queen of pop leaves fans ‘in a trance’ with spectacle and tributes to Brazil

The effect Madonna leaves anyone in a trance-like state. This includes the approximately 1.6 million people who were on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to witness the historic show by the world’s greatest living pop artist.

It’s true that, this Saturday, the 4th, the singer made the public sing and dance to her hits. However, the closure of The Celebration Tour represented more than that. On the tour designed to celebrate her 40-year career, it was the audience who celebrated the almost cathartic experience of witnessing Madonna.

With their themed shirts and fans in hand, fans left home early to try to get a seat close to the diva. Willing to face the heat wave in the capital of Rio de Janeiro and the crowds on the city’s public transport system to get to Avenida Atlântica, they were already crowded onto Copacabana beach at 5pm, almost 6 hours before Madonna took the stage.

There were also those who tried to get their fan card during the second half, buying an item that had the artist’s face printed on it. And the street vendors at the exit of the Cardeal Arcoverde metro station, the closest to the stage, offered a variety of items with the singer’s name on them.

Contrary to what was imagined, the soundtrack of the journey to the beach was not the queen of pop’s songs. They were phrases like: “Look at ecobag Madonna!” and “Buy Madonna’s shirt!”

On the first weekend of May, it seems like everything has become ‘Madonna’. From the items to the audience given to the diva, everything there was dominated by its effect. Confirmation came on stage. After almost an hour’s delay – which was already expected by her fans – the queen of pop appeared to the biggest audience of her career.

Fan commotion

In the song she chose to open the show, Madonna sings: when I was young, nothing really mattered to me other than making me happy. Nothing Really Matters was released in 1998 and the strong speech contained in the lyrics still seems to make sense, even after 26 years.

During the almost three-hour performance, it seems that the queen of pop made herself and her audience happy. Far from the complaining Madonna that many speculated, the one who would be annoyed by the noise of the fans and the Rio heat, what was seen on stage was an energetic and careful woman with every step on stage.

The performance impressed even those who are already fans, but had never had the opportunity to see it up close. Rodrigo Barbosa Santiago, from Rio de Janeiro, experienced a Madonna performance for the first time in his life and guarantees that she left with her eyes shining. For him, the highlights of the night involve the choreography and the game of images created by the cameras that recorded everything from the stage.

“I thought the audiovisual was sensational, so connected and with every moment of her life so well portrayed. For me, she told a story, she chose the moments of her 40-year career well and I was really surprised by her dancing herself, at her age “, he said to Earth.

Fan Gabriel Oliveira agrees with Rodrigo. For him, ballet was essential in driving the story told on stage.

“The corps de ballet is very good. They have a harmony and the show, in fact, is a great celebration of her 40-year career”, he defended.

For those who watched the performance directly from Copacabana, the impression was that the audience was entranced by Madonna’s presence. The fans only really came out of their trance state during some notable moments of the performance. When the queen of pop started singing the hit Hung Upfor example, there was no one who didn’t jump and join the chorus with her.

The artist’s family side also excited the crowd. In Bad Girl, Madonna sang while daughter Mercy James, 18, played the piano. A little younger than her sister, Estere played a DJ in Vogue and made the fans start an endless fan ‘beat’.

Another highlight was the long-awaited tribute to AIDS victims in the song Live to Tell. In every country she visited, Madonna projected images of local personalities. In Brazil, it was no different. The public applauded the moment the black and white photos of Cazuza, Renato Russo, Caio Fernando Abreu, Sandra Brea and others appeared on the screen.

Declaration of love to Brazil

Nothing excited the public more than seeing themselves represented on stage. In yet another fitting tribute, Madonna took a group of rhythmic children from samba schools in Rio de Janeiro to the stage. Led by Pretinho da Serrinha, the 20 young people wore shirts from the Brazilian Football Team that paid homage to the pop ‘star’: ‘Madonna 10’ was printed on the uniform.

The queen of pop herself dressed in green and yellow while the faces of several Brazilian personalities appeared on the screens. With each one, more and more excited screams from the audience. Maria Bethânia, Raoni Metuktire, Marielle Franco and Marina Silva were some of the faces that lit up the LED screens, in addition to the Brazilian flag.

Another moment that drew screams and laughter from the artist’s million-dollar audience was during a speech thanking her Brazilian fans. In a relaxed moment, she even said that she felt the love of Brazilians even from her vagina. The moment became a meme after the TV Globo broadcast translated the phrase into “I feel it here in my parakeet”.

Frustrated expectations

A little bit of Brazil was also brought to the presentation by Anitta and Pabllo Vittar. The two, who were confirmed for the show, actually took to the stage, but not as fans imagined. The expectation for the number with the singer Girl From Rio it was a surprise moment with the music Makes it deliciouscollaboration between Anitta and Madonna released on the 2019 album Madame X.

The reality was not that exciting, although it drew screams from the audience. Restrained and little like the Anitta that Brazilians know, the singer appeared during the performance of Vogue. As a joke, she held up signs with 10s for the queen of pop’s dancers.

The number has already been done with other famous personalities in other countries. In Mexico, for example, actress Salma Hayek played the role given to Anitta this Saturday, the 4th. However, the funk singer seemed less at ease than usual. The reason could even be the lack of rehearsal, as she arrived in Rio de Janeiro on the day of the show.

The person who rehearsed twice before ‘D-day’ was Pabllo Vittar. The drag queen took the stage during the song Music. Dressed in Brazil’s football shirt, she played with Madonna, ran across the stage, made the queen smile and even carried her on her lap. “The diva liked Pabllo, right? You could tell”, commented Gabriel.

The presence of the two Brazilians was exciting, but did not captivate the fans who were there. This is because the expectation was that there would be a musical number together.

“I thought Pabllo was going to sing with her and Anitta too. So, I felt like something was missing when they showed up”, confessed Gabriel.

The fan, in fact, was also frustrated with another feature of the show: the playback. Gabriel, who had never been to a Madonna performance, wanted to hear more of her voice live.

“I already suspected it, but I didn’t like having a lot of playblack on the show. I thought her voice was too low and the band was missing,” she said.

Rodrigo took it easier with the queen of pop. For him, Madonna’s only fault during the end of the tour was not having sung her favorite song. “I know that for every fan there will always be a song missing and, for me, she was missing singing Sorry“, he lamented.

He still believes that the end of the show was not as expected, but the ‘Madonna way’ was well represented nonetheless.

“The ending was a bit abrupt, but, look, all the ‘Madonnas’ were already there. She revisited all the phases and ended up with Bitch, I’m Madonna, because, in the end, that’s enough, right? It’s her!”, highlighted Rodrigo.

Perrengue on the way home

Not all the excitement in the world after Madonna’s free show in Copacabana was able to alleviate the difficulties on the way home. During the week, Rio de Janeiro City Hall announced the traffic and public transport plans for the event. Due to practicality, most decided to return by subway.

As soon as they arrived at Cardeal Arcoverde station, the closest to the stage, the public faced huge queues to use public transport. About an hour after the show ended, the area was still packed. 500 meters away from the event location, the station no longer accommodated any fans, and Metrô Rio employees advised everyone to go to the next station, Siqueira Campos.

The problem is that the station was much further away than the first: 1.5 kilometers to get there on foot. Even so, many people didn’t think twice about trying their luck there. However, Siqueira Campos seemed even more crowded than Cardeal Arcoverde.

For this reason, the sea of ​​people who left Copacabana crossed the Túnel Velho, in the South Zone, to try their luck with a taxi or app-based car in Botafogo. Along the way, many criticized: “This is worse than New Year’s Eve, man!”

Source: Redação Terra