Lucrare de atestat la limba engleza - madonna

LICEUL TEORETIC "DIMITRIE BOLINTINEANU"

LUCRARE DE ATESTAT LA LIMBA ENGLEZA

MADONNA

CHAPTER 1. Life and Career

1.1Early life and beginnings

Early life and beginningsMadonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan on August 16, 1958. Her mother, Madonna Louise (née Fortin), was of French Canadian descent, and her father, Silvio Anthony Ciccone, was a first-generation Italian American. The Ciccone family originated from Pacentro, Italy; her father later worked as a design engineer for Chrysler and General Motors. Madonna was nicknamed 'Little Nonni' to distinguish her from her mother.The third of six children, her siblings are Martin, Anthony, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.Madonna was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now part of Rochester Hills).

Her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 30 in 1963. Months before her mother's death, Madonna noticed changes in her behaviour and personality from the attentive homemaker she was, although she did not understand the reason. Mrs. Ciccone, at a loss to explain her dire medical condition, would often begin to cry when questioned by Madonna, at which point Madonna would respond by wrapping her arms around her mother tenderly. 'I remember feeling stronger than she was,' Madonna recalled, 'I was so little and yet I felt like she was the child.' Madonna later acknowledged that she had not grasped the concept of her mother dying. 'There was so much left unsaid, so many untangled and unresolved emotions, of remorse, guilt, loss, anger, confusion. [] I saw my mother, looking very beautiful and lying as if she were asleep in an open casket. Then I noticed that my mother's mouth looked funny. It took me some time to realize that it had been sewn up. In that awful moment, I began to understand what I had lost forever. The final image of my mother, at once peaceful yet grotesque, haunts me today also.'

Madonna eventually learned to take care of herself and her siblings, and she turned to her grandmother in the hope of finding some solace and some form of her mother in her. The Ciccone siblings resented housekeepers and invariably rebelled against anyone brought into their home ostensibly to take the place of their beloved mother. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Madonna commented that she saw herself in her youth as a 'lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades. I wanted to be somebody.' Terrified that her father could be taken from her as well, Madonna was often unable to sleep unless she was near him.Her father married the family's housekeeper Joan Gustafson, and they had two children: Jennifer and Mario Ciccone. At this point, Madonna began to express unresolved feelings of anger towards her father, that lasted for decades, and developed a rebellious attitude. She attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Elementary Schools, and then West Middle School. She was known for her high grade point average, and achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior: she would perform cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangle by her knees from the monkey bars during recess, and pull up her skirt during class-all so that the boys could see her underwear.

Madonna later attended Rochester Adams High School, and was a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad. After graduating, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan. She convinced her father to allow her to take ballet lessons and was persuaded by Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, to pursue a career in dance. At the end of 1977 she dropped out of college and relocated to New York City. She had little money and worked as a waitress at Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes. Madonna said of her move to New York, 'It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done.' She started to work as a backup dancer for other established artists. During a late night, Madonna was returning from a rehearsal, when she was dragged up an alleyway by a pair of men and forced to perform fellatio at knifepoint. Madonna had later commented that 'the episode was a taste of my weakness, it showed me that I still could not save myself in spite of all the strong-girl show. I could never forget it.' While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour, Madonna became romantically involved with musician Dan Gilroy. They formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club, for which Madonna sang and played drums and guitar. In 1980 she left Breakfast Club and, with her former boyfriend Stephen Bray as drummer, formed the band Emmy. Their music impressed DJ and record producer Mark Kamins who arranged a meeting between Madonna and Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.

1.2 Madonna, Like a Virgin

Madonna signed a singles deal with Sire, a label belonging to Warner Bros. Records. Her debut single, 'Everybody', was released on October 6, 1982, and became a dance hit.She started developing her debut album Madonna, which was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas, a Warner Bros. producer. However, she was not happy with the completed tracks and disagreed with Lucas' production techniques, so decided to seek additional help. Madonna moved in with boyfriend John 'Jellybean' Benitez, asking his help for finishing the album's production. Benitez remixed most of the tracks and produced 'Holiday', which was her third single. The overall sound of Madonna is dissonant, and is in the form of upbeat synthetic disco, utilizing some of the new technology of the time, like the usage of Linn drum machine, Moog bass and the OB-X synthesizer. The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200, and yielded the hit singles 'Holiday', 'Borderline' and 'Lucky Star'.

Gradually, Madonna's look and manner of dressing, her performances and her music videos started influencing young girls and women. Her style became a female fashion trend of the 1980s. It was created by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol and the look consisted of lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the crucifix, bracelets, and bleached hair. She achieved global recognition after the release of her second studio album: Like a Virgin in 1984. It topped the charts in several countries and became her first number one album on the Billboard 200. The title track, 'Like a Virgin', topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks. It attracted the attention of family organizations, who complained that the song and its accompanying video promoted premarital sex and undermined family values, and moralists sought to have the song and video banned. Madonna further came under fire when she performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards where she appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake, wearing a wedding dress and bridal veil, adorned with her characteristic 'Boy Toy' belt buckle. The performance is noted by scholars and by MTV as an iconic performance in MTV history.In later years, Madonna commented that she was actually terrified of the performance. She recalled, 'I remember my manager Freddy shouting to me, 'Oh my God! What were you doing? You were wearing a wedding dress. Oh my God! You were rolling around on the floor!' It was the bravest, most blatant sexual thing I had ever done on television.' Like a Virgin was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. The National Association of Recording Merchandisers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed the album as one of the 'Definitive 200 Albums of All Time' in 1998.

Madonna entered mainstream films in 1985, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in Vision Quest, a romantic drama film. Its soundtrack contained her U.S. number one single, 'Crazy for You'. She also appeared in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), a film which introduced the song 'Into the Groove', her first number one single in the United Kingdom. Although not the lead actress for the film, her profile was such that the movie widely became seen (and marketed) as a Madonna vehicle. The film received a nomination for a César Award for Best Foreign Film and The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby named it one of the ten best films of 1985. While filming the music video for the second single from Like a Virgin-'Material Girl'-Madonna started dating actor Sean Penn and married him on her birthday in 1985.

Beginning in April 1985, Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in North America, The Virgin Tour, with the Beastie Boys as her opening act. Madonna commented: 'That whole tour was crazy, because I went from playing CBGB and the Mudd Club to playing sporting arenas. I played a small theater in Seattle, and the girls had flap skirts on and the tights cut off below their knees and lace gloves and rosaries and bows in their hair and big hoop earrings. [] After Seattle, all of the shows were moved to arenas.' In July, Penthouse and Playboy magazines published a number of nude photos of Madonna, taken in New York in 1978. She had posed for the photographs as she needed money at the time, and was paid as little as $25 a session.The publication of the photos caused a media uproar, but Madonna remained defiant and unapologetic. The photographs were ultimately sold for up to $100,000. She referred to the whole experience at the 1985 outdoor Live Aid charity concert saying that she would not take her jacket off because '[the media] might hold it against me ten years from now.'

1.3 American Life and Confessions on a Dance Floor

Following Die Another Day, Madonna collaborated with fashion photographer Steven Klein in 2003 for an exhibition installation named X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS. It included photography from a photo shoot in W magazine, and seven video segments. The installation ran from March to May in New York's Deitch Projects gallery. It then traveled the world in an edited form. Madonna released her ninth studio album, American Life, which was based on her observations of American society, and received mixed reviews. She commented, '[American Life] was like a trip down memory lane, looking back at everything I've accomplished and all the things I once valued and all the things that were important to me.' Larry Flick from The Advocate felt that 'American Life is an album that is among her most adventurous and lyrically intelligent. [] It is like the flip side to 2000's Music, and turns out to be a lazy, half-arsed effort to sound and take her seriously.' The title song peaked at number 37 on the Hot 100. Its original music video was canceled as Madonna thought that the video, featuring violence and war imagery, would be deemed unpatriotic since America was then at war with Iraq. With only four million copies sold worldwide, American Life was the lowest selling album of her career. She gave another provocative performance later that year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, while singing 'Hollywood' with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott. Madonna mouthkissed Spears and Aguilera during the performance, triggering a tabloid frenzy. In October 2003, Madonna provided guest vocals on Spears' single 'Me Against the Music'. It was followed with the release of Remixed & Revisited. The EP contained remixed versions of songs from American Life and included 'Your Honesty', a previously unreleased track from the Bedtime Stories recording sessions. Madonna also signed a contract with Callaway Arts & Entertainment to be the author of five children's books. The first of these books, entitled The English Roses, was published in September 2003. The story was about four English schoolgirls and their envy and jealousy of each other. Kate Kellway from The Guardian commented '[Madonna] is an actress playing at what she can never be - a J.K. Rowling, an English rose.' The book debuted at the top of The New York Times Best Seller list and became the fastest-selling children's picture book of all time.

The next year, Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company Time Warner claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, Warner filed a countersuit alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own. The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares, owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev, were purchased by Warner. Madonna and Dashev's company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music, but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract. In mid-2004 Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe. It became the highest-grossing tour of 2004, earning $125 million.She made a documentary about the tour named I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.[142] Rolling Stone ranked her at number 36 on its list of the '100 Greatest Artists of All Time'. In January 2005, Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon song 'Imagine' at Tsunami Aid. She also performed at the Live 8 benefit concert in London.

Her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, was released in November 2005 and debuted at number one in all major music markets. Musically the album was structured like a club set composed by a DJ. The songs on the album started out light and happy, and as it progressed, it became intense, with the lyrics dealing more about personal feelings, hence 'Confessions.' Keith Caulfield from Billboard commented that the album was a 'welcome return to form for the Queen of Pop.' The album won a Grammy Award for 'Best Electronic/Dance Album'. The first single from the album, 'Hung Up', went on to reach number one in a record-breaking 45 countries, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. 'Sorry', the second single, became Madonna's twelfth number one single in the UK. She embarked on the Confessions Tour in May 2006, which had a global audience of 1.2 million and grossed over $194.7 million, becoming the highest grossing tour to that date for a female artist. Madonna used religious symbols, such as the crucifix and Crown of Thorns, in the performance of 'Live to Tell'. It caused the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia to urge all their members to boycott her concert. The Vatican protested the concert, as did bishops from Düsseldorf. Madonna responded: 'My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole.' In the same year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced officially that Madonna has sold over 200 million copies for her albums alone worldwide.

While on tour, Madonna participated in the Raising Malawi initiative by partially funding an orphanage and traveling to that country. On October 10, 2006, she filed adoption papers for a boy from the orphanage, David Banda Mwale. He was later renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie. The adoption raised strong public reaction, because Malawian law requires would-be parents to reside in Malawi for one year before adopting, which Madonna did not do. She addressed this on The Oprah Winfrey Show, saying that there were no written adoption laws in Malawi that regulated foreign adoption. She described how Banda had been suffering from pneumonia after surviving malaria and tuberculosis when she first met him. Banda's biological father, Yohane commented, 'These so-called human rights activists are harassing me every day, threatening me that I am not aware of what I am doing. [] They want me to support their court case, a thing I cannot do for I know what I agreed with Madonna and her husband.' The adoption was finalized on May 28, 2008. A clothing line titled M by Madonna, in collaboration with Swedish clothing retailer H&M, was launched internationally in 2006. The collection consisted of leather trench coats, sequined shift dresses, cream-colored calf-length pants and matching cropped jackets. H&M said the collection reflected Madonna's 'timeless, unique and always glamorous style.'

CHAPTER 2. Musical style

Madonna's music has been the subject of much analysis and scrutiny of critics. Robert M. Grant, author of Contemporary Strategy Analysis (2005), commented that what has brought Madonna success is 'certainly not outstanding natural talent. As a vocalist, musician, dancer, songwriter, or actress, Madonna's talents seem modest.' He asserts Madonna's success is in relying on the talents of others, and that her personal relationships have served as cornerstones to the numerous reinventions in the longevity of her career. Conversely, Rolling Stone has named Madonna 'an exemplary songwriter with a gift for hooks and indelible lyrics, and a better studio singer than her live spectacles attest.' Mark Bego, author of Madonna: Blonde Ambition, called her 'the perfect vocalist for lighter-than-air songs', despite not being a 'heavyweight talent.' Madonna has always been self-conscious about her voice, especially in comparison to her vocal idols such as Ella Fitzgerald, Prince and Chaka Khan.

According to Freya Jarman-Ivens, Madonna's talent for developing 'incredible' hooks for her songs allows the lyrics to capture the attention of the audience, even without the influence of the music. As an example, Jarman-Ivens cites the 1985 single 'Into the Groove' and its line 'Live out your fantasy here with me, just let the music set you free; Touch my body, and move in time, now I know you're mine.' From 1983 to 1986, Madonna's musical productions were often girlish and naïve in nature, focusing primarily on love, romance, passion and boy-meets-girl relationships. This changed with the album Like a Prayer, when the lyrics became much more personal, such as in 'Promise to Try', which references Madonna's lingering pain at the loss of her mother. Madonna's lyrics often suggest an identification with the gay community. Fouz believes that when Madonna sings 'Come on girls, do you believe in love?' in 'Express Yourself', she is addressing both the gay audience and the heterosexual female. Even in the Erotica era, with its often adult-oriented lyrics, the songs appear free-flowing and gullible ('So won't you go down, where it's warm inside' - 'Where Life Begins' from Erotica). Madonna's songwriting ability has been criticized, with Rolling Stone's Maria Raha calling her lyrics 'flighty and not sophisticated. Madonna can only bring a trunk full of trite lyrics on the long standing tradition of pop music, love; when she wasn't singing about love, she was singing about partying and dancing.' Her lyrics were considered banal, and her songwriting capability was largely ignored by critics until the release of Ray of Light and Music. According to Jarman-Ivens, lyrics such as 'You're frozen, when your heart's not open' ('Frozen', 1998) and 'I can't remember, when I was young, I can't express if it was wrong' ('Paradise (Not for Me)', 2000) reflected an artistic palette, 'encompassing diverse musical, textual and visual styles in its lyrics.'

On her 1983 debut album, Madonna's vocal abilities and personal artistry were not fully formed. Her vocal style and lyrics was similar to other pop stars of that period like Paula Abdul, Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne. The songs on Madonna reveal several key trends that have continued to define her success, including a strong dance-based idiom, catchy hooks, highly polished arrangements and Madonna's own vocal style. In songs such as 'Lucky Star' and 'Borderline', Madonna introduced a style of upbeat dance music that would prove particularly appealing to gay audiences. The bright, girlish vocal timbre of the early years became passé in Madonna's later works, the change being deliberate, since Madonna was constantly reminded of how the critics had once labelled her as 'Minnie Mouse on helium', because of her early voice. Her second album, Like a Virgin (1984), foreshadowed several trends in Madonna's later works. It contained references to classical works (pizzicato synthesizer line that opens 'Angel'); potential negative reaction from social groups ('Dress You Up' was blacklisted by the Parents Music Resource Center); and retro styles ('Shoo-Bee-Doo', Madonna's homage to Motown). Madonna's early style, and the change that she ushered in it, is best evident in the song 'Material Girl'. It opens with Madonna using a little-girl voice, but following the first verse, she switches to a richer, more mature voice in the chorus. This mature artistic statement was visible in True Blue (1986). The song 'Papa Don't Preach' was a significant milestone in her artistic career. The classical introduction, fast tempo and the gravity in her voice was unprecedented in Madonna's ouvre at that time.

With Like a Prayer (1989), Madonna again entered a new phase, musically. The album introduced live recorded songs and incorporated different genres of music, including dance, R&B and gospel music. Madonna continued to compose ballads and uptempo dance songs for Erotica (1992) and Bedtime Stories (1994). She tried to remain contemporary by incorporating samples, drum loops and hip hop into her music. Her voice grew much deeper and fuller, evident in the tracks like 'Rain' and 'Take a Bow'. During the filming of Evita, Madonna had to take vocal lessons, which increased her range further. Of this experience she commented, 'I studied with a vocal coach for Evita and I realized there was a whole piece of my voice I wasn't using. Before, I just believed I had a really limited range and was going to make the most of it.' Continuing her musical evolution with Ray of Light, the track 'Frozen' displayed her fully formed vocal prowess and her allusions to classical music. Her vocals were restrained and she sang the songs in Ray of Light without vibrato. However, the intake of breath within the songs became more prominent. With the new millennium came her album Music in which Madonna sang in her normal voice in a medium range, and sometimes in a higher register for the chorus. Fouz-Hernández commented that 'Throughout her career, Madonna's manipulation of her voice shows us that, by refusing to be defined in one way, she has in fact opened up a space for new kinds of musical analysis.'