MANILA, Philippines - She performed a pole dance and pranced on stage with a Philippine flag. A back-up dancer went topless while others performed as half-naked nuns.
Condemned by a Catholic bishop, US pop superstar Madonna was unapologetically provocative as she brought her Rebel Heart World Tour to Manila in what has been touted as the biggest international concert ever in this country.
The two-night concert at the MOA Arena marked her first time in the Philippines.
The 57-year-old Queen of Pop, who has sold 300 million albums worldwide, has been known for racy musical performances. One of her most quotable quotes is: “Art should be controversial.”
But critics have again called out the sexually-charged content as well as contentious religious imagery on the Rebel Heart tour.
Earlier this week, a Catholic prelate warned the faithful against going to such concerts, calling them “the subtle attacks of the evil one.”
Some of the “disturbing” scenes during the Rebel Heart concert last Wednesday included “nuns” dancing on crucifix-shaped poles in her song “Holy Water” as well as a “Last Supper” reenactment wherein Madonna ended up being tied on the table with her legs spread open.
One song featured a topless female back-up dancer while an interlude during Madonna’s wardrobe change had four pairs of dancers simulating sexual acts on beds set up on a moving screen. Another song had her suggestively prancing around a “priest” and dancers in what looked like Muslim garb.
Singapore media had reported that the “Holy Water” segment has been removed from Madonna’s “amended show” in Singapore tonight. Her Singapore concert has been declared a strictly adult show with an R-18 rating. In Madonna’s Manila concerts, children were seen among the jampacked crowd.
The American diva also had an expletive-heavy interaction with the audience. She did away with the cuss words when she thanked fans, “I want to show you my gratitude and appreciation for your support, for all these years, for over 30 years, it’s pretty amazing if you think about it. It is. Just a minute is amazing so imagine 32 years.”
The American singing superstar kicked off her first show at the MOA Arena nearly three hours late, at 10:45 p.m. Wearing a samurai-like costume, she descended on a steel cage to her song Iconic, accompanied by dancers dressed like terracotta-meets-medieval warriors.
It was just one of the many dizzying looks that the flamboyant Madonna took on, as she changed from sexy bullfighter in La Isla Bonita to a ‘20s cabaret star in Hey Mr. DJ.
Still, Madonna mounted the concert tour with the main intention of drumbeating what she’s been up to and what she can still offer via her Rebel Heart album. In the opening video, she declared: “I am a woman. I have t*ts and a** and an insatiable desire to be noticed.”
The mega-production was designed as a high-tech and theatrical spectacle focused on Madonna with help from moving screens, hydraulic lifts, swaying poles, elaborate costumes and dance choreography, among others, that not many really stood from their seats and danced but rather remained transfixed.
She performed on a customized stage that brought her all the way to the end of the MOA Arena floor audience.
The show wasn’t going to indulge the audience with too much nostalgia as well. A few of her pop classics made their way into her 24-song set-list, which she refreshed and updated, like “Material Girl,” “Like A Virgin” and “Deeper and Deeper.”
A hushed moment came when Madonna settled on a hydraulic lift, ruminating about being a cynic but still a believer in romance, before launching into La Vie En Rose acoustic-style with her ukulele.