rio de janeiro – Madonna will hold a free concert at Copacabana Beach on Saturday night, turning its expanse of sand into a giant dance floor. This comes after Rio de Janeiro spent the last few days preparing for a historic performance by the “Queen of Pop”.
Rio City Hall announced that around 1.5 million people are expected to attend, more than 10 times the 130,000-person crowd that Madonna set at Paris's Parc des Saux in 1987. Madonna's official website touts the show as her biggest ever in her 40-year career. .
This is the final show of her first retrospective, the Celebration Tour, which began in London in October.
The topic has become more prominent in recent days. Fans gathered outside Madonna's stately seaside Copacabana Palace Hotel to catch a glimpse of the pop star. They danced on the sand during sound check on a stage in front of her hotel.
By around noon Saturday, hundreds of fans had gathered in front of the hotel. The white-bearded man held a placard that read: “Welcome Madonna, you are the best, we love you.”
A flag with the word “Madonna” printed on it hangs from a balcony against the backdrop of Copacabana's iconic white-and-black sidewalk wave pattern. The area was crowded with street vendors and concert attendees wearing themed T-shirts and sweating under the scorching sun.
“Ever since Madonna came here, I've been wearing this outfit every day to greet my idols, divas and pop queens,” said Rosemary de Oliveira Baller, wearing a gold-coloured cone bra and black cap. 69 years old) said. .
“It's going to be an unforgettable show here in Copacabana,” said Oliveira Boler, a former civil servant who lives in the area.
Eighteen sound towers are placed along the beach to ensure all attendees hear the hits. Her two-hour show is scheduled to begin at 9:45 p.m. local time.
City Hall produced a report in April that estimated the concerts would inject 293 million reais ($57 million) into the local economy. Copacabana's hotel occupancy rate is expected to reach 98%, according to Rio's hotel association. The platform said in a statement that fans from all over Brazil, as well as Argentina and France, searched for Airbnb over the weekend. And Rio's international airport expects 170 additional flights from 27 destinations from May 1 to May 6, city hall said in a statement.
Alessandro Augusto, 53, who flew in from Ceará state, about 2,500 kilometers from Rio, said, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Madonna, even though we don't know if she will come back.''
“Welcome Queen!” read the Heineken advertisements posted all over town. Above the letters is a picture of an upturned bottle cap resembling a crown. Heineken wasn't the only company looking to profit from the excitement, with bars and restaurants reportedly preparing a “Like a Virgin” cocktail named after her 1984 hit song. There is. A downtown district store known for selling carnival costumes has undergone a complete makeover, stocking its shelves with Madonna-themed costumes, fans, fanny packs and even underwear.
Local authorities say the mega-event will be similar to New Year's Eve, when millions of people flock to Copacabana for the world-famous fireworks display. Widespread theft and robbery are common occurrences at this annual event, and there were concerns that such problems would occur at Madonna's show.
Rio's security plan calls for 3,200 military personnel and 1,500 civilian police officers to be on standby. Prior to the concert, the Brazilian Navy conducted inspections of vessels wishing to enter the sea to watch the show.
Copacabana Beach has hosted many large-scale concerts in the past, including Rod Stewart's 1994 New Year's Eve show, which drew more than 4 million fans, according to Guinness World Records, and was the largest concert ever. It was the largest free rock concert ever. But with so many spectators coming to see Rio's fireworks show, a more apt comparison might be to the Rolling Stones in 2006, when 1.2 million people flocked to the beaches, Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper said at the time. According to a story from Rio's gendarmerie quoted by.
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