Madonna's biggest-ever concert attracts 1.6 million people at Copacabana beach

Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach on Saturday night turning Rio de Janeiros vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fansIt was the last show of The Celebration Tour her first retrospective which kicked off in October in LondonThe lsquoQueen of Poprsquo began the show with her 1998 hit lsquoNothing Really Mattersrsquo Huge cheers rose from the buzzing tightly packed crowd pressed up against the barriers2 million people singing madonnarsquo lsquolike a virginrsquo in rio pictwittercomtvNjxfLmCYmdash 2000s PopCulture2000s May 5 2024Others held house parties in brightly lighted apartments and hotels overlooking the beachfront Helicopters and drones flew overhead and motorboats and sailboats anchored off the beach filled the bayldquoHere we are in the most beautiful place in the worldrdquo Madonna 65 told the crowd Pointing out the ocean view the mountains and the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city she added ldquoThis place is magicMadonna performed her classic hits including lsquoLike A Virginrsquo and lsquoHung Uprsquo For the introduction to lsquoLike A Prayerrsquo her head was completely covered in a black cape a rosary gripped in her handsThe star paid an emotional tribute to lsquoall the bright lightsrsquo lost to AIDS as she sang lsquoLive to Tellrsquo with black and white photos of people who died from the illness flashing behind herLater she was joined on stage by Brazilian artists Anitta and Pabllo VittarRio spent the last few days readying itself for the performance An estimated 16 million people attended the show G1 reported citing Rio City Halls tourism agency That is more than 10 times Madonnas record attendance of 130000 at Paris Parc des Sceaux in 1987 Madonnas official website hyped the show as the biggest ever in her fourdecade careerIn recent days the buzz was palpable Fans milled outside the stately beachfront Copacabana Palace hotel where Madonna is staying hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop star During the sound check on the stage set up in front of the hotel they danced on the sandBy midday Saturday fans crowded in front of the hotel A whitebearded man carried a sign saying ldquoWelcome Madonna you are the best I love yourdquoFlags with ldquoMadonnardquo printed against a background of Copacabanas iconic black and white waved sidewalk pattern hung from balconies The area was packed with street vendors and concert attendees kitted out in themed Tshirts sweating under a baking sunldquoSince Madonna arrived here Ive been coming every day with this outfit to welcome my idol my diva my pop queenrdquo said Rosemary de Oliveira Bohrer 69 who sported a goldcoloured cone bra and a black capldquoIts going to be an unforgettable show here in Copacabanardquo said Oliveira Bohrer a retired civil servant who lives in the areaEighteen sound towers were spread along the beach to ensure that all attendees can hear the hits Her twohour show started at 1037 pm local time nearly 50 minutes behind scheduleCity Hall produced a report in April estimating that the concert would inject 293 million reals USD 57 million into the local economy Hotel capacity was expected to reach 98 per cent in Copacabana according to Rios hotel association Fans hailing from across Brazil and even Argentina and France sought out Airbnbs for the weekend the platform said in a statementRios international airport had forecast an extra 170 flights during May 16 from 27 destinations City Hall said in a statementldquoIts a unique opportunity to see Madonna who knows if shell ever come backrdquo said Alessandro Augusto 53 who flew in from Brazils Ceara state approximately 2500 km 1555 miles from RioldquoWelcome Queenrdquo read Heineken ads plastered around the city the lettering above an image of an upturned bottle cap resembling a crownHeineken wasnt the only company seeking to profit from the excitement Bars and restaurants prepared iquestLike a Virginiquest cocktails A shop in the downtown neighborhood famed for selling Carnival attire completely reinvented itself stocking its shelves with Madonnathemed costumes fans fanny packs and even underwearOrganisation of the megaevent was similar to New Years Eve when millions of people gather on Copacabana for its fireworks display local authorities said That annual event often produces widespread thefts and muggings and there was some concern such problems might occur at Madonnas showRio states security plan included the presence of 3200 military personnel and 1500 civilian police officers on stand by In the leadup to the concert Brazils navy inspected vessels that wished to position themselves offshore to follow the showA number of huge concerts have taken place on Copacabana beach before including a 1994 New Years Eve show by Rod Stewart that drew more than 4 million fans and was the biggest free rock concert in history according to Guinness World RecordsMany of those spectators also came to see Rios fireworks show though so a more fitting comparison might be to the Rolling Stones in 2006 which saw 12 million people crowd onto the sand according to Rios military police the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported at the timeAna Beatriz Soares a fan who was at Copacabana on Saturday said Madonna has made her mark across the decadesldquoMadonna had to run so that todays pop artists could walk Thats why shes important because she serves as an inspiration for todays pop divas Soares saidAnd thats 40 years ago Not 40 days 40 months Its 40 yearsrdquo she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever