Remember When Lady Gaga Gave a Blood-Soaked Performance of “Paparazzi?”

When Lady Gaga goes to an award show, she doesn’t slip quietly in the back door. Okay…so she did that one time, but she usually opts for something far flashier. Gaga seldom leaves without making an impression.

In 2009, Gaga had more traditional viewers of the MTV Video Music Awards flying to their keyboards, primed and ready to type out the word “satanist” alongside her name into their complaint forum of choice. She isn’t the first artist to be branded with that descriptor and she certainly won’t be the last. Nevertheless, it’s an iconic moment in Mother Monster’s career and as such we should all take some time to remember that fateful night on the MTV stage.

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It started off normal – relatively speaking of course. This is Gaga we’re talking about. Donning all white, Gaga began singing the opening verse: We are the crowd / We’re c-coming out / Got my flash on, it’s true / Need that picture of you.

In typical Gaga fashion, the performance featured elaborate sets and a well-rehearsed group of dancers. Halfway through the performance, she ran over to the piano and gave it her best Elton John (i.e. feet flying up in the air while she hammers down an austere group of chords). It was all coming together like a typical award show performance – that is until things took a bloody turn.

As Gaga began to sing the bridge, a pool of blood began to rush out from underneath her top. She turned the emotional dial up to 10, truly playing the part of a crazed stalker.

The whole thing was an elaborate statement on the relationship between paparazzi and celebrities. “I wanted to say something about how the celebrity sort of has this inevitable demise that we love to watch,” Gaga once explained. “But are we killing them or are they killing themselves?”

It’s shocking even now. Of course, it will inevitably be overshadowed by Kanye West derailing Taylor Swift’s shining moment at the same VMAs, but it remains a standout moment from the ceremony. Revisit it below.

Photo: Norbert Schoerner / Chuff Media