Madonna rocks the Olimpico!

Italy’s largest disco was by far in Rome on August 6th! That’s what the mood was like for Ms. Ciccone’s concert at Rome’s Olympic stadium. Some 70,000 people where there, including Puff Daddy (or P. Diddy or P. Whiffy or whatever the man’s name is), Lenny Kravitz, Pedro Almodovar and even Penelope Cruz (with my binoculars I managed to see the first three people as they came into the VIP stands). The stage was set up horizontally in the south curve. We were on the opposite side in the north curve. The pics were taken with a Nikon D70 digital camera and with a 70-300 mm zoom with no flash and no tripod. The evening opened with a well-known DJ who really got the house rocking. Nice to see the kids going crazy. I thought of two things: how Elvis would have been proud (kids just wanna have fun and dance to good music) and how the poor Lebanese kids would have wanted to be present that night rather than hiding from the bombs. He played for an hour. Madonna came on around 9:45 or so and played for two hours. No encores though and no good-byes, that’s apparently how she ends every show. She must have changed about 5 times and had some great dancers with her. And yes, she did come out on a crucifix and wearing a crown made up of spines. No doubt the Vatican probably didn’t appreciate the gesture (her press officer even went as far as to invite Pope Ratzinger to the concert! American-style freedom of the press taken a wee bit too far!). The screen behind her showed images of Africans and their plight with Aids. She sang one of my favourites, “Ray of Light”, and others such as “Music”, “La Isla Bonita” and “Live to Tell”. She actually opened with a Donna Summers hit, “I Feel Love”. The concert ended with “Hung Up”. On the eve of her 48th b.day on August 16th, I must say Madonna was in splendid shape. Unlike Tina Turner, Madonna’s show was more “theatrical” in nature. Turner I think has a much better voice than Madonna. Nevertheless, a young Ciccone left Michigan one fine day on a plane for New York. The first time away from home, the first time in NY and the first time on a plane. She arrived with only 35 dollars in her pocket and lived for a period in misery without asking anyone for help. She’s now sold some 250 million records and is by far THE best female performer in the world. What is also amazing is the following day I had to take a train. I went to the Termini station to buy my newspapers. The main ones were all sold-out. I asked why? “The Madonna effect”!, was the answer from the news seller. Seems like everyone wanted to see the commentaries on her “crucifixion" (all pics by M. Rimati)!