Madonna Appreciation: Pt 2: "MADAME X" tour - opening night 17th Sept.

[Nancy.]

Miley Cyrus talking about M....

https://i.ibb.co/sRwMZn1/D6jy-R8y-UYAAtmz-F-thumb-jpeg-5b34679235aef0b24e1734dfa0e522f6.jpg

[reece(:]

336232264

[Saph]

why is this bitch releasing her tour tickets a week before i get paid

https://media.tenor.com/images/8f1b8a26df833bd35d8d515c8c51d3df/tenor.gif

[Nancy.]

First image from the rehearsals in the Eurovision venue. She reherased her set before the dress rehearsal of the second semi final just started! The set looks like the MET Gala, HUGE!!!

https://i.ibb.co/mD78JKK/60356736-593791807784510-8606544510433886208-n-jpg-f2debf554df265b0502c5464610eac46.jpg

[Nancy.]

She's,revealing FAR too much about the ESC performance on IG. Everything from the songs to her outfit, even the backdrop video's?

[Nancy.]

"Future" is out in NZ now. It's a bit like something Bob Marley would sing.

I quite like it.

[Nancy.]

https://i.ibb.co/S7rNgHR/Capture.jpg

[Saph]

WHY all the rappers

http://media.tumblr.com/983b901a392106dd8aea09eea1a5e249/tumblr_inline_muy3svDsZu1rnc0ht.gif

[Nancy.]

WHY all the rappers

http://media.tumblr.com/983b901a392106dd8aea09eea1a5e249/tumblr_inline_muy3svDsZu1rnc0ht.gif

I don't know, Saph but it's bloody annoying. lol

[Nancy.]

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_05/46E35ABB-1231-468C-86A3-8B501EC27A93.jpeg.4fec7bbb08cc4b0e9a1bfd609bf1e2e0 .jpeg

[Vanessa]

I've seen her live on her last tour and it was incredible. She sounds so good singing live and what a performer :love:

[Nancy.]

I've seen her live on her last tour and it was incredible. She sounds so good singing live and what a performer :love:

:cheer2:

Yes, I remember you saying you had tickets to see her, Vanessa. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Vanessa]

:cheer2:

Yes, I remember you saying you had tickets to see her, Vanessa. Glad you enjoyed it.

I would love to go again, if I can afford it. Excited for Eurovision now :dance:

[reece(:]

Why is Soltera better than Medellín? :skull: Madonna sounds livelier than ever!

[reece(:]

And don't you forget it, CIAO papí :dazzler:

[Nancy.]

1129087958215286785

60 years old and almost into her 5th decade...

:dance:

Completely agree with this poster on atrl.

"I find it impressive how Madonna with no hits this era (as expected) is now above J Lo which keeps trying every year and is one generation younger than Madonna...or even Britney and Christina Aguilera which are 2 generations younger than Madonna and their fans stream a lot more than Madonna's fans.

Also, her top 10 on spotify includes 4 hits from the 80's, 1 hit from the 90's, 2 hits from the 00's and 3 songs from the 10's

Medellin in less than a month has already surpassed Mariah's latest first single (that came out like over 6 months ago) and is now almost reaching Janet's Made For Now that came out like 8 or 9 months ago.

Who the hell has this stability?"

[Nancy.]

I would love to go again, if I can afford it. Excited for Eurovision now :dance:

Yes, you should. The rumour is, she's going to extend her theatre tour to bigger venues for the second leg next year. I hope it's true. :cheer2:

[RileyH]

I love Crave & Soltera

Not really feeling Future atm but it could be a grower :dazzler:

[Nancy.]

I love Crave & Soltera

Not really feeling Future atm but it could be a grower :dazzler:

I'm the exact opposite. I love Furure but I think Soltera is a mess. :laugh: Saying that, i'm kinda warming to it a little.

[Nancy.]

1129539252742774785

[Saph]

Future is my least fave so far.. its very slow idk why shes performing this one at Eurovision. Crave or I Rise would've been better

[Denver]

Future is my least fave so far.. its very slow idk why shes performing this one at Eurovision. Crave or I Rise would've been better

Its probs because she is singing Like A Prayer aswell so makes sense to use a slow song with it

[reece(:]

Why does Swae Lee look like the Grudge?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/Madonna_and_Swae_Lee_-_Crave.png

[Nancy.]

Dreadful performance.

Her voice sounded bad when she was singing LAP, but at least she didn't mime, so that's something. As much as I like Future, it just didn't work.

I also had visions of her coming tumbling down those steps too but thank god she didn't. That Brit awards performance is engraved on my brain since it happened.

[Ammi]

...in general I don’t think the acoustics at Eurovision's are the best...but she sang live and she’s a 60 yr old performer...how many 60yr old would even consider performing live on something like that..?...I think she’s incredible, I have nothing negative to say about her...she’s Madonna and she didn't even have to say yes to a Eurovision live performance... but she did and I have nothing but admiration for her ....:flutter:...

[reece(:]

I thought her LAP live vocal was decent, but the Future autotuned mess was disastrous

[Saph]

was a bit of a mess tbh.. I've never heard a boring remix of LAP until last night.. and the vocals were pretty bad in some places

Future was a mess with that autotune microphone.. what was she thinking! also bringing Quavo to Eurovision is basically homophobia

[Smithy]

Every song she’s released from the album is better than future, why on earth did she perform that/even chose to release it as a single. Crave is 1000x better

[Saph]

IA, Future felt so flat during that performance

[Nancy.]

1130866253462233088

:cheer2:

For those who don't know, Lucy O'Brian is a writer/broadcaster. Author of She Bop, a history of women in popular music, and the biography Madonna: Like An Icon.

[Saph]

I believe her for now

https://66.media.tumblr.com/4f4274fe790b8eb5f888ddc4be6d1284/tumblr_myxiq7MsmT1rs11txo2_r4_250.gif
https://66.media.tumblr.com/fcbac708c38d0bef8a891e27d0b20277/tumblr_myxiq7MsmT1rs11txo6_r5_250.gif

[Nancy.]

1130868111618523136

[reece(:]

Wbk the Mirwais tracks would be the best

[Nancy.]

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_05/86979866-7C91-4EA8-B12F-03CBBBEC55AF.jpeg.9d69c463b7ce470acc1337ac53a5b945 .jpeg

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_05/C2EC3722-CB0D-4F7A-B5F0-06A18E6939AC.thumb.jpeg.47ee91c4de485d6831aa1dbec8 05a43d.jpeg

[Nancy.]

https://i.ibb.co/TmTxDNT/076-A5820-98-A4-4647-A7-F0-50148807-D9-E4-thumb-jpeg-9f7e122f29a7007dac4386da6c2ed526.jpg

[Nancy.]

https://i.ibb.co/mFS5gH9/Capture.jpg

[Nancy.]

1130902638416015360

[Nancy.]

"God Control" is said to be the BANGER of the album. :dance:

[Nicky91]

her Like a Prayer vocal, well it was a different version of that song, with that orchestral choir

and also Madge gotten older than when she recorded that song anyway, so i thought it wasn't a disaster


and not if she is the only one who isn't perfect vocally :idc:



about Future, well we knew madame x was gonna include experimental music, what we never heard from her before

[Saph]

I didnt even notice a song called 'Gun Control' in the tracklist :skull:

[Nancy.]

lol.

Here's the video for Crave.

KpBEtsrwng4

[Nancy.]

Quote from French magazine Têtu:
Dark Ballet: "as if Daft Punk remixed Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!!!"

:dance:

[Saph]

Isn't Dark Ballet the part of her Eurovision performance with the gas masks ? In between LAP and Future

[Nancy.]

Isn't Dark Ballet the part of her Eurovision performance with the gas masks ? In between LAP and Future

Yes, the spoken part is said to be the intro for Dark Ballet and I can't wait to hear it in full. God Control is another one that's said to be "Crazy".

I'm rather intrigued about "Batuka" too. I loved the clip she posted on IG of her dancing with the batukadera's a few months ago.

Looks like this album is going to be very creative.

[Nancy.]

Glitter Cassette:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0067/7308/0116/products/madame_x_glitter_casette_300x300.png?v=1558649655

[Nancy.]

https://i.ibb.co/GnMfPHs/CapturPe.jpg

[Nancy.]

Rocketman Director Up for Madonna Biopic

Rocketman director up for doing a Madonna biopic next: 'She’s extraordinary'
EXCLUSIVE: But Dexter Fletcher – also known for Bohemian Rhapsody – has a reservation about making a film of the Material Girl's life...

Director Dexter Fletcher has said he would be up for shooting a film about Madonna’s life.

Of course, the filmmaker already has a track record for rock biopics.

As well as this month’s Rocketman, which details the life of Elton John, he directed part of last year’s blockbuster Queen/Freddie Mercury picture, Bohemian Rhapsody.

We spoke to Dexter last month ahead of the London premiere of Rocketman earlier this month, and asked him: ‘Would you consider a return to the rock biopic genre – and would you please do Madonna or Cher’?

‘If I was to tackle any other icon…’

Dexter replied: ‘I’d do Madonna! That sounds like a real rollercoaster ride! It would be extraordinary.’

Asked if thought of a film on the Material Girl’s life had occurred to him before, he said: ‘No… no it hasn’t. I don’t know how happy she’d be about that [idea]… But what an extraordinary life that would be.

‘If I was to tackle any other icon like that, it would be her. She’s extraordinary.’
‘Nobody knows what I know’

Repots circulated in 2017 that a Universal biopic of Madonna called Blonde Ambition was in the works.

Madonna, who returns in 2019 with new album Madame X, seemingly addressed the rumors on Instagram at the time.

She wrote: ‘Nobody knows what I know and what I have seen. Only I can tell my story. Anyone else who tries is a charlatan and a fool. Looking for instant gratification without doing the work. This is a disease in our society.’

Rocketman is out now in UK cinemas and hits US screens on Friday 31 May.

The movie, which stars Taron Egerton, Richard Madden and Bryce Dallas Howard, has scored highly positive reviews.

[reece(:]

https://www.ukmix.org/cache.php?img=http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_05/6577D5E3-8AA0-46A2-850B-AE474914D0B1.jpeg.7b04cd2a9eb01594bbcbcd253ccb8beb .jpeg

[Nancy.]

^ Written by Rob Sheffied. I'm not going to say anymore on that. lol

[Nancy.]

1134149086637154304

:dance:

[Nancy.]

1133773545954250753

[Nancy.]

Omg, love this new version of Frozen:

1134580084235481088

[Nancy.]

Q Magazine just gave the album 4 stars.

https://i.ibb.co/PWHJBJx/ll.jpg

[Saph]

im hoping thats out of 5 not 10

[Nancy.]

im hoping thats out of 5 not 10

It is. Q only give 5 stars.

[Nancy.]

Madonna confirmed for Pride NYC

1135521097171050498

[Nancy.]

The Times:

Madonna: Madame X review — probably her boldest album yet

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5 Stars

Ever since she emerged from New York in the early 1980s, Madonna’s moderate abilities in music, singing and dancing have been more than made up for in searing ambition, an ability to work with the right people at the right time and a brittle form of bravery, with outer toughness masking inner frailty. Now comes probably her boldest, certainly her strangest, album yet. Madame X veers between pop, Latin and clubby dance music, jumps from the personal to the political and is bound together by an exotic, breezy mood that feels strangely intimate, as if she is revealing a hitherto hidden part of her soul. She isn’t really, of course, but she does a good job of pretending she is.

Dark Ballet, recorded with the French producer Mirwais, throws all of these qualities into one three-part experimental epic. Over piano-led, minor-key pop, Madonna variously tells us that she can dress like a boy or a girl as she wishes, castigates the world for being obsessed with fame and concludes by saying that some unnamed people, at a guess Donald Trump and his team, are naive to think that we aren’t aware of their crimes. At one point she says something indecipherable in a half robot, half Disney princess voice. It is quite a trip.

Then there is Killers Who Are Partying, on which Madonna goes the full Bono as she identifies with Africa, poor people, exploited children and pretty much everyone else who isn’t a rich, old, golf-playing white man. “I’ll be poor, if the poor are humiliated,” she claims over a touch of Portuguese fado, and although you suspect that she isn’t really about to give up her life as the most successful female pop star yet and wander the Earth as a penniless ascetic, the sentiment is there. “I’ll be Islam if Islam is hated,” she continues. “I’ll be Israel if they’re incarcerated.” World peace through song may be a naive endeavour, as John Lennon found out five decades ago, but this flash of idealism at a time of rising global division is welcome nonetheless.

There are straightforward pop songs, such as the country-leaning Crave and the English/Portuguese Crazy, but the most captivating moments push the boat out. The Latin-tinged Batuka has a wayward quality reminiscent of Brazil’s late-1960s tropicalia movement and features the unequivocally Trump-bashing line “Get that old man and put him in jail”.

It wouldn’t be a Madonna album with a bit of overt sexuality and Faz Gostoso (“make it tasty”) pours the sauce over a samba rhythm, while on I Don’t Search I Find she reconnects with her core audience via the medium of high-energy, pumping house music. Finally comes I Rise, an empowerment anthem with a sample of the now-famous speech by the Parkland shooting survivor Emma González.

[Nancy.]

Madonna will be on the Graham Norton show on June 14th.

[Nancy.]

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_06/54627904_dailystar.jpg.9c6ca12e6aacba403c4f055a88d cf9b2.jpg

[Nancy.]

NME: Bold, bizarre, self-referential, and unlike anything Madonna has ever done before
Score: 4/5 stars

https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/madonna-madame-x-review

Madonna’s latest persona ‘Madame X’ borrows her name from the historical figure Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau: a socialite and occasional muse who scandalised genteel French society when she bared naked flesh – her entire shoulder, would you believe it – in a portrait. And while Madge’s own eye-patch wearing interpretation prefers taking a more enterprising approach to the current job market (Madame X is a mother, a child, a teacher, a nun, a singer, and a saint many among other things) it’s a fitting moniker for a record that restlessly explores all sides of contemporary pop at full divisive pelt: visiting Latin pop, all-out Eurotrash, gloomily percussive trap, NYC disco, house, and reggaeton.


During its most reckless moments, ‘Madame X’ is bold, bizarre, and unlike anything Madonna has ever done before. The frantic ‘Dark Ballet’ harnesses gloomily spun strings and robotic overlord vocals; it’s as villainous and foreboding as ‘Ray of Light’s darkest moments, or her ‘Die Another Day’ Bond theme. Then, quite out of nowhere, an extended piano interlude morphs into a mangled, glitching excerpt of ‘Dance of the Reed Pipes’ from Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ – it’s brilliant, overblown ridiculousness. “I want to tell you about love…. and loneliness,” Madonna husks dramatically.

Touching heavily on both these things, ‘Madame X’ explores the state of the world (spoiler: it’s not doing great) at large – as well as Madonna’s place within it – from her new base in Lisbon. ‘Madame X’ isn’t flawless in its vision: at times, Madonna’s attempts to lead the future revolution can come off as ham-fisted. ‘Killers Who Are Partying’ features some absolute clanging missteps: booming lines like “I’ll be Islam if Islam is hated” and “I’ll be Native Indian if the Indian has been taken” seem like tone-deaf expressions of solidarity, especially from a wealthy white woman who seems to be planting herself at the centre of multiple minority narratives. And moments like ‘I Rise’s rehashed quote from the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre – “Freedom’s what you choose to do with what’s been done to you” – can border on inspirational fridge magnet territory, too broad to establish real connection.

‘Madame X’ is a far more interesting prospect when the focus moves back onto Madonna herself. ‘Crazy’ – produced by Jason Evigan and Kanye West collaborator Mike Dean – is a self-referential accordion bop: “I bend my knees for you like a prayer,” she sings, pointedly name-checking her 1989 album, and flipping from the original’s religious innuendo, towards doomed, dead-end infatuation “oh god, look at me now”. Elsewhere, the rhythmic whisper of “cha cha cha” on opener and lead single ‘Medellín’ recalls ‘Hard Candy’s ‘Give It 2 Me’.

‘Bitch I’m Loca’, meanwhile, is the sort of swaggering anthem that campy Disney villain Ursula might belt out from the depths: Maluma (who also appears on lead single ‘Medellín’) the ideal sidekick. “Where do you want me to put this?” he drawls with a comedy wink. “You can put it inside” she replies. It’s like Madonna’s diva sketch at the end of ‘Act Of Contrition’ turned Carry On… Madame X. Her cover of ‘Faz Gostoso’ – originally by Brazilian pop star Blaya – is equally great fun. And the House-inflected standout ‘I Don’t Search I Find’ – bringing to mind Shep Pettibone’s production on ‘Vogue’, and repurposing a quote from Pablo Picasso for its title – is just as playful. “Finally, enough love,” Madonna announces.

Throughout her forty year career, outrage has always tailed Madonna closely; a point which is referenced on the likes of ‘Extreme Occident’ and the vulnerable admissions of ‘Looking For Mercy’ (“flawed by design, please sympathise,” she pleads) . “People have always been trying to silence me for one reason or another, whether it’s that I’m not pretty enough, I don’t sing well enough, I’m not talented enough, I’m not married enough, and now it’s that I’m not young enough,” Madonna recently expanded, speaking to Vogue,

In reality, if age wasn’t the chosen topic of the moment, the star would be “too much” of something – anything – else: too sexual, too attention-seeking, too weird, too controversial, too outspoken, too unwilling to disappear quietly into the good night. Instead, Madonna will do no such thing, happiest dancing said night away to the beat of her own creative drum.


For the first time since ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’, perhaps, there’s a glint in Madonna’s eye; her visible, un-eyepatched one, at least. Sonically restless, ‘Madame X’ doesn’t imitate current pop trends as much as it mangles them into new shapes. A record that grapples with being “just way too much”, ultimately, it refuses to tone things down.

[Saph]

exciting!

[reece(:]

The damn autotune is back

[Nancy.]

The damn autotune is back

Hmm, I'm not keen on Dark Ballet at all, but i'm in love with what i've heard of God Control. That song sounds like a massive hit.

[reece(:]

Hmm, I'm not keen on Dark Ballet at all, but i'm in love with what i've heard of God Control. That song sounds like a massive hit.
I didn't like Dark Ballet, could see what she was trying to do with it but think it missed the mark

[reece(:]

1137430631032479745

[Nancy.]

1137430631032479745

Yeah, that's God Control. Absolutely love it.

[reece(:]

Yeah, that's God Control. Absolutely love it.

Sounds very disco :elephant:

[Nancy.]

This is "I Don't Search, I Find", apparently and it's supposed to be very similar to her early 90's work. It even has the finger snaps of Vogue and spoken verses like Rescue Me and Erotica...

1137455028476764165

[reece(:]

Omg :amazed: Sounds like the best is definitely yet to come

[Nancy.]

Omg :amazed: Sounds like the best is definitely yet to come

Yes, exactly. Even the one with Anita is said to be good.

[Nancy.]

" I Don't Search, I Find":

1137515821952114688

:dance:

[Smithy]

Album leaked

[Nancy.]

Album leaked

Hi
Yes, it leaked last night but the quality on some tracks are very low quality. It looks like they've stitched together the single files from different sources to form the album. I'm going to wait until Friday when I get the cd's and vinyls.

From what i've heard it's incredible though. Have you heard it. Smithy?

[Smithy]

Not yet, I really can’t be bothered with leaks anymore, I’ll just listen to it when it’s out properly on Friday

[reece(:]

God's Control is good, takes a good minute to get going though

[reece(:]

The amount of autotune :worry:

[reece(:]

Faz Gostovo is great

[reece(:]

So nice to meet you mr safe,
So nice to meet you mrs crazy
Where do you want me to put this
Um you can put it inside
HaHahahahahaha

:skull:

[reece(:]

I Don't Search I Find :love::love:

[Saph]

where is the leak

[Saph]

her voice at the beginning of Gun Control...

https://media.giphy.com/media/Sc3jtnm1WRDiM/200w.gif

[Saph]

okay so my ratings so far..

Medallin 8/10
Dark Ballet 7/10
Gun Control 6/10

[Saph]

Future 5/10
Batuka 6/10
Killers Who Are Partying 6/10

I'm finding it a bit too autotuned and very repetitive

[Saph]

Crave 8/10
Crazy 7/10
Come Alive 7/10

the music is all great its just madonna herself thats the problem :skull:

[Saph]

Extreme Occident 8/10
Faz Gostoso 9/10
Bitch Im Loca 7/10

this part of the album is a bit more boppy

[Saph]

I Dont Search I Find 9/10
Looking For Mercy 7/10
I Rise 9/10

the second half of the album is a lot stronger

[reece(:]

I Dont Search I Find 9/10
Looking For Mercy 7/10
I Rise 9/10

the second half of the album is a lot stronger

TEA

just wish there was less autotune

[Saph]

yeah the autotune effect is actually awful.. and on half the songs on the album :bored:

[Nancy.]

http://images.impresa.pt/visao/2019-06-12-dest_kmadonna.jpg/original/mw-1024

[reece(:]

Batuka was completely murdered by autotune

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Gonna download when i get home :dazzler:

[reece(:]

My top 3 were Faz Gostovo, Bitch I'm Loca and I don't search I find

BOPS! and Extreme Occident was good too

[Nancy.]

The vinyl leak sounds awful compared to the HQ cd. I can hear things I couldn't hear before.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

The album art is so ugly :(

I mean it’s cute but the font at the top ruins it

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Maluma’s laugh at the end of bitch i’m loca :drool:

[Nancy.]

Number 1 in 22 countries (so far), and it hasn't been released yet in other parts of the world...

https://i.ibb.co/HzVNpth/Capture.jpg

[Nancy.]

Album: Madame X

iTunes (58x #1):
#1 United States
#1 United Kingdom
#1 Argentina
#1 Australia
#1 Bahrain
#1 Belarus
#1 Belgium
#1 Belize
#1 Brazil
#1 Bulgaria
#1 Canada
#1 Chile
#1 Colombia
#1 Costa Rica
#1 Cyprus
#1 Czech Republic
#1 Dominican Republic
#1 Ecuador
#1 Egypt
#1 El Salvador
#1 Estonia
#1 Finland
#1 France
#1 Germany
#1 Greece
#1 Guatemala
#1 Honduras
#1 Hungary
#1 Indonesia
#1 Israel
#1 Italy
#1 Kazakhstan
#1 Lebanon
#1 Lithuania
#1 Luxembourg
#1 Malta
#1 Mexico
#1 Netherlands
#1 Panama
#1 Peru
#1 Philippines
#1 Poland
#1 Portugal
#1 Qatar
#1 Romania
#1 Russia
#1 Singapore
#1 Slovakia
#1 Slovenia
#1 Spain
#1 Switzerland
#1 Taiwan
#1 Thailand
#1 Trinidad and Tobago
#1 Turkey
#1 Ukraine
#1 United Arab Emirates
#1 Uzbekistan

[Underscore]

I AM SO HAPPY!

gagggg :love:

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

I’ve only listened to it once in full so far but i love it :flutter: it takes a few listens before my favs stand out

A solid 8/10 :clap1:

[Saph]

It sounds a lot better now after listening with headphones with the clear audio

definitely one of her best albums of the 2000s

[Saph]

I like the mafia sound in Killers who are partying

[Samm]

after a few listens

confessions
ray of light
american life
bedtime stories
erotica
true blue
music
like a prayer
hard candy
madame x
rebel heart
like a virgin
mdna
madonna

[Samm]

apart from the singles obviously, her first two albums for me are unlistenable

[reece(:]

Confessions is a good #1 :janet:

[Nicky91]

3HajxdXcvlo

Madge at graham Norton show

[Nancy.]

Video for God Control coming soon...

This is going to upset a lot of people....

https://i.ibb.co/x6g3f2t/Capture.jpg

[Samm]

I can’t wait love controversial madonna, looks like it could be the best video this era!

also pray for spanish eyes just came on shuffle as I was typing this, a tune

[Saph]

Eu não nego ele é safado e ainda por cima é carinhoso
Ele faz tão gostoso
E-ele faz tão gostoso

https://media.giphy.com/media/uXKCBVR0MJLNe/giphy.gif

[Nancy.]

Eu não nego ele é safado e ainda por cima é carinhoso
Ele faz tão gostoso
E-ele faz tão gostoso

https://media.giphy.com/media/uXKCBVR0MJLNe/giphy.gif

:laugh: Looks like she's making a video for that song... look at the hashtag.

https://i.ibb.co/bL16XVv/Capture.jpg

[Saph]

the album is great tbf, the more I listen the more I love

[Saph]

the views for the songs on YT so far...

1. Medallin 31m
2. Faz Gostoso 3.3m
3. Crave 3.2m
4. Dark Ballet 2.5m
5. I Rise 2.5m
6. Future 1.7m
7. Gun Control 475k
8. Crazy 298k
9. Bitch Im Loca 256k
10. Killers Who Are Partying 241k
11. I Dont Search I Find 230k
12. Batuka 217k
13. Extreme Occident 214k
14. Ciao Bella 203k
15. Looking For Mercy 202k
16. Come Alive 187k
17. Back That Up To The Beat 64k
18. Funana 55k

Faz Gostoso really is that bop :clap1:

[Saph]

the deluxe tracks
sG-xevU4SSQ
CFoMrAFvWyg
NtMLhuT-CQs

[Nancy.]

Ciao Bella is great. Should've made the standard edition.

The album is going to #1 on the American chart. Shame she didn't get #1 here but I can live with her being #2 as Bruce is a legend.

[Nancy.]

God Control video in 30 minutes

[Nancy.]

zv-sdTOw5cs

[Nancy.]

Absolutely brilliant. Madonna delivers AGAIN.

[Pete.]

Madame X serve

[Saph]

I love the video, makes me like the song a lot more

[reece(:]

Loov the choreo

[Saph]

my album ranking now i've listened a few times...

1. Faz Gostoso
2. I dont search I find
3. Gun Control
4. Crave
5. Crazy
6. I Rise
7. Killers who are partying
8. Extreme Occident
9. Dark Ballet
10. Come Alive
11. Medallin
12. Looking for Mercy
13. Batuka
14. Future
15. Bitch Im Loca

[reece(:]

Not Gun Control

[RileyH]

god control vid is phenomenal

[Nicky91]

https://www.trouw.nl/media/peter-van-der-vorst-stelt-madonna-de-vraag-net-niet~bed82af5/

Madonna had a interview with our dutch entertainment presenter and our recent commercial director Peter van der vorst

i will translate a bit, a shame interview isn't on YouTube

Peter asked a question about bad sound quality at her eurovision performance and she didn't comment about that

they talked about her adopted children, how some had a input in some her work of Madame X

Peter also asked the question if madonna knew who won eurovision contest, she replied ''a dutch singer'' and he said yes we won with arcade and madonna then said ''duncan is a really good singer'' she didn't get the chance to meet him though, she was a week in tel aviv before her performance in the final

[Saph]

how have I only just realized the songs called GOD control not GUN control :skull: :skull:

[Nancy.]

how have I only just realized the songs called GOD control not GUN control :skull: :skull:

lol. I wondered why you called it Gun Control.

[Nancy.]

nU2eApGw_TU

[Nancy.]

Livng for Love is being rehearsed for the show.

[Nancy.]

Can't believe Madonna is 61 today.

What a woman.

[Nancy.]

Congrats on MADAME X selling over half a million this week... and on her 48th number 1 on the Billboard Club chart for I Rise :dance:

[Nancy.]

Not long till opening night now.

[Nancy.]

Another round of shows added in San Francisco. :dance:

[Nancy.]

One day to go!

[Nancy.]

Madonna's wildest tour costumes through the years

Madonna kicks off her Madame X tour tonight in Brooklyn, where she'll surely be sporting the eye patch she's been wearing while promoting her latest album.

https://i.ibb.co/n8VNWJf/madonnaeyepatch.jpg

Ahead, a look back at some of her most daring stage costumes from throughout her career....

[Nancy.]

Madge's Girlie Show tour in 1993 saw her sporting a new hairdo and some extremely impressive abs...

https://i.ibb.co/RCQQCk2/madonnacrophair.jpg

[Nancy.]

One of Madonna's most iconic looks is her sexy spin on the wedding dress. This one's from 1985's Like a Virgin tour...

https://i.ibb.co/K2cPLRM/d0d52a0a8c5fa4d5f93e66919e496278.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madonna's infamous Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra made its debut on 1990's Blond Ambition tour. Matched with the ponytail it became one of Madonna's most iconic looks.

https://i.ibb.co/whJffKG/MV5-BM2-Vh-ZTY0-Mz-Mt-NTBl-My00-ZTEx-LWI2-OTAt-NGQy-Zm-Jj-NDg4-ZGVl-Xk-Ey-Xk-Fqc-Gde-QXVy-NTAw-OTMw-Mz-U-V1.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madge's Drowned World tour featured an assortment of wild looks, one of which was this Western getup featuring chaps and an American flag tank top...

https://i.ibb.co/Y7ZhCKK/human-nature01.jpg

[Nancy.]

This Chinese-inspired look is from 2015's Rebel Heart tour.

https://i.ibb.co/Ttctzpj/rs-the-rebel-heart002-d69f665a-fd1c-4cf5-9789-9932d298472a.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madonna brought back her cone bra in 2012 for the MDNA tour, reworking it into a full bustier.

https://i.ibb.co/cxRBw0w/madonnaconebra2.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madonna's "Britney Spears" top predated their infamous VMAs kiss by three years.

https://i.ibb.co/z8mRcQK/madonnabritneycrop.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madonna at the 1998 MTV awards...

https://i.ibb.co/72pBh4R/live-shanti.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madonna's 1985 Live Aid performance saw her in a layered menswear look...

https://i.ibb.co/p6qFZsT/tumblr-mwjbu5ge6q1s4o7puo1-1280-re.jpg

[Nancy.]

Despite being a cheerleader in high school, Madonna didn't incorporate pom-poms and school-spirit sweaters into her stage look until much later...

https://i.ibb.co/tZV4dZ4/rs-8276-20121123-madonaa-x624-1353680696.jpg

[Nancy.]

Equestrian look from the Confessions tour (2006)...

https://i.ibb.co/6n0Qv52/la38.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madonna with an afro -- taken during 1993's Girlie Show tour

https://i.ibb.co/DVSdXPL/51604922.jpg

[Nancy.]

By 2001, Madonna's upper arms were as buff as it gets -- and she wasn't afraid to flaunt them with this '77-punk-inspired look (bondage pants, plaid kilt).

https://i.ibb.co/NYnNDhy/madonnakilt.jpg

[Nancy.]

This geisha look was featured at M's 1999 Grammy performance.

https://i.ibb.co/HX4kX3v/4e191dc93a68e9ccaade21a6ad05e8fc.jpg

[Nancy.]

Madame Dita from The Girlie Show...

https://i.ibb.co/fqfcvgc/madonna-gs-sept-25-2.jpg

[Nicky91]

fabulous pics Nancy

:wavey: anyways nice to see you again on here

[Nancy.]

Hi Nicky. How are you? Hope you're well. x

[Nicky91]

Hi Nicky. How are you? Hope you're well. x

yes one of my very few evening visits on here, my parents are away few days

i'm fine i guess :)

following kelly clarkson show at the moment, i kinda hope madonna is gonna be one of Kelly's guests too at some point, cause i think a collab of these 2 could be great

Kelly's music covers on her talk show are fab, so yeah i want her to do something from madge (or with madge) too

[Nancy.]

Good to hear you're well, Nicky.

I never knew you were such a big Kelly Clarkson fan.

I like some of her music, actually. She's good.

[Nancy.]

MADAME X TOUR - Setlist from night #1

God Control
Dark Ballet
Human Nature
Express Yourself
Papa Don't Preach

Vogue
I Don't Search, I Find
American Life

Interlude (Batuka Prayer)

Batuka
Celeste Rodigues cover
Killers Who Are Partying
Crazy

La Isla Bonita
Sodade
Medellín
Extreme Occident

Interlude (Rescue Me)
Frozen
Come Alive
Future
Crave (Tracy young's Mix)
Like A Prayer

ENCORE
I Rise

[Nancy.]

Hmm, i'm disappointed about the lack of hits, but the reviews are marvellous.

[Nancy.]

From a fan who attended last nights show:

"The show begins with a lone dancer and “Madame X” (not Madonna) on stage as words are typed across the transparent screen. Something about safety, art, and the importance of standing up for what’s right (as far as I can remember). Then God Control begins as Madonna walks out through the large parted staircase. She wears a historical garb with a feather boa to begin. She sang live and looked gorgeous!"

"Batuka was incredibly emotional. Madonna let the Batukaderas shine as they made their way through the audience. She wears the blunt black wig for this section, and at one point the mosaic tiles from the MX shoot are projected onto the staircase set, giving the illusion of a Fado cafe. Beautiful use of lighting and set design."

"IDSIF is pure Secret Agent MX. She goes in and out of trap doors in the staircase set and is “interrogated” by detectives during the “It’s our gypsy blood” section of the song. A real killer performance. Overall, this tour is way more physically demanding than Rebel Heart."

"Vogue is pretty much the same as Pride, but with more oomph."

"Come Alive is wonderful. She wears the gypsy head wrap from the album cover and is surrounded by dancers dressed in celebratory garb. Very uplifting and ends acapella."

"Human Nature had a fresh, jazzy touch to it. Madonna stays in the circular portion of the stage we’ve seen on IG."

"Extreme Occident is minimalistic and haunting. Just M on stage singing her heart out in the black wig."

"LAP is very similar to Eurovision but she sounded heavenly. And the robe is like an updated version of the one from Blond Ambition."

"I Rise as a closer was very moving. It ends with the large rainbow flag slowly being lifted and Madonna exits through the audience."

"The biggest surprise was "Future" as a semi-ballad with M playing the piano. AND a new verse not on the album instead of Quavo’s rap!"

[Nancy.]

Here's more from other fans:

"She was in great spirit, super playful, to the degree of deciding to sit in the front row with the audience and chat with a guy and have some of his drink!

I’m going to be roasted for this, but I got MAJOR Blonde Ambition vibes from the dynamic yet sparse staging. It’s a VERY theatrical show that loses the grip sometimes but overall it’s really well put. Honestly no body else can pull off a show like this other than M.

Here’s what I can remember:

The opening was very theatrical and dramatic, beautiful words projected all over the stage about freedom and being an artist, I won’t do it justice by trying to explain it.

- The Typewriter is a theme that runs along the show, you feel like you’re part of a story. Set is stairs that come apart, move around, have doors and alcoves, they are used plain and with projections. Minimal yet rich!

- [Natural hair] She opened with God Control in a colonial (?) outfit, then Dark Ballet, followed by a groovy jazzy 90’s wonderful Human Nature (best live version of the song) and a great short acapella Express Yourself featuring all the ladies of the troupe including her daughters

- Cute on stage costume change hidden behind a screen with lots of playful banter.

- [Blonde Spy wig + black raincoat] Vogue, IDSIF (very Blond Ambition Dick Tracy), Papa Don’t Preach Changing the lyrics to “I’m NOT keeping my baby” at the end and then talking about woman’s rights to do as they please with their bodies, American Life.

- We journey across the world map.

- [Batuka dark wig + glittery blue body suit similar to one in album photos]

- Beautiful version of Batuka with all the ladies, she just looks so lovely in the wig!! Happy, radiant, energetic.

- a short Fado song, she introduced the grandson of the famous Fado singer who passed away, then they go into Killers, more percussions and instruments, great vocals without vocoder, made up for the cringe worthy lyrics. The chorus and outro were beautiful.

- Setting: a beautiful street scene (think a much more authentic version of the Billboard awards set) with lovely designs. Crazy, cute made up song about welcome us to her Fado world with a bit of Bonita, then Sodade, and Medellín. Love her in this wig and outfit, I could watch a whole show of her in this garb!

- Extreme Occident, Minimal set with moving stairs. Rescue Me spoken word (she’s not on stage) with the dancers doing amazing rhythmic movements.

- FROZEN: a highlight for me. I kinda don’t want to spoil the reveal, I’ll let others do it but I wish nobody would because it made it even more
magical not knowing what we were seeing. Goosebumps. She had the “i Rise” single cover clothes on, all dark stage with her being the only visible thing + with projections of a dancer over a transparent screen. Magical. Breathtaking vocals, live strings, slight percussion. I’d kill to experience that again.

- Come Alive, my favourite song from the album, very colourful and lively, all the Batukians were in colourful caftans but Madonna was in her Crave video dress for some weird reason. Lively performance.

- Future, Madonna playing the Piano!!! A very cool version of the song. I felt that it had different lyrics at some point but please correct me if I’m wrong. I enjoyed this arrangement, a lot more experimental.

- And now the final part. The least cohesive and rushed part. Crave dance remix. Dancers in disco-ish clothes, giant disco ball. Did nothing for me, felt very forced because the show needed a lighter upbeat song but I don’t think it worked. I felt that she should’ve gotten into Get Together at some point and it would’ve made sense.

- Disco becomes Like a Prayer in Eurovision clothes. M & the choir are on the stairs and they make an X with her in the middle.

- Curtain comes down, and time for the Encore: I rise. Good song, nothing exceptional. Back in Crave dress. She left the stage from the middle of the crowd and kept singing, similar to the MET Gala ending (Aka singing off stage).


- no tour book yet, will be ready for next week.

- Merchandise different variations of the pop-up ones + new stuff. So grab some from both of you want all the merch haha.

- People stood up in the and didn’t sit. If people behind you are sitting please be respectful and sit your ass down, we all had a great view of the stage you didn’t need to stand when others didn’t.

- She sounded good, it was all live. Sound quality wasn’t that great in some of the songs though.

- She said the show wasn’t still finished, so I wonder if anything will change with time.

- The last act is really jumbled up and not cohesive.

- For a Theater show it felt long, by the time Crave came on I was ready to go lol, Come Alive would’ve been a great ending.

- Yes, not enough old songs but it was a celebration of Madame X and once you’re there, you get it and you’re with her along the ride.

- Crazy + Crave could’ve been replaced by oldies that made more sense.

- Debbie Mazar, Rosie O’donnel and Anderson Cooper where in the audience. Guy Oseary was in one of the boxes. Don’t know if there was anybody else there.

[Nancy.]

Another review:

"I just got home from seeing this.
The show was amazing! There was no part of the show that I didn't totally get into.

The Rescue Me interlude into Frozen was my favorite part of the show. The visuals with Lourdes were a masterpiece. Unbelievable!!

I loved what they did with the lighting throughout the show. It was a very minimal set but they really did a fantastic job setting it up to create moods and atmosphere to match the songs. The middle set with the dark hair was beautifully done.

I loved the Crave remix. Even as someone who hasn't had much time with the new album, I felt very connected to ALL the new music and she brought it all to life (come alive, come alive!). She was also very interactive with the crowd and going in someone mentioned her doing stand up which stressed me out, but she was very funny all night. A lot of wit. She blamed being late on last minute changes with the projections. She promised it will never happen again and then smirked.

Halfway through I actually appreciated the fact I didn't have my phone (which she poked fun at us about throughout the night) because I honestly did feel more connected to her and the production without the distraction.

Like a prayer was a great moment, the whole theatre was singing and dancing. I kind of wish she had ended on that note vs I Rise, which felt very disconnected from us compared to the rest of the setlist. She had us involved the whole time except for in that number.

My mind is spinning still but those are my thoughts as I head to sleep. What a great night!! "

[Nancy.]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2i5CArFGnC/

:hee:

[Saph]

I wanna go :bawling:

[Nancy.]

I wanna go :bawling:

Me too.

This sounds fantastic:

"Following I Don’t Search I Find, there's a very effective film noir interrogation scene, and she sits on the floor and takes a selfie with a Polaroid"

:cheer2:

[Nancy.]

1174211058996830208

[Nancy.]

3rd night in a row with excellent reviews. :dance:

[Saph]

If tickets weren't like £500 id go

[Nancy.]

If tickets weren't like £500 id go

Yeah, it's so expensive but worth it just to have the intimicy with Madonna.

Did you see the new images from the show?

https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CopyrightStufish_1147_MX_16SEPT19_0812W.jpg?w=1024

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_09/C035515F-6BD0-47E2-B06F-9EC57F763EE8.thumb.jpeg.b0326dbfe49b58639615d80ce3 314946.jpeg

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_09/6DA508AE-6566-4C0A-A3F3-A7783838646B.thumb.jpeg.8b3b41a0ec90e93852868f76b8 c4d1fd.jpeg

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_09/873367EA-685E-4369-9920-32A5AE768730.thumb.jpeg.a54804f983a60d6252ac5e6cd7 4355a1.jpeg

http://forums.madonnanation.com/uploads/monthly_2019_09/241349BC-F81B-4255-BE69-4E66A744B591.thumb.jpeg.a43ee687f50b04b1e69bf6bbfe 91eca2.jpeg

[Saph]

I want a front row seat :(

[Saph]

I wanna make a list ranking every madonna single but it would take me forever im too indecisive

[Nancy.]

Madonna Surprises With the Launch of Ambitious, Intimate “Madame X”



It turns out Madonna — the queen of re-invention — is human. She admitted last night during the first performance of her Madame X show at Brooklyn’s Howard Gilman Opera house: “The one thing I need is sleep. I’m tired.” She added that she could use a nap.

But the 61 year old pop icon didn’t show any signs of weariness last night as she launched this ambitious, complex production. The good news about Madonna’s Madame X show is that there is no bad news. Not really. So everyone can relax. There’s no incentive to throw tomatoes.

Quite the opposite: I was impressed, and I think anyone who stops into the Gilman will be surprised to find Madonna, in a stripped down setting, is actually real and just a celebrity hologram. She’s very endearing in an intimate venue. Also considering that this performance of “Madame X” was the very first, you have to give her credit. She’s producing a Broadway show in progress.

Indeed, if we come back to “Madame X” in a month, it’s going to be even more together, which isn’t to say it’s not a compelling two hour and fifteen minute entertainment now. But right now “Madame X” is like several Broadway shows happening at once. Most of it works, some of it doesn’t. It needs time to gel. The pieces are good, but they don’t all fit together yet. (The sets are Broadway-level, even better, with terrific lighting. The staging runs from elaborately ornamental to elegantly minimalist. There are excellent video projections, too.)

What we get theme wise are more than a few things: Madonna’s lifelong grappling with Catholicism; her adventures in Lisbon as a “soccer mom,” as she says; her discovery in Portugal of that country’s music and that of Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa; political Madonna, who is advocating for LGBTQ, women’s rights, abortion rights, and gun control. Plus modern dance, jazz and ballet, and even a dance video from Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes. That’s a lot of themes.

A lot of this is set to showcase songs from the “Madame X” album, which didn’t sell well and didn’t come off well when it arrived. Surprisingly, those songs have been made into convincing theatrical pieces. You see, Madonna is not performing her greatest hits. If you’re coming to the Gilman for “Like a Virgin,” you’re in the wrong place. (There are financial reasons, too, for ditching the early hits– she didn’t write them and she’s probably tired of paying those songwriters.)

This doesn’t mean there aren’t nods to the 80s Madonna. Early in the show there’s a lovely a cappella moment of “Express Yourself.” You will also hear “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Frozen,” “La Isla Bonita,” and, very successfully, “Vogue.”

Last night’s show started an hour late, at 10:30pm, but Madonna did apologize and explain that later. There are other details that I’ll explore later this week in a real review. Last night, Rosie O’Donnell and Debi Mazar, her good friends, showed up to give support, and Rosie–who received cheers from the audience– got be part of a little “business.” The audience loved it.

And that audience– a group of people from Asia had flown here, and used Madonna’s lateness for a nap. The woman behind me came from Paris. There was a crowd from Brazil.

(Also be warned: your phone is locked into an airtight container upon arrival. It must be unlocked at the end of the show. No photos, no videos, no social media. Hence, no photo to go with this story.)

By the time you get to the last number, it’s well worth it. “Like a Prayer” finishes the show proper and leaves everyone on a high. But again, I think Madonna is doing some interesting work here. She’s trying pull off something much tougher than her arena or stadium shows, and you can already see the payoffs. She’s making a connection with the audience while ideas are settling in. The fans will love to watch it, and out of this will evolve a butterfly. I’d be first in line to return.

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/09/18/madonna-surprises-with-the-launch-of-ambitious-intimate-madame-x-show-a-sometimes-over-stuffed-attempt-at-an-avant-garde-broadway-show

[Nancy.]

Madonna X-periments With 'The Madame X Tour'

As the 11th tour in her over three decade-long reign as the Queen of Pop, Madame X is entirely unlike any other Madonna tour to date. For one thing, the show is designed for the theater, as opposed to her usual sold-out baseball stadium fare. (The first venue on the trek, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, seats fewer than 3,000.)

Given the close quarters, there's no catwalk to consider, nor do fans needs to panic about which side is "better." It's all relatively close ("intimate," as she purred to the crowd), and all front and center. Seeing Madonna in that environment,her first time on a theater stage since her West End debut with Up for Grabs in 2002, is objectively a special experience.

The Madame X Tour is also phone-free.

It's 2019: we're all addicted to our phones. Even the woman on stage — who the audience paid hundreds, and in several cases, thousands of dollars to see — teased the crowd multiple times about their phonelessness, only to admit to being addicted to her own device during a misguided monologue about technological entrapment and slavery. (A rework is needed on that speech, ASAP.)

Based on conversations in the crowd before the show, no one was actually bothered by the concept of a no-phone concert experience. Fans respected Madge's desire for undivided attention to get her message(s) across — it only amplifies the intrigue, after all. Finally, a return to the Way Things Were! But be warned in advance: the confiscation doesn't happen before the show. It happens as soon as you walk into the venue.

After a security check, representatives for Yondr instructed us to silence our phones and slip them into a locked pouch, which we carried for the night. Let's say you were to arrive no later than 8:30 PM as instructed on the ticket, and she were to delay the show until 11 PM, as she did opening night. That's nearly three hours of socializing – who knows? You might find love at the Madame X Tour! — or a terrifyingly long time to sit alone with your thoughts. (To be fair, if you explored the venue, there were various roped-off areas where you could unlock your phone with the assistance of an attendant and get a few last-minute hits of dopamine.)

The phone-free concept is also not entirely new: not only is it used at advance album listening parties for journalists, but comedy shows, too. (That Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, also manages Amy Schumer, is perhaps indicative of where they got the idea.) Still, for a concert — especially at this level of superstardom — it's fairly radical.

The scene inside was anxious and excitable, as people, still adjusting to life outside of their screens, mingled and mocked everyone else's phone-free behavior. One older couple, bedazzled in custom suits and Madame X eyepatches, bemoaned the fact that they couldn't show off their outfits in the venue with pictures — normally a staple pre-show spectacle at any Madonna concert.

In short: don't rush to get there, don't lose your friends, bring a watch, and maybe even a book, too. Time truly does go by so slowly for those who wait.

So what lies beyond the "X" curtain? What even is this show, exactly? At the highest level, it's a bit of a hybrid between an actual theatrical production and a concert, but looser in structure than either of the two, giving it the distinct feeling of a production with plans to shape-shift, in setlist and staging, each night on its 90+ show run.

For those who've been following along the Madame X ride, it should come as no surprise that the concert kicks off with a silhouette of Madonna at a typewriter, typing out a James Baldwin quote about art and the artist's role to disturb society, starting over from scratch each time a dancer alongside her onstage gets shot.

Cue "God Control," her happy-go-lucky disco ode to gun control — and the party begins, with Madge patriotically dressed up in founding father garb, marching with her dancers along two symmetrical stairwells which move and dismantle into various configurations throughout the show. (At times, the concept is almost reminiscent of Grace Jones' ahead-of-its-time One Man Show from 1982.)

No one who's ever attended a Madonna concert in the past two decades would accuse the Queen of Pop of being apolitical. The Madame X Tour is no different, and she attempts to cover all her bases, all night long.

"**** the patriarchy!" she snarls, kicking back at armored cops before a horn-y rendition of "Human Nature," one of the show's standout moments, as nagging fingers point at her from projections around the stage. She launches into an impassioned tirade about abortion after a too-brief performance of the first verse and the chorus of "Papa Don't Preach."

"That's right, I made up my mind! You don't mind if I choose what I do with my body, do you?!" she declares. She's not challenging anyone in this crowd, of course. Staunch conservatives probably aren't queueing up in eyepatches for The Madame X Tour. The crowd roars back in a choir of approval.

"I consider myself a freedom fighter," she later announces.

She performs "American Life" with a guitar afterward, as torn uniforms shower down on a dancer from above the stage, concluding with a flag-draped coffin being slowly carried across the stage by soldiers.

Madonna interacts frequently with the audience between songs, at one point even sitting down in an empty seat and making small talk with one of the attendees.

"Do you come here often?" she seemingly challenged him. There was a tension in the air, as though the Queen could banish him for one wrong answer.

"For the art," he said.

"Ah, the art... would you say I'm an artist?" "Oh, yes," he gushed. "I like how you said that — oh, yes," she responded back, amused. She approved, thank God, and even boldly took a sip of his beer.

Earlier in the show, Madonna took a Polaroid selfie and effectively auctioned it off to the audience, jokingly boasting about how much it'd be worth.

"Don't get emotional," she told one woman, as fans began to bicker for the prized picture. A wad of cash in hand got her attention – and the hand belonged to an old friend: Rosie O'Donnell. Madge pocketed the money, thanking Rosie for her contribution to Her Art, reminding the audience that she's not making money off of her show, as each dollar goes to yet another light and yet another prop.

She also tries her hand at comedy, which she's threatened to do ever since her Tonight Show stand-up "debut" in 2015.

"Do you know what they call a guy with a small dick?" she asked the crowd during the show's first breather as she quick-changed onstage behind a small vanity.

"I wouldn't know," she finally answered. "I don't call guys with small dicks." Ba-dum-tss!

Related | Maluma Fandemonium Is Just Getting Started

Parts of the show feel incredibly familiar ("American Life" is like a minimized version of her Re-Invention World Tour performance), and much of the Madame X Tour revolves around recreating her recent promotional performances, including the "Vogue" and "I Don't Search, I Find" segment — a solid pop star-style performance from her Pride Island show. The sequence finds Madame X in secret agent mode alongside a gaggle of bewigged blonde lookalike dancers in trench coats, strutting around before being captured and interrogated, lightbulb dangling overhead and all.

"Like a Prayer" and "Dark Ballet" are essentially the same stairwell-style set up of both her Met Gala performance and her Eurovision performances, and "Medellín" was more or less a recreation of her 2019 Billboard Awards performance minus her handsome cha-cha partner Maluma – and the $5 million holograms. (He does show up, albeit green-screened into a projection, which is standard Madonna concert cameo fare.)

"Batuka," too, is essentially the song's music video come to life, as the women of The Batukadeiras Orchestra gather 'round in a semi-circle and pound away at drums. Madonna respectfully lends them the spotlight for a majority of the performance, sitting to the side on a stairwell before eventually joining the women to gyrate and celebrate.



In case it wasn't obvious enough from the title, the Madame X Tour is Madame X heavy. Before one of the show's more cohesive stretches (she welcomes us into her Fado cafe), Madonna delves into the story behind the music of her latest album, explaining her move to Portugal to become a soccer mom, finding herself bored and lonely, and rediscovering her passion and finding inspiration with the regional music wafting through the bars and living rooms of Lisbon — leading to "Crazy," a bit of "La Isla Bonita" and even a brief cover of a Fado song, "Sodade," by the late Cesária Évora. In a touching gesture, she is accompanied by the young grandson of a late Fado legend she encountered in her travels, Celeste Rodrigues. He plays alongside Madonna onstage — and fetches her a beer.

Madge curiously does not perform "Faz Gostoso," a joyous fan-favorite on the new album, but does make time for the album's most serious-faced moments, including "Extreme Occident" and "Killers Who Are Partying," a well-intended but embarrassing dirge dedicated to taking on the pain of minority groups. (Mercifully, it goes down better in live form.)

"Future," which was originally a medieval-meets-post-apocalyptic moment on Eurovision, is now a more muted piano piece, as images of burning forests flare up around the theater.

For a Madonna show, the Madame X Tour is surprisingly free of new visual interludes: her existing music videos for the era serve as the backdrop for the most part — and even old ones ("American Life"). The only new projection is inarguably also the show's greatest highlight: "Frozen."

After a line of dancers dramatically flail to the sound of sharp breaths and a spoken word verse of "Rescue Me" (so close to a live performance, yet miles away), the screen reveals a woman hunched over, her legs spread, and her hair falling over her face, The Ring-style. As the unmistakable strings of the Ray Of Light classic start to swell, Madonna appears just behind the screen. And then, the woman on the projection looks up through her hair: it's ****ing Lourdes, first daughter of The Queen, supreme heir to the throne.

A collective gasp and cheer ensues.

Beyond just being the stunning 22-year-old daughter of pop royalty, Lourdes can actually move. Madonna stays entirely still, crooning as Lola supplies an incredible interpretive dance on the screen just in front of her mother. It's captivating. Towards the end of the song, the camera focuses on the "M-O-M" tattooed across her knuckles. It's an absolutely iconic moment, arguably worth the price of admission alone to witness. ("This is Madonna," one man breathlessly declared one row behind.)

That's not the only cameo from her own brood, either: twins Estere and Stella, as well as Mercy, all get down during an acapella version of "Express Yourself" early on the show. They later return for an endearingly sassy strut during the DJ Tracy Young remix of "Crave" — a strangely injected moment of poppers o'clock beats, sequins and furs — towards the very end.

The night concludes with her Stonewall Pride anthem "I Rise," as Madonna and her dancers leave the stage and march down the aisles, fists aloft, singing the rallying chorus over and over again. A giant rainbow flag drapes down the digital screen.

Madonna is not one for an easy ride. She's told us as much. And "easy," in Madonna's case, would be putting on her usual stadium spectacle of choreography, costumes, stunts and smashes galore from an immaculate back catalog. No one does it better. But she's got that incessant itch to scratch as an artist, and an endless craving to satisfy — to move forward, go more eccentric, and challenge herself to do things differently this time around. And yes, she's probably doing it to annoy her fans on purpose at times.

"You're not one of those people who comments on my Instagram and tells me I better perform Hard Candy, right?" she joked at one point. Everyone laughed, even if some of them probably are.

Go to the Madame X Tour, as a stan. You will appreciate the intimacy and unpredictable, experimental theater-esque feel of the show in comparison to what's come for so many years before. But if you want to hear the hits, dance and capture the moments, this isn't really the tour for you. Yes, there are a handful of classics scattered throughout — "Like a Prayer," "Vogue," "Human Nature" — but for the most part, the Madame X Tour is a disjointed artistic expression; an impassioned mixture of politics and Portuguese based around a vaguely all-encompassing, darkness-fighting alter-ego without any one clear narrative. She is nothing if not (blonde) ambitious.

That's not to say that elements of her major tours aren't present in the Madame X Tour — it's still a Madonna show, after all — but in comparison, it's a relatively sparse and somewhat strange audience experience (do we sit, do we stand, what do we do with our hands?) — which may be even more of a draw for some fans curious to see what she does without all the bells and whistles, and with plenty of dead air during set changes to fill with actual audience interactions.

In the absence of sensory overload and digital distractions, there's room for Madonna to breathe and evolve as a performer in a new kind of way — and, presumably, to grow.

Madame X is a cha cha instructor. A professor. An equestrian. A saint. A *****. And still a work in progress.

[Nancy.]

Crave (Tracy Young Remix) is out!

FYmeBJAMqkA

[Nancy.]

https://i.ibb.co/7t0cWnB/8255-A8-E2-C6-EF-45-C4-9865-73-C1-BF70-C882-jpeg-ab87faca1c9546c311960909778896bc.jpg

[Alf]

How many times have you seen "In bed with Madonna" Nancy?

My sister had the video, so I remember watching it a few times.

I remember when her entourage are all teasing her singing "Madonna can't afford real pearls, Madonna can't afford real pearls"

[Nancy.]

How many times have you seen "In bed with Madonna" Nancy?

My sister had the video, so I remember watching it a few times.

I remember when her entourage are all teasing her singing "Madonna can't afford real pearls, Madonna can't afford real pearls"

Haha. Quite a few, Alf.

It's an excellent documentary...even though Madonna is quite bratty throughout. lol

[Saph]

was that the one where she was interviewed by ruby wax?

[Nancy.]

was that the one where she was interviewed by ruby wax?

No, Saph, that was in 1994. yy9aA28M6_w

The one Alf is talking about is Truth or Dare... which was renamed to In Bed With Madonna for the UK.

NSZeyJPQT2A

[Nancy.]

She's getting some great reviews for this show. Hope they film it for a Blu Ray.

[Nancy.]

She's been getting some good reviews for the show itself, but the constant string of late starts is spoiling it. I wish she would stop that **** and get on stage on time. lol

[Nancy.]

New rumours are circulating that Madonna has started writing for her next album. Woooooooooo! :dance:

[Nancy.]

Madonna comes to London, as she prepares for custody showdown with ex Guy Richie.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7831959/Madonna-flies-JFK-sparring-ex-Guy-Richie-kids-spend-Christmas.html

So typical of her ex hubby to spoil Christmas and New Year for M. Hope she destroys that revolting excuse of a man.

[Saph]

whos he fighting for? I swear her son is 17 at least now anyway

[Nancy.]

whos he fighting for? I swear her son is 17 at least now anyway

I think he's 19, Saph. I wouldn't be surprised if he's after custody of David after seeing his mother with her latest boyfriend. He's so petty and childish.

[Saph]

cant believe davids only 14, he looks so much older

[Nancy.]

cant believe davids only 14, he looks so much older

Yes, he does. He looks about 18 to me.

[Nancy.]

They filmed the show for the Bluray / DVD last night.

I can't wait to see it.

[Nancy.]

Madonna's not making a film now apparently, so she'll probably make another album. Woooooooo. lol

[Saph]

Madonna's not making a film now apparently, so she'll probably make another album. Woooooooo. lol

I hope so, she needs to keep churning albums out I cant be waiting 4/5 years each time

[Nancy.]

She's in London right now....
:dance:

[Nancy.]

Here's a little bit of fun during this horrible time...

3xt58OVnmXU

[Saph]

madge needs to use this downtime to make a new album to be quite honest