London, July 15 (ANI): Queen of Pop Madonna has a look-alike that is ditto like her, but there is only one small difference between them - her duplicate is a man.

Elias Figueroa, 28, from Chile, started following the singer at a very early age, and he became so obsessed with her that he decided to devote his life to imitating her.

“I was still a schoolboy. I heard ‘Like a Virgin’ and it totally blew me away,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.Figueroa, who earned just 12 pounds for his first gig, became such a hit that he was invited back immediately, and after two years could charge what he liked.

Now he earns 12,000 dollars a year as a Madonna impersonator, three times the national salary in Chile, and the equivalent of around 50,000 pounds in the UK.

“I live the life of a superstar. Strangers flock to me, tell me they love me,” he said.

“I’m so good at playing Madonna, some people can’t tell the difference between me and the real thing they don’t even realise I’m a man,” he stated.

The first time he performed as Madonna to an audience was in 1996 when, at the age of 15, he gave a karaoke style performance at a friend’s birthday party.

“My friends didn’t know how much I had been practicing so when they saw me they thought it was totally amazing,” he said.

“I watched every Madonna video I could find and studied every single detail her clothes, hair, make-up, gestures and attitude,” he explained.

After going full-time eight years ago he’s now performing up to three times a week in front of crowds of up to 20,000, and earns up to 500 pounds a show, more than the average monthly wage in Chile.

“Being Madonna completes me. On stage I am her,” he said.

“I leave Elias behind and become completely confident, sexy and outrageous like her.

“She has so many roles and personalities in her songs that I get to be each of those. I feel sexy like her. She’s like a modern Marilyn Monroe.

“And I love the attention of being on stage,” he revealed.

But despite the incredible resemblance, Figueroa has yet to meet his idol.

“That would be a dream come true,” he gushes.

“She’s a goddess,” he added. (ANI)