AGI – The big day for fans is about to arrive: Madonna, aka Louise Veronica Ciccone, will hold a concert on Saturday 4 May on Copacabana beach. It is the final event of the “Celebration Tour”. For the occasion, Rio de Janeiro is preparing in style. “Welcome, Queen” is written on posters on the streets. A welcome message addressed to what is truly considered the one and only true “Queen of Pop”. The concert will be free, large and participatory as it should be the finale of the Celebration Tour with which the artist celebrates 40 years of success.
After recovering from health problems that sent her fans into a frenzy last year, the 65-year-old American singer arrived in Rio on Monday after more than 80 concerts in Europe, the United States and Mexico. With Madonna, they landed with three planes and 270 tons of equipment. And as befits a star of her caliber, the singer immediately settled in the legendary Copacabana Palace, connected for the occasion by a walkway to the beach where a gigantic 800 m2 stage was erected.
The show promises to be the biggest of his career. In front of the stage, the organizers plan to gather up to one and a half million spectators on the “largest dance floor in the world”. Numbers that on that beach were achieved in the past only by the Rolling Stones in 2006. The occasion is also super tempting for the town hall: the concert will generate a turnover of 293 million reais (53 million euros), a windfall for the local economy, 30 times more than the investments made. Around 150,000 foreigners are expected to arrive on special flights while hotel occupancy is approaching 100%.
“It will undoubtedly be one of the biggest international events in Rio: it will stimulate our economy and attract tourists from Brazil, Latin America and all over the world,” enthusiastically declared Daniela Maia, the Municipality’s Tourism Secretary. Madonna’s “fever” has been palpable in the “Wonderful City” for a few days. In the center of the city, at the gigantic Saara folk market, while the hits of the “Material Girl” are played continuously, in the Lix boutique Madonna-style glasses, fans and hats are offered to customers. Her manager, Livia Reis, 23, says that shortly after her concert was announced, her shop window was rearranged with all sorts of extravagant objects inspired by the pop star.
“A guy came in, took a photo and a video and sent them to a fan club with 150,000 followers in Portugal. From there it went on TikTok, Instagram…” and it went viral, he explains enthusiastically. In the shop, there is a much appreciated accessory: copies of the iconic conical corset invented by Jean Paul Gaultier for “la Madonne” over 30 years ago. The article “is going very well”, says the satisfied director and predicts that by Saturday “there will be a queue at the door of the shop”. Massive police presence before, during and after the concert. A quantity of law enforcement with numbers worthy of the Copacabana New Year’s Eve, one of the most famous events in the world, which attracts large crowds. Operation “Madonna” will involve 4,500 officers, assisted by drones and facial recognition cameras. In short, an event in great style for a star who has shown the way to many colleagues, anticipated fashions and ways, and who always continues to get people talking and dancing.
