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Madonna news - March 2010
← Feb. 2010 | April 2010 →
Alison Goldfrapp on Madonna
Source: Humo via AllaboutMadonnna - 31 March 2010Q: Have you ever heard Madonna's Like It Or Not from Confessions On A Dance Floor? It was her attempt at making a Goldfrapp record. "Black Cherry" to be specific.
Alison Goldfrapp: Never heard it, that song. I couldn't care less what she or whoever does. Madonna is always copying other people's work. yuck.
Q: Well you guys are quite good at it yourself: "Ooh La La" was a T-Rex rip-off. "Cologne Cerrone Houdini" could have been any Gainsbourg song on "Historie de Melody Nelson". And those are just two examples
Alison Goldfrapp: We have a perfectly legitimate post-modern explanation for that. Those songs are an Homage! We steal like magpies but we pay tribute to our heroes at any chance we get, in interviews etc. Everyone should know by now that Marc Bolan was my idol growing up. But we'll never be caught following the latest trend or collaborating with the hottest DJs and producers just to get their names on our record sleeves. That's not our style.
Madonna talks about her new fashion line
Source: AP via Yahoo - 31 March 2010When Madonna needed inspiration for her latest fashion collection, she didn’t have to look far. The pop icon teamed up with her 13-year-old daughter Lourdes to create Material Girl, an affordable juniors’ clothing line that debuts at Macy’s this fall. This is not Madonna’s first foray into designing. In 2007, she teamed up with H&M to create a limited edition collection, M by Madonna.
This time around, her venture into fashion will be long-lasting: She has launched a new company called MG ICON which, in addition to producing the juniors’ line, will also put out other collections including eyewear. The Material Girl collection includes jeans, shoes, fingerless gloves, necklaces and other accessories. Many of the pieces are inspired by Madonna and her daughter’s dance roots.
Madonna recently spoke about Material Girl, her relationship with Lourdes (nicknamed Lola) and her fashion risks and regrets.
Why did you want to do a juniors’ line?
Lola has been bothering me for ages about designing clothes. Stella McCartney is a good friend of mine and she got her mind thinking when Lola was a little girl, about 8 years old. She started giving Lola fabrics and inviting her into her showroom and asking her opinion on things, giving her sketch books and stuff like that. Stella always pushed her. I have a lot of friends who are clothing designers whether it is Gaultier or Dolce and Gabbana. (Lola) has been around all of the shoots I have done and all of the campaigns I have done. She is always hanging out backstage. The last two tours I have done, she has been working in the wardrobe department. On this last tour she dressed all of the dancers.
What has Lola taught you about fashion?
I am boring basically. She reminds me of me when I was younger. She just goes for it and tries different things. It doesn’t look like she thought too much about it. That is how I used to be, but after years and years of everybody commenting on the way I look and dress and being photographed, one starts to become self-conscious and starts to plan things more. You end up judging yourself more, what looks good and what doesn’t.
What has it been like to work with your daughter?
It is good because she does have good taste in fashion. I respect her taste and I rarely disagree with her.
Was part of you hesitant about Lola designing this line as she would be thrust into the spotlight?
That is why I am here talking about the line and she is not. Eventually I will let her. I feel like she needs to get into high school and focus on her studies, her lessons. She got into the high school of the performing arts. She has a lot of work to do. I don’t want her to be distracted. She will eventually be able to talk about it. I am going to be happy when she does because she can speak much more clearly in and in a more informed way than I can about a line she is ultimately designing. I just stand in the background and go, “That’s cool. That’s not cool.”
The clothing is affordable. Why was it important to you to keep the price low?
When I was 13 years old, I couldn’t afford designer clothes. I couldn’t afford expensive clothing. When I designed a line of clothes for H&M, that was one of the things I liked so much about it, that it was really affordable. I think that is one of the nice things about it, that you can make nice clothes at affordable prices.
You are known as being a fashion risk taker. Do you ever look back and wonder, “What was I thinking?”
Yeah. I would rather not point them out. I think I had a lot of bad hair moments. In the early 80’s just sometimes I wore purple lipstick or green lipstick. Clothing-wise, I am happy about the way I dressed.
With your music career and with the girls’ school you are building in Malawi, was part of you hesitant about taking on another project with this clothing line?
If Lola wasn’t so completely involved in the line, designing, consulting, whatever you want to call it, I wouldn’t do it. Really she does most of the work, honestly.
Who are Lola’s fashion influences?
Lola spent most of her childhood growing up in England. According to her, she thinks people have more style in London, especially the boys. French boys in particular have very good style, according to Lola. I think she has been very influenced by European fashion. She is very influenced by the music she listens to, different bands she is in to. She has favorite models. She takes all kinds of dance classes. She is inspired by different items people wear as dancers whether it is a hip- hop class or a jazz class or ballet class. … Of course she is inspired by my closet. My Christian Dior shoes will go missing and then some fabulous bag I won’t be able to find or my skinny jeans, the only pair that fit me are gone.
Has working on this clothing line together bonded you in a different way?
I see her more as a creative person, as an artist and less as my daughter as we are working, and then every once and a while I remembered she is my daughter.
Lola to star in Madonna's movie?
Source: The Sun - 27 March 2010Madonna is fixing for daughter Lourdes to make it in the movie business by giving her a role in her new film.
Madge starts shooting the flick about Edward VIII in London this summer and a source said: "She's arranged a small role for Lourdes. It's not a significant part but it will give her a good taste of life in the movie business. Lourdes has made it clear she wants some kind of career in the entertainment industry and her mum is more than happy to help. She's already an incredible dancer, thanks to years of classes and she's also been having singing training."
It's a change of ice-cold heart from Madge. In 2007 she refused to let Lourdes - nicknamed Lola - star in a Harry Potter film after she was offered a role.
On Thursday the pair, left, popped to see the musical Fela in New York. If Madge was my mother I don't think I'd be up for a shift under her command. I hope she's giving Lourdes more than the £5-an-hour I got for cleaning my mum's shed as a nipper.
Jason Derulo to work with Madonna
23 March 2010Jason Derulo, who is no stranger now to storming the charts and working with powerhouse pop divas, is about to work with another legendary artist who is certainly familiar with the Top 10.
The rising R&B star, 21, just saw his first two singles off of his self-titled debut album hit the Billboard charts [including the #1 hit Watcha Say], has toured with fan Lady Gaga and this week nabbed the top spot in the Us Weekly Buzzometer. So what's next? He's on his way into the studio to work with Madonna! Derulo told our own Zach Johnson all about it plus other future plans (including his love life!) when he gave Us a ring the other day. Read on for more from Jason!
Us: Are there any other artists you'd like to tour with or maybe collaborate with musically?
JD: Yeah. I'm about to work with Madonna, and I've been watching her for years. I would love to be a part of another reinvention. She's been able to reinvent herself time and time again. I'll probably be part of that.
~ Continue the rest of the interview at US Magazine. For more on Jason Derulo's work, check out his Wikipedia entry.
Ewan McGregor to play Edward VIII in Madonna's W.E.
Source: Screen Daily - 22 March 2010Ewan McGregor has joined the cast of Madonna's upcoming project W.E. to play Edward VIII.
McGregor, currently starring in Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, will portray the British Monarch who famously abdicated the throne in 1936 order to marry America divorcee Wallis Simpson.
As previously announced Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga will portray Simpson. Abbie Cornish, most recently seen in Bright Star, will play a contemporary character in a parallel time line reminiscent of Julie & Julia.
Shakespeare In Love producer David Parfitt is producing with former Miramax executive Colin Vaines. Madonna will direct and is writing the screenplay with Alec Keshishian.
CAA is holds domestic rights and IM Global is handling international sales.
UPDATE: According to GossipCop, a representative of McGregor denied his involvement in the movie.
Something to remember: Leaving logic and reason
18 March 2010
15 years ago today, on March 18th 1995, Madonna did her most unique promotional appearance. To premiere her Bedtime Story video, she held a Pajama Party at NYC's Webster Hall, which was broadcast by MTV. At the party, she also gave an interview, grooved to Junior Vasquez's beats and interestingly she read the tale of Miss Spider's Tea Party to the cheerful crowd of fans.
Of course the video itself remained the biggest event, which is not only one of the most expensive music videos ever produced with its $5 million budget, but is possibly her most ambitious and celebrated video effort. Directed by Mark Romanek, it's set in a dream-world staying true to the lyrics of the song, with the imagery mainly inspired by the works of female surrealist painters, the likes of Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Frida Kahlo, featuring Madonna in several different incarnations.
The video is filled with symbolism about birth, life and death, including Madonna's own desire to have children, along with visual effects that stood the test of time. It's no surprise the video was inducted to the Museum of Modern Arts.
While the video remains an absolute fan favourite and a highlight of Madonna's videography (prominently featuring on both the Video Collection 93:99 and Celebration Video Collection DVDs), the single itself is a much more dividing piece in her career. Written and inspired by the style of Icelandic songress Björk (co-written and produced by Nellee Hooper, who helmed Björk's acclaimed 1993 Debut album), its unconventional song structure that strays away from Madonna's usual pop sensibilities didn't make it a wise single choice after big airplay hits Secret & Take A Bow, most radio stations around the world didn't bother at all. Its release dates were also staggered, in the UK it came out a full month before the video premiered (while it's one of her very few singles that don't feature Madonna's likeness on the cover, it immediately became one of her best collectibles, with a limited edition second CD single and a gorgeous 12" vinyl editions), but in the US a month after the video debut, shortly after Take A Bow began its descent from the top. Eventually it became the first Madonna single to miss the US top 40 and her smallest airplay hit up to that point by far (only Love Don't Live Here Anymore & Nothing Really Matters would do worse on radio until 2003).
In the UK it did become a #4 hit, the highest peaking single from Bedtime Stories, thanks to the aforementioned collectible release and timed promotion. The single is still praised by fans for being the first European techno-electronica song in her canon which would open the gate for a lot more in the years to come. Surprisingly the song made its way to Madonna's second greatest hits compilation GHV2, being chosen over her actual ballad hits from the first half of the 90s. Naturally, the song hit big on the US Hot Dance chart, spending multiple weeks at #1, thanks to an array of remixes, mainly by Junior Vasquez.
9 years later, Madonna filmed another video for this single, as an interlude on the Re-Invention Tour. While a much simpler concept, visually just as stunning, Madonna is seen in the reinvented video in all white, set to the Orbital Mix of the song, along with a horse, with a lot of focus on the eyes and mirror images. This video was directed by longtime tour collaborator Dago Gonzales, and also makes a reference to another 1995 video, Human Nature.
Unfortunately Bedtime Story has never been performed live on a Madonna tour, and its only live performance came a week after the UK single release at the 1995 Brit Awards (as her first UK tv promotional performance since the Like A Virgin era), where Madonna gave a rendition of the Junior Vasquez remix with a flowing dress, hair extensions and incredible lightning, joined by Girlie Show dancer Luca Tomassini and his lookalike-dancer. Let's hope it gets a well deserved tour treatment in the near future!
MDG: Madonna enters eyewear with Dolce & Gabbana
Source: Swide - 16 March 2010Madonna isn't just a friend, muse and model to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana; with new eyewear brand MDG she has become a fellow designer, ready to wow us with shades fit for a film noir screen siren, of which we exclusively reveal a few models.
The Internet has been buzzing with rumours of the various design projects taken on by Madonna herself and details on what is perhaps the most exciting line yet were officially announced by WWD earlier today.
Madonna caught in the act with a beautiful stranger - a familiar stranger who is none other than our dearest Tyson Ballou. The paparazzo for the occasion was Steven Klein no less, and lending him a hand was legendary art director Fabien Baron.
Reading the words of happy Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce one definitely understands why this was a match made in accessories heaven: "Designing an eyewear line with Madonna was a new experience for us. The oversized and wraparound designs are sexy and very feminine, like our clothes. Madonna's creative contribution and unique point of view were key, even in designing the MDG logo."
Not just another celebrity collaboration - MDG is a whole new brand with Madonna, Domenico and Stefano as colleagues on the design team. Just imagine a day in *that* office... So far six models have been designed and here is an exclusive preview of two of them to keep you on your toes (but not too much) until the launch later this year in May.
Sticky & Sweet live album gets 4 iTunes bonus tracks
15 March 2010The 13-track live album of the Buenos Aires Sticky & Sweet show, to be released as a bonus with the DVD, is also going to be available on digital music store iTunes, with 4 additional bonus songs that are not on the physical CD:
Heartbeat
Borderline
4 Minutes
Ray Of Light
You can pre-order it on UK iTunes. Currently it seems the songs can only be bought altogether, as a bundle. The release date is the same as the DVD & Blu-Ray (March 26/29 in Europe, April 6th in US).
Madonna offers relationship tips on Marriage Ref
Source: AP via Yahoo - 12 March 2010Madonna doesn't think a wife should withhold sex from a sloppy husband.
But she believes a wife should dispose of her late husband's prosthetic leg to spare the feelings of the wife's current mate.
This was some of Madonna's relationship advice on NBC's "The Marriage Ref," where she joined actor-comedians Larry David and Ricky Gervais as a guest panelist on Thursday's edition.
The show invites its panel of "experts" to help analyze real-life disputes between married couples, mostly for laughs. Host Tom Papa, aka The Marriage Ref, makes the final call. In one case, Mindy Goldman was offering sexual favors to Alan, her husband of 28 years, if he would clean up their messy basement.
A good idea? "I think it's weird that she wants him to be clean so that they can be dirty," cracked Madonna. Gervais wondered, "Could they combine the sex with the housework?"
Then Susan and David Harper, married for three years, were seen in their house squabbling over possessions left over from their past relationships. Susan wanted her husband to get rid of the sofa where David and his ex-wife might have had hanky-panky, while David complained about Susan hanging on to the ashes and prosthetic leg of Don, her late husband. Madonna's swift solution: "He gets rid of the couch, she gets rid of the leg."
"This is easily the most uncomfortable hour I've ever spent in my life," sighed Larry David in the midst of the debate. "Why?" Madonna retorted. "Because you're sitting next to a woman who's standing up to you?"
"The Marriage Ref," which premiered last week, has Jerry Seinfeld as a creator and producer.
Madonna's next role: Fashion Designer!
Source: People.com - 10 March 2010From global pop sensation to high fashion model, is there anything Madonna can't do? Apparently not. Joining forces with Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (the company behind such labels as Candie's and Badgley Mischka), the Queen of Pop is set to take the fashion world by storm with the launch of her own style empire, called MG Icon. "Joining forces with Iconix to bring my fashion ideas to consumers is very exciting for me," says Madonna in a press release. First up will be a junior collection, appropriately labeled Material Girl.
Launching exclusively at Macy's stores and Macys.com in August 2010, Material Girl will include apparel, footwear, handbags and jewelry — all retailing from $12-$40. The collection was inspired and designed by both Madonna and her daughter Lourdes along with the in-house fashion team at Iconix Brand Group. And come 2011, Madonna plans to add beauty and fragrance options to her juniors line, so stay tuned for more details on Madonna's growing fashion brand. For now, we're counting down the days till we see what cutting-edge designs this quirky mother-daughter team come up with!
Madonna's message on International Women's Day
Source: Raising Malawi - 9 March 2010In my life, I've had the opportunity to meet strong, smart, independent women from every walk of life. They've inspired me in many ways, and continue to remind me that women around the world are connected by many common threads.
Sharing stories of women's achievements on International Women's Day is an amazing way to honor and pay tribute to the incredible women who have inspired us to be the people we are today. My dear friend and the CEO of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, Anjimile Oponyo, recently shared a story with me that I will never forget.
Please take just a few minutes to read a story from Anjimile that brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes.
Shared by Anjimile Oponyo:
Sometimes, if we're very fortunate, we meet the one person who will forever change the course of our lives. Working in the Planning Unit of the Ministry of Education in Malawi I met mine.
I met Nwanganga Shields, a Nigerian woman who was heading the World Bank team that was working on the Education and Health programmes in Malawi. I could not believe that this African woman had so much power; every time she sent a message that she was bringing her team to Malawi everybody in the Ministry was running around preparing for her visit.
She requested that I work for her, and with every meeting she gave me more challenging work—including me in the studies and giving me more responsibilities on the ground.
One day she said to me, “If you are doing this work without training then you need to go to graduate school.” She found a place for me at the George Washington University at the School of Education. The battle now was to convince the men in the Ministry to let me go.
She noticed that when we had meetings, I was always sent to go and inform the kitchen to bring the tea. One day as I stood up in the meeting she asked me why I was going to call for the tea when I needed to contribute to the meeting. She said this is the last time you are doing tea duty, you have a degree and you are going to graduate school. She asked the meeting if anybody had an objection, everybody was quiet. She said she would take it as agreement since nobody had objected. Nwanganga is an African woman and she knew that there was no agreement, the men around the table were just shocked and stunned.
After she left, I was called and informed that I would not be going to graduate school at the George Washington University—I was devastated. I believed I wanted an American education because I wanted to be like Nwanganga Shields, fearless, confident, knowledgeable and proud to be African. In all the time I knew Nwanganga, and even though she was married to an Irishman, I had never seen her put on western clothes! She was so proud to be African, even though her views and attitude were completely western.
I was so crushed to be calling Nwanganga to tell her that I would not be taking my place at George Washington as planned. I should have known this fearless, determined woman would not be stopped. Nwanganga immediately sent me to the British Airways office where she had a ticket to America waiting for me.
It took a month after I arrived, but she managed to convince the Ministry to allow me to start school. She helped me find a place to stay, she got me a tutor to learn even basic skills like keyboarding, and she got me a job at the World Bank so that I could continue to work on research projects.
Every time I was homesick or discouraged she would invite me to her house and cook me African food and remind me that it was important that I succeed for the sake of other Malawian women who had never been given the same opportunity because of the assumption that they couldn't do it.
She not only inspired me to strive to be like her, she inspired me to fight to open doors for other women.
If this one woman had not made that decision to fight so that I could go to graduate school I would have never left Malawi. I owe that one woman my education. Because of her I have educated my own children, and because of her my daughters do not think they might go to graduate school, they know they will. And because of this woman, every time a woman tells me that she wants to do something and there is a stumbling block in front of her, I start looking for solutions right away.
Nwanganga showed me that you should stop at nothing to open a door for a fellow woman. My way of saying thank you to her is helping other women the way she helped me. I took the job as Head of Raising Malawi Academy for Girls because it gives me the opportunity to do for hundreds of girls what Nwanganga did for me.
What an opportunity, to be able to say thank you to Nwanganga over and over again.
I hope that one day, when Raising Malawi Academy for Girls is open she will come to Malawi and speak to the girls in the school and give them the same inspirational talks she gave to me.
Jean Paul Gaultier dishes on dressing Madonna
Source: The Huffington Post - 9 March 2010Designer Jean Paul Gaultier talked to the Times UK about the creation of Madonna's now-famous cone bra, revealing that he was a fan of the songstress in the late '80s.
"She made her first concert in Paris in 1987 or 1988, and there was a party after. I was intimide, but she was first to arrive, waiting for everybody. She was like this always for 10 years, always on time but now... boof, finished! She is the last one," he said.
He offered to make a "super-special" outfit for her but she didn't exactly take him up on his offer.
Then, two days before my show, I receive a phone call. They tell me it's Madonna, but I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever.' I don't believe it's possible. But the next day I ask if it's true, and there is a number and I call and she answers and tells me to come to New York and we prepare for the tour."
However, being part of Madonna's sartorial crew also meant knowing a bit about her ex-husband Guy Ritchie's ensembles. At the couple's 2000 wedding, Ritchie donned a kilt...with nothing under it, Gaultier said.
"I ask him, 'It's true?' He say, 'You see!'" he says, miming Ritchie whipping up his skirt. And was it...? "Well, I understood Madonna! Hahaha!" he cackles.
Madonna signs actrice Abbie Cornish for her new movie
Source: NZ City - 8 March 2010Madonna has signed Abbie Cornish for her new movie.
The Australian actress has agreed to appear in the 51-year-old singer's forthcoming film 'W.E' - which tells the story of the relationship between Britain's King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. - as Wally Winthrop, a woman who is obsessed with the Duchess of Windsor's life.
Madonna - who split from British film director husband Guy Ritchie in October 2008 - was originally planning to play the part of Wallis, but has since reconsidered and is now said to be in talks with 'Up In The Air' actress Vera Farmiga.
The '4 Minutes' star - who will direct the movie - revealed next month that she wanted British star David Tennant to play the monarch, but is said to have changed her mind.
Madonna's only other directing credit is 2008's Filth and Wisdom, which starred Richard E. Grant and Eugene Hutz, although she has served as a writer on documentary 'I Am Because We Are'. 'W.E' is still in pre-production and has a preliminary release date of 2011.
David Guetta: "Madonna single will be out very soon"
4 March 2010Superstar DJ David Guetta gave an interview to australian ninemsn and the Madonna collaboration was once again mentioned:
Internet rumours have him working with everyone from Madonna to Rihanna - and most of it is correct.
Madonna?
"That's done, the single will be out very soon and it's amazing, I'm very happy," he said.
The One Love remix of Revolver has been out quite a while already so this is most likely an entirely new song. It is currently not known if there's a full album coming out in 2010 or just this one single. We expect this to be cleared up by the summer.
UPDATE: It is likely that the Australian press just used old quotes by Guetta. In the Herald Sun, he talks about the song of Madonna with Lil Wayne, even though he says he met Madonna, which sounds unlikely, considering it was a remix. Confusion lives...
Australian tour rumour is fake
Source: Herald Sun - 3 March 2010A HOAX email citing a Madonna Australian tour as early as July is circulating in music industry circles. The anonymous email claims Madonna's Celebration tour is planned to play 10 shows in Australia, with three at Rod Laver Arena. Claiming the tour is a "gift" to Australian fans by being indoor rather than outdoor, it also offered a chance to meet Madonna for $3000. The email claimed the cheapest tickets would be $249.
However, no Australian promoter has been linked to the tour, with many contacted yesterday filing the email under wishful thinking. "The last I heard - which was only a few weeks ago - was there was no Australian tour planned," promoter Paul Dainty told music reporter Cameron Adams yesterday. "Stranger things have happened, but it's not very likely."
Tour insiders yesterday said it would be near impossible to put a show of that magnitude on without tickets going on sale before now. Madonna has toured Australia only once, in 1993, and her manager promised her next tour would visit these parts after dodging us on three successive world tours. Her greatest hits set, Celebration, was a surprise flop last year, following on from the underperforming Hard Candy album.
Her manager, Guy Oseary, admitted Madonna had betrayed her Australian fans. "Madonna really needs to go to Australia," he said last year. "We are long overdue for a trip Down Under and apologise for that, it will happen."
In more realistic, and less anonymous news, Madonna's drummer, Brian Frasier-Moore, has said the singer will start touring next year.
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