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There isn't a single area of showbiz that Madonna hasn't seen and conquered in her 49-and-counting years on this planet. Music, movies, fashion, television, publishing--she's done it all. So what's she going to do for an encore during the next 50 years of her life? Whatever it is, it'll surely be interesting, But in the meantime, let's celebrate Madonna's 50th birthday (this Saturday, the 16th) with five more magic Madonna moments from the last half-century.

16) Madonna, Best Actress?
Madonna's acting skills have long been questioned. Though she did a fine job playing, um, herself basically, in Desperately Seeking Susan's title role, subsequent performances--from Broadway's Speed The Plow to the Sean Penn caper Shanghai Surprise to the Guy Ritchie-directed debacle Swept Away--have not garnered quite as favorable reviews. But there is one shining highlight on Madge's acting résumé: her star turn in Evita as Eva Peron, a role she was positively born to play. In a way, she was once again playing herself, but she did such a good job of it, she actually won a Golden Globe for her performance--beating out Barbra Streisand, Frances McDormand, Glenn Close, and Debbie Reynolds! Too bad she followed up that triumph with, um, The Next Best Thing (which it most certainly wasn't). Anyway, here's Madonna's history-making Golden Globes speech. Belated congrats, Madge:

17) Madonna Plays 'Truth Or Dare'
From her awkward onscreen moments with then-love interest Warren Beatty to her intimate moment with a lucky water bottle, from the sad scene in which she pines for ex-husband Sean Penn to the even sadder scene in which she throws herself on her mother's grave, Madonna's Truth Or Dare--a celluloid chronicle of her 1991 Blonde Ambition world tour--is an utterly fascinating film. In this movie she truly is playing herself, but once again, it's the role she was born to play:

18) Madonna On 'Wayne's World': Schwing!
Madonna's "Justify My Love" video--which, we assure you, will make a strong showing on this birthday countdown later on--was her most controversial video to date. But let's face it, it was kind of long and kind of boring. Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey's SNL parody was FAR more entertaining. And when Madonna herself made a cameo in the skit as Wayne and Garth's dream-sequence love interest, she was actually sexier than she was in the original "Justify" video. WAY!:

19) Music Makes The People Come Together At Coachella
To promote her 2006 disco-fevered album Confessions On A Dance Floor, Madonna decided to play Southern California's huge Coachella Festival. In the not-so-huge dance tent. The idea of the biggest female pop star of the past 25 years playing the dance tent--rather than the more suitable main stage, which oddly remained dark and vacant during Madonna's set--must have seemed like a cool PR stunt at the time. But when all 60,000 festival punters attempted to cram themselves into the 5,000-capacity space, a Who-in-Cincinnati concert disaster seemed imminent. However, aside from some AndyGumps' flimsy plastic roofs buckling under the weight of spectators who climbed atop of them for a better view, things went surprisingly smoothly during Madonna's Coachella show. And the few people who managed to get inside the tent--or on top of a portapotty--and thus get a good view of Madonna's intimate show...well, they truly saw history in the making:

20) Madonna Rocks The Vote
Thank gawd we live in America, where our pop stars are free to drape themselves in the country's star 'n stripes flag and a teeny bikini, just to encourage the youthful, Clinton-supporting masses to vote. (See Madge's early-'90s PSA below.) Madonna for President in 2012!:

Come back tomorrow for moments 11-15!