Alejandro

The highly anticipated 'Alejandro' video has arrived fresh from the Haus of Gaga. I have to say, I am somewhat dissapointed. High expectations were had after previous videos including 'Telephone' and 'Paparazzi', directed by Jonas Akerlund. This video featured the expected dance routines, but nothing cutting edge, and the costumes too did not break boundaries as expected. The video was also tarnished by cheap graphics in places compared to the usual well choreographed scenes. In 'Telephone', one of the strengths was the strong colour scheme that was translated into the on-screen type. There was no on-screen type in 'Alejandro' at all.

The video did seem to drag on towards the end. Long videos can be good, but I felt in this case a rather simple song had been dragged on in an attempt to bring this video up to the standard of previous videos, which have resembled mini-films. There was also no speech in the video, which in turn didn't let it become the mini-film it could have been. It was good to see no product placement in the video, but if product placement means more money in the video and thus higher quality videos, I would welcome its return.

Perhaps we have come to expect too much of Lady Gaga, but the creativity, ambition and money is there to create high quality avant garde videos, so let's get back on track next time Gaga!