SOURCE: http://www.startribune.com/entertain...tml?page=1&c=y

Not that Madonna should retire, but a new generation of female superstars has surpassed her in concert this year.

'Who needs Madonna anymore?"

That's what New York Times critic Jon Pareles told me with a smile immediately after we'd witnessed Pink's sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden this month.Was he being flip? Cynical? Serious? Well, he didn't use that line in his rave review, but one thing is clear in 2009: There is a new generation of female arena headliners who can out-Madonna the original for pop spectacle.

At Target Center last Sunday, 15,000 Midwesterners witnessed Taylor Swift and her starter kit for arena extravaganzas: an array of sets and scenarios, several costume changes, dynamic dancers and endless energy, plenty of reaching out and touching the crowd, oodles of personality and no lip synching. At 19, she's off to a terrific start. Madonna undertook her first arena tour at age 27.

While T-Sweezy's production -- with fan-friendly $51.50 tickets -- was hardly state of the art, Britney Spears, 29, delivered an over-the-top circus-themed spectacular with $900 front-row seats this year. Big props to her choreographer, director and designer for coming up with nonstop eye-opening, mouth-dropping movements, captivating settings (from cages to pole dancing) and imaginative teamwork that made the concert work without making Britney work too hard. And, yes, she didn't sing one note live. Aw, her fans didn't care a lick. They loved her immensely entertaining eye candy.

Still, she couldn't top Beyoncé, 28, who put on a bedazzling, bewitching, be-wowing spectacular that befit her divaliciousness. To be sure, her show -- a hybrid of Macy's Glamorama fashion event, video shoot, high-end commercial for beauty products and, oh yes, a concert with a $1,000 charity ticket -- was more flash than substance, a little soulless and short on personality. Still, it was a whiz-bang, crowd-thrilling evening that was more satisfying than Britney's similarly ambitious production.

As extraordinary as Beyoncé's tour was, Pink takes the blue ribbon. Although she's not much of a dancer, she was a superior singer (no lip synching, thank you) and the boldest performer on the planet. Not in a sexual way, but athletically. As she did on this year's MTV Video Music Awards, she hung on a trapeze high over the stage, turning somersaults and singing at the same time. Then she topped it off later (during "Glitter in the Air") with some Cirque du Soleil-style midair acrobatics while wrapped in stretchy fabrics before being dipped in a baptismal bath.

All this may have seemed like superfluous visuals if Pink, 30, hadn't consistently revealed her personality in song, action and conversation. At $76 in New York City, she was a bargain. (Her tickets typically topped out at $50 elsewhere, and, sadly, she has not been scheduled for the Twin Cities.)

To be sure, Pink's first headline tour was flawed. Why do "Get the Party Started" as an encore instead of an opener? Showing video footage of George W. Bush during 2006's "Dear Mr. President" seemed dated. And, for someone with five commendable albums, Pink relied too much on covers. Led Zeppelin's "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" showed off her mighty Joplinesque voice and the Divinyls "I Touch Myself" showed off her frisky sexiness, but Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" were pure karaoke.

Still, when her two-hour funhouse-themed show was over, I felt that I'd experienced more of the artist -- and the person -- who calls herself Pink than I did in the lavishly staged but personality-devoid Sticky and Sweet Tour that Madonna, now 51, trotted out last year and that set a record for the highest grossing trek by a solo artist.

But at $250 a ticket, who needs Madonna in concert anymore?



Before anyone accuses me of being a stan, im just posting an article which I thought was interesting since all of your favs are involved ..at least most of them.

Oh! come on! It's really cool if a new generation is successful but it doesn't mean nobody needs Madonna on stage anymore

girl bye

Wow. @ Britney being 29.

I think he answers his own question in the article. Who needs Madonna in concert? Apparently the thousands of folks who Sticky and Sweet the highest grossing tour by a solo artist.

Beyonce's like, my mother's age.

What a dumb article. Make that the MILLIONS of people who went to see her.
lmao... that's only because she broke out at age 25.

really?. She looked so young in her Papa don't preach video.

.....................

are they SERIOUSLY !??

How is that even possible , Unless your mother was.....

That's not what the critics are saying lol just jking

Pink is still young(compared to Mads) and have a long way to go. She just announced her first big stadium concert in multiple countries for next year so........

Besides, none of her peers are playing stadiums yet..only arenas. so at least u can say she has a good headstart

who ever wrote this article is high of Dust
good luck to pink with ticket sales, STADIUMS ?? shes no MJ.....................
she ought a sick to selling out parking lots .<<< naw im jk pink cool but realistic
she should jus try the arenas

That's stupid.

P!nk won't ever be the icon Madonna, Britney, or even Beyonce are--the circumstances just haven't worked out that way. Her accomplishments are just as great as theirs though, she's just not as glamorous as they are.

It's possible that M could become irrelevant to the recorded music industry but probably not to the touring industry.

Imho, since P!nk has been playing arenas since 2004 im just glad she decided to be more adventurous and do the stadium tour next year. i mean for example, she sold out 17 shows in 1 city in Melbourne, Australia, which was in an arena with around 14,000-16,000 capacity. It would make more sense then to do stadiums.

lol parking lot (hilarious)

P!nk won't have any problems selling out stadiums all over Europe and Australia. She's the best performer right now and general public already knows it. So all the other female acts will have a tough time to catch up.

well this is the only critic i've seen
that says something like this.

lol.stadiums are more for bigger artists
like MJ as you said or madonna.pink is great but she
still has a long way to go if she wants to sell out stadiums
and it's foolish to compare someone like madonna to her like this critic!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/ar....html?_r=1&hpw

This was the concert review by the New York Times for MSG.

Btw the article above regarding Mads was done by the Star Tribune (largest newspaper in circulation in Minnesota)

Wait, lemme just post the paragraph that will interest you.

The circus format is no novelty. Janet Jackson and Madonna have both used it; Britney Spears has her own “Circus” tour this year. But Pink outperforms her fellow music-video pros. She doesn’t lip-sync, even when she’s skipping down a long runway in treacherous high heels. And where troupers like Madonna come across as disciplined and determined — the work shows onstage — Pink smiled through it all, looking genuinely playful.