Not backing down on her whole “singing in Italian” phase, Madonna wasn’t one to let her “La Bambola” cover fall by the wayside when an opportunity presented itself to perform the song live in a “synergistic” manner. That is to say, she chose to perform it an after-party event celebrating the Dolce and Gabbana women’s fashion show in Milan (in honor of, what else, Milan Fashion Week, which has come up in the world in the past decade). After all, she is the spokesperson for their current The One campaign, wherein “La Bambola” is played as background to the wannabe The Dreamers narrative. What’s more, Madonna also made a very notable appearance at the D&G show, walking in with her boy toy del momento, Akeem Morris, at the last minute as her own song, “You’ll See,” played in the background. She then sat down next to Anna Wintour, as if to give a bit of free promo to the fact that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is about to come out (with Madonna’s “Vogue” once again prominently featured on the soundtrack).
However, at the celebration afterward, rather than trying to put some kind of “Italian fashion” flair on for her performance (whatever that might entail—presumably something black and lacy and silk…or, for the more stereotype-loving perspective [since that’s the perspective that still prevails about Italians no matter how much time passes], wearing a red-and-white-checkered tablecloth as a dress), Madonna engaged in an artistic choice she’s been showcasing a lot more of lately. A choice that, once upon a time, would have been anathema to her. And that is: dredging up the past. Most especially any reference made to “Like A Virgin.” Which is, of course, precisely what she was “conjuring up” by dressing in all white and making it unmistakably “bridal” with a veil (and one that she waits a while to lift up). Even though, after the wardrobe snafu that happened during her Rebel Heart Tour, one would have thought she would still be avoidant of veils as part of her costume.
But no, what is Madonna if not a seasoned showwoman who won’t let fear dictate what she decides to wear? And so, to compliment the “amoroso” tone of her attire, the edit opts to lend some added “romance” to the affair. This in large part because the filmed version of the performance is shot in black and white, opening on an array of candles before then cutting to the string orchestra meant to punctuate the live sound of the track, originally sung by Patty Pravo. And yes, oddly, Madonna has increasingly started to look like a Pravo impersonator, or maybe it’s the other way around—who knows? In any case, there’s just one more hyper-romantic shot—a close-up on a bouquet of roses (again, very bridal)—before the camera homes in on Madonna’s corset bustier situation. Obviously, she couldn’t reference the cone bra too in this context, for that’s not Dolce and Gabbana territory.
Madonna then takes the makeshift “stage” and sways her hips a bit before a decidedly studio-recorded-sounding version of the song starts to play (one imagined her live vocals were tweaked during the post-production of this video). Another cut to her backing band reveals none other than a suit-wearing Stuart Price at the piano. Her longtime collaborator at this point, Price and Madonna have been working together to create an album she’s been billing as Confessions II (with Price famously producing the majority of the “original,” Confessions on a Dance Floor, released in 2005).
Thus, his presence at this particular performance continues to signal her ongoing “tease” of the record. Because, yes, among her many personas over the years, “tease” has been one of them—especially during her “Like A Virgin”/video vixen era. Which mostly consisted of a lot of flirtatious looks for the camera and writhing about on the floor (though she has asserted in more recent years that, during the 1984 MTV VMAs, such a maneuver was all a bid to distract from how she had lost her shoe—though the available footage doesn’t really show any indication of this, with M kicking off both shoes deliberately at the beginning of the performance and then recouping both of them by the time she’s made her way down from the giant wedding cake).
There’s no such writhing in Milan, though Madonna does engage in some flirting with her front-row audience members—none other than Dolce and Gabbana themselves. Which means the flirting is slightly null and void seeing as how both men are gay. Then again, sometimes that’s what makes a man all the more alluring to a woman (just ask Rosalía, who told Mariana Enríquez in a recent interview that the quality she values most in a man is him being gay).
As Madonna continues to pour her heart out to the best of her ability without overextending her facial expressions, more intercut shots of that romantic imagery are shown—the roses, the candles, the violins. All of it helping to offset a few things. But first and foremost that it is not a dynamic rendition of “La Bambola,” so much as one rooted in the bells and whistles of theatricality, paired with Madonna’s reliance on that aforementioned thing she once abhorred referring to: the past.
In point of fact, there was a time prior to the mid-2000s, when the notion of performing “Like A Virgin” or “Material Girl” live in any capacity would have made her vomit. Of course, times change, as it is said, and it would make sense that even Madonna isn’t immune to revisiting her oeuvre after enough time has passed. Apart from that reason, she does appear keen to remind those who seem to have forgotten—or, more accurately at this juncture, never knew in the first place—that she’s the blueprint for all the pop stars of the present. Those who keep borrowing from her semiotics (*cough cough* Sabrina Carpenter). Though, to be fair, Madonna herself borrowed a lot from stars of the past, particularly those of the Old Hollywood era.
While the performance is somewhat lacking in the usual amount of “Madonna spectacle” as it instead relies on the “joy” of seeing her in a familiar guise, it’s certainly more passable than whatever Mariah Carey was trying to do with her Italian at the Olympics opening ceremony (also in Milan) in February. But then, it looks (and sounds) as if Madonna had a lot more post-production help.
