So Madonna's nailed herself to a cross. Well, not actually nailed herself to a cross, she just sort of hangs around while images of impoverished children are flashed on a screen. Not since what's-his-face pissed in a jar has such a pathetic use of a religious icon been made. A few churches are outraged, but, seriously, folks, can this be taken... er, seriously? It's hard to be outraged and laugh at the same time.
A reviewer for the Daily Mail in England, where Madonna has begun to tour, sums it up succinctly: "The world's most famous 47-year-old took to the stage, a mere 50 minutes late, determined to prove to all those willing to listen - and pay up to £200 a ticket - that she still had the ability to grab headlines." But is it art?
Back in junior high the "mods" actually liked Madonna. She looked like Marilyn Monroe, and she was burning up for the teenage species. There was something very retro about Madonna that seemed to obscure that she was really only a pop-star wannabe willing to do anything to get there. By the seventh grade (this was back in the 1980s), she was the boy toy, and by then the "mods" had given her up as a pop star. Nothing to see, really. Move on. She's been blazing the charts for decades, putting out one contrived hit single of self-importance after another all in the name of art. But I don't believe her.
She's a mom and one would think it would it would add a little credibility to her name, but it hasn't. She's found religion, Kabbalism, and one would think it would add some depth to her performance, but it hasn't.
The Daily Mail's critic noted, "'There's light even in the darkest places flashed up on screen - which was nice enough, even if it sat oddly with her previously stated message to 'turn the world into one big dance floor.'" I'm left wondering if I'm supposed to take her seriously.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
I am reminded of David Letterman's old snarky, tongue-in-cheek opinion: "You know, I have a theory about this Madonna--now mind you, this is just a theory, but... she likes to shock!"
It might be amended now to: She likes to suck, only it wouldn't be so snarky or tongue-in-cheek.
2 - Snarkattack
Groan!
I thought her last album was a bit...old. I thought the Kabbalah was a bit odd. I thought the trying to be English thing was not endearing and I also thought putting out that children's book was just...sad.
Enough with the gimmicks already; leave that to pro wrestlers. I'm going to have to agree with the above commenter. Just imagine me, chanting as I type the words "You suck" like they do when Kurt Angle enters the arena.
Oh god. Madonna must be bad if I can start crapping on about wrestling and somehow relate the two. Shudder.
3 - Barry Stoller
Next stop: an album of Cher covers.
4 - Dan Sanchez
LOL! Have any of you guys seen the show like I have? First of all, if you do a google search, you will find that the show has received excellent reviews. Don't judge a performance by "The Drudge Report." She performs on a cross (the song "Live To Tell") which is about abuse. Images of the "abuse" caused by Aids in Africa are shown. She does NOT mock Christ. By the way, in terms of her career being in demolition: she has completely sold out ALL of her dates, despite charging $350 a ticket. I only hope I can be that successful when I'm over.
5 - er
I'm glad that Madonna has pissed off you hypocritical religious idiots. I was at her show last night and the respons was absolutely amazing. If you religious zealots didn't care about her, why are you still writing about her? Madonna is at the top of her game. Go to one of her concerts to see for yourself.
6 - Pltzk
Not that I'm a Madonna fan, but did you actually see the show so you can comment on it expertly? By the way, there are several incredible reviews of this show. Why did you only chose the bad one? This is from the OC Register:
Madonna in a league by herself
Review: Sunday's sold-out Forum performance proves the singer is in a league by herself.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
Madonna in skin-tight body suit.
It very likely will be the pop spectacle of the year " a politically charged combination of Cirque du Soleil, performance-art commentary and dance-party explosion that more or less sums up everything she has been striving to say and show this decade.
But that much we expected, even without knowing what tricks were hid under her skin-tight leotard. No one " but no one" stages elaborate eye-candy productions like Madonna, whose highly impressive Confessions Tour opened Sunday night at a packed Forum so sweltering it seemed as though it were being prepped for the world’s largest Bikram yoga session.
Every other diva cut from roughly similar cloth, whether equally iconic (Cher, Janet Jackson) or simply a progeny trifle (Britney Spears), ranks so far behind the not-so-notorious chameleon that they belong in a lesser league. They merely present dazzle; Madonna effortlessly builds mounting anticipation for hers, trumps theirs within the first 10 minutes, then adds depth for most of the remaining 100.
Of course, at $350 a ticket (and that’s just face value), she had better deliver a bonanza far beyond her contemporaries’ abilities. There are those who find that price obscene, and it’s worth noting that by demanding so much for entry into her momentary wonderlands Madonna continues to largely lock out middle-class and poorer fans, who just might revere her more than wealthier devotees.
It’s one of the downsides of mounting such expensive tours and insisting on an enormous paycheck: What is intended as an over-the-top yet populist celebration of all races, nationalities and religions often winds up a rather elitist experience.
But, then, the same charge could be hurled at the Rolling Stones, and they charged $100 more for choice seats when they played the Forum two months ago. And though this is definitely a case of comparing apples and oranges, Mick Jagger and his graying mates certainly didn’t offer a sight half as ridiculously delicious as a remarkably fit middle-age woman in equestrian-dominatrix gear gyrating and grinding atop a rodeo saddle spinning in circles via a carousel pole.
That’s how the 47-year-old Madonna performs "Like a Virgin" this time out, after being lowered to the tip of her stage’s catwalk via a mirror ball that opens like flower petals, then launching into the most darkly lascivious number she’s presented this decade.
Set to a blending of the new song "Future Lovers" with Donna Summer’s classic "I Feel Love" " and preceded (and interrupted) by footage on a giant, wrap-around screen of the lithe sexpot sliding a riding crop between her teeth and writhing half-naked with a gagging harness strapped to her head and her hands tied behind her back " Madonna slowly parades around her bare-chested, abs-flexing dancers in a top hat and tails (and not much else), occasionally whipping and riding one like a horse. It’s enough to make you think this production will be as racy as her Blonde Ambition Tour, or perhaps finally provide the climax that the tour-free "Erotica" never quite achieved (unless you reallyenjoyed her "Sex" book).
Yet that’s only a tease; indeed, by the time she actually revives the song "Erotica" late in the disco finale of her two-hour show, any remaining lust has been stripped away. Even amid the raciness of the opening section, she hints at where she’s headed, singing in "Get Together": "Do you believe that we can change the future?"
The next line is "Do you believe that I can make you feel better?" " but it might better have been amended to "make you think." After concluding her coming-out with a bounding gymnastics display attached to the track "Jump," she suddenly shifts into bleaker, more challenging terrain, quickly emerging with a centerpiece that is sure to stir resentful feelings with the same people who didn’t like her controversial "Like a Prayer" Pepsi ad many years ago.
Hanging mock-crucified on a huge mirrored cross, a crown of thorns atop her wavy blond locks, Madonna sings an inspired rethinking of the heretofore sappy ballad "Live to Tell," its usual bed of tinny synths replaced by churchy organs, its lyrics " "A man can tell a thousand lies / I’ve learned my lesson well" " seemingly directed at powers-that-be she deems dogmatic and hypocritical. The bridge, during which almost all background music faded out, was especially captivating. "How will they hear?" she asks. "When will they learn? How will they know?"
The meaning of that and the equally outspoken moments that followed is wide open to interpretation, considering that it took in all manner of subjects, from burka-shrouded women breaking away from servitude and the plight of AIDS-ravaged African children to a visual attack on world leaders past (Hitler, Mussolini, Hussein, a number of popes) and present (Bush, Blair, bin Laden).
"Forbidden Love," for instance, instantly changed from just another gay anthem to a moving plea for spiritual harmony, with an array of religious symbols (formed out of thousands of blood cells) intersecting and colliding. A turbaned vocalist introduced as Isaac blew shofar to introduce Madonna’s new song of the same name, while a woman draped in gray danced as if a caged bird. "Like It or Not" was transformed from merely a self-satisfied statement of defiance into that aforementioned skewering of political figures, with the star hollering, "I can’t take it / Don’t speak / I’ve heard it all before."
It was multimedia, cross-cultural preaching to the choir on a scale only U2 has reached lately. But unlike that band’s recent performances, the momentum here isn’t maintained; it’s just one portion, followed by a rocked-up section (in which she straps on a Gibson for thicker takes on "I Love New York" and "Ray of Light") and a house-heavy finale, kicked off by a mash-up of "Music" with the classic "Disco Inferno" and Madonna making moves in a white Travolta three-piece suit. Only the tender acoustic pairing of "Drowned World / Substitute for Love" and "Paradise Not for Me" reminds of the thought-provoking sentiments she puts forth earlier in the performance.
Is that a flaw? Depends on how you view it, I suppose. I sensed a little life go out of the show in the last fourth, when the choreography grew routine and the hits came too few and too radicalized ("La Isla Bonita" was far too rapid for her too keep pace verbally). Surely some will be dismayed to learn the show features all but two songs from her latest album but relatively few staples. They should have attended the last tour, which was largely about reinventing such material.
This show is about summation and reconfiguration " the same formula presented unpredictably. Since the decade began " and Madonna returned to regular touring " she has been leaning toward something like this, something that encapsulates all of the various theatrical strains she incorporated just before 9/11 and the sociopolitical invective she added after that fateful day.
This one isn’t perfect " yet. By the time it’s on HBO, it may be fine-tuned for more power. For now, however, it’s quite possibly the best production she’s ever concocted.
7 - James R. Mckenzie
Why's it so hard to believe that it IS a publicity stunt to attract attention to AIDS?
I mean, the GIANT ASS SCREENS behind her are flashing AIDS stats and stuff during the performance so it's not like she's just making up the AIDS stuff in this interview.
This is the problem, almost no one knows about the FULL performance, people only know that she's on a cross.
Behind Madonna on the GIANT ASS VIDEO SCREENS are images of children suffering from AIDS and statistics/facts about AIDS.
The media isn't reporting the full story, they're only sensationalizing it in order to sell more papers and boost ratings.
On the screen there are also quotes from Jesus and the book of Matthew. It's absolutely awesome that she included this. It definately goes well with the starving kids in the background.
The quote:
"For I was hungry, and you gave me food.
I was naked and you gave me clothing.
I was sick and you took care of me.
And God replied....whatever you did for the least of my brothers. You did it to me."
8 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
If Madonna had talent or decent songs would she still need all the smoke and mirrors, bells and whistles, the $350-a-seat exploitation extravagnaza and GIANT ASS VIDEO SCREENS?
9 - larry
Hey, Mark: Do us all a favor. Take a picture of Jesus, stuff it up your ass, then nail a cross on your mothers breast and kill her. Better yet, why not take all of your "religious" friends, and go jump off a highway somewhere. For someone who doesn't care about Madonna, you sure waste an awful amount of space on her. I hate bible sucking morons.
10 - ericcartman
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I guess talent is subjective, but ask the 17-20,000 people a night who are packing in her shows. You may want to ask the critics who have mostly given her latest album and tour pretty decent reviews.
11 - truthhurts
"A reviewer for the Daily Mail in England, where Madonna has begun to tour, sums it up succinctly"
LOL! Sums up your credibility: the tour started in Los Angeles. You Drudge Report Christians crack me up. I've got a secret for you: Did you know Drudge is actually gay?? It's pretty well known.
12 - Guppusmaximus
Ya know it would've been nice if the media explained what Madonna was doing in that scene but they didn't. If you actually have a humanitarian bases to your act then using the cross doesn't make you a heathen. Turning your back on the millions who die from AIDS makes you a heathen. I may not be a model Christian but she could be making a valid point. But then, I have to stop and think... If she was truly religious and wanted to prove her point she wouldn't charge $350/ticket. Is she going to give the money from her tour to help the people of Africa??
13 - Andy Marsh
$350? For what...two, three hours? You can steal the music off the internet for a lot less! I'd say you folks need to save that money and use it on a good shrink instead!
14 - Christopher Rose
Mark, you should stick to religion. That line of faithist nonsense is obviously your comfort zone, unlike music...
15 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I read the article and the comments and have to say this. Whatever she is doing, Madonna is most assuredly at the top of her game. All sorts of suckers paying £200 to see a 47 year woman old on a religious symbol she probably doesn't even understand.
Did I read 17,000 pople a night packing the theatre? That works out to £3.4 million a night - nearly $6 million a night gross receipts!
If that's not the top of one's game, I wonder what is.
16 - chantal stone
Madonna has always been good at ruffling the feathers of people like Mark Adams. She knows what she's doing, because we're talking about her. Talking about her, especially amid this lame little "controversy", will lead someone else, who hasn't already, to buy her CD. Sounds pretty brilliant to me.
Madonna Mission Accomplished.
17 - RogerMDillon
To quote from the article about the article, "Nothing to see, really. Move on."
Boo hoo, she's using a cross. Let me guess, you're going to boycott her sold-out show when it comes to your town.
Why not do some research? "The Daily Mail" article you link to states in the second paragraph, "As she kicked off her Confessions world tour at LA's Great Western Forum on Sunday." LA is short for Los Angeles, which is not in England. The reason she started 50 minutes late was because IATSE was picketing the Forum and caused a major traffic back-up. What churches are outraged? Andres Serrano was the artist you were looking for.
It's sad to learn someone so out of touch like the author is teaching our youth, but it's good to learn that his articles are a waste of time.
How the hell is this in the BC spotlight?
18 - ML
Honestly- Madonna could just give all of her millions made from this tour to AIDs charities and send off a better message. She repulses me and always will and I am not a religious zealot that's for sure. Everything she touches oozes vanity, self-importance, and inflated ego. Her quest for fame, fortune, and money- her hokey lyrics and bad voice. It's a good thing she can still gyrate on a saddle and simulate sex acts in the name of dance and art. She looks like an old hooker- sorry Madonna fans, this is only my pathetic opinion as a looser artist who sells nothing. I would not spends $5 on a ticket for one of her overrated performances. I don't care about her broken bones and I learn about AIDS and Africa from other sources- NOT a Madonna concert- Maybe soon Madonna will become a UN Ambassador like so many other celebrities. I am sure she could refrain from grabbing her crotch while receiving a humanitarian award. Shakira managed to do this as well.
19 - Mark Adams
I don't feel that I need to establish my "Madonna" credentials: I was listening to Madonna before she made it big with "Lucky Star;" I waited in eager anticipation for her Like a Virgin album, and lamented when it was delayed because of "Lucky Star's" success (damn, that song!). But then, I was only an adolescent.
(Confession time: when she cut her hair, the magic was over--but that's just a guy thing. I was left with a less-attractive pop star whose music had all the depth of a kiddy pool. Thank goodness for alternative rock.)
Folks, she's a pop star. Why she's still successful, I cannot say. But I'll say this...
Mea culpa! Yes, she'll probably be putting out hits for years to come. Mea culpa!
But that doesn't change the fact that she is just a pop star. Her songs sell because they are catchy. Heck, I like catchy, but catchy wears thin after a short while. That's why was I so disaffected by Madonna's music. There wasn't much there.
And the cross thing? That's art!?!? Let me lay the cards on the table: the "Christ" imagery of most artists either betrays self-aggrandizement or artistic desperation (usually the two go hand in hand).
Madonna hasn't offended my religious sensibilities (far from it), she's offended my religious sensibilities. Heck, I hated Madonna long before I got religious.
20 - Mark Adams
Yeah, and for the correction, which I'll make in the comment section, she opened in L.A. Just a brain fart, that's all.
21 - Mark Adams
Can't edit comments, but when I said, "Madonna hasn't offended my religious sensibilities (far from it), she's offended my religious sensibilities." I meant to say that she's offended my artistic sensibilities. Gee, and I even previewed that comment.
22 - MAOZ
#11 truthhurts, is English your native language? Mark mentions "...England, where Madonna has begun to tour...", and you reply with "LOL! Sums up your credibility: the tour started in Los Angeles."
Look at Mark's sentence again: "...where Madonna has begun to tour...." Not "...has begun the tour...", which I suspect is perhaps you were reacting to.
23 - Flea
There is so much ignorance (and over-used pro- Madonna arguments) in this thread coming from Grandma-donna apologists that I had to say something.
Contrary to what a previous poster said, there have been some negative reviews in the main stream media of (and personal commentary about) this "Confessions" concert.
Here's but one:
Madonna crosses a line but antics fail to shock - from the Times Online, UK
Some reviews are a mix, containing both positive and negative comments.
Anyway - As I've noted at my Anti Madonna Discussion Board for eons now, about 99% of the media kisses Madonna's butt about 99% of the time, no matter what she does, and this has been going on since the mid 1980s.
Therefore, pointing out positive- Madonna- concert review after positive- Madonna- concert review doesn't really prove much.
(Although we have fun at the discussion board mocking the positive reviews and posting the negative ones.)
Madonna could murder and eat a human baby on stage and the critics would put a positive spin on it, e.g., "She's still provocative! Still getting headlines!"
The Bible verses that someone quoted above that they claim is shown in Madonna's concert (which were)-
"For I was hungry, and you gave me food.
- Technically, Jesus was referring to his fellow Jews there, and not starving / sick kids or gentiles. (Not that Jesus would be against people helping poor folks or kids with diseases, of course.)I was naked and you gave me clothing.
I was sick and you took care of me.
And God replied....whatever you did for the least of my brothers. You did it to me."
Madonna put herself on that cross for a reason:
Madonna knew the "disco cross" would stir up controversy. (That is why Madonna chose a cross to hang from, over say, a lamp post or a brick wall.)
Lately, Madonna has been coy about the cross being in the concert, in that she has attempted to justify the mock crucifixion by saying, "But, but, it's high-lighting the plight of kids who have AIDS!"
Well, fine, Madonna, but one does not have to use imagery that you dang well know others will find offensive to make your point, even if that point is for "charity."
For the dude above who said the media didn't publicize why Madonna was hanging on a cross - yes they did! Links about it began showing up in Yahoo and Google news yesterday.
Here's one:
Madonna: 'Jesus wouldn't mind' crucifixion stunt (from Ireland Online)
For James who wrote:"Why's it so hard to believe that it IS a publicity stunt to attract attention to AIDS?
Explain why Madonna had to use a CROSS to make her AIDS charity shtick?I mean, the GIANT ASS SCREENS behind her are flashing AIDS stats and stuff during the performance so it's not like she's just making up the AIDS stuff in this interview."
Why not Big Bird from Seasame Street? Or a lawn mower? Or the Islamic symbol of a crescent moon? Why a cross?
Some people in this thread are anti-Christian and anti-religious bigots, but they like to think of themselves as "tolerant" and "loving" people, no doubt. Double standard! (I see this frequently among Madonna fans and liberals in general.)
Some in this thread have referred to anyone who objects to Madonna's improper use of crucifixion imagery as "religious fanatics."
I have seen a few self-professed atheists or Non Christians on the web say even they thought Madonna's cross shtick was old, tired, and offensive.
To be either
(a) offended by Madonna's "crucifixion" or
is reasonable and understandable.(b) to be bored by it
As for part A:
it should be obvious to anyone that interjecting religious or political matters into a conversation with a friend -or into a pop concert- is probably going to offend someone somewhere.
Therefore, anti-Christian bigots on this page should not be surprised to find some religious and conservative types speaking out against the disco cross.
If Madonna burned a flag with a rainbow on it and screamed on stage that 'fags should all die,' none of the "progressives" on here would find that insulting or upsetting? Of course you would.
Lay off the hyperbole, such as referring to critics as "religious fanatics."
If you really want to see fanatics, recall how the extremist Muslims over-seas went crazy, staged riots, and used violence in protest over some innocuous cartoons of the alleged prophet Mohammed.
Unless Christians in Europe and North America start rioting, issuing death threats, and getting violent over the pop concert's mock crucifixion (as the hyper fundamentalist Muslims did over the Mohammed cartoons), your anti-Christian rhetoric is unwarranted.
If Madonna did something similar with Islamic imagery and symbolism, she might very well be killed by wacko, hyper-extremist Muslims.
On the other hand, the worst Madonna will get from a few angry Christians is strongly worded letters or a couple of grouchy comments by Christians in an interview or two - and she knows it.
Madonna probably also realizes that it's not "politically correct" in the West to criticize Islam, but it's perfectly okay by the main stream media, which is largely liberal in some nations, to bash Christians.
You'll notice so far that there have been only two stories about religious groups complaining about Madonna's concert (with one being some guy from the Church of England).
Further, they are the same two stories, and these stories keep getting repeated many times over, making it seem as though lots and lots of Christians are "out raged" by Madonna's latest lame attempt to shock people.
If only 2 or 3 such pieces exist (and that's the case so far!) of Christians lambasting Madonna for her show, I would not say that amounts to large- scale anger in the Christian community.
As for part "B" far above:
I have since read over several blogs by conservatives (including some Christians), and their response is not one of anger but one of boredom, i.e.,
"Yawn. So tired. All Madonna ever does is rely on insulting Christianity - when she's not using sex or politics - to get free publicity."
Madonna is an attention whore, and she loves to do offensive things intentionally to get more attention, especially from professional main stream media. You should all know this by now.All the Madonna fans can stop whining about "religious fanatics" complaining about Madonna. Madonna loves it when the "religious fanatics" speak out against her.
For the individual who wrote,
"Not that I'm a Madonna fan, but did you actually see the show so you can comment on it expertly?"
Why do we have to see it "in person" to arrive at a conclusion about it?I've read umpteen reviews of the thing by now - both for and against - and have seen photos about it, including several of her on the gaudy, mirrored disco cross.
I've already read Madonna's pathetic justification for mis-using Christian symbols in her "Confessions" Tour.
I've heard Madonna's side of things.
I've already heard that there are photos of sick kids and AIDS statistics shown on a video screen behind Madonna as she's on the cross. The context of which the cross is being used has been explained.
Knowing all that, why do I have to see her in person to form an opinion? I don't think I do.
I certainly would NOT spend $300 to see her in person, either, no thanks.
Someone else said that this cross controversy will cause someone to go out and buy a "Confessions" CD. I doubt it.
RogerMDillion said,
"Boo hoo, she's using a cross. Let me guess, you're going to boycott her sold-out show when it comes to your town."
BOO HOO! So some people don't like Madonna!You're assuming that Madonna haters such as myself were even going to go to her lame-o concert in the first place? Puh-leeze! (It was good for a laugh, though.)
I didn't have any intention of seeing her untalented butt BEFORE the cross controversy, and I certainly have no desire to see her AFTER it, either.
24 - truthhurts
Madonna is the greatest performer to ever hit the stage. Mark Adams: I would have more respect for your commentary if you actually saw the show yourself them commented on it.
25 - truthhurts
Review from New York Post:
This is who I am / You can like it or not / You can love me or leave me 'cause I'm never gonna stop."
So sings Madonna.
Forhet the crucifix. No, really. It has already become the visual image of Madonna's spectacular (and spectacularly ambitious) "Confessions" concert. But as usual, there is more to M's work than meets the eye. The "blasphemous" sequence, in which she sings "Live to Tell" suspended on a cross, is accompanied by desperate images and dire statistics about children dying of AIDS in Africa. Why the cross? Don't ask M, who'll only tell you her work must speak for itself and she believes in the intelligence and imagination of her audience.
In spite of the crucifix controversy, this show contains some of the great set pieces of Madonna's career. "Music" is transformed into an homage to 1970s disco in general and John Travolta in his white-suited "Saturday Night Fever" persona in particular. This incredible number is worth the exorbitant price of admission. There is her entrance from the ceiling in a giant glitter ball . . . "Like a Virgin" performed in her dominatrix equestrian outfit, playfully gyrating like a 20-year-old on an oversized saddle . . . "Ray of Light" and "I Love New York," display Madonna's impressive guitar licks and her ability to command the stage as a rock-chick extraordinaire. "I Love New York," which is one of the weakest songs on her "Confessions" album, comes alive, thanks to Madonna's ferocious in-the-flesh tackle of it. The sinewy, sometimes androgynous singer/dancer channels Iggy Pop in her angry, defiant "Let It Will Be," and then switches moods instantly with a haunting "Drowned World." Both songs question fame, in a different frame of mind, reflecting Madonna's continuing search for peace within this maelstrom of her own making.
There are the head-scratching moments, numbers that don't come off ("Erotica") and cringe-inducing profanity directed at the president. (Really, at almost 48 years old, there's no need for Madonna to engage in juvenile pandering. Especially as she makes her political point powerfully in a video montage that includes George W. Bush existing side by side with Hitler, Mussolini and other charmers.)
Even if you are not especially a Madonna fan, I defy anybody to watch this woman work for two hours onstage and come away unimpressed. (She is greatly assisted by her incredible troupe of dancers, of whom Daniel "Cloud" Campus and Leroy "Hypnosis" Barnes are standouts. But every single one in her cast is brilliant!)
Madonna is determined to tattoo her vision onto her audience and make them think whether they want to or not. She is equally passionate that her fans get the very best of her, doing what they want to see her do. She sings (live), she dances like time has stopped and surely she never fell off that horse! The star provides an ongoing visual feast; almost too much happens on a Madonna stage (and in her head!). She and director Jamie King are over-fond of the giant visuals that back Madonna and can overwhelm her, but these are often beautiful, and for the fans in the nosebleed seats, they're compensation for watching their idol from a vantage point that reduces her to the size of a postage stamp.
Though they seem polar opposites, Madonna and Marlene Dietrich have a lot in common. Marlene also offered herself as fans wanted to see her - encased in sequined gowns, a shimmy here, a hand gesture there. Madonna's act is considerably more athletic, but nonetheless a result of iron stamina, perfectionism, self-love and a professional standard that is out of reach by even the most dedicated performers. (Indeed there is an almost Prussian, compulsive work ethic in Madonna's personality.) Old age and infirmity stopped Marlene, and she drew the curtain on her public self. Madonna is still a young woman, but not a youngster. Watching her aerobic intensity, one wonders how much longer she can do it. And why she wants to continue the brutal grind? Why? Because whatever her art and world attention has meant to Madonna, it hasn't altered. She has changed in some ways: married, a mother of two, a devotee of religion, but the great need that propelled her from Michigan to Manhattan way back when is as strong as ever. She wants to be adored - she wants to shock, confound, create, never rest on what has been. She looks to the future. Madonna is consumed by ambition and ego yet sometimes longs to free herself.
"Confessions" - which might be subtitled "I'm Still Here Ha! Ha! Ha!" - isn't a perfect concert, though by the time it reaches N.Y.C. in June, it might be. But it is a perfect showcase for a woman who has imposed her will on the world. And has no intention of loosening her grip.
One of the happiest people at Madonna's concert was pal Rosie O'Donnell, loaded down with camera equipment. It was her first time out with a digital camera; she usually prefers old-fashioned film - "I love that darkroom smell!" Rosie compared notes with celeb lensman Kevin Mazur, much loved for his talent and good manners. Rosie has long documented Madonna's concerts. "I send her scrapbooks. I figure when we're both 80 we'll be in rocking chairs, going, 'Ah, remember the "Confessions" tour, honey?' "
Maybe. But I have a feeling M will be on her "Madonna 80: Ready, Willing and Still Able" tour.