page_title: Speechless (Lady Gaga song)
section_title: Live performances
hierarchical_section_title: Speechless (Lady Gaga song) / Live performances
caption_attribution_description: English: Lady Gaga performing "Speechless" at GagaKoh, in Tokyo, Japan.
context_page_description: "Speechless" is a song written and performed by American singer Lady Gaga, from her third EP, The Fame Monster. The song was written by Gaga to convince her father, Joseph Germanotta, to undergo open-heart surgery, in order to repair his malfunctioning aortic valve, and as a reminder for her younger fans to appreciate their parents. "Speechless" is described as Gaga's "Fear of Death Monster".
  The 1970s rock music-inspired power ballad received mixed reviews from critics, who praised it for drawing influences from Queen, as well as its sincerity while others criticized it for "com[ing] off as a fraud." "Speechless" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at ninety-four for the week of December 12, 2009. Gaga performed the song in a number of live appearances including the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, the 2009 American Music Awards, the 2009 Royal Variety Performance, and The Monster Ball Tour.
context_section_description: "Speechless" was performed for the first time at the 30th anniversary celebration for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art on November 14, 2009. Gaga performed the song on and at a pink Steinway & Sons piano decorated with painted-on butterflies. The song was performed while ballet dancers from the Bolshoi Theatre, who danced alongside Gaga in a performance art number directed by artist Francesco Vezzoli and members of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet Academy, titled "The Shortest Musical You Will Never See Again." It was performed at the 2009 American Music Awards. She coupled it with "Bad Romance" from The Fame Monster. Gaga was dressed in a flesh-colored bodysuit wrapped with white piping, embedded with flashing lights imitating ribs and a spine. The performance started with "Bad Romance"; then she segued into "Speechless" by using her microphone stand to break open a glass box with a piano inside. She sat on the piano bench and began the performance, while her piano caught on fire. Throughout the song, she continued to smash liquor bottles on the piano. Both "Bad Romance" and "Speechless" were performed at The Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 25, 2009. Gaga performed the song at the Royal Variety Performance, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. Gaga wore a red latex dress inspired by the Elizabethan era, and played a piano suspended ten feet in the air that was supported by stilts.
  On December 8, 2009, Gaga performed the song live at the launch party of Vevo in New York City. The musical accompaniment consisted only of Gaga on piano, who appeared with a gigantic platinum blonde hair bow. "Speechless" was present on the setlist of Gaga's Monster Ball Tour (2009–2011). During the original version of the concert series, "Speechless" came after performing an acoustic version of "Poker Face". Jane Stevenson from Toronto Star called the performance the emotional high point of the show. During the revamped Monster Ball shows, Gaga performed the song on a piano that was caught on fire, while wearing bra and knickers.
  Gaga was the opening performer of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. She appeared in a green outfit with glittery shoulder pads. After performing "Poker Face", she was thrown into a flaming bin with the word "Rejected" written on it. Seconds later she re-appeared on stage joined by Elton John, with both of them covered in ashes. They sat at opposite sides of a double piano and sang the track as a medley with John's "Your Song".  Ashley Laderer from Billboard named it Gaga's eleventh best live performance as of 2018, calling it "heartfelt". In April 2010, Gaga held a mini-concert in Japan for MAC Cosmetics, collaborating with Canadian performance artist, Terence Koh. Billed as "GagaKoh", the concert took place on a rotating stage where Koh had created a statue of a naked woman with rabbit ears. "Speechless" was one of the three songs Gaga performed at the event, besides "Bad Romance" and "Alejandro". In May 2011, Gaga performed a jazz version of the song during Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, Cumbria.
  In April 2017, Gaga performed "Speechless" on the piano during both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where she was one of the headliners. On the second show, she included a snippet of "Bad Romance" into her performance of "Speechless".
caption: Gaga performing "Speechless" during her "GagaKoh" performance in Tokyo, Japan
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