Madonna offered a historic concert: millions of emotions for her fans and dollars for Rio

Last Saturday night, Rio de Janeiro It emerged as the undisputed epicenter of music worldwide. In front of an effervescent crowd of more than 1.5 million people, on Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, [la más emblemática de Brasil], Madonna (Bay City, Michigan, 1958) became an amalgamation of all its iconic facets during a dazzling show that lasted more than two hours.

In the culmination of The Celebration Tour, the eternal avant-garde reviewed the story of her life through her most symbolic identities: from the seductive ‘Material Girl’ to the naive bride, passing through the Catholic provocateur, the immaculate virgin and the rebellious cowgirl. . She masterfully intertwined these performances, while at the same time proclaiming her right to her eroticism without undermining her role as her mother, all before a dedicated audience captivated by her stage genius.

This free concert marked the climax of a tour that took on special meaning after a serious bacterial infection put the American singer’s life in danger in June.

Millionaire profits

It was a historic moment both for Madonna, who had never before performed in front of such a vast audience, and for Rio de Janeiro, which experienced a substantial increase in its income, reaching a total of $57 million. [Gran parte de estos se atribuyen a la llegada de 150 mil extranjeros en vuelos especiales y al aumento de casi 100% en la ocupación hotelera y en distintos comercios]. According to the AFP agency, this achievement represents an increase of 30% compared to the initial investment.

The construction of the impressive 800-square-meter, eight-foot-high stage required 270 tons of equipment. This infrastructure, twice the size of those used in previous presentations of The Celebration Tour, guaranteed that attendees could enjoy this tour of Madonna’s hits from every possible angle, which included songs like “Like a Virgin,” “Vogue,” “Holiday”, “Like a Prayer” and “La Isla Bonita”.

Precisely, with this last song, came one of the most memorable moments of the night. Madonna wore the shirt of the Brazilian soccer team and shared the stage with a group of young percussionists from a samba school and with the drag queen singer Pabllo Vittar. Simultaneously, the screens projected images of prominent Brazilian personalities, including the educator Paulo Freire, the soccer player Marta, the remembered councilor Marielle Franco and the revered indigenous leader Raoni.

Before this, Madonna, who throughout the event wore an elastic compression splint on her left leg due to a knee injury, performed “Vogue.” To perform the famous choreography of this song, she was accompanied by one of her youngest daughters, Estere, 11 years old, and by the Brazilian diva Anitta.

The singer’s relationship with the country of Rio de Janeiro is quite close. From her first performance at Maracaná in 1993 to her participation in social projects in the favelas, including her collaboration with Anitta (” Gosty Face“) and his admiration for Caetano Veloso. In addition, for two years she had a romantic relationship with a Brazilian model, 28 years younger than her.

Among the most applauded moments of the gala, the tributes that Madonna paid to icons such as Prince and Michael Jackson also stand out, as well as to prominent Brazilian personalities who lost their lives due to AIDS, such as the singer Cazuza, and to influential Afro-descendant leaders.

Great records

Although it was massive, this is not the busiest show held in Copacabana. In 1994, Rod Stewart attracted 3.5 million people, a spectacle that was recorded in Guinness World Records as the largest of all time. Likewise, artists such as Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor, who attracted three million people in 1993, and the Rolling Stones, who gathered 1.5 million in 2006, have also performed memorable concerts on the iconic Brazilian beach.

Madonna may not have broken numerical records this time, but she fulfilled dreams that her fans and herself had been cherishing for a long time.