Pacific island of Niue, pop. 1,600, wooing Lady Gaga for concert
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The tiny Pacific island of Niue, which its inhabitants call “The Rock,” is trying to lure pop diva Lady Gaga to perform there.
If she does, the whole population is promising to attend. However, that would still make it one of the smallest audiences the pop icon performed for recently, as only about 1,600 people live on the small island atoll.
But at least Lady Gaga could say she has performed in front of an entire country!
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Niue is struggling to keep even its current inhabitants on the island. There has been a mass exodus over the past few decades as people went in search of jobs abroad.
More Niueans live in New Zealand, in fact, than on the island.
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The pop superstar will be on tour in New Zealand in a couple of months, which is why the island’s leaders thought up the idea of bringing Lady Gaga there.
The island’s Tourism Manager Hayden Porter sent her agent and concert organizers a letter inviting her to perform on the island after touring New Zealand.
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Here is what they wrote:
“Being a remote Pacific Island, it does get a bit hard for us to keep up with the latest music; however you are one artist which has certainly struck a chord in this tiny nation of ours. So much so, that if you would like to reconsider a concert in Niue we can guarantee that the entire population (of approximately 1600 people) will turn up for your concert.
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"This is something which probably couldn’t be achieved anywhere else in the world, and as far as we know has yet to be achieved by any artist in history.
"The Niuean community is thrilled at the prospect of having the world’s biggest star visit their country and have rallied together, creating signs of encouragement and showing their support on the Niue Facebook page.”
And Porter insisted in an interview with Radio Australia the invitation wasn’t a gimmick.
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“It would be great fun if it happened, but of course we are not holding our breath, but it is a genuine invitation," he said. "She's terribly popular in the island, particularly the young people of course."
"She's really struck a chord with the kids on the island," he added. "She's so unusual and she thinks outside the box. So we thought we'd think outside the box and invite her here."
It won’t be easy to bring Lady Gaga and her entourage to their shores. The island’s leaders say they hope she will have her own plane, as there is only one weekly flight from New Zealand to the island.
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This, of course, could be a problem because Lady Gaga’s giant sound and light stage show would have to be shipped there.
Maybe she could perform unplugged?