- Istanbul derby is fraught title showdown for Fenerbahce and Galatasaray
- Paris Olympics organisers deny beds for athletes are 'anti-sex'
- Flash floods kill 50 in western Afghanistan
- Fury, Usyk set for 'fireworks' in undisputed heavyweight clash
- Slovak PM shooting suspect arrives in court
- Fighting rages in Gaza's Rafah after first aid delivery via pier
- Sri Lanka Tamils mark 15 years since end of civil war
- Taiwan and China: different views across the strait
- Hapless Crusaders suffer first loss to Brumbies in 15 years
- Ukraine's young soldiers voice support for mobilisation law
- Vunivalu sent off as Fijian Drua beat Reds in Suva
- Ineos drives towards hydrogen car future
- Slovakia reels from PM's shooting as suspect goes to court
- Death toll from Texas storm rises to 7
- 'Danger behind the beauty': more solar storms could be heading our way
- Zelensky expects Russian offensive in northeast Ukraine to intensify
- Pacers pummel Knicks to stay alive in NBA playoffs
- Paris Paralympics: seven to watch
- Paralympics count on team effort to create Paris Games breakout
- Lille, Brest contest Champions League spot as French season ends
- Man City eye Premier League history as Arsenal dare to dream
- Anti-Haitian wall: Dominican president's reelection trump card
- 'Dad's going up in a rocket!' French businessman set for launch
- Protest after Peru classifies transsexuality as mental disorder
- OpenAI disbands team devoted to artificial intelligence risks
- Scheffler overcomes arrest for 66 but Schauffele leads at PGA
- Zelensky warns Russia could step up offensive: AFP interview
- Key points from Zelensky's interview to AFP
- New Suns coach 'excited' to help NBA team realize potential
- Thailand's Atthaya surges late to seize LPGA Americas Open lead
- Russia presses offensive into Ukraine but holds off key city
- Four killed in Afghanistan shooting, including three Spanish tourists
- 'Nice for them': White House jokes about Putin, Xi meeting
- OpenAI team devoted to future risks left leaderless
- Zverev equals Becker record to set up Rome final with Jarry
- Chelsea boss Pochettino feared sack after Wolves loss
- Colombia transfers inmates after Bogota prison chief killed
- Fatality, Scheffler arrest cause concern, chaos for PGA rivals
- City of Los Angeles celebrates Ohtani
- Dow finishes above 40,000 for first time as rally pauses in Europe
- Scheffler shaken, shocked and quivering after arrest and jail
- Mercedes workers reject union in Alabama in setback for labor
- Colombian ex-president Uribe before court in witness tampering case
- Spotify sued over alleged unpaid royalties
- Pooran powers Lucknow to dead-rubber IPL win over hapless Mumbai
- Emma Stone in new twisted comedy after Coppola epic divides Cannes
- England skipper Stokes takes two wickets on Championship return for Durham
- Lanthimos and Emma Stone give Cannes a trippy triptych
- Foul-mouthed Fury shoves, threatens Usyk at big fight weigh-in
- Morikawa grabs PGA lead as Schauffele starts, Scheffler charges
Giddy Rio braces for huge Madonna show on Copacabana beach
Rio de Janeiro was brimming with excitement Saturday ahead of pop queen Madonna's highly anticipated free concert on famed Copacabana beach, with 1.5 million enthusiastic fans expected to turn out.
"Are you ready?" the 65-year-old American superstar posted on her Instagram account seven hours before the show celebrating her 40-year career as a musical, style and cultural icon.
The final stop of "The Celebration Tour" follows weeks of intense preparation, involving thousands of people and generating a fever pitch of excitement in the iconic Brazilian city, with talk of little else.
"I'm a mess, I haven't slept well, I've been listening to Madonna all week," 29-year-old sociologist Ina Odara told AFP. Tattooed on her shoulder is a phrase from the pop idol: "All that you ever learned, try to forget."
"Madonna helped me leave the Catholic Church, think about many things and change my relationship with my family," said Odara, a trans woman, standing near the huge stage -- twice the size of any used previously on the tour -- built on the beach.
At nightfall, the "world's largest dance floor" will light up, with a succession of DJs performing.
Hours before the show, throngs of fans were already dancing to Madonna's songs blasting from speakers on the stage.
Police patrolled almost every corner in an attempt to minimize the usual mass robberies.
If things stick to schedule, at 9:50 pm (00H50 GMT Sunday), the pop queen will stride onto an elevated walkway from the emblematic Copacabana Palace hotel, where she is staying, to the stage for one of the most important performances of her career.
- A 'virgin' and a mother -
After 80 performances across Europe and North America, the Rio concert will provide a crowning touch to a tour that took on sudden urgency when the singer in June suffered a life-threatening bacterial infection.
Since the 1984 release of "Like a Virgin," Madonna has released an album every two or three years.
Her shows, with their spectacular productions, set a high bar. But the ever-provocative Madonna has also provided unforgettable moments, like when she kissed Britney Spears at 2003's MTV Music Video Awards.
Her irreverence led to a tumultuous relationship with the Catholic Church, with Pope John Paul II urging fans to boycott her over her provocative 1989 video "Like a Prayer," seen as blasphemous.
In Rio, the singer will, over a span of two hours, portray ALL the Madonnas: the "Material Girl," the bride, the rebellious Catholic, the virgin, the cowgirl, and others.
She will affirm her motherhood as well: four of her six children will share the stage with her.
- 'Oi, Rio!' -
Two rehearsals on the eve of the concert, held in view of beachgoers, offered some clues as to what can be expected.
Madonna sang "Nothing Really Matters" and "Burning Up," as well as "Live to Tell," in homage to AIDS victims.
The singer Pabllo Vittar, backed by a group of young drummers, also took part in the rehearsals, as did funk queen Anitta, who in 2020 recorded "Faz Gostoso" with Madonna.
The audience can also expect to hear hits such as "Material Girl," "Papa Don't Preach," "La Isla Bonita" and more than 20 other songs.
The concert should provide an economic boost to Rio, which contributed 20 million reales ($4 million) toward the $12 million cost of the production.
Authorities say the concert should pump a far larger sum -- 293 million reales, or $57 million -- into the local economy.
On every corner in the Copacabana neighborhood are billboards, souvenirs or T-shirts bearing images of Madonna or of the conical corset designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and made famous by the diva.
Since the singer's arrival in Rio on Monday, hundreds of her fans have swarmed outside the Copacabana Palace.
The excitement spiked Thursday night when Madonna unexpectedly appeared for a sound check, her face almost completely hidden behind a colorful balaclava.
That scene was repeated on Friday.
"Oi, Rio!" she called out in Portuguese to fans.
The response will come Saturday night from more than a million voices: "Oi, Queen Madonna!"
J.Horn--BTB