Madonna ... The Survivor

Dear all,

Why a post on Madonna? Well ... she is not only my favorite performer, she is also considered a case study for success and longevity.

By 2013, she will eventually commemorate 30 straight years of groundbreaking success, since the release of her first hit single "Everybody". Very few artists have managed to jump the barrier of the musical craziness of the 1980's into the less crazier and more electronica inspired musical environment of the 1990's.

Paula Abdul, Cindy Lauper, Kim Wilde, Belinda Carlisle, Pat Benatar and many other 1980's divas have all but fallen into the thick mists of oblivion, latter joined by their 1990's counterparts like Alanis Morissette, the Spice Girls, Dolores O'Riordan, Lauryn Hill and Sinead O'Connor.

Straight into the 21st century, she is fighting head to head with performers nearly 30 years her junior like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. Furthermore, and if we talk about live performances, all of the gross revenues and attendants put together for each show Britney, Christina, Gaga or Beyoncé did throughout their entire careers would not reach the numbers of just one leg of Madonna's latest gigs. Why is that?!?

Well, first of all, and everybody agrees on that, Madonna is the queen of reinvention ... she's never the same, even if she is on a wining spree. From crucifix and bangle queen to platinized blonde diva, from religiously sexy to S&M dominatrix, from sanskrit guru to cowboy chic, from military opposer to disco diva and from hip-hop ring fighter to ... God knows what, this woman never ceases to amaze us and to leave us yearning for her newest incarnation. Not only that, every song diva wannabe says she wants to be the new Madonna, or at least has Madonna as her "finest inspiration".

Besides from being the queen of reinvention, she certainly managed to punch the 1980's in the stomach, thus opening her the doors for the 1990's with a red carpet. She did that by defying the very few boundaries the 1980's imposed on performers at the time ... you can be crazy and sexy but not sexual or oversexed and you can speak your mind but you must never go religious. Screw that, she said ... and the myth was born.

Madonna is also a survivor! They said she wouldn't survive the 1980's demise, but she gave us Vogue and Justify My Love, and made history. Latter, she was sentenced to death after releasing Erotica and the Sex book, but she came back with a vengeance with "Ray of Light", considered by many as one of her greatest works ever. More recently, she released a very disturbing and highly unappreciated album named "American Life" and everyone was saying "that was it ... she's finally going to go down in flames.", but on the contrary she released an album which sold 10 million copied worldwide and went on three major world tours each of which far surpassed its predecessor in attendance numbers as well as gross revenue, setting record after record. She does this by following a great balance between being a trend setter and a trend follower, depending on whether she is on top of things or if she needs a comeback.

Finally, and perhaps the most important factor, Madonna has that "unique" status and it just seems that everybody else is a sort of derivation from the Madonna atmosphere. This is why you can see people of 40 years plus spending over 200 USD for a ticket to one of her venues whereas other wannabes cannot push their ticket prices over the 50 USD margin without seeing their sales plummeting down, since goers are basically teens with fixed allowances.

Nevertheless, and although Madonna still reigns supreme, she is like an aging leader of a lion pride and it will become harder and harder for her to keep her crown as well as her respect amongst a horde of invading younger talents. The time for her to retreat with grace and honor draws near ... if she keeps fighting a game where youth is the most valuable asset, she will sooner or latter be ridiculed and cylindered by the show biz mob and she will be forced to leave in disgrace. But alas ... who am I to give my advice to someone who has been topping the charts for the last three decades and who is pretty much ready to continue to do so in the fourth?

All I know is that it will still take some time for her to finally take the path towards the mists of immortality, for she still has the strength to continue being an active icon.