Lady Gaga plays Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale in April. (Stephanie Colaianni / maggish.com) | (Click photo for more pictures)

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Technically, she released her debut album in 2008, but 2009 was a great year to be Gaga.

Lady Gaga, who’ll be playing two shows in Miami on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, has seen her already rising profile shoot into the stratosphere this year.

She had already seen two singles from her debut, The Fame, hit No. 1 in several countries, as “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” became ubiquitous. Though she wouldn’t quite hit those heights again, Lady Gaga parlayed that exposure and became the face of dance pop.

She hit the top 10 in the U.S. again with “LoveGame”, then “Paparazzi” and finally “Bad Romance”. Her first tour, The Fame Ball Tour, gained strong notices, including her show in Fort Lauderdale in April.

She was on the cover of Rolling Stone’s “Hot” issue wearing only a costume of plastic bubbles. According to one reviewer, when she opened for the Pussycat Dolls in the U.K. and Australia, she outperformed them.

Then came her big tour with Kanye West, which ended up not happening as West went into rehab following his embarassment at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Instead, she decided to take to the road herself — and her Fame Monster Tour has taken on a life of its own. According to LiveDaily, several shows on the tour have had to be moved to larger venues, including those in Orlando, Chicago and Detroit.

Her reworked debut — now called The Fame Monster and including “Bad Romance” and other new tracks — has done very well on the charts.

So, yeah, it’s been a great year for Gaga. Now, she’s kicking off 2010. Can’t wait to see what she’s up to next.