It seems not since Madonna has a pop star taken the United States by storm as fully as Lady Gaga.

She seemed to rise up from nowhere — a songwriter for Interscope Records who took over the musical world almost as soon as she was discovered by Akon and signed to his label.

“A couple years ago and I had been hearing about [the song] ‘Poker Face’ … and I thought she was really interesting and her songs are really catchy,” said Charlotte Raskovich, 16, of Arlington. “She is one of the few people you can call a performer these days.”