23. June 2011
American singing superstar Lady Gaga is the newest tourism ambassador of Japan. (Photo:cbsnews.com)
American singing superstar Lady Gaga continue to make headlines these days.
From being a singing icon, Lady Gaga had become the latest tourism ambassador of the disaster prone country of Japan. Although, she had not been officially recognized as tourism ambassador by the Japanese government, Lady Gaga made the initiative herself when she said that she would use her stardom to tell the world that “Japan is now safe to visit” following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.
Lady Gaga said now is the time to move on since Japan had already recovered from the disasters and she hoped the world will help the top Asian country recover by visiting it regularly for tourism and business purposes. The popular singer made the statement in her visit to the country for a charity concert MTV Video Music Aid Japan, to be held on Saturday at a convention hall in Chiba near Tokyo.
“It is so important that we continue to raise money. But it is also important that we remind the world that Japan is now safe and that the doors are wide open for tourists from all over the world to come in and enjoy the beautiful country,” Lady Gaga added. To show her sincerity of helping Japan get back on its feet, Lady Gaga, ranked this year’s most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine, has donated around $3 million for people in the disaster zones, including revenues from selling a wristband that her Haus of Gaga behind-the-scenes creative team produced, and personal contributions.
Moreover, Lady Gaga vowed to do everything just to tell the world that Japan is safe and still a wonderful place to visit. The latest act of Lady is a huge boost for the tourism industry of Japan after foreign arrivals to Japan in May plunged by half from a year earlier, a third straight monthly drop following the March quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters.
It can be recalled that the March 11 earthquake and tsunami left more than 23,000 people dead or missing on Japan’s northeast coast and crippled a nuclear power plant that has been leaking radiation into the environment since. Japanese officials already earlier said that there is no danger from radiation in Tokyo and other popular tourist destinations such as Osaka and the ancient capital of Kyoto.
Lady Gaga came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album The Fame (2008), which was a critical and commercial success and achieved international popularity with the singles “Just Dance” and “Poker Face”. The album reached number one on the record charts of six countries, topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart while simultaneously peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and accomplished positions within the top ten worldwide.
Achieving similar worldwide success, The Fame Monster (2009), its follow-up, produced a further two global chart-topping singles “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” and allowed her to embark on her second global concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just months after having finished her first, The Fame Ball Tour. Inspired by glam rock artists like David Bowie, Elton John and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson, Gaga is well-recognized for her outré sense of style in fashion, in performance and in her music videos.
Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including five Grammy Awards, among twelve nominations; two Guinness World Records and the estimated sale of 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide. Billboard named her the Artist of the Year in 2010,ranking her as the 73rd Artist of the 2000s decade. Lady Gaga has been included in Time magazine’s annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as being listed in a number of Forbes’ annual lists.
(rockefellernews/rb)
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