The Girlie Show – Live Down Under is a live music video title by singer Madonna. It was released by Warner Music Vision on April 25, 1994 and included one of the Girlie Show dates filmed at Sydney Cricket Ground on November 19, 1993.

History

It was originally aired as a television special on American network HBO and was its most watched original program of the year. Initially, the November 20, 1993 show was to be filmed and aired. However, a massive storm forced the cancellation of the show, so the November 19 show (which had been taped the night before as a "safety show") was aired instead. Another television special aired in Japan only, entitled Live in Japan 1993 – The Girlie Show, was never released in any video format. The Girlie Show facts In 1995 this title was nominated for the Grammy Award of Best Long Form Music Video. The DVD was certified gold in Brazil by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD) for shipment of 25,000 copies. Was also certified 3× platinum in Australia.http

Critical reception

Dominic Griffin from Daily Variety wrote that: "Madonna danced, sang, and more specifically entertained her way through this two-hour concert set. Madonna's comments aside, this show was purely for the cameras and the viewing audience at home. Expertly shot with multi-cameras including a crane and an onstage SteadiCam, the show was shot in close quarters, with an occasional pan of the vast audience. After a slow start, the show, which included nine costume changes, never once let up. Madonna showed great energy and amazing stamina throughout."

Formats

It was released on VHS, Laserdisc, VCD (Asia only) and later on DVD. To accompany it, The Girlie Show book was released which includes a CD with three live tracks from the same concert.

As one of Warner's earliest releases, the DVD is unusual in being double sided with a 2 channel PCM audio track on one side and the 5.1 dolby digital on the other. The audio track on both has various faults, particularly around the performance of vogue.

It was also released as part of a 3 VHS box set The Madonna Collection in 2000.

Production credits

*Director: Mark Aldo Miceli

*Producer: Marty Callner

*Cinematography: Toby Phillips

*Film editing: Jay Torres

*Production design: Christopher Ciccone

*Stage producer: Jeffrey Hornaday

*Choreography: Michelle Johnston, Alex Magno and Keith Young

References