Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ Michael Jackson Fans Website) A friendly, yet fierce, competition has sprung up between the fans of the "Lady" and the fans of the "King." It all started when artist
David Ilan, who is behind the largest
Michael Jackson tribute in the world, agreed to create an image of
Lady Gaga if enough of her fans participate in the one-of-a-kind project - an interactive work of art.
Ilan sees it differently. "The tribute portraits are completely separate and are not meant to compete with each other," he said. "Both projects need a million participates in order to be completed, so I guess that sparked the competition to see which project can get a million fans first."
Ilan is known around the world for his unique "dot drawings" that allow ordinary people to play a role in their creation. His art pieces are made from hand-drawn dots; each dot represents a real person. People participate for free by requesting a dot, and when enough dots come together, an amazing image is formed.
Lady Gaga fans who have seen The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait (which currently has greater than 270,000 participants in more than 180 countries) asked Ilan to create a dot drawing for Lady Gaga. Ilan responded by saying he would agree to do the drawing if 250,000 Gaga fans register for their dots. With those words, the unintended competition was started.
Even though Ilan sees both projects as completely separate, fans have taken to the Internet and other means to spread the word. To them, the projects represent a battle between the fans.
Jenny Morrison, who was one of the first to sign up at https://www.GagaDots.com, said, "Lady Gaga fans are all about fun. This is a celebration of the greatest recording artist of today. I promise we will get the millionth dot before Michael's millionth."
Sharon Salazar calls herself Michael Jackson's biggest fan and signed up at https://www.MichaelJacksonTributePortrait.com. She says, "Lady Gaga deserves to come in a close second. Bring it on!"
Ilan welcomes a little friendly competition, but asks the fans to remember the meaning behind his projects.
"The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait promotes Michael's legacy and humanitarianism," he said. "I also see the Lady Gaga project promoting causes that are dear to her. Both projects are unique and important and, with the fans' help, can do a lot of good in the world."
He added, "Once the competition is over and we reach our goals of a million fans in each tribute portrait, I hope we all focus on the true meaning of the projects - bringing good people together and making great things happen in the names of Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga."
