Brittany Spears: Thinks Madonna is a strong female role model

"She's very independent and doesn't care what other people think. That's very empowering for teenagers, and women in general.

"She has amazing drive and ambition and charisma when she's on stage. You can't help but just watch and admire her.

"Her choreography definitely opened the door for girls to go in there and do their own thing. My favourite Madonna song is Vogue or Like A Prayer."

French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier describes the first time he saw Madonna.

"I was in Paris and I was looking at the TV. They were showing Top of the Pops. She had a hit with Holiday.

Jean-Paul Gaultier was 'fascinated' by Madonna

"I was fascinated by the ways she danced and looked. She was beautiful and very well dressed.

"I was sure she was English. They were more fashionable, eccentric and unique than the Americans."

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue examines the secret of Madonna's widespread and long-lasting appeal.

"People that don't know anything about pop music still know of Madonna. Her reach is way beyond pop music.

Kylie admires Madonna's skill for reinvention

"Her ability to move with the times and the strength of her convictions is something unusual in pop music, where things are usually so transient.

"She mixes things that we know and understand and then completely repackages them. No one else can package things like that and we are hoodwinked into thinking: 'God that is brand new'."

Spice Girl Melanie C considers Madonna as her "Girl Power" role model.

"Madonna was doing the girl power thing a long time before the Spice Girls.

"I was definitely one of her wannabes. I had the lace fingerless gloves, wore silly odd socks and poncy little boots and I still have a lot of crucifixes.

Melanie C was a Madonna wannabe

"Express Yourself is one of the routines that I know and I used to really like doing that one because it is where she shows her bra and holds her crotch.

"She is also very good at discovering new talent and has a very good ear. She knows what she likes, she knows how to approach a market and what's going to sell."

DJ Trevor Nelson admits that he has never been a fan of Madonna's music but gives her full marks for her upfront attitude and courage.

"I am a fan of her antics more than her music and the book was hilarious.

"The first record I remember was Holiday and the first thing I remember was her image, which was real trashy. I didn't think she would last.

Trevor Nelson: A fan of Madonna's 'antics'

"She was sticking two fingers up at a very early stage in her career, which most pop starlets would never dare do. She was saying: 'What you see is what you get'.

"It was refreshing but she had to prove it - and she did. She went beyond proving it and in America that is outrageous."

Randy Taborelli, journalist and author of Madonna's biography, explains the UK's particular affection for Madonna.

"Britain has a wonderful tradition of elevating rock stars to God-like status. Because of that, the paparazzi are adamant about getting that shot of Madonna in a grocery store picking out a chicken.

"She is often, if not always, thinking in terms of image, and it is maddening for her. But I have also noticed that recently there is a love affair with her going on in Britain.

"It is like this wonderful and long extended honeymoon where there seems to be a sense of dignity around the way she is pursued."

There's Only One Madonna can be seen on 4 July on BBC One at 2235 BST.