The Real Poker Face: Ayumi Hamasaki vs Lady Gaga



Two divas match up for Madonna?s crown.

Lady Gaga enters the ring and the crowd goes apeshit. Ayumi Hamasaki jumps in and half the stadium goes wild? well not really half - mostly just the South Asian section. Clearly, Ayu lacks the clout Gaga has. And if it were fan base versus fan base, Ayumi?s army would be mercilessly slaughtered in mere seconds despite its racial predisposition towards mad ninja skills. After all, Gaga currently controls all the well-known charts ? MTV, Billboard, Myx ? and with it millions of Ipod-glued ears.

Luckily for Ayu, this is a woman-to-woman fight. Diva versus diva, and it seems they are evenly matched. Both sport blunt bangs and long thick hair. Both don outfits much too ridiculous for everyday life but very fitting of theirs. And both hope to be Madonna 2.0, now that Britney Spears is clearly out of the running. Both even have singles entitled Poker Face.

Lady Gaga has five hit singles to her name, all of them of an electronic pop persuasion reminiscent of older British pop hits, and Gwen Stefani during her Hollaback Girl phase. Her lyrics mostly dwell on romantic (or actually more carnal) encounters, and is a theme highlighted by her music videos - often showing her in various stages of undress, and compromising positions.

Sound-wise, Ayu is a little more diverse and this could be because she already has 10 studio albums under her belt, whereas Gaga only has 1. Like Gaga, she has also done electronic pop but has since explored other genres such as ballads and pop rock. Her fashion is constantly changing as well, but it is only recently that Ayumi started to bare more skin. What she has always been comfortable baring are her feelings.



Unlike Lady Gaga whose critics often gloss over her lyrics, Ayumi is known for penning words that are personal and touching. Ayumi?s albums play as a sort of musical blog. They may appear shallow and light (as showcased in videos filled with color, explosions, and S&M clad back-up dancers) but her music is almost always burdened with emotion.

She?s got a leg up too on fashion transformations and, again, it may be due to her career starting much earlier than Gaga?s. She has done Earth Mother covered in leaves, she has done S&M in tight black leather, and she has also done a very Gaga-esque red pleather catsuit complete with the slicked-back super straight hair. Gaga?s sensibilities may be wilder but not as diverse. Gaga is mostly known for her tangas while Ayumi cannot be pinned to an outfit.

At the end of this fight, it is clear that Lady Gaga will leave this arena bloody and bruised, for even in the round of aesthetics, Ayu takes the lead. The J-pop star has numerous product endorsements to her name, including a lingerie endorsement for Wacoal. She is revered by many for her looks as well as her talent. Gaga, on the other hand, although attractive herself, is viewed too much as a caricature to be touted a beauty. Even when naked in photo shoots and music videos, rarely is lust inspired among her audience.

With no more ammo in her arsenal, Lady Gaga falls to the floor. Ayumi Hamasaki wins, and is clearly the real Poker Face who deserves Madonna?s crown. Now, if only she could get the crowd to stop fawning over her fallen, more famous foe, and take notice of her victory instead.

By Bia Fernandez for Allmusic-Magazine | Photography by Leslie Kee and ND SHOW