By: BOB CAREY

Contributing Writer

There are many varied aspects of the mass communications industry, including the world of entertainment.

Now, we have a nearly nude Lady Gaga doing a TV show in front of a live audience. Some of us are trying to figure out if she is a singer or a contortionist. Behind her is a bevy of scantily-clad young ladies gyrating, jumping and hopping and sometimes acting like they have the “seven-year-itch” but are two years behind in their scratching.

This tells me either, one,  Lady Gaga doesn’t have enough talent to carry herself, or, two, the song is so weak it requires this type of performance to put it over. Where did all this come from?

I am aware that sex sells, but isn’t this a little too much?

Let us hark back to the great songsters of the past.

Judy Garland in her heyday, Patti Page and Peggy Lee, all dressed in beautiful evening gowns, could come out on a stage with nothing in sight but a stand-up microphone and captivate the audience. When Garland sang songs like “Swane River” and “The Man I Love,” it made the hair stand up in on the back of your neck.

When Lee sang “Fever,” it made the juices rise in your loins because even her intonations were sexy.

When Julie London, in a slinky gown, sang “Cry me a River,” or my all-time favorite song “Misty,” people melted in their seats.

Singers come and go. I missed many of them due to extended overseas assignments, but I did attend non-televised concerts by Helen Reddy and Anne Murray.

Both of these ladies were backed up by small rhythm combos, but when they sang the hits they were famous for the audiences were thrilled.

But back to Lady Gaga and her competition, Madonna–who does the nearly nude stuff all over the world. How did this come about?

“Wha hoppen,” I say.

I am told this is the type of entertainment the public demands. They are no longer satisfied with just talented singing.

I don’t think so.

There are two long-running talent contests on the TV. When they have completed their semi-annual runs, the top three finishers appear to me to have more talent in their little fingers than Lady Gaga has in her whole writhing body.

I think the public is going to get tired of these meaningless extravaganzas and return to the real talent.

There’s an old adage: “What goes around comes around.”

See if I’m not right.

P.S. Wouldn’t it be great if Jordin Sparks came to the Arrendale Amphitheater?