It’s a dramatic understatement to say that Shannon Cantu, aka “Shannon Gaga,” is gaga over pop superstar Lady Gaga.
Cantu, who’s studying at Texas State University in the Austin suburb of San Marcos, is arguably one of Lady Gaga’s most ardent followers. In fact, a recent posting on Antrocker.com hailed her as “The World’s Biggest Lady Gaga Fan.”
A recent report in the Texas State newspaper notes that Cantu has embraced her role model’s character by wearing wigs, leotards and bold makeup, a la Lady Gaga.
“Lady Gaga encourages people to be different,” Cantu told the University Star. “She says you can be whoever you want to be. People say I’m contradicting myself because I dress like her, but I have that different personality. I could never be like her, no matter how hard I tried.”
You could say that Shannon Gaga has turned into a “fame monster.” (Lady Gaga’s second album is “The Fame Monster.”)
Already, Shannon Gaga’s Facebook page, titled “I bet Shannon Gaga can get more fans than Lady Gaga,” has more than 4,000 fans. Numerous videos of Shannon Gaga appear on YouTube. Viewer reactions to Shannon Gaga’s YouTube videos range from “disgusting” to “disturbing” to “hilarious” to “genius.”
While some may object to Shannon “ripping off” Lady’s act, the imitator’s YouTube videos have garnered thousands of viewers. For instance, her video version of Lady Gaga’s hit tune “Bad Romance” has attracted more than 30,000 YouTube views.
Other than the wardrobe, Shannon Gaga bears little resemblance to her music deity. For one thing, Shannon considerably outweighs Lady.
Shannon Gaga says she’s not paying homage to Lady Gaga to reap fame and fortune.
“You know what? I’m doing this for fame or attention. I don’t care about fame or money anymore,” she writes on her blog.
“Fame is something that just happened along the way. Fame is a ride—sometimes smooth like on a road, and sometimes [it’s] an emotional roller coaster—with jerks and twists and turns. And money, that’s just whatever.”
Shannon Gaga says she’s leaning toward a career in teaching—not entertainment. However, she has studied theater at Texas State.
“Those of you who think I’m crazy—you haven’t met my dad or my sister. I am the sane one. They fight over stupid stuff and my sister is crazed over her boyfriend one way or another,” Shannon writes.
“I just like Lady Gaga a lot and I’m a [little] monster. Get over it, people.”
To watch an appearance by Shannon Gaga on an Austin radio show, click here.
To see Shannon Gaga’s rendition of “Bad Romance,“ click here.
To see videos of Shannon Gaga performing at Texas State, click here and here.
