Madonna’s setlist in Rio… g1 analyzes the 26 songs she should sing at the Rio de Janeiro show | Music

Madonna’s Tier list: the setlist ranking

The show, which promises to be a spectacle, is divided into seven acts, with 26 songs that cover all stages of the artist’s career.

In previous shows on this tour, Madonna performed songs that are not necessarily audience favorites. Tracks like “Like a virgin”, “Material girl” and “Papa don’t preach” were left outgiving way to less heard songs like “Everybody” and “Mother and Father”.

Based on the tour’s previous setlists, the g1 made a ranking of the likely repertoire for this Saturday. There are five categories: Flop, Passable, Almost There, Great and Iconic. Watch the video above.

As criteria, the list considers musical quality, critical analysis and relevance (on Madonna’s tour and career).

Part of the album “Ray of light” (1998), the song addresses the changes in the singer’s life after the birth of her daughter, Lourdes.

Despite the inspiration behind the composition, the track is not even a highlight on the album, nor the best choice to open a mega show like this.

It was Madonna’s first single. Released in 1983, it is danceable and straight away shows the singer’s vocal power.

It’s a cool song and worth being on the setlist. But it’s not as striking as other tracks that will follow.

Also from the beginning of Madonna’s career, the song was made for the soundtrack of the film “Desperately Seeking Susan”. It was a relative success and was covered, for example, by Sonic Youth. But it’s not one of the best of that period.

Like “Everybody”, the song was released in 1983, but it is much more engaging and sexy. The track has a very well defined temporal cadence. With a rock feel, it features whispers, moans and guitar solos.

Great choice for those who want to go to the gym, dance at night, or sweat in other ways.

From the 1986 album “True Blue”, this is a huge milestone in Madonna’s career and reached the top of the charts at the time of its release.

With a very pop feel, the song is great for dancing and has a very bubblegum chorus.

Madonna returns to the first phase of her career with this much more infectious song.

It makes sense to be on the show and it even deserved a place higher up. At the time of its release, it wasn’t a big hit, but later it became the success it is today.

Another song from “True blue”, this is one of the singer’s best ballads and reached the top of the charts.

Here, she shows that she is not just a singer of danceable pop music, but also a composer of denser songs.

Perhaps this is the first great moment of the presentation.

With the release of “Like a Prayer” in 1989, Madonna showed her maturity and impressed. Ambitious, the track mixes rock, pop and gospel, in lyrics that combine sexual and religious themes.

The song, which features Prince on guitar, reached number one on the charts. Considered controversial, the video clip was condemned by the Vatican.

This is part of the phase in which Madonna showed that, despite being the target of harsh criticism, she would continue exploring sexual themes.

In the song, from 1992, she exudes vocal skills and is praised. For this presentation, the presence of “Erotica”, however, does not go beyond what is passable.

When the track appeared in 1990, Madonna had already become the biggest artist of the time.

The song is a collaboration between the singer and Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez and was a commercial success, with a censored clip on MTV. But here, in the presentation, it doesn’t amount to a great moment.

In “Hung up”, Madonna manages to do what she does best: bring references from the past and transform them into modern and engaging music. Here, the artist returns to disco music, with influences from Abba and Giorgio Moroder.

In addition to being considered one of the best dance songs, the track made Madonna gain a new legion of fans, made up of younger generations.

With clock sounds, the track has a rising harmony that explodes into the (engaging) climax.

This is a song that has been underrated in Madonna’s work. However, the track presents the complete Madonna: skilled voice and deeper songwriting.

It will definitely be one of the highlights of the show. With a sound that combines elements of house and disco music, the 1990 track was responsible for elevating Madonna to the position of the biggest artist in the world.

The song references voguing dancing and the New York cultural scene of the 1980s and 1990s, especially when she first arrived in the city. She also mentions stars admired in the fashion world, and has become an anthem in this market.

The song is also part of the singer’s erotic package, from the early 1990s. Good-humoured, dressed as a dominatrix, she opens up space to say that sexual freedom works for everyone.

An affront to conservative and sexist values, something still uncommon at the time.

“Crazy for you” even has a cool instrumental, but it takes a while to arrive. And when it appears, it ends quickly.

In other words, in the midst of so much cool music, this one could be exchanged for another hit.

It was a song made for one of the films in the saga starring the character James Bond, 007. The track has a cool vocal, however, it is repetitive and tiring.

Without a legacy, it is unnecessary for this setlist.

On the album “Music”, released in 2000, Madonna explores her country and folk vein. And this song represents this phase well.

The track is cool and makes sense to be in the set, but it’s not among their biggest hits.

Does anyone remember this song? Well, it’s a track from the album “American life” and has a very important theme: it’s a tribute from the singer to her mother, who died when she was still little.

However, it is far from being a song that caught on or was worked on. She easily could have been replaced.

The song mixes dance with deep funk beats, talks about empowerment and mentions his romantic relationships.

The track is good, but it doesn’t become a highlight in the set.

From 1986, La Isla Bonita is one of the songs in which Madonna explores Latin sounds. The song has a sensual swing and was even offered to Michael Jackson. I’m glad she decided to record.

In fact, it is an important song for Madonna’s career. It is part of the film “Evita”, a musical about the first lady of Argentina, which the singer worked hard to achieve. It was truly one of the milestones in her career.

However, it makes no sense in this presentation, which is precisely designed to be emblematic, rather than niche.

Furthermore, the mixing of such different styles is effortful, but it doesn’t work in practice, sounding repetitive and aesthetically confusing.

This was a partnership with Björk and presents Madonna in her most experimental phase, with house and techno. It became a popular hit in the 1990s and influenced his next work, “Ray of Light”.

Experimental and, consequently, not very commercial, the track did not go beyond the bubble of the singer’s fans. And perhaps that’s why it ended up not creating any legacy in the artist’s career.

It is expendable for the tour.

The album itself is already a milestone in Madonna’s trajectory. Of the five nominations the work received at the Grammys, it won three.

Agile and engaging, she plays with vocals aligned to the beats. The result is so interesting that you can feel her voice vibrating in your body.

It’s another ballad with slow beats. The singer explored radio-friendly pop, but didn’t leave sensuality aside.

With elements of R&B, she stepped on ground close to Toni Braxton, for example. It’s a good example of her facets.

This was Madonna’s attempt to innovate. And it makes sense for her to do so, since Madonna is the queen of pop. But it didn’t work so well here: it sounded too plastic and tiring.

She tried hard and even flirted with rap, but didn’t leave any mark.

This is a great song to end the tour with the temperature rising.

The track is a “classic Madonna”, it has dance, house, pop with a touch of “Vogue” and europop. It gives the feeling that the audience will leave straight away in an atmosphere of catharsis. Good choice.