Lady Gaga's 'Simpsons' Turn, Tour Controversy Spark Billboard Chart Gain

Lady Gaga rises makes a big jump back into the top 10 of Billboard's Social 50 chart (climbing 14-5) thanks to the momentum generated by her guest appearance on Fox TV's "The Simpsons" (May 20).

The Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, using a formula that blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays.

The new "Simpsons" episode, titled "Lisa Goes Gaga" featured many of the pop star's signature outfits and the debut of a new original song, "You're All My Little Monsters."

However, it was controversy surrounding Gaga's most recent tour dates on her Born This Way Ball tour in the Philippines and Indonesia that became the focal point for online activity pertaining to Gaga towards the end of the charting week. Protests greeted her upon arrival in Manila, Philippines May 19 from young Christian groups deeming Gaga's music and image to be offensive.

According to CNN, she has offended thousands of Christian Filipinos because of the lyrical content of songs like "Judas," where she sings "I'm in love with Judas / Jesus is my virtue and Judas is the demon I cling to."

Similar protests have already taken place by Muslim organizations in Indonesia, where it is still unknown whether or not she will perform her scheduled date on June 3.

She took to Twitter on May 22, tweeting "The Jakarta situation is 2-fold: Indonesian authorities demand I censor the show & religious extremist separately, are threatening violence. If the show does go on as scheduled, I will perform the BTWBall alone."

On the Social 50 chart this week, Gaga experienced a 42% increase in fan acquisition, breaking down into 302,832 new fans on Facebook and a 331,318 jump in followers on Twitter.

Beyonce also climbed the ranks of the Social 50, rising 39-19 due to buzz building around her first appearance on-stage since the birth of her daughter Blue Ivy Carter. The show, which will take place on May 25, is part of a series of concerts at Revel in Atlantic City over Memorial day weekend.

The concerts were promoted with a "Good Morning America" BeyHive Costume Party in Times Square, where registered fans were asked to show off their best black and gold/yellow Beyonce-inspired outfits. A 33% increase in her overall fanbase was led by a 313,147 increase in Facebook fans for the charting week.

Billboard Music Awards' performer Chris Brown experienced a jump as well, moving 21-14 after releasing the single "Don't Wake Me Up" on May 12. David Guetta's Social 50 standing also benefitted (12-9) from the release of "Don't Wake Me Up" -- but for an entirely different reason.

It was reported that Guetta had produced the track because an early release of it on YouTube was labeled as such. As it turns out, he didn't have anything to do with the song. Guetta took to Facebook and Twitter to address the mix-up, simply stating "I'm credited for 'Don't Wake Me Up' on YouTube but I did not produce this record. Best to CB!"

Elsewhere on the Social 50, Rihanna escalated to the No. 1 spot (from No. 4) as her film debut, "Battleship," came out Friday May 18. Adele and Skrillex held fast at Nos. 2 and No. 3 respectively, as social king Bieber tumbled 1-4 in the wake of Rihanna's rise. One Direction falls 5-8 as Nicki Minaj (No. 6) and Katy Perry (No. 7) maintain their rankings from last week. Lastly, Jennifer Lopez winds down 8-10.

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Korean Christians aim to stop Lady Gaga's "pornographic" show

Christians attend a prayer meeting against the concert of U.S. singer Lady Gaga, in front of the Olympic stadium in Seoul April 27, 2012. Christian groups called for a boycott of her show, which they say promotes homosexuality.

Credit: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL | Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:24pm EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - Christian groups in South Korea called on Friday for pop icon Lady Gaga to cancel her concert here saying it was "pornographic" and promoted homosexuality.

South Korea's government has already bowed to public pressure and banned under-18s from attending the 26-year old's concert, but protesters gathered outside the venue said that was not enough.

"Some people can accept this as another culture but its impact is huge beyond art and debases religions. Even adults can't see her performance which is too homosexual and pornographic," said Yoon Jung-hoon, a reverend who organized the "Civilians Network against the Lady Gaga Concert".

The singer's hit song "Born This Way" celebrates the empowerment of gay men and women, something that many in South Korea, which is the second most Christian country in Asia after the Philippines, say is an immoral lifestyle.

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has been in Seoul for close on a week as she kicks off her Asian "Born this Way" tour.

"Nervous for tonight. Hope I make little monsters happy and proud," she Tweeted a few hours before the concert kicked off.

Yoon's group claims to have collected 5,000 supporters on Facebook against the concert and some have also called for a boycott of the sponsor Hyundai Card. The protesters have also threatened a boycott of its parent company, Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea's largest car-maker.

"The Christian Council of Korea with 12 million Christians and 55,000 churches will take all kinds of measures such as boycotting Hyundai Card to root out this kind of obscene culture," the council said in a statement.

Yoon said he would attend the concert to "monitor" the performance for homosexual content that could corrupt young people.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by David Chance and Sanjeev Miglani)

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NYC mayor: Girlfriend's kiss better than Gaga's (AP)

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants the world to know that while he might have shared a New Year's kiss with Lady Gaga it was nothing compared with the one he got later from his longtime girlfriend.

The 69-year-old politician and the youthful pop star locked lips shortly after leading a Times Square crowd in a final-minute countdown to midnight. They made quite a pair: He was in an old-fashioned American-flag sweater; she had her eyes hidden behind a sparkly mask.

When asked about the kiss Tuesday, Bloomberg said he'd "be remiss" if he didn't say "the best kiss of the night came after that," from girlfriend Diana Taylor.

Bloomberg also called Gaga "a young lady," noting she's about the same age as his daughter Georgina, who's in her late 20s.

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Lady Gaga's 'meat dress' goes to Rock Hall of Fame (AP)

CLEVELAND – Lady Gaga made history at last year's MTV Video Music Awards when she turned butcher's cuts into high fashion.

On Thursday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will unveil the singer's infamous raw-meat dress to the public. The dress — made of layers of Argentinian beef — was kept in a meat locker, placed in a vat of chemicals and then dried out by taxidermists in California before being transported to the museum.

Hall of Fame spokeswoman Margaret Thresher says the dress took on a "dark, beef-jerky" look while dehydrating, so it was painted to look "fresh" afterwards. The entire process took several months to complete.

The dress is being displayed as part of the "Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power" exhibit, which runs until February 2012.

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