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Lucifer's Top 40 Madonna Performances

Lucifer's Top 40 Madonna Performances  

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Hello, I've compiled a list of the 40 best Madonna live performances, ever! oprah13

I hope you'll enjoy my countdown popcorn1

#40-36

Spoiler

#40

Material Girl - Virgin Tour

Here Madonna serves an entreating performance of Material Girl that recreates perfectly the vibe of its music video. She is wearing tons of jewelry and collects money between her tits while walking around the stage in total control of her men. However at the end of the performance, she gets rid of all the useless accessory to show that she only needs love.

 

#39

Frozen - Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Awards 1998

Here Madonna serves amazing vocals and mystical vibes. Her hands are covered with mehndi and she moves in such a way that her black goth gown outfit hides her body , so that it looks like she’s about to shapeshift into something else.

 

#38

Impressive Instant - Drowned World Tour

Here Madonna merges choreography with narrative as she crosses the stage followed by dancers wearing gas masks who try to grope her. The costumes are designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier and include vary accessories like spiked dog collars and Swarovski crystal-encrusted bracelets. Madonna serves punk style, wearing tattered black garments and a tartan kilt. She crawls on the floor with rock attitude and dances with robotic moves. In the end one dancer grabs a big hosepipe and thrust it between Madonna's legs, as it emits fog towards the audience resembling ejaculation or urination.

 

#37

Music - EMAs 2000

Here Madonna brings a lot of energy to the stage, dancing from corner to corner and doing deep-knee bends. She’s wearing pants extremely tight and at the same time she advocates for support between female artists in the music business by wearing a t-shirt with the name of the pop princess Kylie Minogue.

 

#36

Music - Confessions Tour

Here Madonna performs an infectious mashup of “Music” with The Trammps’ “Disco Inferno”, which includes also a vocoder playing the chorus of “Where’s The Party” . After a montage of old videos and an intro with rollerskating dancers, Madonna appears on stage in a classy white suit, channeling John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. The stage is bathed in deep red lights and Madonna dances her way to the end of the catwalk and does the famous disco guns choreography while the rollerskaters do amazing tricks.

 

#35-31

Spoiler

#35

Give It 2 Me - Sticky & Sweet Tour 

Here Madonna dances and jumps nonstop on stage, while gradually more and more dancers join her in a highly energetic choreography. Following her singalong trademark, Madonna extends the song and makes the crowd give it to her. The overall vibe is that one of being inside of a video game as parts of the lyrics flash on the screens and in the end she disappears behind the words 'Game Over'.

 

#34

Holiday - Live Aid

Here Madonna delivers a joyful and energetic performance of Holiday, wearing a trouser suit and sporting natural brown hair. The vocals and the dancing are great and she’s smiling all the time.

 

#33

Bedtime Stories - BRITs 1995

Here Madonna serves a stunning look with an ethereal long blonde wig and white dress. The way her hairs flow in the air is mesmerizing, as well as the pair of male backing dancers getting closer than close beside her.

 

#32

Hung Up - EMAs 2005 / Confessions Tour

Here Madonna appears from inside a giant disco ball, wearing a sexy leotard, a purple jacket and sun glasses.  She and her dancers give their all in a stream of choreographies that bring back the atmosphere of the movie Saturday Night Fever, before they get physical and crawl on the floor during the breakdown. 

 

#31

Ray of Light - The Oprah Winfrey Show 1998

Here Madonna serves exceptional vocals, a spiritual look and an energetic aura that contaminates the crowd.

 

#30-26

Spoiler

#30

Into The Groove - Virgin Tour

Here Madonna serves funk style, great crowd interaction, energetic dance moves and effortlessly cool tambourine taps.

 

#29

Into The Groove - Blond Ambition Tour

Here Madonna encourages the use of condoms as she introduces the Shep Pettibone extended remix of Into The Groove by saying, “You really never get to know a guy until you ask him to wear a rubber.”. Then Madonna, Niki and Donna get seduced by 3 macho guys and they show some really groovy dance steps two by two.  

 

#28

Express Yourself - The Girlie Show

Here Madonna delivers a disco-styled version of Express Yourself in which she resembles the actress Marlene Dietrich in the 1932 film Blonde Venus . The stage is decked in Mylar curtains and the performance begins with a distorted voice claiming "I'm gonna take you to a place you've never been before". Afterwards, Madonna descends from the ceiling on a disco ball, wearing a blond afro wig, 1970's style halters and royal blue bell-bottom pants. She then go ahead serving great vocals and awesome dance moves.

 

#27

Vogue - Reinvention Tour

Here Madonna serves Louis XVI style wearing a beautiful golden corset by Christian Lacroix. She reinvents the vogue choreography with entertaining stunts, in particular she kicks in the performance standing upside down on her head and at one point she and her dancers walk on the stage like crabs.

 

#26

Nothing Really Matters -  Grammy 1999

Here Madonna serves great vocals and a stunning geisha look. The stage resembles a Japanese rock garden and Madonna’s wearing a kimono and moving her body in the same style of the music video.

 

#25-21

Spoiler

#25

Gang Bang - MDNA Tour

Here Madonna delivers a theatrical and bloody performance as she uses guns for an impressive choreography in which she “kills” hers dancers.  Madonna recalls The Bride from the Tarantino’s movie Kill Bill, as she sits inside the decor of a motel room, killing off several snipers even from the ceiling. Each time she shoots one of her attackers, the background screens are smeared with blood. Towards the end there is a dope dubstep breakdown.

 

#24

Sooner or Later - Oscar 1991

Here Madonna looks as classy as ever while portraying Marilyn Monroe. She’s wearing diamonds, delivering great vocals and performing a sultry cabaret routine.

 

#23

Open Your Heart - Who's That Girl Tour

Here Madonna shows great showmanship and delivers a sexy chair dance. She’s wearing a black pointy corset and she is joined on stage by a young dancer, imitating the little boy in the music video.

 

#22

La Isla Bonita - Who's That Girl Tour

Here Madonna serves great vocals, while the guitarists and percussionists create a Spanish vibe. She’s wearing a gorgeous red dress and delivers a fabulous latino-dancing.

#21

Living for Love - BRITs 2015 / Rebel Heart Tour

Here Madonna delivers a symbolic performance that is inspired to the matador theme and it includes a shocking beginning. As Madonna reaches the top of the round bull ring and she’s about to undone her long stunning Armani cape, she gets pulled backwards down a flight of stairs by her backup dancers who wear horns and mesmerizing Swarovski masks. True to the lyrics "I'm gonna carry on", the performance kept going strong and Madonna was so good at carrying on that many speculated that the all thing was staged.  The vocals are full of passion and reflect her emotional state after the cape incident; meanwhile, the choreography is superb and it includes some dope hands moves. At the end there is a powerful gospel choir and a theatrical cape breakdown in which Madonna kills all the minotaurs/dancers and stands strong, with the horns of a minotaur up in the air to prove her victory. 

 

#20-18

Spoiler

#20

Like a Virgin - VMAs 1984

Here Madonna serves one the most memorable VMA performances that went down in fashion history.  She emerged from a 17-foot-tall wedding cake dressed in a wedding dress, adorned with her Boy Toy belt buckle, and veil.  A very risque performance in which she starts rolling around on the stage revealing her undergarments to the crowd and practically masturbating with the veil, causing an enormous controversy.

 

#19

Girl Gone Wild - MDNA Tour

Here Madonna serves stunning visuals with the stage set in a medieval cathedral, with monks lightning incense in a big and sinister thurible. Challenging the virgin Mary,  Madonna herself appears as an armed, black-veiled bride in a suspended confessional, during the act of contrition intro of the track.  As Madonna breaks through the glass, a highly choreographed performance follows and the gender-bending theme of the music video is repeated with six masculine dancers doing feminine moves in high heels. Towards the end there is  an epic breakdown with samples of Material Girl.

 

#18

Vogue - Sticky & Sweet Tour

Here Madonna serves one of the best reinventions of Vogue, wearing a bondage outfit and singing live while delivering a catchy choreography inspired by the tecktonik dance technique. The song is spiced up with the hook of 4 Minutes, which brings the feeling of running out of time as Madonna herself at one point stops the choreography to watch at her clock.

 

#17-15

Spoiler

#17

Die Another Day - Reinvention Tour

Here Madonna serves a high energy performance, in which she dances a remarkable tango choreography with four male dancers simultaneously. The costumes and the stage bring circus vibes while some Hebrew signs appear on the screens. The dancers wrap the phylactery around their arms and in the end they tie Madonna in an electric chair, just like in the video. 

 

#16 

Live To Tell - Confessions Tour

Here Madonna delivers a powerful message with controversial visuals.  The performance starts with some suggestive organ music and then emerges a giant Swarovski cross with Madonna hung up on it with a crown of thorns on her head. There is a counter above her with the number of children in Africa who die of aids in a year and the screens behind her show inspirational Bible verses.

 

#15

Like a Virgin / Hollywood / Work It - VMAs 2003

Here Madonna serves the most-talked about moment in VMA history. The performances starts with Britney and Christina  recreating the 1984 performance of Like a Virgin. Then Madonna appears on the cake dressed as a groom, and they start singing Hollywood. The highlight is when Madonna exchanges a passionate French kiss with the two pop princesses.

 

#14-11

Spoiler

#14

Vogue - VMAs 1990

Here Madonna serves 18th century French court style dressed as Marie Antoinette in an extravagant court dress and a huge wig. She performs the iconic Vogue choreography while flashing her undergarment and pushing the face of her dancers into her breasts or under her skirts. At one point one of her background dancers squeezes her breasts from behind.

 

#13

Isaac - Confessions Tour

This is a very symbolic performance with a suggestive intro in which a guest vocalist (the man who lent his name to the song) sings in Hebrew and plays the shofar, a kind of horn.  On the main stage a female dancer in a Middle-Eastern burka dances in a cage with the backdrops displaying sand dunes.  Madonna appears at the end of the catwalk, wearing a red blouse and velvet pants and she dances her way to the main stage. She then approaches the cage and frees the dancer from the burka, who then runs happily onto the catwalk, free as the bird on the screen. In the end Madonna joins her dancers for a remarkable choreography that symbolize the struggle to fly towards freedom.

 

#12

Celebration/Give It To Me - MDNA Tour

Here Madonna serves great visuals with the stage transformed in colored 3D cubes with laser lights illuminating all the venue. Madonna and her dancers are all wearing headsets and look like a deejay. First Madonna takes her place on the highest stage block in the center and delivers some groovy moves, then she moves to the golden triangle where she joins her dancers for an intense dance routine.

 

#11

Frozen/Open Your Heart - Sticky & Sweet Tour

Here Madonna serves an up-beat version of Frozen with interpolations from Open Your Heart.  The video backdrop used video outtakes from the Frozen music video and the performance starts dark and slow with Madonna trapped in the cage of the circular screen. Then a techno beat kicks in, Madonna is released from the cage and she joins the dancers in a superb choreography. Shame that it didn’t make the DVD cut.

 

#10-8

Spoiler

#10

La Isla Bonita - The Girlie Show

Here Madonna shows an incredible energy and rocks a stunning blue and white striped shirt. The highlight is definitely  the great choreography, which is inspired by Latino and Spanish moves.

 

#9 

Mer Girl / Sky Fits Heaven - Drowned World Tour

Here Madonna serves real ninja/samurai martial arts battle, flying across the jungle-like stage attached to a cord and kicking the evil spirit dancers in a true kungfu-style.

 

#8

Don't Tell Me - Drowned World Tour

Here Madonna serves the most authentic performance of Don’t Tell Me, reproducing the same choreography of the music video and wearing a raccoon tail.  She starts by singing all alone and then she kicks into that iconic line dance together with the cowboy dancers. 

 

#7-6

Spoiler

#7

Music - Live 8

Here Madonna  is on top form nailing the choreography with her Re-Invention dancers, all dressed in white. She forced everyone up on their feet and led the entire crowd to clap-a.-long the song for several minutes.

 

#6

La Isla Bonita - Sticky & Sweet Tour / Live Earth

Here Madonna serves the most creative reinvention of LIB. Both the performances of Live Earth (with Gogol Bordello) and Sticky and Sweet (with the Arkady Gips) are very similar so I’ll rank them together, but the SS performance is superior. The performance is a mashup with the gypsy wedding song, "Lela Pala Tute" with a lot of violins involved. The mashup works beautifully and Madonna stage presence shines, especially the way she’s able to share the spotlight with the other performers. The costumes are gorgeous and the choreography is super entertaining and creative.

 

#5-4

Spoiler

#5 

Express Yourself - Blond Ambition Tour /  VMAs 1989

Both the BAT and VMA performances are very similar so I’ll rank them together, however the former is superior in every aspect. The stage looks like the music video and is set in a large industrial machine-room where the dancers are only wearing a jeans.  Madonna enters the stage at the top of the magical light-up stairs, dressed in a pinstripe suit, with cone-bra and garters from her bustier visible. She descend the staircase owning every step with great stage presence and then she delivers some impressive dance moves. As she is singing "What you need is a big strong hand..." she brings a male dancer to his knees and shows him who is in charge.

 

#4

Vogue - Blond Ambition Tour

Here Madonna serves the most authentic performance of Vogue, reproducing the same legendary choreography and vibe of the music video. The performance itself is very similar to the one of the 1990 VMA, but without that big Victorian dress Madonna moves more freely delivering a superior choreography and showing much more energy. On top of that she looks extremely sexy rocking a black pointy Gautier bra and black tights.

 

 

#3-2

Spoiler

#3 

Into the Groove - Sticky & Sweet Tour

Here Madonna is skipping on stage and pole dancing while the artwork of her friend Keith Haring takes the audience back into time to the NYC of the early 80s. The interaction with the crowd is very playful and Madonna displays a  great sense of humor. Moreover, the performance features an insanely  dope mashup with "Toop Toop" by Cassius. Great importance is given to every detail and there are many small entertaining moments. The highlight  is when Madonna performs a double Dutch while dancing to the beat of her song Jump.

 

#2 

Like a Virgin - Blond Ambition Tour

Here Madonna re-invents Like a Virgin with a brilliant middle-eastern arrangement and a very risque choreography. Madonna wears the iconic golden bustier by Jean-Paul Gautier and simulates masturbation on a red silk bed, accompanied by two hermaphrodite dancers who wearing cone bras.

 

#1

Spoiler

#1

Like a Prayer - Blond Ambition Tour

Here Madonna serves the best  and most theatrical LAP performance wearing a black robe and a large crucifix. The stage is a church with pillars and candles where she performs a suggestive choreography with her back-up singers and dancers dressed as nuns and priests.  This is pure ART and her ponytail is iconic.

 

Madonna delivered so many excellent performances, so it is quite challenging to rank them all. Do you agree with my list? Which of those performances don't deserve to be in the top 40 and which ones should be there, according to you? oprah12

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Wow you hate Confessions we get it bey4

 

But actually, only 2 Girlie Show numbers? Half of S&S ranking higher than Music Inferno? Not a single number from RHT in a list of 40 options? Half of the setlist of Drowned World?
 

The clownery of it all sis I can’t aura1 

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1 hour ago, SockBitch said:

Wow you hate Confessions we get it bey4

 

But actually, only 2 Girlie Show numbers? Half of S&S ranking higher than Music Inferno? Not a single number from RHT in a list of 40 options? Half of the setlist of Drowned World?
 

The clownery of it all sis I can’t aura1 

wowee why u think I hate the confessions tour? That was my first Madonna concert ever and  loved it so much that I decide to become a stan. Without the Confessions tour I would not be here! aura1

You critics are imprecise btw...I ranked Living for Love from the rebel heart tour at #21 and I listed just 3 performances from the Drowned World against 4 perfs from the Confessions tour! brit7
As much I love the CT, the S&S is not only the most successful Madonna tour, but it is also the tour with the best Madonna dancing breakdowns and most creative reinventions since the BAT. bey7
Tbh Music Inferno was much better to experience it live than watching it on the dvd. Often when you extrapolate the performance from the rest of the tour, it loses some magic. For instance, I ranked Give It To Me higher than Music Inferno because it feels like an adrenaline rush and if you consider that it was the closing performance is quite impressive. I don't know any other artist able to show such energy and stamina. Moreover, the choreography is cooler and more difficult than the one of Music Inferno.oprah14


Which are the performances of the Girlie Show that I'm paying dust to? I mean, I believe that all the ones that I ranked all deserve to be there, don't you agree? That said, obviously Madonna got plenty of other good performances, but leave the Rebel Heart tour alone please. That is a by far Madonna's most boring and lame tour to date. bey4

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27 minutes ago, Lucifer's Angel said:

wowee why u think I hate the confessions tour? That was my first Madonna concert ever and  loved it so much that I decide to become a stan. Without the Confessions tour I would not be here! aura1

You critics are imprecise btw...I ranked Living for Love from the rebel heart tour at #21 and I listed just 3 performances from the Drowned World against 4 perfs from the Confessions tour! brit7
As much I love the CT, the S&S is not only the most successful Madonna tour, but it is also the tour with the best Madonna dancing breakdowns and most creative reinventions since the BAT. bey7
Tbh Music Inferno was much better to experience it live than watching it on the dvd. Often when you extrapolate the performance from the rest of the tour, it loses some magic. For instance, I ranked Give It To Me higher than Music Inferno because it feels like an adrenaline rush and if you consider that it was the closing performance is quite impressive. I don't know any other artist able to show such energy and stamina. Moreover, the choreography is cooler and more difficult than the one of Music Inferno.oprah14


Which are the performances of the Girlie Show that I'm paying dust to? I mean, I believe that all the ones that I ranked all deserve to be there, don't you agree? That said, obviously Madonna got plenty of other good performances, but leave the Rebel Heart tour alone please. That is a by far Madonna's most boring and lame tour to date. bey4

Lol I’m at work so I’m not gonna take the time to respond other than I concede VALID points were made but we‘ll agree to disagree since RIT and DWT are 100% bottom tier for me and I never fully got into S&S but I recognize it’s all a matter of opinion at the end of the day because the more important point is that there’s hardly an outright bad performance in her career (Eurovision 2019 notwithstanding brit15 )

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On 10/17/2019 at 9:06 PM, SockBitch said:

Lol I’m at work so I’m not gonna take the time to respond other than I concede VALID points were made but we‘ll agree to disagree since RIT and DWT are 100% bottom tier for me and I never fully got into S&S but I recognize it’s all a matter of opinion at the end of the day because the more important point is that there’s hardly an outright bad performance in her career (Eurovision 2019 notwithstanding brit15 )

yeah it's really hard to make a top40, but every tour got its gems! For instance, even if you like the Girlie Show more than the RIT there is no doubt that the performance of Vogue is superior on the latter. Moreover, no matter what you say about the DWT but the performances of Sky Fits Heaven and Don't Tell Me are objectively really entertaining and among her best ones ever. lotus1

Finally, Eurovision got some issues (the vocals on lap and Quavo's weak stage presence), but the Dark Ballet interlude was amazing and the overall message was very touching and powerful, if you are able to catch it. Not to mention that she looked majestic like a character from the lord of the rings and the atmosphere was so gloomy and apocalyptic queenbitch1

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