Madonna: Tears of a Clown followed with Madonna joining the band and sitting down with her guitar, including "X-Static Process", a cover of Elliott Smith's "Between the Bars", "Nobody's Perfect" and "Easy Ride". All the songs had displays showing circus themed videos; following this Madonna started singing the song "Intervention", while displaying an image of her son Rocco; the singer referred to her custody battle with ex-husband Guy Ritchie about Rocco. Other acoustic versions of songs followed, including "I'm So Stupid", "Paradise (Not for Me)", "Joan of Arc" and "Don't Tell Me". Before performing the next song, "Mer Girl", Madonna explained that once she was
The Power of Madonna the episode, telling "Us Weekly" that she found it "brilliant on every level", praising the scripting and the message of equality. The episode also received positive reviews from critics. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" called it "one of the best hours of TV you’re likely to see all year", writing that the episode pays Madonna "the highest compliment possible" in not just expressing admiration for the singer, but "demonstrat[ing] a potent understanding of why Madonna matters." Fellow "Entertainment Weekly" writer Tim Stack deemed it the best episode of "Glee" thus far, grading each of the songs performed "B+" through to