Sticky & Sweet Tour diary - South America

Sao Paulo - 21 Dec. 2008

The show is over, say good-bye! Unfortunately all good things come to an end. After 4 months and 58 shows, finishing it in Sao Paulo, the Sticky & Sweet Tour becomes history. Madonna performed the last show as if it was the first one, with the same energy and enthusiasm as ever. She did take her time to address the audience and say that she was happy to end the tour in Brazil: "I'm the luckiest girl in the world and also the most tired!" just before You Must Love Me.

She dedicated the gorgeous ballad to her children who were attending the show, and since this song can be interpreted as a thank you for her fans, she finished it with tears in her eyes.

The request song was Like A Virgin with once again Madonna refusing Deeper And Deeper & Sorry, so she went with Like A Virgin. We wonder if this was the last ever "part of the show where she takes requests" on her tours?

Both Madonna and her dancers let loose on the last show so the guys came out barechested for Hung Up, wearing only Brazilian flags as skirts, while Madonna kissed a girl during Give It 2 Me.

"Where do we go from here..." Madonna asks in the first line of You Must Love Me, and that is what we, fans ask now. What's next for Madonna? Will she be able to top this tour? Stay tuned, because she has a new contract now with Live Nation, and Sticky & Sweet was only a (delicious) taste for what's still to come!

Thanx for staying with us in the last 4 months for this amazing tour, hope to have you back on the next one! And of course, thank you, Madonna, for such a great show and for all the inspiration!

~ The Mad-Eyes team

Sao Paulo - 20 Dec. 2008

The next to last show of this fantastic tour, the second show of Sao Paulo went without any complications. Contrary to forecasts, there was no rain on this show and Madonna addressed that as "Fuck the rain! No rain, no pain and I won't complain!" towards the end of the show.

She dedicated Miles Away to all of Sao Paulo and during You Must Love Me, the crowd was screaming "I love you!" and when she asked who, the entire stadium started chanting her name and she claimed "I could get used to this!" and she even called the audience of Sao Paulo as the best of the entire tour!

Unfortunately it seems by the end of the tour, Madonna got bored with the requesting concept as she refused to sing Open Your Heart & Holiday on this show and she went with the 3rd suggestion that was the very predictable Express Yourself. The first fan even got a "Baby, you're good looking, but you picked the wrong song!" comment for not being able to comprehend with Madonna's fickle taste. For the last number, Madonna did not wear the yellow t-shirt, neither she went down to the fans to jump with them.

One more show left, people and the tour is history!

Sao Paulo - 18 Dec. 2008

Time goes by so quickly: Madonna reached the final stop of the tour, Sao Paulo, where she's giving 3 shows for the great Brazilian audience. On the first concert on Thursday, Madonna and her fans got lucky as it didn't rain, so the show went perfectly, except that Madonna was very late with the start, she came onstage just before 10 pm. She greeted the crowd with "Alright Sao Paulo!" in Beat Goes On.

In the intro of Miles Away, Madonna said "Brasil, te amo" and the crowd went nuts! Before You Must Love Me, the crowd screamed "I love you!", she replied with "me too" and then said she was glad to be back and wondered if the fans want her to return in the future. The answer was a noisy "yes!"; the song ended with the crowd screaming "I love you!".

The Like A Prayer number was so well-received that a crew member went onstage and was recording the crowd. In the request section, Madonna confessed: "Brazil, I love you, you are the best!" and sang the megahit Like A Virgin together with the enthusiastic crowd.

Madonna thanked the teamwork with "Brasil, Sao Paulo! Your heart is beating next to mine, always!" (watch here). For the closing song Give It 2 Me, she repeated the jumping with the audience on the floor concept and once again wore the yellow soccer shirt with the number 10 and her name on it.

Rio de Janeiro - 15 Dec. 2008

Fortunately there was no sign of rain at the second Rio De Janeiro show! Fans report that it was a much better show than the first one and Madonna was in a fantastic mood, loved the crowd, which she kept showing by blowing kisses to the fans!

She was back to the normal outfits for all numbers, except that the dancers of Vogue had different masks. Madonna called the fans "motherfuckers" during Borderline, which got a huge response.

Unfortunately Devil Wouldn't Recognize You was performed a bit off-key but that was quickly forgotten when Madonna dedicated Miles Away to Rio and said she was having a good time as well. Before Spanish Lesson, she asked for a towel, but nobody came so she had to go backstage and get it by herself!

There was no sign of Gogol Bordello during La Isla Bonita, but Madonna spoke some Portuguese words during that one. Before You Must Love Me, she asked the fans if they were happier today because there was no rain, and they said yes!

The request section saw a fan named Daniel asking for Dress You Up. Madonna gave a nice surprise and a huge thank you for the Brazilian fans when she came out in the national Brazililan soccer team t-shirt, just like 15 years ago in the final number of the Girlie Show, Everybody!

Rio De Janeiro - 14 Dec. 2008

It seems the rain on the final Buenos Aires show was just a small teaser: on the first show in Rio De Janeiro, her first appearance in Brazil since 1993, it poured, which made the show one of the most special one, not only of the tour, but it was one of her most interesting shows ever!

Madonna did not wear the Givenchy coat for Candy Shop, she came onstage with the promo tour jacket and a vest, similar to the dancers' outfit without the knee-high boots, which made her hair already flow differently and gave a new opening shot after 53 shows.

Madonna greeted the incredibly dedicated audience with "Alright Rio!" in the intro of Beat Goes On and when she kicked off Human Nature, an assistant had to came onstage and hold an umbrella for her while she did the guitar routine. Meanwhile, a moth flew on the central big screen and stayed there throughout the whole show!

Madonna and her dancers even delivered the flawless rope jumping routine of Into The Groove in the non-stopping rain. When Jason holds Madonna in Heartbeat, Madonna made a small slip and did a funny face. During She's Not Me, Madonna showed off her Portuguese as she said "Bitch! Wannabe! Puta!" and she missed out the "If someone wants to pimp your style" line because of that. The 'Virgin' and 'Material Girl' lookalikes stood under umbrellas and when Madonna gave a huge smooch to the former one, she slipped on the wet floor, falling right on her back. The famous "Please don't stop!" line of Music was changed to"Fucking stop!", obviously referring to the rain.

The Rain / Devil Wouldn't Recognize You segment was at its fullest with Madonna performing her haunting song in fierce rain. In the intro of Miles Away, she said she was happy to be back after 15 years. She did not wear the Stella McCartney boots for the Gypsy segment and her outfit was different as well. She looked to the sky and said "Away, away, just go away!" Before You Must Love Me she asked "Is the rain OK? You don't mind? We continue? Obrigado!" and changed the last line to "I must love you".

Madonna was late for the last segment so she missed the first line of 4 Minutes. The excitement was at dizzying heighs during Like A Prayer that the audience didn't even notice that Madonna slipped again!

The request song (which was preceded by a singalong against the rain) was asked by a fan called Fabio: first he asked for Everybody, but Madonna refused to sing that (even though she said she liked the song) so he chose Express Yourself. A little too late, the rain stopped during Give It 2 Me. Madonna handled out the microphone to a fan to sing along. At the very end, two dancers were holding a Brazilian flag and she left the stage with "Thank you, Rio!". Let's hope the second show will go more smoothly!

Santiago - 11 Dec. 2008

The second Santiago show was preceded with a surprise: Madonna rehearsed a few songs while the people were already coming to the Golden Circle and she sang and danced together with the fans. During the show, the crowd once again chanted "idola (idol)" and she loved that, asked them to continue and dedicated Miles Away to Santiago.

The request song was Sorry, which wasn't as well received as Holiday on the previous show, but the audience made up for that with the "idola" chanting.

Santiago - 10 Dec. 2008

Madonna performed her first ever concert in Santiago, Chile and the debut went well. Even though the hypocrite church disapproved of her, the 70,000+ fans surely made up for that!

For some strange reason, Madonna made a lot of lyrical mistakes in this show, including Human Nature, Borderline, La Isla Bonita & Hung Up. The request song was Holiday and Madonna sang the whole song, not just a few lines like in Europe.

Buenos Aires - 8 Dec. 2008

I feel it, it's coming... Yes, it has happened, it rained on a Madonna show, on the DVD show! Not during the Rain interlude though, but in the first, Ghetto Pimp section, where Madonna looked pissed as it kept dropping to her stage. Fortunately the rest of the show was dry.

The request section seemed to be rehearsed, as Madonna asked the same guy from yesterday's show to pick a song and it was once again Like A Virgin. That was probably in order to make sure the DVD gets a great singalong.

For the last number, Give It 2 Me, Madonna got off the stage once again and jumped with her fans! Naturally, Don't Cry For Me Argentina was performed on the last Buenos Aires show as well. It is unlikely to feature in the Chile & Brazil shows, but at least it's now preserved for the DVD release!

Buenos Aires - 7 Dec. 2008

It's DVD time! And Madonna certainly made it up for her Argentine fans whose vision was blocked by the cameras, because she gave one of her best shows of the tour! She was in a great mood all evening at the third Buenos Aires show and she even said "it's been 13 years since I was here, never again" and that she's not gonna wait that long for the next time, right before the Evita medley.

That's right, Don't Cry For Me Argentina was sung for the DVD! The end of the performance once again featured the "Argentina!" chant by the crowd. This was extended after Ray Of Light where the awesome crowd started chanting "Madonna!" and the Queen, in one of her most moving moments, said: "Thank you for saying that, I love to hear that name because that is the name of my mother. I know my mother's up there watching me and she's proud of me now!" and she chanted "Argentina! I love you!" and even claimed that it was her most favourite show ever!

The request song was her signature hit Like A Virgin, obvious choice for the DVD. Monday's show will be recorded as well and the DVD will mostly likely be a mix of both shows. It's looking good for a fantastic DVD so far!

Buenos Aires - 5 Dec. 2008

Madonna broke a tradition that she's been following since the Re-Invention Tour and performed on a Friday. It didn't affect the second Buenos Aires show in any negative way though, because she was even more chatty than on Thursday.

Once again, she repeated Don't Cry For Me Argentina right after You Must Love Me and it got a huge response this time as well. She first greeted the audience with "What's new, Buenos Aires?" during Beat Goes On, in Human Nature she asked the crowd "Are you sorry, Argentina?" and in the intro of Miles Away, she said "Argentina, estoy caliente!" ("I'm horny!") and that she's too happy to be there.

The requested song was Express Yourself, which has become even more elaborate on this show as Madonna sang the "Long stem roses..." verse as well! During the finale, Madonna went off the stage to be near the audience!

Buenos Aires - 4 Dec. 2008

After rearranging the Argentine tour dates because of equipment problems, Madonna performed the first out of 4 shows in the River Plate Stadium of Buenos Aires on Thursday.

Unfortunately the show was still not 100% as the boxing ring of the Die Another Day interlude was missing and the dancers performed the fighting choreography on the stage instead. Spanish Lesson was introduced with "Argentina, habla Español? Are you ready for the party?!" Madonna said "I'm so happy to be here" when she started singing Miles Away.

You Must Love Me got the crowd crazy as she - not so surprisingly - gorgeously sang the first verse and the chorus twice of the other big Evita ballad, Don't Cry For Me Argentina at the end of the performance with Argentine flags showing on the screens, with the crowd enthusiastically chanting "Argentina!".

The request song was Like A Virgin and this time Madonna sang both verses of the song.

Mexico City - 30 Nov. 2008

The second show of Mexico City went amazingly as well, with a fantastic crowd and Madonna being in a great mood. Madonna is having some problems with the song requests of the recent shows though: when a fan requested Cherish, Madonna gave him a "fuck you", because "it's not a sexy song".

Then another fan asked for Hollywood, but Madonna refused it as well, because not everyone would know the words to that one. Finally, a third request was Express Yourself and Madonna naturally appreciated that and turned it into a nice singalong, once again doing the first verse as well, not only the chorus.

Mexico City - 29 Nov. 2008

Finally, Madonna returs to Latin America! The last time she performed there was the Girlie Show, 15 years ago! Needless to say the anticipation was huge in Mexico City, where Madonna kicked off the Latin American leg of the tour.

On the first of 2 sold out shows at the Foro Sol, Madonna was welcomed with an enthusiastic response and she gave a technically perfect show. There were no changes from the previous 2 legs of the tour. Naturally, the "Habla Español?" in the intro of Spanish Lesson gave loud cheers.

She dedicated Miles Away to "anyone who's afraid to love". Before You Must Love Me, she took a moment ("Un momento por favor!") and thanked everyone for going to the show and she felt glad to be back in Mexico after so many years.

During the request section, somebody from the crowd requested Deeper And Deeper which Madonna dismissed with a big "no" and said next time they should choose a song that everyone liked. So she went with the 2006 hit single Sorry (performed in a request section for a 3rd time now, after Montreal & Las Vegas), which resulted a great singalong moment and Madonna praised the "teamwork" of the crowd and kicked-off the heavy rock version of Hung Up from the same album.

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