Madonna was the first artist to perform at the National Festival. She was supposed to win millions. What was it really like?

It is not without reason that the Madonna is said to be . She took her first steps on stage over four decades ago, and today she is considered one of the most popular singers in the world. Her discography includes as many as 14 studio albums and several dozen albums, which, despite the passage of time, are still listened to by all generations. So far, she has played as many as 11 spectacular concert tours, gathering crowds of loyal listeners on stage. She sang live in Poland for the first time in August 2009, but it was her other performance that caused a real stir.

Madonna was the first singer to play at the PGE Narodowy. How many fans did she gather near the stage?

Fans certainly remember the moment when it was announced that she would also appear in Poland as part of “The MDNA Tour”, promoting her twelfth album. Shortly afterwards, another surprising piece of information circulated in the media. It turned out that the singer’s concert would take place at the National Stadium in Warsaw. It was the first event of this type to be organized there. Extensive preparations immediately began to welcome the queen of pop in the capital, and thus prove that the building can have many different uses, especially those not related to football matches. After numerous problems that were inevitable during the preparation process, Madonna finally baptized the famous arena on August 1, 2012. Her spectacular show attracted nearly 35,000 people. people, but despite the high turnout, the losses turned out to significantly outweigh the gains. A real scandal broke out.

The scandal surrounding Madonna’s concert. The losses amounted to several million zlotys

When organizing the concert, the National Sports Center was managed on behalf of the Ministry of Sport. According to , it was she who turned to the then Minister of Sport and Tourism, Adam Giersz, with a request to co-finance the event with almost PLN 6 million, who approved the application, which was also maintained by his later successor, Joanna Mucha. The business plan created earlier assumed that the colossal expense would be paid back with interest, mainly due to tickets sold, but also thanks to sponsors.

However, the plan fell apart because, contrary to the organization’s assumptions, it was not possible to find a funder for the event, so one of the basic financial pillars of this project was lost. The final losses were enormous, amounting to nearly PLN 4.8 million. Many even speculated that most of this amount was collected by Madonna, who, as befits an international artist, is highly regarded. Although the organizers did not provide a specific rate of her remuneration, they firmly denied that the losses resulted from her fee.