Lady Gaga wants to have her lunch." And with that, the press waits for the world's most famous pop star to finish her sushi. We are gathered in the lobby of Grand Hyatt in Tokyo, Japan, where Gaga, 24, is meeting us to talk about her role as a M·A·C Viva Glam spokesperson.
Being the only Malaysian media present – and a die-hard Gaga fan – I was naturally excited to meet the young woman recently named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.
The lady of the hour We have been requested to adhere to our list of pre-approved questions, as Gaga was apparently irked by a journalist earlier in the day who strayed from the script.
As none of us want to risk a Bad Romance with Gaga – especially after flying thousands of miles to meet her– we nod, and patiently wait for our turn with the American global pop phenom.
One and a half hours later, we are ushered in a group of four into a suite; the door was guarded by a muscular, scowling bodyguard.
I am the first to enter the room, and when Gaga orbits into my viewpoint, I actually let out a gasp. In person, she looks exactly the same as the eccentric persona showcased onstage and in music videos.
She is small-sized but undeniably, larger than life. For our interview, Gaga is wearing an outfit and accessories created by Japanese designers.
Her whole body is encased in a white, sequinned lace catsuit by Somarta while a nude-coloured veil by Yoshiko covers her entire face.
Instead of normal footwear, she is wearing perilous eight-inch black leather booties. When we ask her about the shoes, she lifts up her right foot, almost comically, to find out the designer's name. (It is Noritaka Tatehana.)
Gaga's bleached hair has been teased into a beehive do, and artfully plastered with black and white bobby pins.
On the floor next to her is a Hermes Birkin bag, which is scrawled with Japanese words "I love my little monsters." (Gaga affectionately calls her loyal fans "Little Monsters.")
After shaking our hands, Gaga gingerly balances herself on a cream sofa. She tells us, almost immediately, how much she loves Japan.
"It's wonderful and I always leave Japan feeling so happy. My Japanese fans really understand me ... the way I dress every day and the way my live shows are. What I do is normal for them, they just love what I do," she says.
"In America now, I am very fortunate to have a lot of Gaga converts – the ‘Little Monsters' – but in the beginning, people were asking, ‘Why is she so eccentric? Why does she dress like this?' But in Japan, there was no questioning, no judgement."
(After our interview, Gaga mesmerised her Japanese fans that night at Tabloid, an event space in Tokyo. Her three-song set was inspired by her stay in Japan, featuring a Japanese-like wedding procession as well as cascading cherry blossoms.)
Lady Gaga (right) and Cyndi Lauper lend their fame to M.A.C Viva Glam campaign. In regard to Viva Glam, Gaga stresses on the importance of the campaign, which raises money for the M·A·C AIDS Fund. Gaga appears in the "From Our Lips" campaign alongside pop icon Cyndi Lauper.
Their initiative is to create awareness about rarely discussed challenges that women face in their fight against HIV/AIDS. Gaga and Lauper helped to design the Viva Glam lipstick that bears their signature; every cent from the sale of the lipstick goes towards helping women, men and children affected by HIV and AIDS.
"I've been familiar with the campaign and have been wearing M·A·C since I was 10. To be joining the likes of iconic former Viva Glam spokespeople is an honour," enthuses Gaga.
"In the past, I don't really believe in celebrity charites, as I think it's often publicity shenanigan. But this is different because all the money goes towards those in need. The campaign is not meant to enhance or take away from my music or career. It's completely separate, just me as a woman."
Regarding her lipstick, Gaga says: "The colour is amazing. It's very me – a bluish pink, great for every day, a little bit 80s. I wanted people to really wear it and not just buy it because it was a Gaga lipstick."
Throughout our 10-minute interview, Gaga is visibly tired but takes the effort to give thoughtful, earnest answers.
"I find that in Asia, particularly Japan, women don't really talk about HIV and AIDS. They are afraid to be tested; it freaks them out or makes them nervous. In Japanese culture, sex life is more private, and I respect that.
"But I am here today to be private and public, to talk about how at this moment, women are at a higher risk of infection than men," explains Gaga.
"I am mostly concerned about young women; girls as young as 13 are infected because they do not know any better. Some of them have sex for the first time and they contract HIV. This makes me very upset as sex should not be a life-threatening experience. And we as the sisters and friends should assume a better role and talk about it."
By buying the lipstick as a gift for a friend or daughter, Gaga says, "It becomes a reminder in your purse, that there are dangerous things that can happen when you don't protect yourself."
"So, when you're deciding whether you want to be intimate with someone, put this lipstick on and remind yourself to wear a condom. Or to say no when you are not ready," adds Gaga, who recently proclaimed her celibacy in an interview with a British newspaper. ("I'm single right now and I've chosen to be single because I don't have the time to get to know anybody. So it's OK not to have sex. I'm celibate, celibacy's fine.")
On her Viva Glam collaboration with Lauper, Gaga muses: "Cyndi and I have friends living with AIDS or who have died from AIDS and we are passionate about making a change." She is full of praise for Lauper, calling the 56-year-old veteran singer "a beautiful spirit".
In return, Lauper has described Gaga as being "a very cool and different artist" and "the undisputed breakout star of the year".
That is indeed an apt statement to describe Gaga, who has sold over 15 million albums and 40 million singles worldwide.
The eldest child of Joseph Germanotta, an Italian American, and Cynthia Bissett, she was born as Stefani Germanotta on March 28, 1986. She later nicked her Gaga moniker from Queen's song Radio Gaga and cites Donatella Versace and Peggy Bundy as her fashion icons.
She learned to play the piano by ear at the age of four and went on to write her first piano ballad at 13. When she was 17, Gaga gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
There, she studied music and improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion, social issues and politics.
Her debut album, The Fame, was released by Interscope Records in August 2008. Its first two singles Just Dance and Poker Face became international number-one hits, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The album later earned a total of six Grammy Award nominations and won Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording.
In early 2009, Gaga embarked on her first headlining tour, The Fame Ball Tour. By the fourth quarter of that year, she released her second studio album The Fame Monster, with global chart-topping singles Bad Romance and Telephone (which featured the controversial music video co-starring Beyonce). She also embarked on her second headlining tour of the year, The Monster Ball Tour.
Asked how she manages to accomplish so much within such a short time, Gaga jokes: "There are five of me. Interscope had me cloned!"
Gaga's attitude towards makeup and fashion is, not surprisingly, about being free.
"Be yourself," she advises. "It took me a long time to be brave enough to be the way I've always wanted. It was through makeup and through courage over the years that I grew into my fashion skin.
"People ask, ‘What do you wear when you sleep?' I wear my glamour when I sleep. It's part of my life."
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