Madonna, or Madge as her friends like to call her, will always be popular.  While her Super Bowl performance received mixed reviews, a lot of people overlooked the fact that Madonna is a 54-year-old mother. Madonna is in damn great shape for her age.

We’d like to see Whitney Houston get out there and put on a show stopping performance of Madonna’s caliber. Even a younger artist could not have been able to pull off a performance like that. This is one of pop music’s eternal questions: What has allowed Madonna to maintain this unprecedented relevance in the music industry?

We asked a few freshmen about their opinions on the matter. Tisch Clive David student Tyler Laurence credits Madonna’s long-lasting reign in the music industry to her “humungous fan base.”

Laurence continues to emphasize Madge’s ability to still draw in, “the older generations of fans when she performs her older music…and also caters to the younger, ’Gage-esque’ generation by mimicking the styles of female pop stars of the new millennia.”

Everything Madonna has done throughout her career is a calculated move. To avoid failure or flopping, Madonna constantly has to draw in on what made her a star in the first place: her unique ability to be a rebellious diva. Madonna’s feud with Lady Gaga, while seemingly cliché, is great publicity for both artists. Both singers have tours this summer, so why wouldn’t they want to battle it out to see whom sells out more shows?

Kevin Johnson, a freshman in Steinhardt for Music Business, commends Madonna, noting that, “she created a new sound and a new type of music to be listened to.” Madonna has always been innovative. She has had to reinvent herself and adapt herself to changing patterns in music while still staying true to herself.

Pertaining to Madonna’s Super Bowl performance though, freshman Tyler Laurence also stated: “Coming from a student who studies sound and performance for a living, I thought, despite her vapid attempt to lip sync granny-esque imitation of 2012 dance moves, she tried her best. If it weren’t for the millions of dollars in lights and acquisitions of all of the other background performers, and not to mention Cee Lo’s amazing voice, it would have been quite an insipid show.”

So what matters more: putting on a theatrically stunning performance based around showmanship, or putting on a beautiful vocal performance built on technique? Madonna has a brilliant voice, but her age could be stopping her from keeping up with her fast-paced dance moves. Therefore, lip syncing may be her only option if she wants to have a balance of showmanship and technique. Also, sound issues in stadiums added with the time constraints of setting up the stage gives more than good reasons to not sing “live.”

Tisch Theatre student Genevieve Marcy acknowledged Madonna’s great showmanship skills. Marcy continued to support Madonna, saying that often, “people say things about her, but the bottom line is that she is still able to put on a great show that entertains people.”

Let’s be real here, Madonna will always be the Queen of Pop, just as Michael Jackson will always be the King of Pop. Madge has earned her spot as a legend in the music industry. Eventually, new artists will come into our worlds and take the crowns of Pop Princess and Pop Prince but no one can usurp the throne from those two legends.

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