It was carnival, it was New Year’s Eve, it was a popular dance, a cathartic and historic night, in front of 1.6 million people (according to Riotur estimates, an audience that exceeds that of the Rolling Stones concert in 2006, in the same place, Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro). The good and eternal Madonna65, closed his farewell tour on a high note.
+ 10 most memorable moments from Madonna’s Copacabana show
Madonna’s intensity turns into a show with sweat, choreography and tributes Photograph: Pedro Kirilos/Estadão
He gave a lot of kisses on the lips (of the dancers), “performed” many provocative choreographies, gave libertarian speeches and had the local flavor in appearances by Anitta and Pabllo Vittar — without singing, but getting to break and dance. No one shone more than the owner of the party.
During the week, the controversy over the band’s absence from the Celebration Tour gave rise to phrases such as “whoever thinks Madonna is about good or bad music didn’t understand the dimension of this decades-old story”. But all sociological and political readings fail to identify that the commotion and devotion to the superstar essentially passes through her, the damned music.
The “girl from Michigan who wasn’t supposed to get this far” — as she defined herself, on the Copacabana stage — kills this charade with a single verse from her megahit “Music”: “Music makes the people come together” (“ Music makes people come together”).
The Broadway pop mega-spectacle that made millions celebrate life in Rio de Janeiro (and in the rest of Brazil, via streaming) relies on storytelling (it’s a show that could come with the “with history” seal that accompanied some porn DVDs from the 20th century. past), dance, light, video, celebrities, activism and local surprises.
Madonna performs in the final show of her The Celebration Tour, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) Photograph: Silvia Izquierdo/AP
But what moves and drives everything is the music, whether recorded or played live. With a band or not, it is the strength of the songs and grooves that carved the emotional memory of millions of people and that built the Madonna myth.
There is no dichotomy or polarization: Madonna is in favor of music. So much so that she metaphorically rolls up her pop diva sleeves, she picks up the guitar and dispenses with the luxurious help of playbacks and vocal effects to transform one of her greatest hits into the most emotional moment of her historic night. Before, she opened her heart, in her fearless and foul-mouthed style, thanking the Brazilian public for their affection: “I want to cry. For so many years, you women, all of you, have supported me so much (…) I feel it in my heart, I feel it in my vagina. (…) I’m in paradise. Thank you for bringing me here.” Along the way, he recalled that May 4th is the birthday of American graffiti artist and pop artist Keith Haring (1958-1990): “One of the first members of the gay community who became my friend when I arrived in New York. York. The queer nation has always been by my side.”
In a farewell tone, he thanked everyone who fights for the right to be free and love whoever they want, he recommended “don’t be afraid” and promised: “I will fight for your right until the death”. “Express Yourself”.
In the next song, “La Isla Bonita”, with the altered shuffle rhythm, he received reinforcements from his son David Banda on the guitar and silenced critics with interventions on the cello by young Matthew Jamal, 24 years old. Who said there was no hired musician on the team? At the end of this block, there was also a happy addition of young rhythmists from various samba schools in the arrangement of “Music”, with Pabllo Vittar swaying and rehearsing a fun makeout with Madonna, both in green and yellow.
Before, Madonna had already cried, when singing “Live to Tell”, while the screen showed the faces of AIDS victims; among Brazilians, Renato Russo and Cazuza were the most celebrated by the public, but there were less remembered female faces, such as those of actresses Sandra Breá and Cláudia Magno
Madonna arrived on stage 62 minutes later than expected, at 10:47 pm, and performed for just over two hours. She told her story in seven acts, from the beginning as a young girl barred from the dance at the Paradise Lost nightclub, in New York, to the most diva moments, without avoiding any religious controversy until the closing number. In Rio, she left the stage with a “thank you” in Portuguese and a Brazilian flag in her hands, submerging herself on stage to make history. The second Madonna of Copacabana.
