Minutes before Lady Gaga’s weekend “Monster’s Ball” show commenced in St. Louis’ Scottrade Center, she addressed her fans through this message via her Twitter page:

“Do not interact with them, or try to fight. Do not respond to any of their provocation. Don’t waste your words or feelings, no matter what you hear or see…  Be inspired to ignore their ignorant message, and feel gratitude in your heart that you are not burdened or addicted to hate, as they are.”

The ‘provocation’ and ‘ignorant message’ pertains to the protest held by the members of the Westboro Baptist Church who were seen picketing outside the arena where the artist was scheduled to perform.  This is the same radical right-wing church group who rallied outside Adam Lambert’s July 15 show in Kansas City and also outside the funeral of Matthew Shepard in 1998, who was brutally murdered in Wyoming for his sexual orientation.

The protesters threw Gaga a variation of homophobic and immoral slurs ranging from a “false prophetess”  to a “devil spawn”.  They spared no one, not even her thousands of fans as they called them and Gaga “gender-confused, self-loathing, tone deaf” who will, according to the religious right-wingers, burn straight to hell with their choices and their actions.  Even Gaga’s songs were not spared from the attack as “Ever Burn”, their satirical attack to the singer’s hit single “Telephone”, had the following lines: “Go devil spawn, you just keep pushin’ on to the hell where you will forever burn”.

The show went on smoothly though, without any commotion or untoward incidents in and out of the arena.  Minutes after the show, Gaga posted this Twitter message:

“Tonight love and hate met in St. Louis…And love outnumbered the hate, in poetic thousands. Hate left. But love stayed. + Together, we sang.”

The artist is best known for her moral-defying antics (on and off stage), music videos, a very flamboyant fashion sense and in taking pride in being bisexual.  And although the artist was never vocal about religion or was never known to revere any religious diety or figure, she always believed in a supernatural force transcending time, space and everything that has kept her safe and intact after having gone through drugs, discrimination, rejection and skepticism.

Speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine’s Neil Strauss, Gaga admits that personal turmoil still continue to trouble her and the fact that she is now a big part of popular culture results to more protesters haunting her, her fans and her shows.  “It’s been a long and continuous road,” Gaga says, “but it’s hard to just chalk it all up to myself. I have to believe there’s something greater than myself.”

Lady Gaga is in love with her little monsters.

On Thursday she tweeted a promise to her fans that are camping out at Rockerfeller Center in New York to give them water, pizza and a surprise.  On Friday she delivered her surprise,  She performed “You and I,” her new song to an audience of over 18,000.

The half hour live performance of Lady Gaga’s on the “Today Show” began in the heat then continued when it started to rain.  She opened with “Someone to Watch Over Me,” the Gershwin classic.  Also included in her set were “Alejandro” and “Bad Romance.”

Host Meredith Viera quizzed Lady Gaga.  She said there were down sides to being famous, but also added the type of fame I cherish is my relationship with my fans.  It’s so wonderful and so pure.

I don’t get out that much you know.  I stay inside my hotel room to write music.  I wrote a new album.  The big surpirse I have for today is I will play a song that is brand new from my new album.

Last week the singer became the first living individual to reach 10 million Facebook followers.  On Friday night she will wrap up her concerts at Madison Square Garden.  She will then head out to play in other cities, including Cleveland and Toronto.

She will be at Staples Center in Los Angeles on August 11 and 12.

Lady Gaga’s biggest and breakout year was indeed in 2009, with the release of her first full length studio album, “The Fame”.  This would have earned her a Best New Artist nod and perhaps, a win in last year’s Grammy Awards, but as we have seen, this was not the case and country act Zac Brown Band took home the honor instead.

That controversy lead to a further scrutiny of the rules governing the Grammy’s especially for the Best New Artist category where, according to the old rules, a new artist is qualified for the category unless he or she has released a single, an album, has appeared as a featured artist on someone else’s single, or has won a Grammy in the past.  Lady Gaga released “Just Dance”, her breakout and debut single in 2008, making her technically ineligible for the Best New Artist race the following year.

The organization recognizes the new trend for new artists who are trying to break out in the music scene in a non-traditional manner.  Nowadays, new artists would either appear as a collaborator on someone else’s single or would release his or her own single, similar to Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance”, before releasing a full length album.

This resulted in a change of eligibility qualifications for new artists vying for the prestigious Grammy honor.  The new rule, where new artists even if they have appeared as a guest on another artist’s single, or have released their own single as long as it is not a full length album or LP in the past, will be eligible to compete in the category, will take effect on the next Grammy Awards in 2011.

What may be too late for the eccentric pop artist may come just in time for Atlanta-based Janelle Monae who released her first LP “The ArchAndroid” this year, as she could still compete in the Best New Artist category in the next Grammy Awards even if she has released a single, “Many Moons”, in 2009 which earned a Grammy nod in the 2009 Grammy Awards.