"Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood."
Published on August 23, 2006 By Sally jacobs In Entertainment

My Mum is 50(ish) and the thought of her dancing around in a leotard and dancing provocatively with men half her age just makes my skin crawl, and makes me want to crawl and hide under the nearest rock I can find. Of course my Mum isn't a world wide superstar who has had a career that spans decades, and has the ability to change with the times like no one else. Madonna has though. I don't think there is anyone in the world who doesn't know who Madonna is. Who couldn't name you at least one of her songs, and tell you just what a sex vixen she used to be? She isn't just a popstar, she is an idol, in every sense of the word. She has embraced generations and managed to appeal to so many different people, of different ages and backgrounds. She has done wonderful things.

She recently celebrated her 48th birthday, I believe she was doing a concert and fans started singing Happy Birthday. Nice of them. I have to admit I am not Madonna fan. I can appreciate her music, I can realise that she is a very talented lady, but I am not a fan. I don't think it is her singing ability and star talent that has made her an idol, I think it is more to do with her manipulation of the media, and her ability to concentrate on the right publicity, and realising that sex sells. All these things have made her the icon she is today. If she was to survive on her singing ability alone I do wonder just how far she would have got. She is the total package though, and no one can knock her for that, and they shouldn't.

A friend of mine said they had seen her in concert. I imagine that it must be the ultimate to see Madonna in concert. Even if like me, you are a hardcore fan you must be able to walk away from an experience like that and be amazed. That's something you can tell the Grandkids proudly, unlike my sad exploits, which include seeing Take That and The Backstreet Boys *hangs head in shame*. When I said this to my friend, they informed me they had been extremely unimpressed with her perfomance, and in their eyes she had, "lost it". She was selling the brand of Madonna, rather than the raw talent of her. I think someone of her status could pretty much get on stage and mumble a song, and fans would still wet themselves, just because they were seeing Madonna. I don't know how long that will last for her though.

Some people comment about growing old gracefully, and what people of a certain age, should and shouldn't do. Madonna is a prime example of a lady who is looking good for her age, but is she past the point where she should be dancing about in a leotard? Is she past the point of shocking people, and using her sex to drag in the crowds? I personally think, if you've got it, flaunt it. If people want to pay money to see you, then why shouldn't she do it? Maybe she isn't what she once was, but does that really matter? She is Madonna, she is something new every week. That's why she is so loved. I only hope she does end things whilst we still remember her as that foxy woman who could do whatever she wanted, and not some old woman who was trying to hold onto her youth. She is smart though. She will know when the time is right.


Comments
on Aug 23, 2006

Well, Joan Collins does not strut around the stage with bullet proof bras on, but at 60, she was still HOT!

But Madonna?  Nah, she was rode hard an put away wet.

on Aug 24, 2006
I don't know, like you I've never been a fan but I sure do appreciate how canny Madonna has been through her music career. Her film career is a different matter altogether. With the exception of Desperately Seeking Susan, in which she really played herself, if truth be know, she's never done anything of any worth.

Toni is a big fan, up until a few years ago. But like a lot of cultural obsessions, the power icons weild, for the most part, does wan after time. This might sound a little gruesome, but if Madonna had died in her mid 30's, she would probably be as big as she ever was.
on Aug 24, 2006
Madonna's biceps scare the bejesus outta me
on Aug 24, 2006
I don't know that it's age as much as it is real talent.  Cher is 60, I believe that's correct,  and she still sounds wonderful.  And she looks fantastic.
on Aug 24, 2006

Cher is 60, I believe that's correct, and she still sounds wonderful. And she looks fantastic.

Plastic! 

on Aug 24, 2006
Plastic!


And it's sooooo fake, I don't know if I could comfortably call it "fantastic", Trudy, more like "botox-enhanced livin'."
on Aug 26, 2006
Sally.
Please.....you're kidding right? Madonna has done wonderful things? Wonderful? I have a problem with the word ICON. Perhaps if we drop the I.
One thing Madonna can always say is:" I conned you and I conned the media and I conned the farmer and I conned the pig and I conned the cow and I conned the fox for I take the money and run for I am Maiconna!"
on Aug 27, 2006
I agree Sally, her smarts are definitely what made her famous and enduring. I've enjoyed a lot of her music. Catchy tunes.

Now at this point in her career (I'm surprised she's still at it; she's already accomplished everything she wanted), I fall into the category of people who think
old woman who's trying to hold onto her youth


Perhaps the final thing she's working to prove is that age is no factor for the immortal. She appears to be proving that well.

Maybe she got bored with the domestic life.