After a 23-year wait, Madonna has wowed her fans Down Under in an energy packed extravaganza and paid tribute to the first Australian man who fell in love with her – Molly Meldrum.
The US superstar descended onto the Rod Laver Arena stage in Melbourne in a cage for her first Australian show for her Rebel Heart Tour, joining a tightly choreographed team of dancers, which included nuns in habits and hot pants pole dancing on crucifixes.
She was about 45 minutes late, a far cry from the four hours fans were forced to wait for her intimate one-off Melbourne show at the Forum on Thursday, Tears of A Clown.
“I’ve waited over 20 years? What the f*** is wrong with me?” she asked cheering fans.
The spectacular, jam packed with dancing, aerial stunts and cheekiness, even featured the pop queen share a special moment with music guru Meldrum, who was in the first row.
Madonna dedicated Take A Bow to him, “the first man in Australia to have fallen in love with me.”
“You’re the first Australian man to appreciate me and I appreciate you.
You’re the best,” she said.
Meldrum blew her a kiss as she launched into the song, with the crowd responding by chanting “Molly”.
“I f**ken love you,” he said, to which she replied: “I love you too.”
While the two-hour plus show was in support of her 13th studio album, Rebel Heart, the pop queen delighted most with old favourites including a rocked up Burning Up, Like A Virgin, and Material Girl.
Another highlight was her acoustic ukulele version of Edith Piaf’s French classic La Vie En Rose, as the stadium lit up with mobile phone lights.
Madonna chatted a lot to the audience, shared the stage with Australian Idol drag queen Courtney Act for a bit, and threw in a couple of throwbacks to her clown show, including riding around the stage in a tiny bicycle and making some daggy jokes.
“Everyone said how touched they were. I just let it all hang out, I was vulnerable,” she said of the Tears of A Clown show.
“Not like my big shows where everything’s perfect and choreographed and no mistakes.”
She apologised for only having two hours to rehearse for Tears of A Clown.
During that show she became emotional about her son Rocco, who’s in a custody battle between her and ex husband Guy Ritchie.
But there was no mention of it at Saturday’s show, it was all about the music for the artist known over the years for her discipline and perfection.
The final highlight was old favourite, Holiday, which featured Madonna wrapped in the Australian flag.
It may be over two decades since Madonna’s reached these shores but the 57-year old’s creative spirit and her superwoman energy didn’t falter.
Madonna plays Melbourne again Sunday, followed by Brisbane on Wednesday and Thursday and Sydney next weekend.
Source: Yahoo News
