PBS AIRS LADY GAGA & TONY BENNETT ‘CHEEK TO CHEEK LIVE!’
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With Cheek to Cheek still at #1 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart, Tony Benett and Lady Gaga, each legendary musicians in their own right, treated a live audience to a full performance of their album at New York City’s famed Lincoln Center venue back in July. PBS aired the entire concert, which included orchestral support and set design from the accomplished Robert Wilson, on Friday night, and will keep the footage live on their website through most of November.
Among the evening’s popular performances is “Lush Life”, the Strayhorn standard Gaga performs alone. One CNET reporter who had the pleasure of attending the taping noted that “without the autotune and other electronic fiddling, Lady Gaga can really sing.” Meanwhile, NY Daily News guesses that “Gaga, with this special, boosts her own cred as a multifaceted singer, not just a dance diva,” while crediting Bennett’s experience for the heartfeltness of his own performance: “he understands the songs — something he’s also clearly helping his young friend [Gaga] to do.”
See Lady Gaga perform “Lush Life” below: