Madonna on BET’s version of TRL
I can't deny my love for Madonna. "Lucky Star" and "Borderline" still get regular rotation on my iPod. Her Madge-esty, rightfully so if you ask me, is expected to topple the competition when album sales for "Hard Candy" (not to be confused with that disturbing Ellen Page movie) are tallied next week. Here's Ann Powers' take on this hip-hop and dance-minded album.
Still, despite the excellence of the former Material Girl, there's something slightly askew about her appearance today on 106 & Park's Freestyle Friday. You have to consider that Warner Bros. is pulling out all the stops -- this is their last hoorah with Madonna. They even splurged on a Madge widget and don't forget that guys like Kanye and the Neptunes don't come cheap.
At 49, Madonna is flirting with grandma age in the eyes of the show's target audience but she can still make fans out of them. Her slick video with Justin Timberlake is taken from her lead single, "4 Minutes (to Save the World)" and it's a hallucinatory dance scene with a little bit of strip-teasing and a funky bathing-suit outfit.
It was shot by French directing team Jonas & Francois -- they also created Justice's superb Electric Company-like video for D.A.N.C.E.
The video for "4 Minutes" isn't at all groundbreaking and it's even a little eerie in places where flesh disappears and all you see is JT's rib cage. I wonder if maybe just doing something anime, like Britney, would've been a better idea.
The best idea, however, is to avoid anything embarrassing, like what Tom Cruise did in 2006 when he went on the show to promote "Mission Impossible III." He just didn't look right doing the Yung Joc dance.
Madonna's name recognition within the 106 & Park faithful could be just as potent as with legions of '80s babies. Just look at the comments board on the show's website. Shawn8067 sums up the appearance this way (we've added some punctuation to help you out): "It's gonna be crazy seeing Madonna on BET period. Maybe that will be a good look for her, imma watch. Anyway i do like Madonna... don't she kinda look like Britney Spears?"
-- Camilo Smith
106 & Park airs today on BET, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Photo AFP/Getty Images
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Why would you say BET's version of TRL?
106 Park has had higher ratings than TRL for years now.
That probably means more people would know 106 Park rather than TRL.
Posted by: Mack | May 03, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Good point. Maybe I'm just dating myself. TRL came on the scene before 106 Park. But it's true, for the past 5 years or so, 106 has been edging out TRL according to Neilsen ratings.
Posted by: Camilo | May 04, 2008 at 02:30 AM
why was she on BET? she's white and can't sing black music. she can't sing at all. is she getting crazy now that she is "grandma age" also people at grandma age should not wear the clothes she is wearing in that picture. she looks like the granny from studio 54.
Posted by: phil | May 12, 2008 at 02:27 PM