Madonna news - Dec. 2006

~ Let's also take the chance to chronicle this amazing tour of the year with some nice trivia:

Madonna covered a true classic within the opening number Future Lovers: Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' which was released in 1977 on the trip-through-time concept album 'I Remember Yesterday' where it was the closing track, marking the "future". It's widely accepted that 'I Feel Love' is the first disco-style song recorded with an entirely synthesized backing track, becoming hugely influental in the development of electronic music.

It was a #1 hit in the UK, a top 10 hit in the US and of course a Dance hit in the clubs (that legacy is obviously kept alive by Madonna's numerous Dance #1s). 'I Feel Love' saw a lot of cover versions, including by Kylie Minogue & Red Hot Chili Peppers. Madonna's Future Lovers is a tribute to it and on tour she put a new twist on both songs, with a bit of sexual innuendo in horseriding.

Madonna's megahit Music from 2000 saw a new re-invention, with mixing The Trammps' 'Disco Inferno' with it, which was released in 1976, but got an immense popularity when it was included in the movie Saturday Night Fever (on its soundtrack too) in 1977. It became a 1970s and a rollerskating staple, that was shown on tour when Madonna came back to stage in a Travolta white suit, doing his moves while the dancers did a rollerskating choreography.

The most famous homage of Madonna as of late is of course directed to Abba. She wore a striped unitard, inspired by what the Abba girls wore on their very last world tour in 1978/1979, during Erotica (which had a Studio 54 feel) & La Isla Bonita. For Lucky Star, she put on a cape that said 'Dancing Queen', referring to Abba's signature #1 hit. And of course, she closed the show with Hung Up that sampled the 1979 hit single 'Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)'.

Reminder of Confessions Tour broadcasts

It's a quiet month for news so now we're taking time to remind fans from The Netherlands, Belgium & Hungary about upcoming Confessions Tour broadcasts. Dutch fans can catch Madonna on VARA at 10 pm on December 30th.

In Belgium, Flemish fans can confess on VijfTV at 10.30 pm while Walloons will see her at 9.05 pm on PlugTV on December 31st. 2007 will have a great start for Hungarian fans, RTL Klub will show the concert just a few minutes after midnight on New Year's Eve. Naturally, all of them will show the uncensored version, debuted on Channel4 UK last month.

Madonna learning Malawi language

Madonna and Guy Ritchie are learning Chichewa - the native language of their adopted son from Malawi, according to a report.

The couple are said to want to help David Banda, who they controversially fostered earlier this year, stay close to his culture. They are confident they will keep him despite legal challenges, but have said he will have the option of returning to Africa when he is older.

"Madonna and Guy use the few words they've learned," a source told The Sun. "'Mummy', 'daddy', 'hello', 'my love' and some others, every day."

"Madonna knows a Chichewa lullaby called 'Gona Mana' and has been working on a guitar piece to go along with it. David's a very smart little chap who idolises his brother Rocco."

Madonna in Donna Top 2006

Following yearly tradition, Belgian Radio Donna is broadcasting their all time top, this year the Top 2006, between Christmas and New Year. Madonna has no less than 28 entries in the list. Also in 2006, Like A Prayer is the highest entry, scoring into the top 100. You too can still help decide the exact position of this song by voting on the Donna website. This year's website is extremely well done: if you search on 'madonna', you can see all her entries, with their current position and the chart position history of the previous years. You can also add your own stories related to each of the songs.

Top 2006
95 Like A Prayer
148 Hung Up
192 Frozen
318 Jump
388 Crazy For You
431 Vogue
491 La Isla Bonita
596 Like A Virgin
647 Live To Tell
759 Borderline
822 Music
901 Sorry
934 Beautiful Stranger
954 Me Against The Music
1023 Material Girl
1063 Ray Of Light
1156 Drowned World/Substitute For Love
1224 Into The Groove
1283 Hollywood
1330 Die Another Day
1385 Justify My Love
1422 Holiday
1562 The Power Of Good-Bye
1639 Papa Don't Preach
1707 American Life
1806 Open Your Heart
1930 Nothing Really Matters
2005 Express Yourself

Holiday message from Madonna

Madonna sends her best wishes to her fans on her official site:

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season. May the New Year bring peace in your heart and all around the world.

Love,
Madonna

~ The Mad-Eyes team also wishes Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the fans and of course to Madonna herself! :-)

If you haven't already, check the Mad-Eyes intro for a nice Xmas surprise.

Madonna & Steven Klein collaborate for new H&M photoshoot

Madonna.com reveals info about the new H&M photoshoot:

Madonna has recently finished a new photoshoot and commercial to show off M by Madonna collection for H&M. M by Madonna was designed by Madonna and will be debuting in stores in March.

Madonna & Steven Klein are frequent collaborators, whose photographs have been the cover of Madonna's latest multi platinum selling CD, Confessions on a Dance Floor, as well as two W Magazine spreads, and the subject of an exhibition in Tokyo and Moscow.

We can't wait to see what they come up with next! Check back to Madonna.com for more updates.

Confessions Tour DVD release sheet

On a slow news week, let's look at the official Warner release sheet of Confessions Tour DVD (click to enlarge; thanx to Madonnalicious). Now it seems in North America the release will be CD+DVD [CX] only, in a regular CD-case, making the album to be eligible to chart on the Billboard 200. It is unknown if there will be a DVD-case version internationally.

The tracklist matches the already confirmed one. The DVD includes all the performed songs, including the 4 numbers that were cut in the broadcast (Sorry (Remix) [Don't Talk Don't Speak], Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Paradise (Not For Me), Lucky Star).

The CD tracklist misses out several key tracks, it focuses on Confessions On A Dance Floor. The DVD tracklist names 'Confessions' & Live To Tell as separate tracks, while the CD tracklist says 'Confessions' only.

We still hope that Live To Tell (which Madonna called her own confession) is on the CD too, it would be a wasted release if the dancers' confessions flows into the uneventful Isaac, omitting two key songs.

The sheet says Madonna has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide and that I'm Going To Tell You A Secret went top 40 (it sold 70,000 copies in the USA, by the way). The sheet also confirms the bonus behind-the-scenes footage and the photo gallery for the DVD. The release will have a Parental Advisory sticker.

Madonna wins top two gongs

Forget the battle for the Brits - the only awards celebs care about winning are the Bizarre Readers poll gongs.

The biggest names in rock, pop, and comedy queued up to get their hands on my prestigious awards.

Madonna was delighted to be the big winner with Best Female and Best Live Act for her breathtaking Confessions world tour.

She told me: "I feel like a bit of a dork holding a picture of myself but thanks to your readers for voting for me."

Madonna's movie directing debut?

Madonna will make her movie directing debut in 2007, according to reports.

The pop superstar is understood to be getting behind the camera for a movie entitled Blade To The Heat.

Madonna's own company, Maverick Entertainment, are listed as the producers of the film in an entry at hollywood.com.

Apparently the movie is a "boxing story loosely based on the 1959 bout between Emile Griffith and Benny 'Kid' Paret."

UPDATE: Fansite DrownedMadonna says Madonna is not directing the movie and she's not part of Maverick Films or anything Maverick.

Madonna on Billboard's year-end charts

Billboard has revealed their year-end charts tonight. Since the 'Billboard year' is from November to October, Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor ranks at #22 with sales of 1,53 million (additional sales after leaving the Billboard 200 are not counted).

On the Hot Dance / Club Play songs, Sorry was named 6th, while Get Together came in at #9.

Madonna has 3 entries on the Hot Dance Single Sales chart: Hung Up, Sorry & Get Together are #2, #4 and #6, respectively.

Confessions Tour DVD postponed a week?

Fansites are reporting that the Confessions Tour DVD (actually it's not clear if the release will be a CD/DVD exclusive) is now postponed to January 29th (Europe) / January 30th (US).

Madonna's official site is expected to correct their previous release date announcement soon. A photo gallery and bonus rehearsal footage is reported to be included on the DVD.

Madonna second only to Rolling Stones among top grossing tours

The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang trek, which re-captured the top-grossing tour ever title from U2's Vertigo, was the top grossing tour of the year, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore.

The Stones, which began the tour in the fall of 2005, sold out arenas in America, stadiums all over the world and then stadiums in America before calling it a year in late November with a tally of about $437 million.

That total is "not bad," longtime Stones tour producer Michael Cohl tells Billboard.com. "And not done, eh?," he continues. "There are still a lot of cancellations in Europe that the band feels obligated to try and make up. So I wouldn't be surprised if it keeps going next year."

Second to the Stones in 2006 was Madonna, whose global Confessions run became the top-grossing tour ever by a female artist. Confessions took in just under $195 million from 60 shows that drew more than 1.2 million in paid attendance.

Rounding out the top 10 tours were Bon Jovi ($131 million), U2 (wrapping up Vertigo tour with $96 million), Tim McGraw/Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul II tour ($88.8 million), Cirque du Soleil's Delirium ($78.5 million), Barbra Streisand ($76 million), Kenny Chesney ($66 million), Dave Matthews Band ($58 million) and Aerosmith ($58 million), with the latter touring for much of the year with Motley Crue.

Confessions Tour most popular, but Blond Ambition holds strong

For the past weeks, Mad-Eyes has held polls to find out the favorite opening and closing performance of Madonna fans.

Though it is a bit logical that the new baby, still fresh in our memory, is the favorite, it is nice to see that the Confessions Tour get a third of the votes: 32% for opener Future Lovers and 33% for closer Hung Up.

For the opening performance, Vogue (Re-Invention) claims a clear second place with 28%, followed by the classic Express Yourself performance (Blond Ambition).

In the closing song poll the 1990 and 2004 tours even share a second place with 19% for Keep It Together and Holiday.

Thumbs up for Madonna's two latest tours but certainly also for the Blond Ambition Tour, who clearly stands time best. Go to our new poll to vote for your favorite rock performance.

Madonna makes surprise appearance at Comedy Awards

Just a while ago Madonna.com announced Madonna's appearance at the British Comedy Awards, hosted by Jonathan Ross at 9 pm GMT. The show happened already with Madonna looking gorgeous. She presented The Writer's Guild Award to Sacha Baren Cohen (aka Ali G) for the movie Borat.

Jonathan Ross also made a joke about her recent adoption of a black child so Madonna replied with: "You might be leaving tonight with a black eye!" Check Madonnalicious for the first screenshots.

Madonna gets three Grammy nominations

The nominees for the 49th Grammy Awards were announced today. The 49th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on "Grammy Sunday," Feb. 11, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and once again will be broadcast live on CBS from 8 - 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). Madonna was nominated in the following categories:

1. Best Dance Recording
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.)

Suffer Well - Depeche Mode
Ben Hillier, producer; Steve Fitzmaurice & Ben Hillier, mixers
Track from: Playing The Angel

Ooh La La - Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp, producers; Mark "Spike" Stent, mixer
Track from: Supernature

Get Together - Madonna
Madonna & Stuart Price, producers; Mark "Spike" Stent, mixer
Track from: Confessions On A Dance Floor

I'm With Stupid - Pet Shop Boys
Trevor Horn, producer; Robert Orton, mixer
Track from: Fundamental

Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake & Timbaland
Danja, Timbaland & Justin Timberlake, producers; Jimmy Douglass, mixer

2. Best Electronic/Dance Album
(For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.)

Supernature - Goldfrapp

Confessions On A Dance Floor - Madonna

A Lively Mind - Oakenfold

Fundamental - Pet Shop Boys

The Garden - Zero 7

3. Best Long Form Music Video
(For video album packages consisting of more than one song or track. Award to the Artist and to the Video Director/Producer of at least 51% of the total playing time.)

Flow: Living In The Stream Of Music - Terence Blanchard
Jim Gabour, video director; Robin Burgess & Jim Gabour, video producers

Directions - Death Cab For Cutie
Noah Gelb, video producer

Demon Days - Live In Manchester - Gorillaz
J.C. Hewlett, video director

I'm Going To Tell You A Secret - Madonna
Jonas Akerlund, video director; Susan Applegate, Angela Becker, Keeley Gould, Shelli Jury & David May, video producers

Wings For Wheels: The Making Of Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
Thom Zimny, video director; Thom Zimny, video producer

~ Madonna has a good chance in winning these awards, but unfortunately she got no nominations in the bigger categories and surprisingly Hung Up got no nominations...

H&M to sell Madonna-designed fashion line

Fashion group Hennes & Mauritz said on Thursday that it would launch a line of clothes and accessories designed by pop icon Madonna in March 2007.

The Swedish underwear-to-suits firm has signed up a string of designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney to produce one-off collections.

H&M also provided an off-stage wardrobe for Madonna, her band and dancers for her latest tour and the singer has also designed a track-suit for the firm.

"The 'M by Madonna' fashion line will reflect Madonna's timeless, unique and always glamorous style," H&M said in a statement.

"Madonna has an impressive feel for fashion and trends. She was extraordinarily style conscious, passionate and was involved in even the smallest details of every design."

An AP article on the Yahoo! newspage adds some details:

Hennes & Mauritz, Europe's largest fashion retailer, has once again sealed a deal with Madonna for a new fashion line. Madonna has teamed up with Margareta van den Bosch, H&M's head of design, to create the "M by Madonna" women's wear collection, scheduled to be launched globally in March, the company said Thursday.

This is the second time the 48-year-old pop singer has collaborated with the Swedish clothing chain. H&M supplied Madonna and her entourage with an offstage wardrobe for her Confessions world tour.

"I've made no secret of my love for fashion and trends," Madonna said in a statement. "Working with Margareta and H&M was an exciting and new creative challenge for me. I'm really happy with the results and look forward to wearing 'M by Madonna' along with the rest of the world."

H&M said the new collection will "reflect Madonna's timelessness, unique and always glamorous style." Designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf have produced collections for H&M.

Confessions Live CD tracklist revealed

Madonna's fanclub Icon posted the tracklist of the upcoming Confessions Tour live CD tracklist, which will be released as a bonus with the DVD in January:

1. Future Lovers / I Feel Love
2. Like A Virgin
3. Jump
4. Confessions
5. Isaac
6. Sorry
7. Sorry (Remix)
8. I Love New York
9. Let It Will Be
10. Music Inferno
11. Erotica
12. Lucky Star
13. Hung Up

~ Note that track 4 is called "Confessions" which is probably the interlude of Cloud's, Sofia's and Hypnosis' confessions plus Live To Tell, which is Madonna's own confession.

Belgian Frozen trial postponed

The plagiarism trial for Madonna's song Frozen has been postponed yesterday. Last year a judge in Mons, Belgium ruled that the song could no longer be played or sold in Belgium because it would be based on a song by Belgian composer Salvatore Acquaviva.

Madonna's record company appealed against this decision. But the case couldn't start on tuesday because a Frenchman claims that both Madonna and Acquaviva stole the song from him. It is unclear when the trial will restart.

Madonna's books to be auctioned in Portugal

Next Thursday, the 7th of December between 11,30 am and 2 pm, at the Amoreiras Centre in Lisbon, a selection of different children's books by Madonna (all in the Portuguese translation) and signed by the Author, will be auctioned in aid of "Acreditar" – an Association based in Lisbon which supports children suffering from cancer and their families.

As well as the books (10 in total), 7 very large posters and 3 large, full size, cut-out figures reproduced from Madonna's fifth book "Lotsa de Casha" with illustrations by Rui Paes, will also be auctioned.

Each of the 7 posters consist of a large, full size, image of "Lotsa" sporting a plumed hat and carrying toys, and the 3 cut-out figures are "Lotsa" (represented here on the left), "The wise Old Man" and " Sun and clouds".

These posters and cut-out figures were used during Rui Paes's exhibition of the original watercolours for Madonna's book "Lotsa de Casha", which took place last October, at Teatro Sao Carlos, in Lisbon.

Absentee bids will be accepted until the 6th of December by 12:00 noon. These can be made over the Telephone, by Fax or via Email.

Tel : + 351 217 221150 Fax : + 351 217 221151 Email : acreditar@acreditar.pt All books, posters and cut-out figures can be viewed at the Amoreiras Centre one hour previously to the begining of the auction.

Ask Billboard... About Madonna

Keith Caulfield from Billboard is answering yet another Madonna related question in his Ask Billboard column:

Dear Keith,

I'm an avid reader of your column but this is my first time writing. I am wondering if the much-hyped NBC Madonna concert special had any positive effects on Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor album sales or any of her other albums? I know Confessions has sold about 1.6 million, but I am wondering if the show gave it a (much-deserved) kick.

Sincerely,
Patrick Scott
Los Angeles

Hi Patrick,

This column could be "Ask Billboard... About Madonna" sometimes, for as many questions as I answer about her. But it's no secret I'm a fan, so I always welcome the questions.

Following Madonna's "Confessions Live" concert special on NBC, sales of the album shot up 120%. However, its sales were not enough to enable it to re-enter The Billboard 200. Sales of her hits packages The Immaculate Collection, Something To Remember and GHV2: Greatest Hits Volume 2 were also up significantly in sales.

So far, the Confessions album has sold 1.6 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Benelux gets DVD on January 19th

Warner Music Benelux has sent out a mailing announcing that the Confessions Tour CD/DVD will be released in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg on Friday, January 19th, 2007.

Dutch TV VARA (Nederland 3) will broadcast the uncensored tour special on December 30th, 2006 at 22h05.

Madonna party to close national horse show

When the horses return to their stables tonight, Madonna will come out, at least in spirit. The pop chameleon's many faces are the theme of this year's invitation-only party following the Jumping Under the Stars event at the National Horse Show and Family Fun Festival.

Through Sunday, Wellington is hosting the 123rd National Horse Show, the premier riding competition in the country. The party, which starts after the last horse clears the jumping course, has grown into a fun event for those lucky enough to get tickets.

"The whole idea is to not make it formal or stuffy, to let everybody let their hair down," said Mason Phelps, whose PhelpsSports.com is co-sponsoring the party this year along with RV Sales of Broward.

Bruce Sutka, a well-known event planner, is designing the party, complete with Madonna memorabilia, Madonna music, Madonna look-alike drag queens and stripper poles.

"It's really crazy and silly. We're doing a tribute to Madonna that's really tongue in cheek," he said. "It's the Hard Rock-Planet Hollywood of Madonna."

Organizers are expecting about 900 guests at the party, officially called "The Five Faces of Madonna." The event is free but everyone is asked to donate to the Equestrian Aid Foundation, a charity Phelps co-founded to help people in the equestrian community with medical expenses.

"It's not meant for the guy with the deep pockets," Phelps said. "It's for those who don't have medical insurance or can't pay their bills."

Sutka said the party's memorabilia includes a bra worn onstage by Madonna while she sang Like a Virgin and several hard-to-find photographs of the pop idol.

Lachapelle refuses to work with 'nasty' Madonna

Celebrity photographer/director David LaChapelle backed out of directing the music video for Madonna's song Hung Up because she is "nasty" towards employees. LaChapelle, who directed the cult film Rize about dancers in South Central Los Angeles, chose not to put himself in a situation where he wasn't enjoying himself.

He explains, "I had written the scenario, was paid for the concept. "But after Rize, when I started to analyse what made me happy or not, I understood that she was not the person with who I wished to collaborate.

"She is nice when you are alone with her, but when you work for her, she can be very... nasty. She is with people she employs. I didn't want to be tortured. "I don't have anything against difficulties, but there, that would have been unpleasant. I would not have had fun. There is a part of cruelty in her."

Madonna accepts monitoring over adoption

Madonna accepts a High Court ruling allowing a coalition of human rights groups to monitor her as she tries to adopt a Malawian toddler, the singer's lawyer said Thursday.

High Court Justice Andrew Nyirenda ruled Wednesday that the Human Rights Consultative Committee and the state-run Malawi Human Rights Commission could join the adoption process as friends of the court and pursue their application for a full judicial review of the interim custody order he granted to Madonna and her British filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie.

Madonna's lawyer, Alan Chinula, told reporters the couple have agreed to the ruling.

"The Ritchies called me from London and I explained to them the ruling ... they have no problem with the ruling and are also willing to sit back and wait," Chinula said in the capital, Lilongwe.

The rights groups say they are concerned the government cut legal corners to fast-track the adoption. They said that while they do not object to Madonna as a prospective parent, regulations must be followed to protect children.

Chinula said the challenge would help clarify Malawi's "antiquated laws" on adoption and that the Madonna case will be a "guiding case for future adoptions."

Yohane Banda — the 32-year-old biological father of 14-month-old David — said Thursday he hoped the celebrity case would lead to reforms to make it easier for foreigners to adopt Malawian children.

"In Malawi, there are too many underprivileged children, most of them orphans. I appeal to rich people with Madonna's kind heart to come and adopt these children," he said from his mud-and-thatch village of Lipunga in the central border district of Mchinji, some 120 miles from Lilongwe.

He added that he had heard that David, whom he surrendered to an orphanage soon after his birth, was being sent to expensive schools and hospitals under Madonna's care in London.

"We are happy here," he said. "I know Madonna loves the child, I want to encourage her to keep on loving David."

Banda's 28-year-old wife of 10 years, Marita, died of childbirth complications on Oct. 1, 2005 — a week after giving birth to David.

Malawi regulations stipulate that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in the country. But Madonna and Ritchie were allowed to take David to their London home, which Malawian child welfare officials will visit twice to monitor the family.

An estimated 2 million children have lost one or both parents and hundreds are adopted by foreigners every year in Malawi, which has been ravaged by AIDS. Madonna's adoption bid coincided with her larger project to help Malawian orphans.