Midway through her set, Madonna inserts a mini-tribute to Michael Jackson into her rendition of Holiday. It’s appropriate, but not just because of Jackson’s recent demise. Born just 13 days apart, the careers of pop’s two biggest megastars have always seemed to exist in parallel to each other. But while the last 15 years of Jackson’s life saw him slowly waste away, Madonna has spent the same period intent on solidifying her own immortality. This scrappy hunger has been the one constant in a career marked by endless reinvention, a quality which has always been beneficial to her, but having reaffirmed her place at the head of the table several times over, a sense of purposelessness is beginning to creep into it.
Tonight’s show finds her emphasising her strength and power above all else. Madonna comes across not so much as the Queen of Pop, but its Iron Lady, intent on bending it to her will. She summons up specially recorded video images of younger superstars – Kanye West, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake – with a snap of her fingers. The choreography is designed to display how limber she is. It is undoubtedly impressive on occasion: during the show’s centrepiece, She’s Not Me, Madonna abuses four immobile dancer mannequins – ripping wedding veils from their heads, French kissing them, finally strangling one – in a compelling display of alpha female superiority.
But this also has an increasing tendency to manifest itself in tiresome ways. There’s no reason why a 50-year-old shouldn’t flaunt her gym-sculpted body or express her sexuality; what disappoints is the mundanity of how she does it. Cutesy cheerleader skirts, vague S&M signifiers and choreographed pole-dancing are far from transgressive, especially from a woman who has been genuinely bold in pushing sexual boundaries. Elsewhere, a montage of senselessly arranged “humanitarian” images, from Iranian rebels to Mother Teresa, elicits groans from the audience.
Trying to prove her youthfulness, trendiness and good heart are goals which should be beneath Madonna. She has a back catalogue like no other, and it serves her well enough to redeem tonight’s show. A rave version of Like a Prayer, mixed into Felix’s Don’t You Want Me, is electrifying, the kind of thrilling live moment that few others could match; there’s a brilliant perversity in reimagining the bubblegum Dress You Up as a metal guitar-fest.
These are reminders that Madonna is not a woman to be written off, but they also highlight the paucity of interesting ideas elsewhere. Madonna’s undisguised questing for immortality comes off as an empty pursuit because she has already achieved it – a fact that her own Jackson tribute should have made clear to her.
3 out of 5
Madonna - Celebration 
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration 
I Am Because We Are 
Sticky & Sweet 
Filth and Wisdom 
I Am Because We Are 
Miles Away 
Sticky & Sweet 
Madonna Confessions 
Madonna 2009 
Give It 2 Me 
Give It 2 Me 
Hard Candy 
Hard Candy 
4 Minutes 
4 Minutes
We watched Madonna live in concert last night in Barcelona and her performance was, in one word, Brilliant!! I loved the fact that she fells and looks to be in the prime of her lofe and there is definitely no harm in flaunting the hell out of it, if you’ve got it.. which Madonna definitely does. She has worked amazingly hard over the past few decades and we say Hats off to her.
This review is dead-on accurate. Yes, Madonna is an amazing perfomer. In my opinion, there’s no one better at performing live…but, at what point, does her vast, bottomless ego say, “ok, enough”? She is essentially doing the same thing she has done for almost 30 years – dancing around in cute outfits with cute backup dancers to pop music. Her music has grown substantively & technically but the messages have not. She has not matured as an artist because, I believe, she has not truly matured as a person. As unbelievably successful as she is, she is still a slave to her “look-at-me” and “me-first” ego. I love watching her perform live but I do wish that she would evolve as an artist because, frankly, she has grown tiresome…ans slightly sad because, as the review mentions, her shows are increasingly built around her desire to prove how young, strong and limber she still is. Just listen to “Give it 2 Me.” I love that song but the lyrics conjure up an image of a seriously old lady with her boobs & stockings, out of breath and trying to make it up the stairs.
You had me up to that last part. Good points.
Madonna is, in short, wonderwoman, but I really haveto agree with this review in the sense that she does seem to trying to reaffirm her status and youthful appearane over an oover again, she almost *I hate myself for saying this* tries..TOO hard..what with the cheerleader type skirt and stuff….I love the enrgy of Sticky & Sweet..But the modesty of Confessions was..slightly nicer?
That’s because she’s not taking off her clothes and striking a “”Vogue” pose like she used to. I think she’s hott when naked!
HUllz yeah ;)
I’m not surprised the reviewer described the show as mundane,it was incredibly tedious and I’ve been told by many people that HUNDREDS of spectators left before the end of the show because they were so BORED.I heard one girl say she saw Mariah in concert and was moved to tears by the emotion and she added Madogga mimed throughout the whole concert and had all the emotional range of a robot.
Mariah can’t even go on tour. No one buys her tickets. At least Madogga and her robotic fans sell out all over the world.
Mariah could only sell out a barn.
OHhh..one person…huh? Well, I guess that writes of the hundreds of ACTUAL CRITICS ! lmfao, fuck out of madonna sites if its all youve got to say ;)
Paul wot the hell r u doin on Madonna website when u clearly cant stand her its PATHETIC & as 4 Mariah no competion she just sits on stools like a female Westlife & wharbles & howls through songs written by otehr people how talented is she NOT The review just proves Madonna still has the power over todays youth & puling power to fill stadiums Mariah seems to be strugglin oh dear Back to Yanksvile darling Americans never did have taste in music Madonna is worldwide some 30 years later Mariah has had only 1 no1 on her own in uk then she recruited Westlife 2 bore us with a duet of someone else song again zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mariah all over DULL
READ THE REVIEW & TAKE NOTE THX U & GOODBYE