
On Saturday night, Madonna performed for free at Rio de Janeiro‘s Copacabana beach, transforming the expansive sands into a massive dance floor packed with throngs of her devotees.
It was the final performance of her first retrospective, The Celebration Tour, which began in London in October.
The “Queen of Pop” opened the program with her hit song from 1998, “Nothing Really Matters.” The humming, closely packed crowd, pressed up against the barriers, let out huge cheers. Others hosted house parties in hotels and apartments with bright lighting and views of the beach. The bay was full of sailboats and motorboats anchored off the beach, and helicopters and drones buzzed overhead.
The 65-year-old Madonna addressed the assembly, stating, “This is the most beautiful place on earth.” She continued, pointing out the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking the city, the mountains, and the ocean view, saying, “This place is magic.”
Madonna gave a performance of her timeless hits, such as “Hung Up” and “Like A Virgin.” She wore a black cape that completely covered her head during the “Like A Prayer” introduction, and she held a rosary in her hands.
As she sang “Live to Tell,” the celebrity gave a moving tribute to “all the bright lights” lost to AIDS, with black and white pictures of those who perished from the disease flickering behind her.
Later, Brazilian performers Anitta and Pabllo Vittar joined her on stage.
Rio has been preparing for the show for the past few days.
Based on information from Rio City Hall’s tourism agency, G1 reported that an estimated 1.6 million people saw the show. That is more than ten times the record attendance that Madonna set in 1987 at Paris’s Parc des Sceaux with 130,000 people. The show was billed as the biggest of Madonna’s four-decade career on her official website.
There was a noticeable buzz in recent days. In an attempt to get a glimpse of the pop sensation, fans gathered outside the grand, beachfront Copacabana Palace hotel, where Madonna is staying. They danced on the sand while the sound check was taking place on the platform in front of the hotel.
Fans had gathered in front of the hotel by midday on Saturday. A man with white facial hair held a placard that read, “Welcome, Madonna. You are the best. I love you.”
Hung from balconies were flags featuring the word “Madonna” printed against the famous black and white waved sidewalk pattern of Copacabana. Sweating under a scorching sun, the area was crowded with street vendors and concertgoers decked out in themed T-shirts.
“I’ve been coming here every day with this outfit in order to welcome my idol, my diva, my pop queen since Madonna arrived here,” 69-year-old Rosemary de Oliveira Bohrer said, donning a black cap and a gold-colored cone bra.
Oliveira Bohrer, a retired civil servant who resides in Copacabana, predicted that the show would be unforgettable.
To guarantee that everyone in attendance could hear the hits, eighteen sound towers were positioned along the beach. Her two-hour show began almost fifty minutes later than expected, at 10:37 p.m. local time.
According to a report released by City Hall in April, the concert is expected to generate 293 million reals, or $57 million, in revenue for the local economy. The Rio Hotel Association predicted that hotel occupancy in Copacabana would reach 98%. According to a statement from the platform, fans came from all over Brazil, as well as Argentina and France, to book Airbnbs for the weekend. According to a statement from City Hall, Rio’s international airport had projected an additional 170 flights from 27 destinations between May 1 and 6.
Flying in from Brazil’s Ceara state, some 1,555 miles from Rio, Alessandro Augusto, 53, said, “It’s an unforgettable chance to see Madonna, who knows if she’ll ever come back.”
Ads for Heineken were all over the city, with the words “Welcome Queen!” written above a picture of an upside-down bottle cap that looked like a crown.
Not just Heineken was looking to cash in on the excitement. “Like a Virgin” cocktails were served at bars and restaurants. A store in the downtown area that was well-known for selling Carnival wear completely changed its image by filling its shelves with undergarments, fanny packs, fans, and costumes with Madonna themes.
According to local authorities, the planning of the massive event was modeled after New Year’s Eve, when millions of people assemble on Copacabana for the fireworks display. There was some fear that widespread thefts and muggings would occur at Madonna’s show, as they frequently do during that annual event.
1,500 civilian police officers and 3,200 military personnel were on standby as part of Rio State’s security plan. Prior to the event, the Brazilian navy examined ships that planned to set up shop offshore to watch the performance.
There have been several massive concerts held on Copacabana beach in the past, such as Rod Stewart’s 1994 New Year’s Eve performance, which attracted over 4 million spectators and was the largest free rock concert in history, according to Guinness World Records. However, since many of those attendees were also there to see Rio’s fireworks display, a more appropriate comparison would be to the Rolling Stones in 2006, when Rio’s military police reported that 1.2 million people flocked to the beach. The newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo covered the event at the time.
A fan who was at Copacabana on Saturday, Ana Beatriz Soares, stated that Madonna has left her mark over the years.
In order for today’s pop artists to walk, Madonna had to run. She inspires today’s pop divas, which is why she’s significant, according to Soares.
That was forty years ago. 40 months, not 40 days. It’s forty years,” she remarked.