("Got no boundaries and no limits...")

The Madonna hitting the big 50 is just an excuse for a party.

("Give it to get the love, arrest me...")

But even she is not planning to pause for a reflection, an icon reaching the half century milestone prompts much musing on how the queen of pop manages to cling onto her crown in an industry that rewards youth.

"Every time she needs to reinvent herself, she manages to do it. From the sexy kind of symbolism that she brings to her clothing to this more sophisticated glamour now. I mean, I mean she is ever-changing. "

The material girl has gone from lace to leotards, Marilyn to conical bras, and dominatrix to lady of the manor.

I would like people to think of me as a revolutionary.

("Like a Virgin，Hey，touch for the very first time.."）

As a mistress of reinvention she defies convention,

("Faster than the speeding light she's flying")

and even her own expectations,

I wanted to be a dancer and quite frankly had no idea that my life was going to turn out the way that it did.

"The view then was: oh it's just another white girl singing soul, you know. I then said:" no, she has a bit more to this one." I fixed up to interview her, to first interview her, it was in England, first in the afternoon. No one else turned up."

("You must be my lucky star...")

That same young singer went on to become a super star,

("Music makes the people come together...")

She’s now sold 200 million records.

("Don't cry for me Argentina")

Her film career has been inconsistent, but her taste for controversy hasn’t. Religion, sex, there are few taboos. And she defied international disapproval in 2006 by adopting a young boy from Malawi.

("Tick up, tick up, break that…")

Fortunately for Madge, the high priests of Kabbalah have calculated her spiritual age and may make her just 36. But for those who count in human years, the clock is definitely ticking.

And yet Madonna's greatest skill is making sure nothing she does ever gets old.

Sara Merchant, Sky News.

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leotard: n. A leotard is a tight-fitting piece of clothing, covering the body but not the legs, that some people wear when they practise dancing or do exercise.

dominatrix: n. A female dominator or ruler.