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"Lady GaGa has said that she did not intend to copy Bette Midler&amp;#039;s wheelchair routine. Midler has claimed that Lady GaGa copied one of her signature stage routines by performing in a wheelchair.  GaGa sparked outrage when she took to the stage in a mermaid tail and wheelchair to perform &amp;#039;You and I&amp;#039; during a secret show in Sydney, Australia last week.  GaGa responded to Midler&amp;#039;s accusations, telling Access Hollywood that she never meant to copy the Hocus Pocus star&amp;#039;s routine. &amp;quot;I had no idea that she did that and I&amp;#039;m a huge Bette Midler fan,&amp;quot; GaGa said. The singer went on to say that she now intends the performance to be a tribute to Midler.  &amp;quot;Not in the beginning it wasn&amp;#039;t &amp;#039;cause I didn&amp;#039;t know that she&amp;#039;d done [it], but I do now and I think it&amp;#039;s great,&amp;quot; GaGa said when asked if her routine was meant as an homage to Midler. &amp;quot;Obviously I feel connected to women in theater and women from the past. &amp;quot;Maybe we&amp;#039;re just cut from the same cloth,&amp;quot; GaGa concluded. &amp;quot;I couldn&amp;#039;t hop around in that tail so I just stuck myself in a wheelchair.&amp;quot; GaGa&amp;#039;s website was recently hacked, leading to thousands of fans&amp;#039; details being stolen. Watch a report of Lady GaGa&amp;#039;s secret show in Sydney - including footage of the wheelchair routine - below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a330511/lady-gaga-had-no-idea-bette-midler-performed-wheelchair-routine/>