From: Photo Coverage: Lady Gaga Pays Tribute to Liza Minnelli at Madison Square Garden

In the audience at last night's concert were special guests, including Marisa Tomei and Liza Minnelli. Lady Gaga recognized both from the stage, and told a story to the audience about how Minnelli was an inspiration to her. She talked about her origins at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, mentioning how her acting and performance teachers told her she didn't have what it took, essentially, to 'be a superstar.' 'You'll never be the main character... the blonde... your hair's too dark... you look too ethnic' To retort in the face of such opposition, Gaga would reply, 'What about Liza?' She then asked the audience to give Liza a standing ovation, which they did to an obviously thrilled Minnelli.
Date Taken: February 23, 2011