I think one of the things we - 'WE being those born in the 1940s - 1950s, and maybe even later - have to come to grips with is the fact that today's music and musical performances are not created for US, the same as the music WE grew up with was not created for our parents and grandparents ... the targeted audience is that late 20s to perhaps 50 year old demographic that is going to spend money buying the artists songs either on 'hard copy' or by D/L from the I'net ... now some might say that audience doesn't have the money these days but based on her recording sales after her performance, I would have to say that would be incorrect, and she accomplished what she wanted ...
Unfortunately, the days of some talented singer with a microphone, standing in front of an audience and just 'singing' are gone ... I can think of only one - Adele - who performs in a scaled down setting, although with a LARGE orchestra ...
Lady GaGA came on the scene wearing outrageous costumes, etc. and that got her the popularity she needed ... underneath it all was REAL talent, as recognized by Tony Bennett, and IMHO their duets are GREAT ...