thrumirror.com A different way of seeing
Original two-panel diagram comparing a recorded performer reflected into a virtual stage with a later live performer physically standing on stage. Generic figures illustrate Madonna’s 2006 Grammy transition.
Look closely. Let the image settle.

Watch Madonna’s performance on YouTube ↗

If the embedded player is unavailable, open the official recording on YouTube.

Holography & tricky projections / 2006 · 48th Grammy Awards, Los Angeles

Madonna’s hologram — 2006 Grammys

Score 0

Madonna appears to share the stage with Gorillaz during the 2006 Grammys. Her opening appearance is a projected recording, followed by Madonna performing live with her dancers.

TRY THIS

Watch the opening of Hung Up in the official recording. Follow Madonna as she appears among the animated band members, then watch the transition to the main stage and dancers. The first Madonna is part of the projected imagery.

FOLLOW THE SOURCES

History, evidence & image credit

THE IMAGE IN THIS ARCHIVE

Through Mirror · original explanatory diagram

Original file & attribution · CC0 1.0

Original explanatory diagram created for Through Mirror. It illustrates the optical principle and is not a photograph of a performance or installation. Gallery previews may be resized or converted to WebP; animated previews show the first frame.

Download image

Frequently asked questions

What is Madonna’s hologram — 2006 Grammys?

Madonna appears to share the stage with Gorillaz during the 2006 Grammys. Her opening appearance is a projected recording, followed by Madonna performing live with her dancers.

What should I look for in Madonna’s hologram — 2006 Grammys?

Watch the opening of Hung Up in the official recording. Follow Madonna as she appears among the animated band members, then watch the transition to the main stage and dancers. The first Madonna is part of the projected imagery.

What explains Madonna’s hologram — 2006 Grammys?

The opening combines filmed footage of Madonna with Gorillaz animation. Musion’s Eyeliner system reflects that prepared video towards the audience using angled transparent foil. Shared timing and apparent overlap between figures make the recorded singer seem to interact with the band. The later live entrance turns the illusion into a reveal: the same performer is now physically present.

Another way to see it

Explore this category
Original two-panel diagram showing an object wave and reference wave meeting at a holographic plate, then a developed transmission hologram reconstructing a virtual object for a viewer on its opposite side.

Transmission holography — Optical Interactions

Gary Fisher · Optical Interactions

A flat glass plate reconstructs light from a still life. Move sideways and the objects reveal a different view, as though you were looking through a window.

Score 0
Original reflection-hologram diagram showing a lamp and viewer on the same side of a plate, with selected light returning to the viewer and dashed extensions locating a virtual image behind the plate.

Reflection holography — Cassadaga (Spirit Pond)

Matthew Schreiber · Cassadaga (Spirit Pond)

A lamp illuminates a flat plate and an image appears to occupy depth. The light returns towards the viewer from a recorded structure inside the holographic material.

Score 0
Original comparison of rainbow-hologram viewing: two side-by-side views of a generic sphere show horizontal parallax, while vertically stacked views change from red to green to blue without adding a new vertical perspective.

Rainbow holography — Benton’s Sphere

Stephen A. Benton · Sphere, made at Polaroid

A hologram becomes visible in ordinary white light. Move sideways to explore depth; move vertically and its colour changes through the spectrum.

Score 0
Original two-panel diagram comparing a recorded performer reflected into a virtual stage with a later live performer physically standing on stage. Generic figures illustrate Madonna’s 2006 Grammy transition.

Madonna’s hologram — 2006 Grammys