Clover criticized its lack of a "coherent story line". A negative review came from Ethan Brown, writing for New York magazine; he felt that "limp" performances such as "Nobody's Perfect" (2000) and "I Deserve It", "didn't live up to her attitude". Brown also said that, despite "few stunning visual moments", the concert didn't capture "the sense of purpose" of the artist's past tours. "Madonna is a frustratingly small stage presence, too, mostly standing motionless or strumming rudimentary chords on an acoustic guitar [...] the music was equally airless", he concluded his review. The lack of the singer's 1980s songs was met with criticism: VH1's Christopher Rosa opined that "the sheer lack of classic hits was a letdown for audiences, not to mention the fact that [Madonna] seemed icier than ever". On his ranking of Madonna's tours, in June 2021, The Odyssey's Rocco Papa placed Drowned World on the 11th position; "while it proved that she still had it after giving birth to two kids, it lacked warmth and light [...] [and] many hits from her back catalogue". For The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan wrote that the tour's lack of "classics" would disappoint the singer's "die-hards", and that "no right-thinking person would rather hear 'Candy Perfume Girl' than 'Like a Virgin'". DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson remarked that anyone who "expected to see a greatest hits concert left sorely disappointed", but praised the singer for creating the show "she wanted to do, not the one she thought would be the safe choice". Gina Vivinetto from The Advocate said that, even though Madonna ignored most of her "80s hits", she "made up for it by showing off a much stronger singing voice". Alex Petridis also defended the singer's decision to focus on the new material; "it's a pleasingly defiant gesture no other stadium-filler could match – imagine the Rolling Stones only playing songs from their last two albums and try not to shudder". On a similar note, Sal Cinquemani felt album cuts such as "Candy Perfume Girl" translated into "edgier numbers", and also complemented the concert for being aimed at "true fans—critics (and hits) be damned". Finally, Alex Needham concluded that, even though the lack of Madonna's classic songs was "criminal", the Drowned World Tour "couldn’t have been better". It was nominated for Major Tour of the Year and Most Creative Stage Production at the 2001 Pollstar awards, but lost to U2's Elevation