For ‘Chicas Gaga,’ the daily stage is Mexico City’s subway
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Three young women are attracting notice in Mexico for videos showing them singing Lady Gaga songs on Line 3 of the Mexico City subway system. The amateur performers -- Jeny, Jackie and Ale -- entertain commuters on the busy metro system with other recognizable covers, such as the 1990s hit by 4 Non Blondes, ‘What’s Up,’ and Beyonce’s ‘Halo.’ Their most popular interpretations are of Lady Gaga singles, which began appearing and spreading on YouTube. Now there’s a Facebook fan page.
In a video interview with the tabloid El Gráfico, seen above and here with more video (in Spanish), Jeny and Jackie -- who is only 11 years old -- say they made 130 pesos in tips in the first hour they performed on the metro. The massive subway system, one of the busiest in the world, is also known as a moving marketplace of unlicensed vendors and performers hoping to score a few pesos from passengers.
[Updated at 12:05 p.m.: Well, looks as though the strains of psuedo-stardom have done in the ‘Chicas Gaga.’ El Gráfico now says that ‘irreconcilable differences’ are splitting up the group. One member, recent addition Ale, reportedly took to her Facebook account to allege that no one cared about the original two members until she began posting videos on YouTube. She also alleges that the youngest member Jackie is ‘exploited’ by her mother. That’s show biz?]
The original two ‘Chicas Gaga’ started performing together about two years ago, they say. Three months ago, Ale joined them to form a trio after she heard Jeny and Jackie sing Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ and couldn’t resist asking if she could sing along.
‘I accept it for the 15 minutes of fame that it is,’ Ale says in the interview.
‘I do have plans to do this, I don’t want to be a ‘one-hit wonder,’’ says Jeny, who also plays guitar for the trio.
So if you’re in Mexico City and you want to see the ‘Chicas Gaga’ sing, where can you find them? The girls tell the paper they usually perform in the afternoons and evenings, in the first three cars of Line 3, mostly between the Eugenia and Copilco stations.
(‘But sometimes we leave to go eat,’ Ale says.)
Be sure to carry change!
-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City