all about Madonna

Madonna performing live at Olympia in Paris (May 06 2008)

Rosie O'Donnell is hoping to persuade pal Madonna to direct an episode of hit plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck, after playing a recurring role on the show.
The actress and U.S. TV personality has played lottery winner Dawn Budge on a handful of episodes of Nip/Tuck, since making a naked debut in 2006 - and now she wants her pal to get on the set.
Show regular Kelly Carlson says, "Madonna's been approached because Rosie is on our show and they're very good friends. I've begged the producers to get her on the show.
"She has such a great mind for stuff like this that I think she'd be a great director for an episode. I would also love to have Madonna on as a character."

source : contactmusic

Madonna performing live at Olympia in Paris (May 06 2008)

Pop diva Madonna turned sexy hard-rock queen for a night at a private concert in Paris, telling her fans she loves to french-kiss the French as she ground away at an electric guitar.

Wearing black from head to toe, her blonde curls loose to her shoulders, Madonna put on a high-voltage half-hour show last night for a privileged 1,500 fans at her first concert in the French capital in 10 years to mark the release of Hard Candy, her 10th chart-topping album.

"Who do you love more, me or the Rolling Stones?" she asked the crowd packing the Olympia, a mythical concert hall near the Paris opera, before launching into a ear-popping heavy-metal version of her mega-hit, Hung Up.

"I thought you might say that," quipped the queen of pop, who turns 50 on August 16, as the adoring crowd roared back their answer.

The Material Girl made her stage entrance seated in a black-and-gold fairytale throne, wearing a black satin bodice, satin pants and tailcoat with pink lining, lace-up boots with six-inch heels, and twirling a magician's wand.

Madonna told the concert hall it was "a historical moment" for her to be performing on the same stage as the iconic French chanteuse Edith Piaf, or fellow legends Juliette Greco and Marlene Dietrich.

"Why do I have this relationship with France? I'm always drawn to working with French people - and frenching French people," she quipped. "Vive la France!"

Despite lukewarm reviews, Madonna's hip hop-influenced new album Hard Candy, co-written and produced with former N-Sync singer Justin Timberlake, and hip hop stars Timbaland and Pharrell Williams, shot straight to the top of the charts in France and across Europe upon its release last week.

Madonna has described the title as "a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness" - but her performance in Paris was tough from start to finish.

Flanked by an electriying crew of hip-hop dancers and surrounded by pulsing video screens, Madonna ground, bumped, skipped and jumped her way through four of her new tracks - including the chart-topping Four Minutes - as well as the now classic Music and Hung Up.

The magician's gear and heeled boots quickly gave way to dance-friendly running shoes and sleeveless black top, before she pulled out the saturated electric guitar for a heavy-metal sounding finale.

Hard Candy is Madonna's last album on the Warner label before she takes up her astronomical $US120 million ($A126 million), 10-year deal with US concert promoter Live Nation.

The Paris gig was the second of three private concerts being held to mark its launch, after New York on April 30 and before London on May 11.

One third of tickets went to listeners of the French radio station NRJ, which organised the French event, with the rest snapped up by VIPs and fans in the know, from France and elsewhere.

Andrew Stewart, 37, has seen Madonna 17 times on stage since 1987 and flew in from Thailand specially to catch the show.

"She's just the most amazing performer," said the British web designer. "She doesn't compare to anyone."

source : afp

1 (-) Madonna - Hard Candy (Warner Bros.) - 282,785

source : hdd

Madonna looks on course to repeat her chart double this week, by once again topping albums and singles charts with Hard Candy and 4 Minutes (both Warner Bros) respectively.

Sam Sparro's Black And Gold (Island) looks to be 4 Minutes' closes competitor, in a static singles chart, with Wiley's Wearing My Rolex (Asylum) a close third.

Kylie Minogue's In My Arms (Parlophone) looks set to challenge for a top ten placing, while James Fox's Bluebirds Flying High (Plastic Tomato) should make the top forty.

On the albums chart, Hard Candy's strongest challenge for the top slot comes from Scooter's Jumping All Over The World (AATW), while both Def Leppard's Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (Bludgeon Riffola) and Hadouken's Music For An Accelerated Culture (Surface Noise) should make the top ten.

The midweek sales charts are available from musicweek.com.

Timbaland and the Neptunes are so dominant as producers, they can sometimes upstage the artist they're working with ... unless that artist is Madonna.

On her new album, "Hard Candy," Madonna made sure that she wasn't a guest star on her own album.

"I thought of it as a true and equal collaboration. ... I like to think that when you listen to the record, you don't just go, 'Oh, that is a Timbaland record or that's Pharrell (of the Neptunes).' That you hear it and you go, 'There is something new and different about it."

Finding something new and different is the approach that's kept Madonna on top for most of her 25-year recording career -- and made her a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

The 49-year-old pop queen is once again dominating music airwaves, but she's also making her mark far away from the celebrity spotlight, in Malawi. The impoverished African nation, from which she found David, the young child she is in the process of adopting, is the subject of her new documentary, "I Am Because We Are," and her charitable efforts.

Madonna sat down with The Associated Press recently and chatted about her new musical path, life in Malawi and raising kids in the eye of the paparazzi, among other things

AP: You recently signed a deal with Live Nation and "Hard Candy" is your last on Warner Brothers Records. What do you hope to accomplish with the deal?

Madonna: No. 1, coming up with new interesting ways of releasing music. Finding new ways to get music to people, that is one thing. Two is being an equal partner on my records which I have never been before. I have always been signed to a label and I get a percentage of what I earn and now it is 50/50, which is great, and three, is all the great shows I plan on doing.

AP: Would you ever do a pay for play with your music similar to Radiohead?

Madonna: No ... I don't know. I am not sure I like the idea of saying pay whatever you want for it. I think it is good to be specific. ... Put a value on it.

AP: Your film, "I Am Because We Are," is about Malawi, a country that has been ravished by AIDS and poverty. Is it difficult to find hope in such depressing circumstances?

Madonna: I did find hope there because in spite of all of the hardships that people have to endure there, as I say in the film, I saw so much happiness there. I saw that people with so little had so much appreciation for life and so much joy. It gave me a real sense of appreciation for what I have and it made me, it put things in perspective for me. ... We have so much and we can often get caught up in our little stupid problems. The kids have nothing to play with. They get plastic bags and bunch them together in what looks like a ball with twine and that is their soccer ball. They are happy. It is fine. You get a real sense of appreciation there.

AP: Do you think the documentary will help to silence some of your critics?

Madonna: It helps explain a lot of the story and the mystery to people. People will have a better perspective. It is always good to know the whole story before you jump to conclusions. The movie isn't just about the adoption, but I hope it will fill in some blanks for people.

AP: What is the hardest thing you had to endure while making this documentary?

Madonna: I think the hardest thing is watching parents lose their children. I think that is a pain that is unendurable, to bury your children. It is supposed to be the other way around.

AP: Would you adopt again from Malawi?

Madonna: I would like to. They are still trying to finesse the laws and make it so it is not such a long waiting period, which would be good. I would prefer that.

AP: How are you going to balance your projects in Malawi with promoting this album?

Madonna: Not that I have very much free time, but I have a lot of ongoing projects in Malawi. I am building a girls school, and orphan care center. I am refurbishing an orphanage. I have lots of kids to look after on scholarship funds, so I have relationships with people and I want to go back and check in on everybody.

AP: How do you deal with the paparazzi always taking pictures of your children?

Madonna: I don't like it when they get in their face. It is scary and frightening especially if you are not used to it and you are a kid. I think Lola is a little bit more familiar with it now. My son (Rocco) is still seriously irritated by it.

AP: You, Prince and Michael Jackson turn 50 this year. Will you be throwing a big, joint party?

Madonna: If there is, I am not throwing it. I am tired of throwing parties!

AP: Maybe you all could do a Rolling Stone cover together.

Madonna: Really? (smiles) I don't know. Ask them. I am a little bit tired of being the one who always has to ask everything. You are going to have to go to them.

source : acko / madonnanation

Madonna is set to sell her country pile for a whopping £3 million profit.

The Queen of Pop bought the estate for £9 million and is looking at putting it on the market for £12 million - despite the credit crunch.

She and film director hubby Guy Ritchie have told pals they do not spend enough time at Ashcombe House in Wiltshire and their West London home is more homely.

source : thesun.co.uk

Madonna arrives at Paris' Le Bourget airport in a private jet (May 05 2008)