Greater than one million individuals have thronged Brazil’s Copacabana seashore for a free Madonna live performance, braving the warmth to see the tip of her Celebration world tour.
The sand and oceanfront boulevard round Rio de Janeiro’s famed seashore had been stuffed for a number of blocks on Saturday evening by a crowd town estimated at 1.6 million.
Many had been there for hours and even days to get a great place, whereas richer followers anchored in dozens of boats close to the seashore and other people crowded beachfront residences.
Firefighters sprayed water earlier than the live performance, when temperatures exceeded 30C (86F), to chill followers gathered close to the stage, and ingesting water was distributed without cost. The temperature was about 27C (81F) in the course of the late evening present.
Madonna, 65, was on stage for greater than two hours, performing songs together with Like a Prayer, Vogue and Specific Your self from 10.45pm as she wound up the best hits tour, which began late final yr.
“Rio, right here we’re, in essentially the most stunning place on this planet, with the ocean, the mountains, Jesus,” Madonna informed the gang, referring to town’s big mountaintop Christ the Redeemer statue. “Magic.”
The Brazilian pop artists Anitta and Pabllo Vittar, in addition to youthful musicians from samba colleges, participated within the present.
Greater than 3,000 law enforcement officials had been deployed across the live performance space, the place the Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart have additionally drawn million-strong crowds. The authorities used a crowd-management technique just like their dealing with of town’s well-known New Yr’s Eve celebrations.
Brazilian authorities have stepped up their vigilance over heat-related well being issues after a younger Brazilian fan died at a live performance by Taylor Swift final yr because of warmth exhaustion.
Rio’s state and metropolis governments mentioned they spent 20m reais (£3.1m) on the live performance, whereas the remainder was financed by personal sponsors. The authorities estimate the live performance might herald about 300m reais (£47m) to Rio’s financial system.
