Madonna, "Vogue"

1990, Sire Records, directed by David Fincher.

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From Wikipedia:

The video, directed by David Fincher and shot at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California on February 9-10, 1990, is widely considered one of Madonna's best. In 1993, Rolling Stone magazine listed the video as the twenty-eighth best music video of all-time. It was the third time Fincher and Madonna collaborated on a video (the first being 1989's "Express Yourself" and the second being 1989's "Oh Father").

Filmed in black-and-white, the video recalled the look of 1930s Hollywood films with the use of artwork by the Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka and an Art Deco set design. Many of the scenes were recreations of photographs taken by noted photographer Horst P. Horst, including his famous "Mainbocher Corset". Some of the close-up poses recreated noted portraits of such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Veronica Lake and Marlene Dietrich. (Additionally, several stars of this era were name-checked in the song's lyrics.)

There was some controversy surrounding the video due to a scene in which Madonna's breasts (though not her nipples) could be seen through her sheer blouse, as seen in the above picture. MTV wanted to remove this scene, but Madonna refused, and the video aired with the shot intact.

The video features the dancers and back-up vocalists for Madonna's then-upcoming Blond Ambition Tour. The choreography was set by "Punk Ballerina" Karole Armitage. The video world-premiered on MTV on March 29, 1990.

There were two versions of the video, the regularly aired television music video, and an extended version over three minutes longer.

A live performance of "Vogue" at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards also proved popular and was released as a music video on The Immaculate Collection compilation. It featured Madonna and her dancers dressed in an 18th-century French theme, with Madonna bearing great resemblance to Marie Antoinette. The performance was considered risqué, as Madonna and her dancers flashed their undergarments during their routine, and at one point Madonna pushed the faces of two male dancers into her breasts, and one of her dancers also fondled her breasts.

In 1993, Madonna performed "Vogue" on her tour The Girlie Show. During the song, she wore a large beaded headdress inspired by The King And I and the music was re-arranged with Middle-Eastern sounds.

In 2004, Madonna opened her Re-Invention Tour with "Vogue", again using an 18th-century-influenced theme - 're-inventing' the set design of the 1990 VMA performance. That version is included on the track setlists of I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.

In 2008, Madonna once again performed "Vogue" on the Sticky and Sweet Tour, and for the first time in her career, entirely live. Having lipsynced past performances due to the constricting choreography, for the first time Madonna adapted the choreography to allow her to sing into a hand held microphone. The song was layered over the backing horns of "4 Minutes", merging two of her biggest hits. It also featured a sample from Timbaland's ""Give It to Me"".


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Last revised: 29 August 2019 14:41:45