has had a hand in helping her craft Born This Way and its chart-topping lead single of the same name.

"I think he planned the whole thing: Right after he died, I wrote 'Born This Way.' I think he's up in heaven with fashion strings in his hands, marionetting away, planning this whole thing," she said. That theory seemed to gain some momentum when her label moved up the release date of "BTW" to a date close to the anniversary of his death.

"When I heard that, I knew he planned the whole damn thing," she added. "I didn't even write the f---ing song. He did!"

She adds that fans should brace themselves for the album release. They've only been teased by what's in store. " 'Born This Way' is the marijuana to the heroin of the album," she said. "The [album's] experience gets massively more intense as you explore it. All the different songs are different kinds of highs."

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Soap Dish: Port Chuck Rocks!

This week?s Soap Dish is all about Port Chuck, the fabulous band featuring four of General Hospital?s hottest men. Their whirlwind tour begins today, sweet! You may know Scott Reeves, Steve Burton, Bradford Anderson and Brandon Barash as the gorgeous guys of GH but they have recently been showing fans that they are also very talented musicians. The boys have a band called Port Chuck which just released a CD and is kicking off a killer tour as we speak. I saw the guys on Extra and they rocked it! I knew that Scott and Brandon had musical talent but who knew that Steve and Bradford could get down as well, not me but so glad I checked them out. It is like a GH fan?s dream come true seeing these guys rock out together. When I first heard about the band I was kind of like ‘seriously’ but they sound really good. I am even going to buy their album as soon as I finish writing this article. They do mostly cover songs which is fine by me because they sound great. If you are interested in checking them out live they are on tour now but only for [...]

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Soap Dish: Port Chuck Rocks!

This week?s Soap Dish is all about Port Chuck, the fabulous band featuring four of General Hospital?s hottest men. Their whirlwind tour begins today, sweet! You may know Scott Reeves, Steve Burton, Bradford Anderson and Brandon Barash as the gorgeous guys of GH but they have recently been showing fans that they are also very talented musicians. The boys have a band called Port Chuck which just released a CD and is kicking off a killer tour as we speak. I saw the guys on Extra and they rocked it! I knew that Scott and Brandon had musical talent but who knew that Steve and Bradford could get down as well, not me but so glad I checked them out. It is like a GH fan?s dream come true seeing these guys rock out together. When I first heard about the band I was kind of like ‘seriously’ but they sound really good. I am even going to buy their album as soon as I finish writing this article. They do mostly cover songs which is fine by me because they sound great. If you are interested in checking them out live they are on tour now but only for [...]

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Rebecca Black's 'Friday' Beats Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga On YouTube

'Friday' has had 100 million views to date, with Black currently working on her second single, 'LOL.'
By Gil Kaufman


Rebecca Black in her video for "Friday"
Photo: Ark Music Factory

There was a minute there when Rebecca Black's "Friday" video was, almost literally, inescapable. Whether the success of the viral hit was being covered on such unlikely outlets as CNN or NPR, getting parodied on late-night television, or just bouncing around from Twitter accounts to e-mail in-boxes and music blogs, the tune by the previously unknown 13-year-old had the kind of white-hot media buzz usually reserved for a Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber.

Well, guess what? The little $2,000 pay-to-play ditty-that-could can now claim to have surpassed such major label juggernauts as Bieber and Gaga. According to a Reuters report, the no-budget clip for Black's song has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube since it was released on February 10, surpassing the totals for Gaga's "Born This Way" and Bieber's "Pray" videos, based on numbers provided by Visible Measures, a company that tracks the performance of Web videos.

Scratch that. If you count spoofs, other versions and home-brewed takes on the song, it's actually been seen more than 200 million times. Crunching the same numbers for "Born This Way," it has generated 180 million online views, while "Pray" has racked up 65 million.

It doesn't seem as though Gaga minds the competition from the Ark Music Factory product, as she reportedly referred to "Friday" as "genius" recently. Black told us she "freaked out" when she heard the compliment from Mother Monster. "I'm 13 and I never thought Lady Gaga would even know my name. I'm the kind of girl that dances to Lady Gaga with a hairbrush in her room at night," Black told MTV News in late March before she notched her YouTube record.

Black is reportedly at work on her second single, "LOL," though a release date for that song has not yet been announced.

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Meet 'Hanna' Star Saoirse Ronan

Meet 'Hanna' Star Saoirse Ronan

While other tween/teen actresses are taking the Disney high-speed monorail to success, 17-year-old Saoirse Ronan, star of the new action thriller Hanna, is letting her talent speak for itself -- one dramatic turn at a time.

You might remember the almond-eyed Ronan as Mark Wahlberg's haunted (and haunting) daughter in The Lovely Bones, or from her Oscar-nominated 2007 performance as Briony Tallis in Atonement. But with this latest high-visibility role -- opposite Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett no less -- Ronan should rise to the recognition level of Chloe Moretz and Dakota Fanning.

Hanna reunites Ronan with Atonement director Joe Wright, but the two roles couldn't be more different. "Every day, I would do two hour trainings in the gym -- weightlifting, treadmill, bench pressing, ab-crunching," Ronan told E! about the training regimen required for a would-be (big-screen) assassin.

Ronan's Lovely Bones director, Peter Jackson, may have even bigger plans for her. According to MTV, Ronan will likely play Itaril, an elf, in Jackson's highly-anticipated two-part Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. Transitioning to Middle-earth may not be so disorienting to Ronan, who was born in New York but has lived in Ireland since she was was 3.

Ronan, who pronounces her first name "Ser-sha," will appear in two more 2011 films: Violet & Daisy, playing another, less seasoned and considerably ditzier, hired killer alongside Alexis Bledel; and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, based on an award-winning young adult historical fiction novel.

Like fellow butt-kicker Moretz, Ronan has established the kind of hard-earned credibility that doesn't come from clever youth marketing or a hit record -- but rather from consistent quality work. And more power to her -- as if this talented teen needed any more of that!

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