Madonna joins Sabrina
Madonna made a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s Weekend 2 headlining set at Coachella, performing classics like “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer” along with a new track. The set also featured appearances by Geena Davis — who delivered a mid-performance monologue — and Terry Crews, turning Carpenter’s slot into a string of high-profile cameos. (bbc.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) (thewrap.com)
Madonna emerged from beneath the stage during Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella set Friday night, turning Weekend 2 into a cross-generational duet. (abcnews.com) The appearance came during Carpenter’s April 17 headlining slot at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, the opening night of Coachella’s second weekend. The pair performed “Vogue,” a new duet reported as “Bring Your Love,” and “Like a Prayer.” (desertsun.com, variety.com) Carpenter had already built the set around cameos before Madonna arrived. Geena Davis appeared in a spoken-word interlude, and Terry Crews showed up later in a comic bit tied to “Juno.” (thewrap.com, setlist.fm) The guest spot landed after days of festival speculation that Madonna might appear during Coachella’s first weekend. Instead, she arrived for Weekend 2, near the end of Carpenter’s set, after the singer’s usual celebrity-onstage moment during “Juno.” (variety.com, abcnews.com) For Carpenter, the booking extended a Coachella run that has leaned heavily on stagecraft, film references and surprise guests as she makes the jump from pop breakout to festival headliner. Her April 17 setlist mixed songs from “Short n’ Sweet,” newer material and multiple scripted interludes. (desertsun.com, setlist.fm) For Madonna, it marked a return to Coachella more than a decade after her last appearance at the festival, and almost exactly 20 years after her 2006 performance there, according to multiple reports. Entertainment Weekly called Carpenter’s remark about performing with someone shorter than her part of the onstage exchange. (people.com, ew.com, deadline.com) By the time Carpenter closed with “Espresso” and later songs from the set’s final stretch, the performance had shifted from a standard festival headline slot into a cameo-heavy showcase built around one late reveal. (setlist.fm, thewrap.com)
