Madonna

A night with the feel of a real event in Udine, as "Sticky & Sweet" by Madonna rolls into the Friuli tonight.

As per the script, there's a massive stage and spectacular set design, with every kind of lighting, screens and mobile structures ready to transform in the blink of an eye. A large crowd (around 40,000 people were expected), though out on the pitch the air is refreshingly breathable, and you won't get trapped in the crush unless you really want to.

Paul Oakenfold opens the show with an embarrassing set best left undiscussed; it remains a mystery how DJs of this calibre keep getting hailed as among the best in the world.

When, after about an hour's wait, Ciccone finally takes the stage, the crowd (myself included, I won't deny it) goes wild; seated on a throne, she breaks the ice with "Candy Shop" from her latest effort. Surrounded by dancers and performers of every kind creating spectacular choreography, she moves through the different phases of her career: from "Miles Away" to "La Isla Bonita" (performed alongside a gypsy orchestra), passing through "Ray Of Light" and "Music", both revisited in a decidedly more electronic key.

But what's most surprising is the vitality of the popstar, who's now past fifty: she jumps, dances, winks and commands the stage like a teenager, between crowd-rousing calls, forays down towards the audience and a Sapphic kiss during "She's Not Me", right on cue. There's a moving moment when the singer recalls the workers who died just hours earlier while setting up the stage for her Marseille concert; she bursts into tears, visibly shaken.

From a purely musical standpoint, the performance ends up softened by a context stuffed with spectacle, backing tracks and fake duets with the guests from "Hard Candy" (Pharrell, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West), but her voice, with its ups and downs, is still there and seems to be holding up. Add to that the vitality of a woman who doesn't seem to age, and the expectations of an event are fully confirmed.

Ride the wave of great music

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