The Lady's Got Potential
Sunday evening – there were messages on Madonna’s website (http://www.madonna.com/news/title/video-shoot-barcelona--we-want-you-to-join-), facebook and MySpace: Are you a fan, do you have pics of you dressed as Madonna or with memorabilia? Email us your best pic, and if we select you, come to Barcelona to be in her new video. Emailed the pic of me dressed as ‘Susan’ (http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/photo.php?pid=496996&id=631241331) 10.36pm.
Monday – got email at 3.33pm saying I’d been selected! Need to reply with some details to confirm and get to the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona at 11am tomorrow morning! Practicalities first – I phoned Charlotte my instructor - can she cover my Tues and poss Wed morning classes? Yes (thank you Charlotte darling!)! Emailed back saying I’m coming and booked my outward flight. Went to teach my evening classes. I could hardly contain my excitement and made mistakes all over the place but they were all happy for me! :-) Went home and booked my return flight and travel to airport etc. My passport runs out on 19 August and as we hardly ever go anywhere I was in no hurry to get it renewed! I’ve changed my mind – you never know what’s around the corner that you’d hate to miss! Can you imagine if I had to turn this down?! Got all of my stuff together – lace gloves, rags for hair, necklaces, bracelets.... Realised that my iTunes had lost half of my Madonna albums so Corin reloaded all of them for me – couldn’t go away with only half my Madonna collection on my iPod! Got to bed 2am, and needed to get up at 4.30am! Could hardly sleep...
Now I'm Following You
Tuesday – up, ready, out and on coach to Gatwick. Napped. At airport exchanged sterling for €70 – couldn’t afford more, had spent the last of our money on my flights, and Corin’s wage wasn’t going in until later that day! Hopefully €70 would do me for now! Boarded plane and almost immediately fell asleep for the duration of the flight. Arrived in Barcelona. Got map from tourist info – sponsored by McDonalds - nice! Asked the lady the estimated cost of a taxi to the stadium - €30! Almost half my money, but the shoot is what I was here for, so crucial I get there on time. Got taxi and arrived at the stadium at 10.45am – wow I couldn’t have timed the whole thing better! I passed lots of people who had camped out and were queuing for Madonna’s concert there that night and made my way to Gate 7 - the secret location. I thought there would be hundreds of people, but there were only about a dozen of us at this point. A couple of documentary film makers interviewed and filmed us (one turned out to be National Spanish news! http://www.tv3.cat/videos/1384449 Piece on Madonna from 37.20-39.35, including me from 39.13-39.20.). I was getting ready in to my Madonna look while they interviewed me, and I still had my hair in a top bun – like the old woman in Bod – Aunt Flo (http://www.tv-timewarp.co.uk/bod/Aunt_Flo.jpg)(thanks Kieran!)! – so that it would have body and ‘mess’ when I let it down. I was wearing my Mum’s old faithful corselette from M&S, black trousers with white piping down side, braces hanging down, black belt, fishnet gloves, necklaces and bracelets, dangly earrings, rag in hair and shades, ‘Susan’ style. We waited around and the doc makers filmed us. Most people were Spanish, and I was the only one from the UK. We then stood in a line and were told if we were selected or not. Me and a few of the others I’d been chatting to got straight through! :-) Vicente, the first person I spoke to and who translated for me, in his big afro wig, Alan with lace gloves, dark glasses and a rag in his hair – a doctor, hiding from the cameras behind his Like A Virgin LP! (You can see them both on the news clip – Vicente appears just before me, and Alan is the one behind the LP.)
Got a yellow wrist band and got access to a little closed off area of the stadium. Ricardo, the man assigned to look after us, had a list of us all and our pics to check off if we’d applied by email – there was my little pic in the list. Signed a release form and confidentiality agreement without reading it – who cares what it said, I’m here to be in a Madonna video! lol Had to write our names on a white board and hold it up to have a snap shot of us taken – I felt like Roasanna Arquette in prison after she’s arrested in DSS. http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/Arquette.jpg lol
Dress You Up
Went up to the costume tent for the two stylists to decide if we looked good enough. One asked if I minded getting my legs out (hell no! I’ve been naked in Closer mag before! lol) so I changed in to lace tights and a black tutu. Then I went over to hair and make-up. There were a few blonde wigs shortlisted for me, none of them terribly like any Madonna hair I’ve ever seen I have to say, but they selected a short curly one. To me it looked like big 80s soap star hair, but once it was messed up a bit and we added a rag to it it looked a bit better, and almost like the one Roberta wears at the Magic Club in DSS. http://www.womenonscreen.com/images/roberta-at-the-magic-club.jpg I didn’t get any make up on as I had put my own earlier, complete with pillar box red lipstick of course! I was ready.
Words
I went over to another tent which was our waiting area and Madonna’s new single ‘Celebration’ was blasting out and the lyrics were printed on a huge board http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xk4lCW1Zew . We were to try and learn it! We listened to it on a loop and Ricardo would occasionally hit pause, and we’d continue singing to show we were getting the melody. “Come join the party, it's a celebration Anybody just won't do Let's get this started, no more hesitation Coz' everybody wants to party with you”. We needed to know it so that we could sing along and dance to it individually! :-O
We all had to have another snap shot taken of us in our shoot outfits. Then we were split in to groups and I was in the first group of 12, along with the few fellas I’d been chatting to, which was a relief as we’d bonded a little, all been happy for each other to get though, were rooting for each other to do well and I felt I’d be less self-conscious doing my thing in front of them. In this far away place, where I knew no one else, I was glad to be sharing this experience with others, and they felt like my lifeline, helpfully translating what Ricardo was telling us for me.
Express Yourself
We were called in to the big black tent which was the makeshift studio. Loads of Madonna props were laid out – banners saying ‘Queen of Pop’, pictures, posters, ‘adopt me’ signs etc and we were to select something to use, except for a few of us who’s look was complete enough as it was, including me and American Life style Madonna girl.
An American guy on set told Ricardo what he wanted from us, and Ricardo told us – I learned to keep tuned in to the American guy all the time so that I didn’t miss any of the information in translation. There was another tall quiet Goth-like guy on set who I later found out - after I got home and googled images - was Jonas Akerlund, Madonna’s friend and famous video director! http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQyODg3NTIyN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTE3MjYz._V1._SX400_SY324_.jpg
The set was a little white triangle area with two cameras pointing in to it, and some crew were adding some paint to a second set – a little black triangle area. We stood in line, punky bloke with net vest and tight pink trousers and a Mohawk with his Madonna pic, Vicente whose afro was now replaced with a wig like Madonna’s in the Frozen video and a long black wide skirt, another guy with a big silver cross to dance with, another dressed in bright red and yellow, like a street dancer on the Sticky & Sweet tour.
It was time. Someone hit ‘play’ on the stereo and ‘Celebration’ blasted out. “Action!” Punky guy was in first and danced and gyrated and licked his Madonna pic as we all ‘Whoop’ed and clapped to give him encouragement. “Throw out prop” and he danced a little longer without. “Next.” He ran out and the next ran in, and so it continued one by one. On my turn I can’t quite remember all I did but I know I did some Virgin Tour moves – arm actions for ‘Everybody’s “dance and sing get up and do your thing” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-3bqmr91is (3.56 two arms like the dancers, but I did it with more gusto!), a little skip on spot and step behind from ‘Holiday’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K89AtVD4NGs (5.48) and the step cross step from the ‘Lucky Star’ video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHOuzJ_Rf1E (3.15). Just searching for those clips made me realise how many steps I know, but because it was a different song playing I never thought of doing them... :-/
One More Chance
At the end a few of us were told to hang around, including me, to be filmed again later in front of the black background. I’m not sure if this is because we’d not given enough first time or if we were so good they wanted more.
Group 2 were called in and I hung around with group 3 and waited for my next turn. Ricardo asked who was going to Madonna’s gig at the stadium that night and all but a few of us were. He said he couldn’t promise us anything but would try to get us tickets. The email I’d got confirming I’d been selected for the shoot said that it did not include access to the show, so I hadn’t expected to be offered tickets. As my flight home wasn’t until Wednesday night I had intended to either try and buy a cheap ticket for the show, or just hang around the stadium and listen to it from outside as I’d “Got nowhere else to go” that night.
Group 3 were called in, including me and the other few call backs, and we were to do the same kinda thing but in the black set. I’d taken my Desperately Seeking Susan Minimate figures of Madonna and Rosanna Arquette with me http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3439/3270454358_f56aa04e81.jpg, so wanted to try and get them in a shot with me. They were a gift from Peter Michael Marino, the creator of DSS The Musical, and they, like him!, mean the world to me! I asked one of the crew if they were too small for me to take in to be seen, but he said take them as they may show up ok and he and a few other crew members looked at them and loved them, thinking that they were really cool! So I took them in for some of my dance on the black set, and then threw them to a crew member and did a little dance on my own.
Nobody Knows Me
And then it was over. I changed back in to my own clothes, said goodbye to the crew, and Ricardo said he’d call me later that evening to let me know if I had a ticket. I left the stadium. My ‘friends’ had made their way back to their places in the queues, and although I knew roughly where to look for Alan, I didn’t see him, or anyone else.
Since I knew about this trip I had only focused on getting myself here and getting to the stadium on time for the shoot. But now that it was over, I suddenly felt a bit lost and alone and didn’t know what to do with myself. I sat on the grass opposite the stadium, text Lara and Corin, dozed a little, read some of Viva!LIFE 15th anniversary issue, and had a snack. I hadn’t realised how little I’d eaten and how hungry I was until now!
Erotica
Although my eyes were closed or looking down reading most of the time, I happened to be looking up just as two naked men were walking past! One of them was quite old and had a really long willie like an elephant’s dangling trunk, as if he’d had a weight on it and stretched it! And he had either painted or tattooed cycling shorts on too! Noone seemed too fussed by these men so I don’t know if Barcelona is a nudist hot spot or if Madonna’s fans are so worldly that we’re unshockable! lol
(Would you believe me if I said I later happened to stumble across a picture of this guy on the internet? I was googling images to go with this blog and typed in ‘barcelona smoothie la rambla’ and there, on the tenth image google found, was him! http://static2.panoramio.com/photos/original/3287765.jpg In fact, now that I’ve actively googled him, he’s everywhere! A star! Type in to google images ‘Barcelona naked man’ if you want to see more!)
Survival
It was early afternoon, and I had hours to go before the concert, so I figured the most sensible thing to do was to head to the nearest Tourist Information point and find some accommodation! The Olympic Stadium is high up on a hill so I made my way down past the beautiful National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) and the Magic fountain of Montjuïc, and through the Placa d'Espanya.
I went to Tourist Information and got a list of hotels, usefully sectioned by price, and was told I’d be best heading towards the centre of town where I’d be more likely to find cheaper accommodation. I also showed them a list of health food stores and vegan friendly eateries, which Corin had printed off from the Happy Cow website, and asked which of the places I was nearest to, so was pointed towards the cafe Amaltea which fortunately was fairly en route to the town centre.
It was almost closing time so I was lucky to be served. I ordered a pumpkin soup, stew and apple juice for €10 so felt nicely nourished and full. Maybe too full considering how tight and uncomfortable Mum’s old corselette was! ;-)
Another Suitcase In Another Hall
I then made my way towards the town centre and started going in to hotels to check price and availability. Most were full, some were too expensive. I began to think I should head back to one of the more expensive ones as it was stupid to risk ending up with nowhere to stay for the sake of around £50 when I’d spent a couple of hundred on the trip. I decided I’d try one more place before heading back. I went in to the two star Hotel Monegal at the end of Carrer de Pelai, next to Placa de Catalunya, the town’s busy central square. They had rooms for €85, cheaper than any of the other available places, so I booked it! I handed them my debit card, praying that Corin’s wage had gone in (though I had my business account card on standby...) and fortunately it had! I also managed to squeeze in to the conversation with the two receptionists what I was doing there. ;-) They were too young to fully appreciate Madonna, but none the less excited for me and said they’d look out for the video.
Like many of the hotels I’d been in, the hotel had a little separately owned shuttered kiosk shop in the foyer, and then offices or apartments on the floors below the hotel bedrooms higher up. Although I travel light, it was a relief to unload my stuff and have a base. The room was a bit basic – frosted small window as it only overlooked the back of some other buildings, magnolia woodchip, and no kettle! But the shower worked easily so I peeled off the corselette, which is hard enough to get off at the best of times, but even harder when you’re hot, sticky and sweaty (or should that be ‘Sticky & Sweet’? ;-)) from the Mediterranean sun and freshened up. I then lay on the bed to relax and watched the BBC World News channel. As I so often do when I’m tired I thought “I’ll just listen for a while with my eyes closed”, and the next thing I knew my phone was ringing, waking me up – it was Ricardo. He had a ticket for Madonna’s concert for me and I was to head back to Gate 7 between 7 and 8pm to pick it up! :-) Turned off the TV and fell back asleep. Woke back up at 6.30pm – argh! Got ready quickly and headed out. The stadium was about an hour’s walk away and although buses and the metro routes go near/there, I knew the route by foot so felt more confident that I’d be heading in the right direction, rather than end up miles away on the wrong line, and also wanted to soak up more of a feel for the place.
I Want You
I made my way to the stadium and started to crave Coca Cola. Although Barcelona was heaving with people and had shops and cafes everywhere, I found grocery shops few and far in between – especially as newsagents tend to be stands in the street selling papers and souvenirs only, and no drinks and snacks. Although I’d napped loads, I was still exhausted and needed the quick sugar rush. I know the company’s not ethical, but there’s also something nice about recognising the logo when everything else is unfamiliar, and knowing what’s in it and what it will taste like. I got one and it perked me up.
Lucky Star
I arrive back at Gate 7 and it ‘feels like home’. A couple of crew ladies from earlier were there and gave me my ticket. The text was all in Spanish and nothing stood out as likely to say which Gate I should enter by, so I asked. One of them said “Gate 1, the main gate, it’s for the Golden Circle.” (!!!) I thanked them hugely and told them that though I’ve seen Madonna live before, it was from miles away in Wembley Stadium. I headed off with my Golden Ticket, feeling like Charlie with his Wonka’s ticket. OMG! I was going to see the show – from the front!!!
Gate 1 led me in to the back of the stadium, so thank God the woman had said the ticket was for the Golden Circle, otherwise I may have just found a good spot and settled. But I didn’t. I walked down the pitch, to the security by the Golden Circle turnstiles, and walked through. I almost cried. The stage was huge and I was so near. Madonna, who I’ve loved since I was 14, was going to be right there in front of me! I stopped in wonderment, amazed that I was here, and why I was here. It was all so last minute, out of the blue and exciting. The thought of being in a Madonna video was just unreal. Had we really been here filming for one this morning?
Waiting
Before Madonna was the support act, Paul Oakenfold, a club DJ. (Why am I telling you all that? You’re probably all hip, here, now, and with it, and know that!) He’s supported Madonna on both legs of this tour and is also the producer of the ‘Celebration’ song. There was nothing wrong with him and the tracks he played – good melodic dance music - but I just don’t get the club DJ thing. What was he doing on stage – was he actually needed to do something or was he just playing CDs? (I can understand the mixing of vinyl, can you do that with CDs? He looked to me like he was just dancing.) I just can’t understand why the support act couldn’t have been a new band, or mediumly established artist, getting a leg up, and then Oakenfold’s tracks could have been played while the stage was being set for Madonna. A few blokes who were at the side of the stage came centre to dance – I think a couple of them were Madonna’s dancers and were fairly entertaining, and I think another was her young beau, Jesus, and there was another bloke, no idea who he was, who was one of those East 17 kinda fellas, with trousers hanging down and giving it all the hand action, bleaugh! Later in Madonna’s set there were tributes to Michael Jackson (which I’ll come on to), and I think some of his tracks were added to Oakenfold’s set as a tribute too, as I don’t recall them being played at Wembley last year.
Then he was off, final preparations were made to the stage and we waited. I knew roughly what to expect as Lara and I had seen the Sticky and Sweet tour last year, but it was from a distance, and I had heard that a few tweaks to the set had been made since then. Loads of people around me were chain smoking which made me feel a bit sick – it’s amazing how quickly you get used to smoke free UK venues! Through the crowd I spotted punky bloke with net vest, tight pink trousers and Mohawk from the video shoot. He smiled and told his friends who I was by hand gesturing curly wig, we waved to each other. I was alone but it was nice to know someone I recognised was nearby.
Who’s That Girl
And then finally, Madonna came on! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnHjwbhN6uw OMG I could actually see her fairly close up. I could see every little one of her facial expressions. I’ve always found her exceptionally beautiful, but she was even more beautiful close up. That gorgeous face which has remained the same, through all the different hairstyles, in all her videos, throughout the years, was hers and there it was in front of me! And although in pictures her toned thighs still look bulky, they didn’t in the flesh – they were slender and sexy. Her band - guitarist, drummer and two keyboard players - looked great too – in sharp Motown style suits. They were each on little platforms which moved from centre to side of stage and even down in to the stage at times, depending on the space needed for whatever else was happening on stage at the time. There were also two female backing singers, very much in the background and underused IMO – compared to how much Donna and Nikki used to be up front and centre with Madonna on previous tours. Although there were backing tracks playing of Madonna singing, they were just backing layers, she was singing live while dancing and she was good!
The stage had a huge catwalk jutting out from it which was great – it meant more people could find a good prime spot and therefore there was no crush. When Madonna was performing at the end of the catwalk, from where I was we could only watch the backside of her, or turn and look behind us to watch her face on the screen. As I’ve been at her concerts before where there was little option but to watch the screen, I refused to watch it, and instead watched her pert little backside in the flesh! (Though it did look a little odd as she was thrusting forward to play guitar, but still... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXfvoo7Qs2E )
Loads of singles from each stage of her career were played, including a fabulous rocked up version of Dress You Up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh57oc2ufOI (which had replaced an equally fabulous Borderline from when I previously saw the show). Before long it was time for Into The Groove http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OICF26Tlu8 , an all time favourite and important song for me, and there she was singing and dancing to it, right in front of me. During this section came one of the main changes that had been made to the set – the Michael Jackson tribute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7bqE6cHnxc One of Madonna’s dancers came out dressed as Michael and did some classic moves as the band played, and images of Michael appeared on the screens behind. I’d watched a clip of this from her O2 concert on her website weeks before and it made me cry. I never would have imagined that I’d be watching it live myself later in the month. It speaks volumes to me that Madonna wants to pay tribute to him publicly in her show, and by the roars of approval from us, her devoted followers, we agreed with her sentiment. The applause was amazing and I was moved and proud to be a part of this public display of respect and love for him. I cried happy tears.
Madonna’s dancers are of course amazing. During a couple of her costume changes they do their own routines. I have to say this is probably the only time that I paid much attention to them – when Madonna’s on stage you don’t want to take your eyes off of her. Being at the front you could also see a lot more of the behind the scenes cogs in motion – Madonna going off stage or some crew coming on to tend to her when she’s behind a bit of the set, to towel her down, give her a drink or assist with a slight costume change. During one of the interludes to Rain/Here Comes the Rain Again, two dancers do an amazing feet shuffling walk thing where the steps are so fast and tiny they look like they’re levitating along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4A8KHh7Qos&feature=PlayList&p=B73E4372BE801802&index=17 (2 ½ mins in – footage from Sky 1, not the show I was at.)
During She’s Not Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMXE6chMC7Q four of her female dancers are dressed in replica outfits of the ones worn for the Like a Virgin, Material Girl, Open Your Heart and Vogue videos. On the huge screens behind, loads of images of Madonna from all her videos over the years flashed up – it strikes me that, OMG I could be in one of these in future!
Goodnight And Thank You
Next up was the Spanish section, which she was pleased to at last do for a Spanish audience. After La Isla Bonita she sat on a stool with her guitar, ready to do You Must Love Me, and emotionally talked to the audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eur8qZKWUVM She mentioned what a sad time it was with the loss of Michael Jackson, and Charles Prow and Charles Criscenzo, two members of a stage crew who were killed when the construction of the stage for her concert in Marseilles collapsed, and said that we should really appreciate and be thankful that we’re alive. She also thanked her fans for their support, including the ones who were there to take part in her new video! Me! She was talking to me! Me and however many others, but me!
Further tributes to Michael Jackson were included in the show. I’m convinced that in the video montage for Get Stupid where images of good and bad people and what’s right and wrong with the world flash up, the lyric “if you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make a change” from Man in the Mirror had been added. However having watched the updated clip for leg two on YouTube the lyrics aren’t there. I’ve googled and watched clips, and although there’s evidence the lyrics did appear on the backdrop, I can’t find where. Finally, during the last few songs everyone on stage was wearing one white sequined glove which was simple but visually effective. Then ‘Game Over’, the show was over, no encore, just the end. Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough blasted out of the speakers, and from where I was I could see Madonna walk out from behind the stage set and disappear off stage.
Amazing
It had been an amazing night. My feet ached from being on them most of the day and from so much walking, and I was exhausted from the lack of sleep last night, but I was happy. And I was in wonderment, that here I was having just earned a ticket for the Golden Circle to see Madonna, because I had come here to be in one of her videos. Having just watched her, with lots of references to Michael Jackson, it made me think of what huge, phenomenal, world stars they are, who make videos that will be shown on MTV forever! It just seemed so unbelievable and like a fairy tale that I could possibly be in one!
I left the stadium with a sea of happy singing people. It was so hot so I took my t-shirt off as I knew I had a crop top underneath (had packed spare ‘Madonna style’ clothes as requested), swapped my high heeled lace up boots for flat sandals which I knew I’d need after so much standing, and filled my water bottle each time we passed a drinking fountain. I felt safe with the crowd who appeared to be heading back in to town so decided to walk back to the hotel.
Bedtime Story
The nearer I got, the heavier and wearier I got, but the more determined I was to make it all the way as it was now too near to bother getting a taxi. A few blocks from the hotel is when the crowd eventually thinned out and I felt slightly vulnerable as a few blokes shouted things at me, but Barcelona is such a bustling 24 hour city there was enough people around to still feel safe.
When I booked in to the hotel earlier I’d walked the three flights up to the room easily but now I could barely make it in to the lift. I collapsed on to the bed and managed to muster up enough energy to text Corin to say I was safely home, take my contact lenses out, wipe off my lipstick, strip down to my underwear and climb in to bed. I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. My aching legs made me fidgety and the sheets were so crisp that they made a noise every time I moved. I spent the night waking myself up and falling back asleep as I moved around trying to get comfortable. I didn’t have to check out until noon so I let myself drift in and out of sleep until 11am. When I got up I noticed I had a large blood blister on one of my big toes, the pressure from which would have been what was causing me so much discomfort in the night. I needed to prick it to relieve it, but had nothing sharp other than a Madonna style earring, so had to use that! lol
Like It Or Not
I packed up and checked out, and again didn’t know what to do with myself as my flight wasn’t until that evening. I sat in the Placa de Catalunya and looked at my McDonalds map trying to figure out where the nearest veggie place was to get something for late breakfast. As McDonalds are everywhere (like in every other city) and are marked on the map, the markers became quite useful as ‘you are here’s and helped me find what I was looking for. Thank you McD for leading me to vegan food! :-p I actually read the bumph on the map and it mentions proudly Barcelona being Bohemian! Yeah, with no thanks to you! :-/
I headed to another Tourist Information centre for information on getting the bus to the airport later – I figured if I knew how long it took and how much it cost, I could gauge how much time and money I had to spend in central Barcelona. I went for a wander around and to find food. I walked down Las Ramblas towards the palace, passed loads of street performers dressed as statues, souvenir stalls (with lots of bull fighting imagery :-( ) and lots of little pet stalls selling little birds who were packed in to small cages. :-( http://image14.webshots.com/15/6/66/28/170966628uHiFxd_fs.jpg I wondered what happened to them each night – were they transported back and forth daily, or were they locked in as the tight little cubicle closed in on itself each night? http://www.designstamp.com/images/examples/v_fold.jpg I’m sure they’re no crueler than ‘ordinary’ pet shops but it just looked awful and I hoped they at least had room to flap and were given enough water in the heat.
There were so many small, intricate and unmarked streets off Las Ramblas that I gave up trying to find the veggie place I was heading for and instead got a smoothie from a smoothie bar and headed back to a Maoz veggie falafel take away which I’d passed earlier. Mmmm.
Easy Ride
I’d wandered around enough so decided the best way to quickly see some of Barcelona while relaxing was to go on one of those bus tours. I got a ticket on my debit card which was for two routes with the same company so I thought that was bound to fill a few hours before flying time! The first route I chose was the one which went up past the Olympic Stadium – I wanted to see again the few areas that had become familiar to me over the last two days as I felt quite at home in those places as I knew where I was. At the stadium you could see all the cranes and vehicles on the pitch as they dismantled Madonna’s stage. The place was so quiet and empty compared to all the hustle and bustle and excitement of yesterday’s crowds.
I drank LOADS of water in the heat, and I must have sweated it out as I hardly needed a wee at all! Between the first and second bus trip I felt really tired and craved the full fat Coke again. I went to a sandwich bar and got a large one without knowing how large is large – blimey, I’ve seen Super Size Me the film, but had no idea what large looked like in reality! It must have been between one and two litres!
As the tour buses had such hard uncomfortable plastic seats upstairs, I decided to sit downstairs on the second one as the inside seats were soft and padded and I needed some comfort and relaxation, more than I needed sightseeing. We’d probably only done about a quarter of the journey – enough for me to see Barcelona beach – before I fell asleep. Even with the amount of sugar from the Coke I couldn’t stay awake, so I obviously needed it! I kept drifting awake, but not for long, so just listened to my body, and like a crying baby, found a warm moving vehicle the perfect place to nap.
Beautiful Stranger
I woke up not long before a nice crowd from Connecticut, USA got on. They were on a cruise which had stopped in Barcelona for the day. Three of the woman and an attractive older chap, who reminded me of Barry Bostwick, sat nearby to me. He was really friendly to everyone and full of cheek and charm – he entertained a baby for a while when its mother could no longer sooth it. He asked if I was here on vacation. Boy was I ready to tell someone!!! I’d been here two days, had hardly spoken to anyone, let alone been able to share my exciting news with them! I told them EVERYTHING and they hung on my every word and were totally impressed and loved the spontaneity of it all. When I say ‘everything’ I mean from way back in my teens when I first saw the Desperately Seeking Susan and loved it and that this my first Madonna era is still my favourite. And then I told them all about darling Peter’s DSS musical with the songs of Blondie and how much I love Blondie too so it was just ideal for me, and how because of Peter I had met Roseanna Arquette and Debbie Harry, and if it hadn’t been for me going to see DSS the Musical dressed as ‘Susan’/Madonna I may not have had a good enough pic to submit to Madonna’s video people to get selected, so really DSS was the key to so many happy occasions in my life, and here, look at my iPod, here’s me with Debbie, and Roseanna, and this is Peter, and this is me dressed up in the picture I sent and this is the email I got saying I’d been selected! (Thank God I’d printed such evidence – they might have thought I was a nutter otherwise. ;-) )
I told them all about the video shoot and the tights and the tutu and the bad wig - which I had to be careful about, looking at the ladies, the hair they had now, and thinking what age they would have been in the 80s and what their hair would possibly have looked like... ;-) They all wishes me well, and shook my hand and were really excited and really really hoped I’m in the video and couldn’t wait to see it and tell people that we’d met on our trips. I was sad to say goodbye to them, I really liked them.
Bye Bye Baby
And then I was back on my own with more time to kill. I managed to memorise the wrong time I needed to get to the airport so headed there two hours earlier than I needed to! I wandered around and bought chocolate – loads of quality dark chocolate and truffles to choose from. I’d already bought some from one shop when, after wandering to another part of the airport for some fresh scenery, I found The Chocolate Factory! I bought a fabulous bar to take home and show my Rosemary Conley ladies ‘The Most Honest Chocolate Tablet’ http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9726/webchocolatfactoryhistoiu8.jpg with the calories printed on each stick. And I almost died when I saw some dark chocolate pyramids http://badgirlchocolates.com/product/pyramid-dark.jpg because of course the pyramid on Susan’s jacket is key to the DSS plot so I HAD to buy some of those and smiled at what a fitting find they were.
Something To Remember
Just as it should have been time to board it was announced that we had a two hour delay! Some people got angry, but I didn’t mind - my little adventure could last a little longer. So I plugged in to my iPod, selected True Blue, sat back and started to construct notes from all the buzzing thoughts in my head, which has finally become this.
I’m Going Bananas
I’m now anxiously waiting to find out if I’ve made it in to the Celebration video, and if so, if I look ok in the bad wig and with the camera’s 10lbs added to me! I know that on the morning I filmed there were about 30 of us in all. The crew had also previously filmed in Milan. When I searched for clips on YouTube I also came across a clip of the woman who had selected us, looking for more people http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv7KrL9xohM . I’ve no idea how many people would have been filmed in all, but I guess the more that were filmed the less screen time each of us will end up having.
What Can You Lose
However, whatever happens, although I will be HUGELY disappointed if I’m not in the video, at the very least it was an adventure and an experience. And the money that I spent on the trip was no different to the sums that change hands on ebay for a Golden Circle ticket, which I was fortunate enough to get for free.
So as Madonna herself sings “It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game so get into the groove.” I had a fabulous time playing the game, got in to the groove, got up on my feet, stepped to the beat, Iived out a fantasy, which doesn’t happen every day, and now... “I’m waiting...!”
