Sep
01
2009
The premium version of Celebration (distinguished by its more black-and-white cover) is up for grabs on iTunes now for $29.99. With it comes the Benny Benassi Remix of "Celebration" as well as the long-lost, never-heard tune "It's So Cool" from the American Life (!) sessions. It must have been hard coughing up something people haven't already heard with all the leaks that have occurred in the past few years. It also comes with 30 music videos.
My read on this is it's mostly another bullshit video, though one of her better bullshit videos, if only for that sexy dancer whose images I'll sprinkle throughout. I really love how she looks and don't get why some have objected to the (rather amazing!) Balenciaga Balmain dress, which shows off her body perfectly or even the (rather good, unlike the one from "Jump") wig. Madonna looks about 15 years younger than her age and incredibly beautiful—I think people have warped expectations of what 51 looks like if they think she looks "old" in this.
I like some of the dancing but wish it had been more choreographed, which might have elevated this in the way simple videos like "Vogue" or "Human Nature" are not just about dancing about gaily. Instead, it's just "better than 'Give It 2 Me.'"
What wrecks the video for me is not her proudly holding up Jesus like a hunter with a 10-point stag, but the excessive crotch jiggling. I could live with it, actually, but the stupid decision to speed some of those segments up makes it self-parody.
I really like the video around the 1:42 point, when the bodies are slowed down and spinning in the air. This approaches art and reminded me of Robert Longo's '80s work. Briefly.
As far as I'm concerned, Jesus's presence is welcome. This is like "Justify My (Current) Love," an act of sharing with her gay fans, as much as it is bragging rights.
You give me cougar-scratch fever.
I was the first person ANYWHERE to report that Lourdes is in "Celebration." She's also in the second version of the video that will be released in a couple of weeks, when you'll see the wedding dress.
Toward the end of this version, we see Lourdes—who seems to float above the proceedings with a regal air—execute one rather Madonna-like flip with no sense of celebration; more modern dance than let's cut a rug. (And this is with a spine condition.) It's going to be interesting watching her progress as a performer, which she will undoubtedly be.
Good Lourdes!
Fascinatingly, Madonna (in a more casual, party-like outfit and hair) watches her daughter (and the other dancers) perform from the sidelines.
It's not great art (how could the same director have come from Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" to this? how could the same star have come from 90% of her other videos to this?), but it's probably all it needs to be for the moment. I just wish Madonna would go back to doing more than what needs to be done.
P.S. Boy George has pronounced that Madonna is "the disco Mae West" and also Tweeted "come on, sexually harassing the DJ, she's a mother of three, it's camp but a bit off." What's a bit off is a sex offender sniffing at the propriety of, well, anyone's actions. At least Jesus isn't chained up, George. And if Madonna's the disco Mae West, Boy George is what, the blue-eyed soul Fatty Arbuckle? He later got more generous:







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