A Madonna impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates American singer-songwriter Madonna. Professional or dedicated Madonna impersonators have existed since at least the mid-1980s, and were sometimes sorted as "tribute acts". As an established artist, Madonna impersonators have seen a notable demand, many of them performing in front of thousands people and visiting several countries in their professional Madonna career as some media outlets have reported. Notable Madonna impersonators include Chris America, Denise Bella Vlasis and Venus D-Lite. Others impressionists have included Madonna in their repertoire, such as Tracey Bell, Charlie Hides and Véronic DiCaire, while Nadya Ginsburg and Alejandra Bogue dedicated Madonna-inspired monologues.
First impersonations on Madonna started with her fans, mainly young female audience when they copied and emulated her no later than 1985, and which were counted by thousands around the world. This phenomenon was later defined as the "Madonna wannabe". Prominent look-alikes contests were made and received press coverage. An example occurred in 1985 led by Macy's and had Andy Warhol and Nina Blackwood among others as judges. The winner gained nationwide briefly fame as "the best Madonna look-alike" according to MTV. Over the years, impersonations on Madonna have been documented among her fandom, through fan conventions, tours, and themed parties among other cultural manifestations, such as competitions and TV shows.
In early 2000s, J. Randy Taraborrelli considered Madonna as "one of the most emulated female performers in show business history". At some stage of her career, American journalist Ricardo Baca also estimated her as the most imitated woman in the world. Madonna herself, have dedicated the song "She's Not Me" from her 2008 album "Hard Candy", which talks about of being emulated by another woman. The world record as the largest gathering of people dressed as Madonna at the same time in a single event is 440, registered in the Guinness World Records in 2014.
Background and origins.
Madonna inspired a substantial number of her fans to dress like her in her early years. The frenzy also called the Madonna wannabe phenomenon, made possible to some retailers opened up clothing departments inspired in her style. "Look-a-like Madonnas popped up all over the world", wrote European magazine "Music &amp; Media" in 1985. One of the most significant contests was made by Macy's when they inaugurated Madonnaland the same year, having Andy Warhol, Madonna's stylist Maripol, MTV contributor Nina Blackwood, and "Madonna: Lucky Star" author Michael McKenzie as the judges. The winner, a 16-years-old girl, gained nationwide briefly fame as the best Madonna look-alike around according to Nicole Guanlao from MTV.
Professor Santiago Fouz-Hernandez wrote in "Madonna's Drowned Worlds" (2004), that for her emulators, there was a roadmap of designers, boutiques, stylists and personal shoppers, further saying "the list drew a map that any Madonna impersonator, from a professional drag performer to someone merely dressing for a social engagement, could follow". Since that year, part-time or full-time Madonna impersonators have existed.
Levels of imitations.
Types and reviews by authors.
Over her decades-long career, Madonna impersonators have been look-alikes, cosplays, sound-alikes also incorporating drag performance, pastiche or parody. Various of her impersonators are tagged as tribute bands and even impressionists. Throughout amateur and other flattery forms, various fans have channeled the singer.
Journals or other authors have dedicated commentaries and analysis, including "Australasian gay &amp; lesbian law journal" in 1993, and Joanne Garde-Hansen from University of Warwick in her book "Media and Memory" (2011). Justyna Stępień from University of Szczecin, also analyzed Madonna's case of impersonators and tribute bands such as all-males acts, "Mandonna" and "The Madonna". The first band, choose a kitsch representation of Madonna, in their fashion and vocal, which led Stępień to call it a "camp impersonation". Talking about gender differences, authors of "Intercultural Communication: A Reader" (2014) illustrated this point using Madonna's case: [A] female impersonator will attempt to look and sound as much like Madonna as possible, to create the illusion of Madonna as a tribute to her talent. The drag queen, on the other hand, will portray an exaggerated version of Madonna, playing with her persona to distort it in humorous or ironic ways.
Selected cultural depictions.
In 2014, an editor commented she is one of the "classics" female celebrities names who accumulate "numerous" impersonators in U.S contests. Coty Alexander, for example, have appeared in Legends in Concert, Las Vegas' longest-running tribute show according to "Los Angeles Times" in 2015. In Ibero-America, she has been performed in programs such as , , or both and Peruvian TV series "Yo Soy". In from Spain, she has been imitated multiple times, included performers by Anna Simon, , , Rosa López and Lucía Jiménez.
Satirical imitation have been also documented. Actor Joaquín Reyes made a Madonna impersonation at "La Hora Chanante", which Spanish newspaper "La Vanguardia" later included as one of his best imitations on TV. Mexican trans woman performer, Alejandra Bogue ("La Bogue") dedicated a monologue series called "No soy Madonna pero soy la Bogue" which led to be toured in several theaters around the country. In 2022, Brazilian performer Michele Da Costa also personified Madonna at Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her show called "Like a Virgo". Others satirical references, include videos like "Just Lose It" by Eminem or "Like a Surgeon" and "Perform This Way" both by "Weird Al" Yankovic.
A tribute show is also vaguely another form. Spanish actress was hired to be Madonna in the Spanish tribute show, "Remember. Live tribute to Madonna". Although Moline clarified she was an actress, not "a Madonna impersonator". Advertised events, like the opening of club Tao in 2019 with famed attendees included Indya Moore, G-Eazy and David Arquette, used Madonna impersonators.
Others adopted Madonna as their identity in real life while receiving press coverage. "Madonna Badillo", a "travesti" woman who adopted Madonna's as her "alter ego" in her life, was a Venezuelan-born LGTB activist living in Maicao, Colombia. She was often called by the press as the "Colombian Madonna" or "Madonna from Maicao". A similar case was documented by Pedro Lemebel. In his book "" (1996), referred to "Madonna Mapuche", another "travesti" who adopted Madonna as their identity. Italian TV personality Paola Barale was sometimes referred to as a Madonna look-alike.
Various other examples were featured in books and noted in films. In 1994, author Frank Ching wrote about a 25-years-old male impersonator in China, called Wang Zheng, in a context of a conservative culture. Ukrainian activist Ulyana Bostwick as cited in Tatiana Mamonova and Chandra Niles Folsom's book "Women's Glasnost Vs. Naglost: Stopping Russian Backlash" (1994), talks about a Madonna-lip sync imitator from Latvia called Medea, who received coverage by several foreign and Soviets newspapers, but her appearances as a Madonna impersonator caused her some problems in the conservative Soviet culture of her time. William Gibson refers to a pornographic virtual reality program featuring a Madonna impersonator named "McDonna". Films such as "Without You I'm Nothing" (1990) includes a brief scene of Denise Bella Vlasis as Madonna, and "Like a Virgin" (2006) which plot is about a trans woman Madonna impersonator. In "" (2022), Evan Rachel Wood plays Madonna.
Examples of dedicated Madonna impersonators.
The following is a list of notable Madonna impersonators garnering significant press coverage:
In 1993, "Los Angeles Times" reported about Blond Exhibition, a group of Madonna impersonators who "do every look Madonna has ever done"
Others.
Various full and part-time celebrities impressionists have included Madonna in their repertoire, including special segments like Nadya Ginsburg and his web series "The Madonnalouges". Following a non-exhaustive list:
On the other hand, Chad Michaels known for his Cher performs, confessed he tried first to do Madonna, but was not convinced and preferred to focus on Cher.
Impact.
In 1991, a Hollywood-based company of more than 30,000 look-alikes, lumped Madonna and Michael Jackson as "big moneymakers", being appeared in the top one percent requested of the company, according to "Orlando Sentinel". Madonna impersonators appeared again in the annual 1993 list, within the top ten of the most requested celebrities look-alikes according to "Time" magazine. In 2019, Rachel Lopez from "Hindustan Times" commented that "for a woman tribute artist, there's probably no better muse than Madonna", adding that there are costumes, and also music, from "over three decades of chartbusters".
American journalist Ricardo Baca estimated Madonna as the most imitated woman in the world at some stage of her career. In "" (2001), J. Randy Taraborrelli has concurred that she is "one of the most emulated female performers in show business history". In 2017, Spanish-language website Algarabía, included her among their list of the "most imitated celebrities in competitions, shows and television programs". Madonna was aware of being often emulated; during the promotion of her 1994 single "Secret", she shared in internet, an audio file where she recorded a part saying: "It's Madonna. Often imitated, but never duplicated". Journalists from media outlets such as "Los Angeles Times" and Wonderwall have used a same description. At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, there was a special tribute to Madonna with dozen Madonna-dressed drag queens. Her response was: "All I have to say is that it takes a real man to fill my shoes". A year prior, in 1998, "The Blonde Exhibition" was a dedicated tribute show in Las Vegas by 11 professional impersonators. In "She's Not Me", from her 2008 album "Hard Candy", she explored the idea of being emulated by another woman. Finally, the world record as the largest gathering of people dressed as Madonna at the same time in a single event is 440. It occurred on 30 August 2014, by the 2014 Fool's Paradise Drag Party in Fire Island Pines, New York. This feat was listed by both Guinness World Records and World Record Academy.
Tributes by Madonna.
Madonna has paid tributes to other historial and modern woman. In 2012, she told the audience during a concert of the MDNA Tour, "imitation is the highest form of flattery".
In the 1990s, a scholar described her as a "replicant" in the sense she is an "image of images, mirror of mirrors", who "re-multiplies and re-changes and dissolves itself". Most notably, she personified Marilyn Monroe with assistant professor S. Paige Baty, and historian Robert D. Richardson concluding in 1995, that she reproduces herself as Marilyn in outfits, hairstyles, and mannerisms. However, Madonna was also identified by some as the "Queen-of-Seeming-as-Being herself". In this regard, Italian professor Massimiliano Stramaglia from University of Macerata explained in 2022, that some had reported she "never stops looking like other stars, including Monroe".
Though she largely benefits from Monroe's image, others noted Madonna's impact on Monroe's image in her generation. Scholars Robert Sternberg and Aleksandra Kostić said "Madonna's TV-pictured soft-tousled blond hair popularized the sexy, Marilyn Monroe look of the 1950s". "The woman who will not die", recalled Gloria Steinem, echoing Madonna's representations of Monroe, and saying she further puts her as "an ever-present fixture in everyday American culture". Steinem also claimed she subtracted Monroe's image of "vulnerability". Similarly, in "Shiny and New" (2021), English journalist Dylan Jones mentioned the theme of "vulnerability" and said that she was "referenced whenever Madonna was mentioned by the press". Similar perceptions were mentioned by music critics Anthony DeCurtis in "Present Tense: Rock &amp; Roll and Culture" (1992) and, Simon Frith in "Sound and Vision: The Music Video Reader" (1993). Some other entertainers, have channeled or have been compared to both Madonna-Marilyn Monroe styles, including Camila Cabello at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards, Paris Jackson during her modelling debut in 2017, or Paris Hilton.
See also.
Some other depictions in film:
References.
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Book sources.
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