Madonna (57 page)

According to Madonna, she has a very “hands on” working relationship with her label and the artists she has signed. “I asked for a record company,” she explained. “I'm not going to be invisible or simply phone in my partnership. There's no honor or satisfaction in palming off the work to someone else.” (282)

In 1997 Madonna's good friend Mike Myers scored a huge box-office hit with
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
. The James Bond//ra
Like Flint
parody of spy films of the swinging 1960s ushered in a whole new array of sayings (“Do I make you horny, baaaby?”/”Let's shag!”), and a ton of cross-merchandising. In the summer of 1999 a sequel to the original Austin Powers movie was released
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
. Again, it was filled with a cornucopia of late 1960s nonsense. Since the soundtrack to the original movie had been a hit too, the soundtrack to the sequel was also largely touted, eventually selling over one million copies in America alone. Not only did Madonna's personal record label, Maverick Records, issue the soundtrack album to
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
, but Madonna was the hit-making star of the album. Her fun and swinging ‘60s composition, “Beautiful Stranger,” became a Number Nineteen hit in America and catapulted the album to Number Five in
Billboard
, giving it million-selling Platinum status. In fact, it was such a success that a sequel was released, entitled
More Music from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
. Madonna was again the star of that album, as it included a remixed version of “Beautiful Stranger.”

With her own movie career revitalized by
Evita
, speculation centered on what her next cinematic venture would be. It was announced in 1998 that she would star in a glitzy film based on the hit Broadway musical,
Chicago
, in the role of murderess Roxy Hart. Further casting was announced, claiming that Madonna's pal Rosie O'Donnell would be costarring as lesbian prison matron, Mama Morton. However, the film never seemed to get off the ground.

Finally, Madonna decided on a comedy entitled
The Next Best
Thing
, costarring her buddy Rupert Everett. In December 1999 Madonna was in the studio recording her version of the 1970s Don McLean hit “American Pie,” to be included in the film's soundtrack, both with early 2000 release dates.

Just in time for the 1999 Christmas season, Madonna released the video and DVD entitled,
Madonna: The Video Collection, 1993–1999
, taking her right up to her newest 1999 shag-a-delic release, “Beautiful Stranger.”

Throughout the year, Madonna had remained very high-profile. When
People
magazine published its “Best & Worst Dressed ‘99” celebrity issue, Madonna and her running mate Cher were both in the Top-10 tally of tackiest dressed superstars. The article hysterically claimed of Madonna, “In recent months the 41-year-old singer has been stumbling down roads leading to India, Transylvania and all points in between. No wonder we can't keep up.” One of the critics who was polled in the issue said of Madonna's fashion sense, “She's way over the top.” (283)

As the 21st century dawned, Madonna was very much in the news. When it came time for magazines to announce the biggest, best, and most defining events and creative products of the 20th century, Madonna was right there.
Newsweek's
“Voices of the Century” issue (June 28, 1999) saluted her “ruthless edge” for having turned herself into one of the century's most fascinating celebrities.
People
called her their number three “Favorite Female Singer” of the century, behind Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand (December 31, 1999). Even
The New York Times
(January 3, 2000) claimed that her
Immaculate Collection
was one of the definitive album releases of the century.

In December 1999 there was speculation that she would move to London. It was rumored that she was contemplating making a down payment on an $8 million mansion in the British Isles. She ended up purchasing the mansion and then promptly put the house back on the marketplace when she found out that the building represented a possible security risk. After her notorious bout with one stalker, the risk seemed too great for her to chance it. There was also talk about Madonna starring in an upcoming screen adaptation of Noel Coward's
Quadrille
.

In fact, she has been raving about England ever since she filmed
Evita
there. She spoke of her new quest, and her new outlook: “It's just an evolution, really, since I made
Evita
. Because going down to South America and getting beaten up the way that I was in the newspapers every day—and sort of living vicariously through what happened to Eva Peron—then finding myself pregnant. Going from the depths of despair and then coming out on the other side… you know, becoming a mother, I just have a whole new outlook on life. I see the world as a much more hopeful place. I just feel an infinite amount of compassion towards other people. That's the effect that she has on me—in addition to many others. It happened before she was born. The peace began once I left Argentina and went to London.” (250) Madonna was ready for London, but was London prepared for Madonna?

Madonna spent New Year's Eve 1999 in Miami. She and her date for the evening, director Guy Ritchie, attended Donatella Versace's millennium bash at the Versace mansion. Gossip columns were abuzz with rumors of Madonna's snub of actress Jennifer Lopez at the party. Apparently, when Jennifer Lopez and her date arrived, Madonna loudly announced that, for her, the party was now over, and with that she swept out of the mansion. Madonna and Ritchie later partied at Ingrid Casares's club, called Bar Room, located in South Beach.

On January 4, 2000, the 42nd Annual Grammy Award nomination were announced. Madonna's “Beautiful Stranger,” and the soundtrack album from which it had been taken, were both nominated. Madonna found herself competing against Christina Aguillera, Sarah McLachlan, Britney Spears, and Alanis Morissette in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
album was nominated for Best Soundtrack Album; she and William Orbit were also nominated in a third category, as writers of “Beautiful Stranger.” Now that she had broken her previous Grammy streak of being largely ignored, she was thrilled to be perennially considered Grammy-worthy. When the Grammys were handed out on February 23, 2000, she ended up winning the latter award, for songwriting, along with Orbit.

The first week of February 2000, one of the most highly anticipated recordings of Madonna's career was released—her version of Don McLean's “American Pie.” The original 1971 hit was an 8-minute, 27-second ode, a tone poem about the plane crash of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. “American Pie” became one of the most known rock anthems of the 1970s during its initial release.

According to Madonna, it was Rupert Everett's idea to have her record the song. “At first I was like, ‘Don McLean? No way!' “ she claims. “But Rupert kept bugging me and bugging me. So finally I embraced the idea.”

She was so convinced of his decision that she invited him to be her background singer on the track. “Yup, he's my back-up singer,” she explained. “Honestly, he's good. You know, he made a couple of records somewhere in his career. So, he can carry a tune.” (284)

Not everyone connected with the project was equally as enthusiastic. When she asked her newest collaborator to produce the musical tracks for her, William Orbit thought she was joking. “When she called up about it, I wasn't really sure it was a serious proposition,” he explained. “I thought it was one of these ideas that might go away if I didn't do anything about it. Then she called back and said, ‘Have you started on it yet?' “ (285)

The original treatment of the script for
The Next Best Thing
called for the use of Patti Smith's song “Easter” in a funeral scene. Rupert Everett thought that “American Pie” would better fit the segment in the film, because it was more upbeat than “Easter.”

Madonna explained, “There is a scene where a boyfriend of one of the lead characters dies, and at his funeral we all start singing his favorite song, which is ‘American Pie.' The song becomes a kind of theme song of rebellion and nostalgia throughout the movie.” (285)

Rupert additionally felt that the song was a great one for Madonna to sing at this point in her recording career. “To hear that and imagine her looking back on her career, the 1990s, the 1980s, all that she's done. And it's just a great millennium song.” (285)

Even Don McLean was enthused to hear that Madonna would be singing her version of his signature song. “I'm delighted she has decided to record it,” he said prior to the song's release. “I'm a fan of hers, and I think she is a colossal performer and presence in the music business…. I'm sure whatever she is doing with the song is exciting and appropriate.” (285)

Originally, Madonna intended to premiere “American Pie” on the pregame telecast of the January 30, 2000, Superbowl football game, traditionally the most watched TV event of the year. In other words, it was the perfect “kickoff” for her latest hit. However, she ended up backing out of the show. When the song was released to radio stations later that week, it was an instant Top-40 hit.

Naturally, Madonna's rendition is much more danceable than McLean's guitar-driven original. Instead of recording the full-length version of the song, Madonna chose to cut the story section which speaks of rock ‘n' roll's most infamous airplane crash. Her 4-minute, 33-second “American Pie” makes the most of the choruses about driving a Chevy to the levee. Reviewing the song,
USA Today
awarded the recording four stars (out of four), and reviewer Edna Gundersen glowed, “Madonna devises a universal but personal message that addresses turn-of-the-century angst and her own odyssey: ‘I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance.' Her voice is angelic yet bittersweet, imbuing a playful tune with sad undercurrents.” (286)

The video version of “American Pie” features Madonna dancing in a pair of well-worn, bell-bottom blue jeans, and a cobalt-blue cotton top with shoulder straps. Upon her head she has a rhinestone tiara, as though she is the “Miss American Pie” mentioned in the lyrics. While she sings in front of a huge America flag, snapshots of Americana flash behind her.

“American Pie” peaked at Number 29 in America. However, it became a huge global smash, hitting Number One in England, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia.

When
The Next Best Thing
opened, on March 3, 2000, critics roundly panned Madonna's acting as being stiff and uncomfortable to watch. For once, her presence didn't devour the film. Since the film co-starred close friend Rupert Everett, their scenes come across more naturally than any of her other attempts at the genre, dating back to
Who's That Girl
. The plot of the film concerns an unmarried woman who gets pregnant from one drunken sexual encounter with one of her gay friends (Everett).

In the first screenplay treatment of
The Next Best Thing
, Madonna's character, Abbie, was written as a swimming instructor. To make the film closer to her own character, Abbie was rewritten to become a yoga instructor.

In the plot, Abbie is painfully aware that her own biological clock is ticking. In an attempt to drive this fact home, Madonna is given one of her most amusing scenes. Standing before a mirror, she lifts her own breasts up to a more elevated position on her body, and announces, “1989.” Dropping her breasts back to where gravity has now taken them, she deadpans, “1999.”

Discussing the similarities in their screen characters, Rupert Everett admitted, “I don't think the characters are exactly us, but I think there's certainly—from my perspective—a lot of myself accessed in it. Like in our friendship—the particular kind of banter we have.”

According to Madonna, “There are definite similarities between the characters and us.” (287) After working so hard to mentally become Eva Peron in
Evita
, for Madonna, filming
The Next Best Thing
was much more of a breeze. Perhaps she should stick to musicals like
Evita
to define her cinematic presence in the new century.

In the year 2000 Madonna began her third decade as an international multimedia superstar. Although some things had changed, some things remained the same. She still whined about the price of fame, while single-handedly doing everything she could to maintain it.

After the scalding reviews of her
Sex
book, and the blood, sweat, and tears that she had invested in
Evita
, she felt that she was more able to accept criticism, and then simply move onward. “I don't take it as personally as I used to. I'm a much more forgiving person now, I'm sure my daughter has had a lot to do with it. But I feel much more compassion toward people who have hostile feelings towards me. Because I know that it's coming from the opposite place than it appears to be coming from. And once you accept that format and learn to forgive people… it's just been a lot easier for me. Everything. Being famous has been a lot easier.” (250)

Madonna has begun her career begging for, demanding, and ultimately commanding fan worship. From the beginning, that seemed to be the only thing she truly desired from life. Now she appears to see everything in a new light. According to her, the birth of her daughter changed everything. Comparing the love of her fans and the love of her daughter, Madonna said, “There is no comparison. They don't love me in an unconditional way. My daughter does. Just looking into her eyes, I know it is not based on me being fabulous or rich or famous or talented or successful. It's just having a soul connect for the first time in my life.” (258)