I love Madonna. I have loved Madonna from the moment she burst onto the scene in fishnet stockings, too much hairspray and a bad die job.
If my IPod playlist isn’t enough proof, well frankly, I don’t know what is.
So you can imagine how excited I was to see Madonna perform the halftime show at the Superbowl. In fact, I love Madonna so much, I went to her concert in Montreal a few years ago with my girlfriend AND my barf bag. I puked for nine whole stinkin’ months throughout both my pregnancies, and I would throw up any time, any place. But when I heard Madonna was coming to Montreal, I just couldn’t miss it. Not even if it meant dancing on my feet for 3 hours, 9 months pregnant, 40 pounds heavier, with my barf bag in my purse.
But, let’s return to halftime at the Superbowl. I left my house at 5:30 last night for a “girls” dinner when too much testosterone walked through the door after hockey practice at 5. There were big men and little men. It involved the Superbowl, Dominos Pizza, a lot of chicken wings, and a ton of junk. I decided to put on my “awesome” mom hat, and buy the kids junk galore for a change, since I’m usually the killjoy who puts out tangerines and vegetables. Dads Oatmeal cookies are generally as rough as it gets around here. But anyhoooo, I got gummies, jellies, kettle corn sweet n’ salty popcorn, chips, swedish berries, etc… Let’s just say, my boys were proud. After all, didn’t we learn on the last blog that if you were making a Superbowl party, to keep the foods colorful. 😉
Once I put the goodies out, I left for dinner with my neighbor and her 8 year old daughter. After some delicious Japanese food and a glass of wine, I darted home for halftime. I HAD to see Madonna live. With all the testosterone in the den, and the boys still in sugar-shock, I cranked up the surround sound and waited for Madonna with baited breath. Then, we heard it. Just the music, no Madonna. Strike a Pose.
Alright. Let’s be honest. Madonna didn’t stand a chance. Of course the critics would rip her apart. Yes, she apparently lip synced. Yes, she hardly moved compared to her usual showcase of crazy awesome dance moves (she is rumored to have a bad hamstring injury). Yes, she annoys people with that odd fake British accent. Yes, her new song is a little, well, again I might use the word annoying.  Yes, she emits this overwhelming sense of narcissism. Yes, some say she was overshadowed last night by younger talent or even MIA who flipped the bird. ALL THAT SAID, let’s take her for what she is- her past to present. This 53 year old legend is just that-  a legend. A doer. She is a reinventer. She can make Vogueing still current and relevant today.  She can party with the Party Rockers. She can sing a duet with a young popstar and still rock it. You be 53, move like that, look like that, sing like that, dance like that, be a mom of 4, have a history of decades of success,  still push the bar, still stay relevant, and then come back and criticize.
I have discovered along the way that it is the people who never risk, who are always the first to criticize. Who are the most judgmental. When you’ve walked into a sea of unknown and have risked, you don’t judge. You know just how tough it is.
And those are my two cents on last night’s Superbowl halftime and on life in general.
I’ll be a Madonna fan for life. ‘Cuz she’s raw and gritty. ‘Cuz she never goes down without a fight. ‘Cuz she has an insurmountable work ethic.
Madonna still remains, the mother of reinvention. And for that, she’s got my respect.
I’d to know your thoughts on last night’s halftime performance.
xoxEDxox
I loved Madonna’s show. Of course there’s always something to criticize, but I so enjoyed the show. And I adore her for being brave and HAVE the younger stars with her on stage, even risking to be in their shadow for a minute. Madonna is an icon and she will forever we in the Hall of Fame of the greatest artists of all time.
She’ll always have haters. But you had to be blind to not see that it was a tremendous performance by her, the dancers and her production crew. I give her credit for bringing it and bringing it BIG. I’d be nervous too fronting a big stage show in front of the world. She moved clumsily because she was on a wobbly stage in high heels. Let’s give credit where credit is due.
I have loved Madonna FOREVER, too. From the time I saw her in the Like A Virgin Tour with the Beastie Boys opening for her, I have loved her. Of course, the critics would be tough. They are tough on everyone. To them I say – if you can do it, let me see you try. Otherwise, be quiet 🙂
It is Madonna – Come on.
I thought she was incredible.
A little nervous at the start, but she nailed it. Considering all the physicality involved in that show, the heels, and the pressure of knowing she was going to get ripped to shreds no matter how she performed, I thought she pulled off quite an amazing feat.
She shone!
All true. I agree with you 100%
If Madonna were say, Mick Jagger (ie, a MALE older yet classic rock star), we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
Ha Jill! Good point. What does that say about us as a society?
Let’s not compare millionaire performers to regular people. No, I’m not 53 years old & no I can’t sing and dance in heels like that but I also don’t claim to be. I am entitled to my opinion even though I can’t do what she does. It’s like saying you can’t think Kristen Stewart is a bad actress because you’re not an actor. Or you can’t think a book is bad because you’re not a writer. I don’t know how anyone can think that was a good performance when she didn’t even sing. They shouldn’t allow you to lip sync. If you can’t sing live you shouldn’t get paid millions of dollars to be a “singer”. In this day of Amercian Idol & The Voice we KNOW there are great singers out there that sound great live why is lip syncing from a “legend” acceptable?
Loving the diverse opinions here. Tamie you make some very valid points. Singers should have to sing live. I totally agree.
I don’t have a problem with the lip syncing – the sound problems in a football stadium are sketchy at best. I am glad she lip synced, so the quality was there. It would have been worse criticism if she there had been sound quality issues . With a football stadium stage, I am sure there are a lot of unknowns – surface conditions, stable structures etc… I can’t speak for Madonna, but I would rather have been remembered as the ICON she is and not as the one who fell on stage during the Super Bowl or worse – had a wardrobe malfunction. Madonna hasn’t gotten to where she is by taking uncalculated risks, she knows when and where and just how far to take it.
As much as the press seems to think she should have done more dancing, I didn’t see much craziness from the guest youngster MIA.
I am 100% with you Erica – Madonna ROCKED last night! I wish I could do half as much as she can do and I am not 53. I also wish I had her looks and body – she looked AWESOME!
I thought she was awesome. And I also thought it was the best superbowl halftime show I’ve seen to date. Yes, she didn’t rock it out with her dancing but she was wearing 6 inch heels. Who could rock out in those?!?!
Erica, I couldn’t wait for her to come out and rock my socks off as she always had done in the past. Apparently though in my opinion, my socks were left on my feet in bewilderment! I couldn’t believe what I was watching, who was that? Oh well, I will remember her fondly from years ago, when she left us speechless!
If she couldn’t “rock” it out in 6 inch heels she should’ve worn 4 inch heels. This was the SUPERBOWL!
Madonna rocked it, as usual… and I don’t think she lipped the entire performance. In fact, you can tell her superb knack for coreography for when to sing, when not to sing, to put everyone and everything in sinc, her humility to share the stage and her revel in sharing it with new stars who were probably equally excited to perform with her…. It was insanely better than last years performance by the black-eyed peas who couldnt seem to get their sound system right…. or was it that they just can’t do live performances…? I cant remember =/ But you CANNOT say that Madonna didn’t put on a good, LIVE, show…. He efforts are more than just music. You are right about her work ethic. It is amazing, and it creates an almost perfection because of it =) (those are my three cents? haha…)
Your blog is just amazing. I love how you write and I relate to all your thoughts. I can’t wait to see where you take this.
Loved the comment re: older men like Mick Jagger vs. older women. So true.
Madonna! I’m speechless! Yet again she delivers!!! Sorry we didn’t see her live! She is the queen!
Great post. Amen to all of it. Go Madonna. You’re a legend.
Wow. Blind as a bat.
The halftime spectacle last night was satanic programming. I guess you missed the subtler occultism, but how could ya not catch disappearing-into-the-fires-of-hell as a finale?
Wake up.
You’re licking the boots that are stomping the life out of you.
Well, I must say, you musn’t get angry. 🙂 We thankfully live with freedom of speech and we’re all entitled to our opinions, right? Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.
I am not a Madonna fan but I’m a woman that knows greatness when she sees it and Madonna’s got it. I don’t care what people say to criticize her. We’re free to say what we want but Madonna is one that’s in the limelight and that says it all. She’s a Verb, Adjective and a Noun… and totally in Vogue!
I don’t know if the TV we were watching on had bad sound or what, but I couldn’t hear anything of the show except that left-hand (stage right front) mic; the rest was just not audible. Even the drum corps was barely there! That spoiled the whole thing for me. As for any esoteric symbolism, I really don’t much care. If nobody understands it to begin with, how can it have much impact? A lot of folks like “The Magic Flute” who know little or nothing about its Freemasonry aspect. Actually, at the start I was thinking more “Aida” than anything else; I can only see the other stuff in retrospect. The thing was too busy for any one theme to resonate with me. And I could tell MDNA was tense and tentative in most of her moves, but I put that down to working injured–just like any athlete! And finally, I must’ve missed the bird-flipping thing in the furor….