My Vanity Fair Lady

Madonna by Steven Meisel for Vanity Fair, 2008.

I've been away for a few days. Permit me to play Ma-catch-up.

Madonna's latest Vanity Fair cover is this stunning (and stunningly retouched!) cover. Absolutely love the concept—she's carrying the world or holding it at bay thanks to a custom-made plaster globe that she later signed for a charity auction. (Warning: I'm an end-of-the-world bidder.) The bod's great, the pose is great. Facially, I'm not happy with how her brow dips so steeply in the middle—that is a weird Botox effect, and on top of the fixes (to the flesh, to the digital) she looks a little too good to warrant the gushing "and she's almost 50!" that is cleverly asterisked at the bottom. I definitely think the way-big hair works better in studio photography than out and about.

Overall, the concept of this cover and the timing make it an instant classic.

Madonna by Steven Meisel for Mademoiselle, 1983.

"4 Minutes" is, as I'd thought, shaping up to be a massive global smash, more likely to be a U.S. Top 5 than a mere Top 10. If Mariah stops releasing variations of "Touch My Body" specifically to hold Madonna back—Madonna is Mariah's plaster globe—it has a shot at #1 eventually. I think "4 Minutes" is an out-of-the-box hit, yet it does not feel like a fast-riser/fast-faller. There is still room for it to grow and grow, as evidenced by factoids such as: Airplay is phenomenal, she hit #1 on New York's Z100 for the first time "in over 10 years" (good God, "Music" was never a #1 request there???) and her iTunes preorders for the album (likely fueled by the positive reaction to the single) are through the roof.

This Hard Candy teaser is a pleaser.

Look for Madonna's album to debut in the 400,000 range after its April 29 release. That is some suh-weet Hard Candy.

Steven Meisel, 1983; Steven Klein, 2008.

Other Hard Candy tidbits:

One of Madonna's cutest, most down-to-earth interviews ever at Z100...for a station that has been ice-cold to her for over a decade, this Q&A is priceless. Madonna sounds like she did in 1983 in accent, elocution and spontaneity. (Handy mp3 audio file.)

Her Q&A on a Tampa radio station is not quite as amazing as the Z100 head-to-head, but it's equally disarming and is noteworthy for the fact that she acknowledges the existence of the song "Borderline!"

A teaser of the Peter Rauhofer remix of "4 Minutes" is here.

The Junkie XL mixes of "4 Minutes" are even better than the incredible fan-made remixes circulating.

"4 Minutes" is only 49 cents at Real.com. This is pure Mariah—it's almost like when the Democrats swiftboat each other! I approve. She's had too many #2 hits. She needs to hit #1 at 49 to make a point.

For fun, more Meisel from his 1983 shoot. Trivia: The image referenced above became Madonna's first-ever promo poster on Sire—now highly collectible. The rest of the shoot is equally bewitching, and—I must admit—was then "airbrushed" as much as her 2008 cover. (Note: You're old if you say "airbrushed" and you're young if you say "PhotoShopped"):

Comments

[daryl d]

Had Madonna stalled her Itunes release for ONE more week, she would easily have a number one song. I bet you it's going to be number two this week because sales are so strong. Expect it afterwards to drop a little after sales level off from the die-hard fans, but - if it has legs - it can climb back. Either we, she is far outdoing our expectations with this album so far.

[DJ Danny Shaffer]

The Madonna vs Mariah thing is SO played out and boring.... get over it missy!!

[Matthew Rettenmund]

It's hard to get over when every Mariah press release touts that she's the 'only living artist still working able to break' various records, lol. I don't take it too seriously, but yeah, never did cotton to Mariah.

[Jason]

So is that a real working phone number in the teaser?

[Matthew Rettenmund]

Call it! :0)

[Jason]

You call it. 900 #'s ain't free!

[Tomi Luka]

Yeah, I too found suspicious the fact that Mariah waited so long to release her single and it had to be the same day Madonna release hers (which was more in tune with the traditional schedules for lead singles.)

Mariah also labels herself most successful female recording artist, although her success is mostly US only.

[Blah]

The botox craze needs to come to an end! I loved Madonnas expressive face for years. Now she looks like a statue. And her forehead looks like Nicole Kidmans. I still love her, but it's really bugging me . . . . I will say though, her body is killin em'!