‘Poker Face‘ is the second single off of album ‘The Fame‘ by electro-pop singer Lady GaGa.The song has followed the previous single success topping the charts in lots of countries around the world as well as topping The U.S. Billboard Hot 100. ‘Poker Face‘ is an uptempo song following the footsteps of ‘Just Dance‘.Whereas, ‘Just Dance‘ was pure electro-pop, ‘Poker Face‘ carries a dark sound with clear vocals in the chorus and pop hook .The song also carries the pleather-and-sequins vibe of the downtown underground New York scene.Lyrically, the song is all about sexual innuendo and teasing. According to BBC the Mum-mum-mum-mah in the beggining of the song is sampled from a 1977 hit by german pop group Boney M’s ‘Ma Baker’ and the puh-puh-puh that comes before poker face (puh-puh-puh poker face) a reference to 1983 hit ‘Word up’ by R’n'B group Cameo. BBC described the song as ‘strut-tastic’ saying it is ‘expressing her overwhelming desire for celebrity and fortune.’The Times says ‘Poker Face‘ is one of the finest moments of the album with it’s love-as-card-game cheek. The music video features GaGa in a Las Vegas/Poker themed party in a mansion.In the beggining she emerges from a swimming-pool with a shiny mask and with shots of GaGa with a even more platinum hair, the scenes follows her in a strip-poker game and with a man in a sofa as well as dancing next to the pool.Lady GaGa trademark ‘Pop Music Will Never Be Low Brow’ appears written on her sunglasses on a scene she’s sitting next to the swimming pool. Critical Reception
The Times reviewed the song as “[...]one of the finest moments of the album with its “love-as-card-game cheek.” BBC reviewed the “strut-tastic” single as “expressing her overwhelming desire for celebrity and fortune.” Billboard also reviewed the song positively: “Once again, hooks are aplenty, with ’80s-inspired synthesizers, robotic verses and a warm, sunny hook in the chorus, which is even more addictive than the previous single (‘Just Dance’)…With a focused artistic vision, a swagger in her interview style and above all, a fantastic collection of diverse pop nuggets, Gaga is playing her cards right—and “Poker” is another obvious ace.” Chart Performance
In The U.S., Poker Face debuted at The Billboard Hot 100 at #92 on March 7 2009 and topped the chart on April 11 2009, making it GaGa’s consecutive top-charting single. The song also peaked at #1 on The Billboard Hot Dance Airplay, The Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and The Billboard Pop 100 Songs charts. Poker Face has sold more than 4 million paid downloads in the U.S., making Gaga the first act to have two songs with more than 4 million digital downloads in America. “Poker Face” topped the Billboard Canadian Hot 100” on December 13 2008 and has sold to date 240,000 copies in Canada. In The UK, it also peaked at #1 and sold to date, 779,000 copies becoming the most downloaded song in Britain since paid downloads started being tracked in 2004. In Europe, Gaga’s second single topped the Billboard European Hot 100 and held the #1 spot for 16 weeks making it the longest running single in the chart. The song also topped the charts in several countries, including: Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. Live Performances
She has performed “Poker Face” at AOL Sessions, MTV Sessions, The Cherrytree House, American Idol, BBC Live Sessions, Ellen DeGeneres Show and at The 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards with a mashup of the song with “LoveGame.” At her “Fame Ball Tour“, GaGa added it twice to the tour’s setlist, one version accoustic at the piano wearing a bubble looking outfit and the normal version at the end of the show. Music Video
The video received 3 nominees at The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards: Video Of The Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. Beyonce won Video Of The Year, Taylor Swift won Best Female and Britney Spears took Best Pop Video. GaGa received Best New Artist award at the ceremony.  |
Poker Face
GaGa has widely promoted her second single and performed in several tv shows, online sessions and festivals in both normal and accoustic versions.
The music video for ‘Poker Face‘ takes place in a mansion with pool where a Las Vegas/Poker themed party is happening. The video begins with GaGa emerging from a pool with a shiny mask while two dogs are ‘waiting’ for her, this is while the initial muh-muh-muh-mah, after it GaGa throwns away the mask and the song begins with shots of a GaGa with long platinum hair. GaGa then is featured playing strip poker, dancing poolside and later laid on a sofa with a man. Her trademark support for ‘Pop Culture’ appears in the video writen on her sunglasses on a part she’s sitting next to the pool.
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