Of all the places to dabble with the concept of “augmented” reality (as though it’s not already augmented enough), Madonna–and her holograms–likely knew that Las Vegas, where the Billboard Music Awards took place, is just the place for such experimentation. Despite her documented contempt for the city, it’s one of the few places open to the unbridled fanfare Madonna is fond of delivering, even in an entertainment industry that has become decidedly lacking in performance value–regardless of the improved technology available to enhance performance.
Thus, it was once again left to Madonna to test the waters of the future of what could be achievable live if only people weren’t so lily-livered (or, evidently, broke, as it cost Madonna five million dollars of her own money to pull the show together). Her fearless knack for well-rehearsed innovation paid off once again, as she appeared lying on the ground to the backdrop of foreign lands (Vegas also loves the larger-than-life screens that Madonna showcased, displaying the images of places that most American tourists would never feel comfortable exploring, at least not without the benefit of wi-fi). Rising into what can be called “Hung Up” pose (see below), the first of four Madame X-era holograms appear next to Madonna to join her in her triumph of allowing herself to be “naive” after so many decades spent concerned with staying ahead of the curve or impressing others. Of course, she still manages to do that–even in the face of the rampant ageism that continues to face her in these supposed times of “progression” and “acceptance.”
One man (because it is primarily men who suffer from prejudice against older women persisting in not simply putting a bag over their heads) who takes no issue with Madonna’s ceaseless enthusiasm for invention is Maluma. Himself born and raised in Medellín, the place which Madonna romanticizes in her single of the same name, maybe there’s something in the water in Colombia that makes men less prone to being averse to the bombastic pomp and circumstance (it is a country of numerous over the top carnivals, after all) of the variety that Madonna is known for.
Though hologram fanfare is nothing new to M. Her first flirtations with them for an awards show, of course, began in 2006, in a collaboration with Gorillaz at the Grammys. As they (or rather, their holograms, as it’s not yet possible to make animated drawings flesh and blood) commenced the show with “Feel Good Inc.,” Madonna’s own hologram appeared onstage with them before segueing into “Hung Up.”
The trend would both delight and scandalize six years later in 2012, when 2Pac’s hologram appeared at Coachella to rap alongside Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Seeing the potential for profits, promoters have taken the concept of raising the dead to a new level in pimping out their likeness for world tours (namely, Roy Orbison). This phenomenon has been met with some hesitancy, particularly when talk of sending Amy Winehouse’s hologram for a world tour caused outrage regarding the ethics of profiting from a tragic figure’s likeness, of not letting them “rest in peace.” The tour has since been “postponed,” meaning once enough time passes and fewer people remember her in the recent past, the plans will likely be picked up again.
To this end, Black Mirror addressed the moral ambiguity of profiting from someone’s hologram after their demise in the 2017 episode, “Black Museum,” in which wrongly convicted “murderer” Clayton Leigh (Babs Olusanmokun) is cajoled into signing over the rights to his consciousness post-execution to the curator of the Black Museum, Rolo Haynes (Douglas Hodge). As part of his house of horrors, Rolo allows visitors to pull the lever on the electric chair for ten seconds and come away with a keychain immortalizing his agonized expression again and again in holographic form. Of course, in this instance, holograms are imbued with a humanity that they don’t actually have (though who’s to say they never will?).
The movie that most accurately predicted the value of a hologram to the entertainment industry, and specifically pop music, was the still highly underrated S1M0NE, directed and written by Andrew Niccol. In it, movie director Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) is faced with a difficult actress’, Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder), refusal to finish his film or allow him to use her likeness in any way for it. Thus, when good fortune smiles upon him and he inherits a computer program that will allow him to manipulate his new lead actress’ performance however he wants, Viktor figures all his woes are over. Yet they’re only getting started as he becomes a slave to the monster he’s created (yes, it has a certain Frankenstein feel). The more overtly fake she becomes in her perfection, the more the public clamors for her–prompting her pop star-like appearance onstage to ironically sing “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” When Viktor then puppeteers her to be offensive in every way possible so as to rid himself of her by unmaking her career, they love her even more (a sort of Trump method, if you will).
And now, in 2019, we have Madonna taking Simone’s legacy to the next step with not one, but four versions of her traipsing around the massive stage of MGM Grand. For all we know, Madonna could just send one of her holograms to do the next tour for her (they would have far more ease with the agility it takes to cha cha). Maybe this has been her secret plan all along for being able to perform immortally. What’s more, the analog drag queens that emulated her in a tribute at the 1999 VMAs are clearly so last century.
As the evolution of the hologram and its authenticity has ebbed and flowed over the still short course of the twenty-first century, one doesn’t imagine Madonna would completely mind her own hologram going on tour if she ever dies (which she cannot or the world is officially in irrevocable decline). Her only issue might be with the fact that they wouldn’t devote the same amount of perfectionism to the performance. And so yet again, leave it to Madonna to spark discussion and unexpected controversy in her work, for there is no dilemma more relevant to the future of live music than use of holograms.
