A Very Gaga Thanksgiving is a Thanksgiving television special that originally aired on November 24, 2011, in the United States on the ABC network. Conceived and directed by Lady Gaga, it discusses her personal life and the inspiration behind her music. A 30-second preview of the special premiered on November 20, 2011 on Lady Gaga's YouTube channel. Principal photography took place at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. The program features guest appearances by Katie Couric, Art Smith, and Tony Bennett. Gaga performed stripped down, acoustic versions of five songs from her second studio album, Born This Way, along with two Christmas songs and a duet with Bennett. The special received critical acclaim and gave ABC its best ratings in four years for its respective time slot on Thanksgiving Day. At the 2012 Dorian Awards, the special was nominated in the category of Best TV Musical Program of the Year but did not win the award. A live EP of performances from the special, titled A Very Gaga Holiday, was made available for purchase from the iTunes Store. The EP debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States at number 52. Synopsis Katie Couric interviews Lady Gaga about her life and the inspiration behind her music at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan, the school she attended as a child. Gaga also performs nine songs to a small audience of friends and family, including "Born This Way", "Marry the Night", "You and I", "Hair" and "The Edge of Glory", as well as covers of Irving Berlin's holiday classic "White Christmas" and Nat King Cole's "Orange Colored Sky". She also sings a duet with Tony Bennett of "The Lady Is a Tramp", originally from the 1937 musical comedy Babes in Arms, featuring the work of Gaga's trumpeter, Brian Newman. Gaga sings "Bad Romance" onstage during a different scene. American chef Art Smith makes a turkey dinner and waffles with Gaga. In another scene, a small group of children gather around her as she blows glitter on them. Production A Very Gaga Thanksgiving was conceived and directed by Gaga; it was produced by Steven Johnson, Rudy Bendar, and David Saltz. Principal photography took place at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Gaga told Women's Wear Daily: "My dad will be so excited. I actually directed it. It's the first