Long before international tours, sold-out stadiums and big-budget music videos, Madonna made an unexpected detour to the Val-d’Oise. The American singer, at the dawn of her career, shot a segment devoted to Holiday at the base de loisirs de Cergy-Pontoise, for the show Sex Machine broadcast on Antenne 2, on June 23, 1984. Wearing a mauve outfit and flanked by two dancers, she performed the track in play-back, amid the outdoor spaces of the Île-de-France site. A now little-known appearance to the general public, brought back to light by the archives of the Institut national de l’audiovisuel.
At that time, Madonna was just beginning to establish herself on the international music scene. Released in 1983 in the United States, Holiday features on her debut album and is among the tracks that helped build her European fame. The clip shot in Cergy-Pontoise follows the main codes of 1980s television performances: a simple choreography, an outdoor set, and a lip-synced rendition designed to accompany the song’s broadcast. The footage shows the singer moving in front of the water features of what was still called the base de loisirs, with two dancers tasked with supporting the choreography.
The choice of Cergy-Pontoise notably surprised some online observers, not accustomed to linking Madonna with this leisure complex about thirty kilometers from Paris. Le Parisien also notes that several people even believed the footage was a fake, given how improbable the scenes looked. In fact, the shoot took place in June 1984, a few months before the release of Like a Virgin, the album that would cement the singer’s international fame.
The site is now known as the Cergy-Pontoise Leisure Island. Its waterways, beaches and natural spaces continue to host sporting and family activities. This musical archive adds another reference to the local cultural history. Most notably, it lets us rediscover a period when Madonna hadn't yet become the global icon she would soon be, but a rising young artist on a TV shoot passing through the landscapes of Cergy-Pontoise.
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