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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Gaga Omaha Radio Gigs Ignite Social Media Frenzy

Two hours. That's all it took.

The World-Herald photo
Social media junkies spread word of a possible Lady Gaga radio appearance Monday in Omaha. And, in less than 120 minutes, little monsters swarmed the radio building.

Fans left their jobs in haste. They darted out of shopping malls. They tore out of restaurant parking lots.

A chance to see Mother Monster? That's epic.

According to a story by Josefina Loza at omaha.com, Lady Gaga had been in town shooting video footage — involving Sarpy County cornfields, a barn with a piano and a biker bar — for nearly a week. Local fans have been looking for her, talking about her, tweeting and Facebook messaging each other about the pop star.

Emotions ran high Monday afternoon when a local DJ with 94.1 FM KQCH announced that Lady Gaga (real name: Stefani Germanotta) would be at the Journal Broadcast Group building in northwest Omaha for a live interview.

Immediately after the announcement, phones rang off the hook. Word spread like a California wildfire. People in Germany and England were listening to the station on the Internet.

More than 100 fans stood outside the radio station in 90-degree heat for a glimpse of Gaga. The 94.1 team handed out pop.

Inside, television reporters, cameramen and photographers scoped out the best angles to capture Gaga's entry. Access was tight.

Later, a throng of fans also gathered at the Clear Channel radio building for Gaga's interview on country station 103.7 FM KXKT.

The crowd at 94.1 impressed Mark Todd, director of operations for Journal Broadcast Group. He knew Gaga was in town, messaged a few people and started the media blitz. An Interscope record label representative flew out to oversee the operation.

Journal knew it would get an interview, but the station had only two hours to promote the appearance.

"We got word that it was going to happen last Friday afternoon," Todd said. "But we didn't know all the details until this morning."

Radio personalities Big Party, Jeff Degan and Molly Cavanaugh of Channel 94.1's "Big Party Morning Show" did the interview (listen here). Cavanaugh called in from Chicago, where she was visiting. Nobody told them what questions to ask.

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