For the grand opening of Gaga’s Workshop, it seemed as if Lady Gaga chartered a sleigh, picked up Santa Claus and Willy Wonka along the way and landed Monday night at Barneys New York flagship on Madison Avenue.

The Workshop is the retailer’s in-store holiday shop, conceived, designed and christened by Lady Gaga – 5,500 square feet of bright colors, crazy shapes and a gigantic cartoon statue of the superstar herself in a pinup pose surrounded by jagged mirrors and sitting atop thousands of black plastic discs.

From the street, passers-by get a hint of what’s taken over the fifth floor of the store since Gaga and stylist Nicola Formichetti also created the seasonal window displays, always an attraction during the holidays, but the crowds typically don’t start building hours before the unveiling as they did on Monday.

To keep them entertained, a troupe of clowns-turned-carolers sang some of Gaga’s signature songs, including “The Edge of Glory” and “Born This Way.”

“It’s a `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ moment,” Gaga said. “We wanted it all to be whimsical and fun, with a sense of art and fashion.”

She doesn’t have time to do much holiday shopping anymore, she explained, but Christmas was a special time in her “traditional Italian house,” where the smell of food cooking all day is one of her fondest childhood memories. As for gifts, her favorite as a teenager was a ticket to see a Tori Amos concert.

She pointed out at Barneys the hair bows attached to headbands, iPhone and iPad covers and stiletto-heel holiday stockings as potential hits for her fans. It was, however, the composition notebooks splashed with her logo that she’d put at the top of the list.

“I hope they’ll be given as gifts this year,” she said.

Gaga had many elves for this project, including Formichetti, whom she called the “art director” for it all. He oversaw the day-to-day development of decor and products – each one exclusive.

“This was very personal and very emotional for us,” said Formichetti, who also helps design Gaga’s concert costumes and personal wardrobe.

Gaga’s mother, Cynthia Germanotta, also was very involved, sharing memories with artists Eli Sudbrack and Christophe Hamaide Pierson and Barneys creative director Dennis Freedman.

Items for sale – ranging from studded leather motorcycle jackets for infants to Gaga-on-a-motorcycle ornaments – purposely run the gamut of price and aim to appeal to many ages.

“I wanted it to be a wide spectrum,” Gaga said.

In the candy shop section there are cookies shaped like little monsters (Gaga’s affectionate term for her fans) and rock candy necklaces, while inside the boudoir, sort of a tent shaped like a wig, there are hair bows and hologram-effect nail polishes. For toys, there are plush monsters riding a train, and the jewelry store has chunky necklaces and bracelets from Erickson Beamon and Pamela Love.

Underneath an oversized, archlike spider, shoppers can get $4,000 heel-less booties or $50 heart-shaped sunglasses. There are special editions of Roald Dahl’s aforementioned “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” as well as “James and the Giant Peach” and “Matilda.”

Gaga said it was important for the Workshop to have a charitable aspect, too, so for each product bought from the Workshop or online, 25 percent of the sale will be donated to Gaga’s anti-bullying Born This Way Foundation.

As for Gaga’s wish list, her gifts have been taken care of. Noting her custom-made ivory gown – and all its trimmings – by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, she said, “Christmas came early. Christmas is today.”

Gaga’s Workshop is open through Jan. 2.

Lady Gaga is getting ready to release the official video for “Marry The Night” (“Marry The Night: The Prelude Pathétique”), her latest single from Born This Way, and has just debuted a one minute and 45 second preview clip for the track.  Gaga revealed via Twitter on Thursday that the full video will be seven and a half minutes long.

Gaga’s new concert DVD, Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden is out November 21st on DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as Born This Way: The Remix, and Born This Way: The Collection. She is also releasing the Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson photo book on November 22nd.   Visit LadyGaga.com for more info and to place pre-orders.

Las Vegas’ hottest resorts don’t meet the standards of Lady Gaga, who insisted on a room with a private pool.

Sources say the superstar was on the edge of a meltdown when she checked into the luxurious Cosmopolitan hotel, which boasts three different types of pools — a “relaxing” one, a day club and a nightclub. But with no private pool, she immediately checked out and headed for The Palms Casino Resort.

“She checked into the Cosmo, was unhappy with the room, checked out and then went to The Palms, but still wasn’t happy and was frantically searching for a new room,” a source said.

A Cosmopolitan spokesperson confirmed, “Lady Gaga did check out of the property, but she did not hate her room and had nothing but praise for the arrival staff, butlers, etc. She was looking for a private pool, which the resort doesn’t offer.”

Gaga’s rep, Amanda Silverman, said: “It was not a whole drama. She moved to The Palms to do a recording. She had some meetings. She switched because she had stayed at The Palms before. It wasn’t like she hated her room, she doesn’t care about that stuff.”

The Palms, where the lady monster is still staying for the weekend, comes equipped with a private recording studio.

Gaga is in Las Vegas performing at the iHeartRadio music festival along with Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Coldplay, The Black Eyed Peas, Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Kenny Chesney, Sting, Bruno Mars and Usher.

Sources say arrangements around the concert, to promote the free online digital radio station, seemed chaotic. “It’s strangely radio silent,” a source said Friday. “Nobody, like the casino hosts, knows what’s going on with the concert. The set times haven’t been announced … Most of the artists … aren’t being paid and are more concerned with their deals at the nightclubs, which are paying them to perform later in the evening.”

Lady Gaga released the second fashion video for her single “Yoü and I” yesterday. The clip, directed by Inez+Vinoodh and is entitled “Haus of Ü ft. Bride”

Video Credits
Directed By: Inez and Vinoodh
Creative Director: Lady Gaga
Fashion Director: Nicola Formichetti
Cinematography: Todd Heater
Lighting Technician: Jodokus Diressen
Editor: Otto Arsenault
Make Up: Val Garland
Hair: Frederic Aspiras
Filmed in Springfield, Nebraska 2011.

Lady Gaga will perform live in front of a crowd of an estimated one million people in Times Square just before the ball drops on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012,” SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31 on the ABC Television Network. To mark the 40th anniversary of the cherished New Year’s Eve celebration, the festivities will begin at 8:00 p.m., ET with a new two-hour special entitled “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party.” Lady Gaga is a true phenomenon; her third studio album, “Born This Way,” was released on May 23, 2011 and broke the iTunes record for the fastest rise to No. 1 on release day. The album hit No. 1 in 22 of 23 iTunes stores worldwide. The first single from the album, title track “Born This Way,” set a music industry record by becoming the fastest single in history to reach sales of 1,000,000 copies (five days after its February 11 release).

“New Year’s Rockin’ Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party” will be hosted from Times Square and Los Angeles with exciting live performances by some of this year’s biggest hit makers. The celebration will also look back at the amazing moments from four decades of ringing in the New Year with the biggest names in the world of music and entertainment. Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest will host “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012” beginning at 10:00 p.m., ET from New York on Saturday, December 31 on the ABC Television Network. Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas will return to host the Los Angeles-based portions of the specials.

Dick Clark said: “It hardly seems possible that we began telecasting ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ 40 years ago. Armed with just a couple of cameras and a skeleton crew, my wife and I stood atop a Times Square building and watched the thousands of happy celebrants in Times Square. The army of talent we had join us over the years has truly been outstanding, and this year we top it off with an appearance by Lady Gaga. ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2012’ promises to be one of the most exciting ever, and I’m proud to be part of the team.”

Ryan Seacrest said: “Lady Gaga is one of the most exciting and relevant artists of our time, and we’re thrilled to have her join ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ this year in Times Square. I’m especially honored to share the stage with the legendary Dick Clark, who is celebrating his 40th year hosting the show, which he created and transformed into one of the most iconic American television programs. We’re really thrilled to see how this year’s lineup lights up the stage to make it the most memorable show yet.”

The bi-coastal celebration will include over 5 ½ hours of special performances and reports on New Year’s celebrations from around the globe, as well as the American tradition of Dick Clark counting down to midnight from Times Square in New York City.

The complete lineup beginning Saturday night, December 31 on ABC is:
“New Year’s Rockin’ Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party” (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET)
“Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012” (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET)
“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012, Part 1” (11:30 p.m. – 1:08 a.m., ET)
“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012, Part 2” (1:08-2:11 a.m., ET)

While many celebrities shudder at the thought of having their photo taken without wearing any makeup, Lady Gaga has voluntary posed au natural for the new cover of Harper’s Bazaar.

Without a stitch of makeup on her face, the usually theatrically-painted star shows off her natural beauty on the magazine’s October cover.

“Whether I’m wearing lots of makeup or no makeup, I’m always the same person inside,” Gaga, 25, tells the magazine, on newsstands Sept. 27.

No stranger to changing up her many different ensembles, the “You and I” singer says it’s fun to surprise fans once in a while.

“I think what has been lovely about my relationship with the public is that they expect something unexpected from me,” she says.

Something that may not come as a surprise, however, is Gaga’s lack of inhibition.

“I’m very free-spirited,” the New York-born star reveals. “Even when I was a kid, I used to run around naked with the babysitter, driving her crazy.”

Many years later, the singer is still showing off her body. And thanks to her tedious fitness regimen, she’s got nothing to hide.

“I do yoga, I do Bikram and I run, and I eat really healthy,” she shares. “You know, my work sort of feeds me. I keep in shape by working hard.”

Gaga’s toned physique can also be attributed to surfing, which she took up during a two-day Mexican vacation in August.

“I fell off a lot in the beginning,” she says, “but one of the surfers said to me, ‘Now that you can stand up, just look into the future and enjoy the ride.’

“I thought that was an interesting metaphor about life.”

Lady Gaga released the first in a series of alternate fashion videos for her single “Yoü and I” today. The clip, entitled “Haus of Ü feat. Nymph”

Video Credits
Directed By: Inez and Vinoodh
Creative Director: Lady Gaga
Fashion Director: Nicola Formichetti
Fashion By: Hussein Chalayan
Cinematography: Todd Heater
Lighting Technician: Jodokus Diressen
Editor: Otto Arsenault
Make Up: Val Garland
Hair: Frederic Aspiras
Filmed in Springfield, Nebraska 2011.

The ‘Born this Way’ hitmaker voices an animated version of herself in the popular cartoon comedy series, and her episode will feature her arriving in Springfield and unsuccessfully trying to cheer up Lisa Simpson.

Speaking ahead of recording the episode yesterday, Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa, said: “This is extraordinary! I’m stunned that she has time in her schedule that she’s coming to our studio to record.

“She’s playing herself, and [the writers] describe her as the happiest, most optimistic person in the world. She comes to Springfield to try to cheer up Lisa, but she can’t.”

The eccentric singer admitted appearing on the program is one of the “coolest” things she has ever done and hopes she has done a “sincere” job.

She said: “I make music, but I don’t do voice-overs every day of the week, and their characters are so awesomely convincing and sincere and wild and funny, I had to remind myself constantly of the sincerity of the humour.
“That’s what I was trying to focus on, not putting on a character too much and really being as sincere as I could with the lines.

“I would say this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. My dad’s probably going to do 80 backflips when the episode comes out.”

Gaga’s guest appearance – in an episode entitled ‘Lisa Goes Gaga’ – will air next spring.

Lady looks like a dude.

Gaga goes in drag for the cover image of her next single, “You and I.”

But she’s not just any guy, Lady Gaga is portraying Jo Calderone, a male alter-ego she and her stylist Nicola Formichetti created. The singer debuted him on the cover of Japan’s Vogue Homme last year.

“You will never find what you are looking for in love, if you don’t love yourself,” Gaga tweeted along with the cover image.

“You and I,” the fourth single from “Born This Way,” features Queen’s Brian May on guitar and was produced by Shania Twain’s ex-husband “Mutt” Lange.

The lyrics were inspired by Gaga’s on-and-off relationship with New York City bartender Lüc Carl.

“I wouldn’t have been as successful without him,” Gaga has said of Carl. “I’ve never really loved anyone like I loved him. Or like I love him. That relationship really shaped me. It made me into a fighter.

“After I broke up with him, I promised myself I would never love again and would make him rue the day he doubted me. But then I again moved back to him. [It was] love.”

The video for the song will reflect Gaga and Carl’s relationship. In it, she runs from New York City to Nebraska, Carl’s home state, to get him back.

It will be released once Gaga hits 1,000 tweets. Currently, she’s at 992.