Rio de Janeiro
Operation Madonna: One and a half million people at the concert
Madonna performs on Copacabana Beach in the final show of her “The Celebration Tour.” photo
© Silvia Izquierdo/AP
It was announced as the biggest concert of her 40-year career. More than a million people came. The Madonna show was a similar major event to New Year’s Eve for Rio de Janeiro.
Huge concert by the biggest pop star in the world, as she is often called: Madonna (65) gave a free concert in front of hundreds of thousands on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“On Saturday, the American singer performed in front of 1.6 million people,” wrote the news portal “G1”. “It’s surreal to think that the total audience for Madonna’s 200-plus shows on her last three tours is smaller than the audience that filled Copacabana.”
“Here I am: There is the ocean, beautiful. There are the mountains, incredible. There is Jesus, amazing!” said Madonna during the concert, referring to the monumental Christ the Redeemer statue on Mount Corcovado. “I’m in the middle of heaven. Thank you for letting me be there.” Madonna said she had wanted to come for a long time, but there was never room for her show. “So I’ll just do it on the beach now.”
Many fans from the LGBT community
Madonna, who is considered an icon for gays worldwide and also has many fans in the LGBT community, also said: “The queer community has always been there for me, thank you.” She thanks everyone who fought to be free and to love who they want to love. “And I will fight for you until the day I die.”
The free concert on the beach in Rio was the conclusion of the world tour “The Celebration Tour”, with which Madonna celebrated 40 years of her career. The tour began in London last October. Madonna had to postpone the start of her tour in Canada, which was actually planned for summer 2023, due to a serious bacterial infection. Madonna, who usually makes her fans wait long at concerts and appears late, also performed in Cologne and Berlin as part of the Celebration Tour in November.
According to Rio’s city government, 1.5 million visitors were expected at the show. The organization of the event was similar to that of a New Year’s Eve, according to the town hall of the South American metropolis. Around 3,000 emergency services are involved in “Operation Madonna”.
She played many classics
On Madonna’s website, the event was announced as the “Queen of Pop’s” biggest concert. She performed many of her hits including “Holiday”, “Like a prayer”, “Hung up”, “Vogue”, “Express yourself”, “Bitch, i’m Madonna”. The Brazilian singer Anitta and one of Madonna’s daughters were also on stage.
The day before, fans had blocked several lanes of the Avenida Atlântica coastal road on the famous Copacabana Beach to catch a glimpse of the artist at a rehearsal. Madonna fan merchandise had been sold in the city for days.
What caused discontent was that, according to media reports, around 60 million reals (almost 11 million euros) of taxpayers’ money were spent on the event, including 17 million reals for Madonna’s fee (around 3.1 million euros). According to the city administration, however, revenue of around 293 million reals (around 54 million euros) was expected for the state treasury, mainly due to the influx of tourists.