Madonna versus los Rolling Stones? It’s one way of looking at it. This Saturday night show at Copacabana the most famous beach in Ro de Janeiro It is, above all, the ambition of a record, the dream of a brand: exceed the million and a half people that the Stones gathered in 2006 on that same beach. And everything indicates that the figure will be exceeded, because the expectation generated by the concert in Brazil, neighboring countries and others not so close, is enormous.
The recital is free, sponsored by a Brazilian bank, Ita, which paid 3.3 million dollars to the American diva in what is for now the last stage of The Celebration Tourthe world tour celebrating the 40 years of Madonna’s career.
The concert, two hours to two and a half hours long, is on the beach, but Madonna not to step on the sand, because the city council of Rio built a walkway between the beach and the Copacabana Palacethe emblematic hotel where the singer stays and where her team occupied 90 rooms.
The display generated by Madonna is enormous: three cargo flights landed days ago in Rio with all the logistics and elements necessary for the showwhich despite being free, has a VIP sector for 7,500 people.
For many of the attendees, it is about show of their lifes. This is what he says to THE WORLD Juan Jose Montoyaa 31-year-old Chilean civil engineer: “I decided to come because it will probably be the last show what Madonna do massively, I think it will be a milestone in musical history. “And I want to be part of it, what is happening here is something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
He show of Madonna It is also a meeting point for the community LGBTIQ+. “What we are experiencing in Rio is the largest gay meeting in the world. I have never had that feeling of belonging in a city outside of my country,” says Montya.
According to the Brazilian press, the Globo media conglomerate, owner of the television rights, has already more than raised the nearly ten million euros that the project costs. show.
“We have to offer a show that meets the level of production that Madonna presents around the world, naturally adapted for a much larger space,” said producer Luiz Oscar Niemeyer.
It wasn’t easy. Madonna I recorded a video in November 2023 on the Opera Garnierin Paris, with a very brief message: “Brazil, I’m coming”.
It was what I needed Pedro Smithin charge of brand strategy Ita, although logistical issues threatened to derail the project. For months, the video of Madonna announcing his return to Brazil It was stored, it could not be exhibited.
“Only when we had the resizing of the structure, the sponsorships, the television broadcast and the technical issues approved were we able to close the deal,” Niemeyer said.
The Brazilian Anitta be a special guest at the show and is expected to sing along with Madonnafor the first time live, the hit It’s delicious.
Madonna She performed for the first time in Brazil in 1993, but had not set foot in the South American giant since 2012. In recent days, the American shared a series of memes on her social networks, including one in which Christ the Redeemer, the great Rio symbol, He appears dressed in a t-shirt that says “Brazilians do it better“ (Brazilians do it better).