Madonna dresses as nun, husband like the Pope at Kabbalah party
Posted on 05/22/2006 6:13:07 AM PDT by Aquinasfan
LOS ANGELES - Madonna launched her first world tour in two years on Sunday, delighting an enthusiastic Los Angeles crowd by hanging herself from a cross, insulting President George W. Bush, and dusting off some of the sexy moves that have sustained her career for more than 20 years.
The "Confessions" tour will keep her on the road for two months in North America, and then resume on July 30 in Wales for a five-week stadium swing through eight European cities. Shows in Japan are also on tap for mid-September.
The 47-year-old dance diva spent two hours churning out most of the tunes from her new album, "Confessions on a Dancefloor," as well as a few old hits such as "Like a Virgin," "Ray of Light" and "Lucky Star."
The audience at the Los Angeles Forum included Madonna's Kabbalah guru Rabbi Yehuda Berg, socialite Nicole Richie, and gay icon Rosie O'Donnell, who upgraded herself to a premium seat on the floor and left her spouse alone in the stands.
The meticulously choreographed Vegas-style routine began 50 minutes late when a giant mirror ball was lowered from the ceiling to the end of a catwalk stretching deep into the floor. Out popped Madonna, in S&M-styled riding gear and whip, singing the new tune "Future Lovers" as four bare-breasted male dancers writhed around with ball gags in their mouths.
MADONNA, HITLER & BUSH
Later on, she donned a crown of thorns and suspended herself from a giant mirrored cross to deliver the ballad "Live to Tell." Video screens showed images of third-world poverty and reeled off grim statistics.
During one of her half-dozen costume changes, another video montage juxtaposed images of Bush, members of his administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with footage of Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. Midway through the new song "I Love New York," she deviated from the script and made a crude reference to Bush and oral sex.
Beyond that, she barely spoke to the audience, largely focusing on keeping control of a busy nightclub-style stage that boasted 15 dancers, four musicians and three backing vocalists. For the most part, she joined in the tricky choreography, her voice evidently not affected by the aerobic workout. She did pause for a few songs during which she appeared to play a shiny Gibson Les Paul guitar.
A disco segment near the end, where she dressed in a "Saturday Night Fever"-style white suit to perform "Music" thrilled the crowd, as did the "Like a Virgin" routine, when she climbed aboard a carousel-style black leather saddle.
There was no encore, and the lights came up as soon as she had completed a medley of "Lucky Star" and latest hit single "Hung Up" while sporting an illuminated white cape with "Dancing Queen" embroidered on the back.
Billboard magazine has forecast ticket sales could reach the $200 million range, making it the most successful tour by a female artist. Cher holds the record with $192.5 million from 273 shows on a "farewell" world tour that began in June 2002 and lasted almost three years, according to Billboard.
Madonna, on the other hand, is scheduled to play fewer than 60 dates on this tour. Similarly, her $125 million-grossing Re-Invention tour in 2004 and the $75 million Drowned trek in 2001 were also relatively brief.
What catapults her to the top of the leagues is her ticket price, topping out at $380 (including Ticketmaster fees) in most U.S. venues. However, it did not stop her from adding dates to accommodate demand.
Hey, look at me! I have nothing to offer, but I can shock you by mocking your religion!
She is Catholic too. So she is mocking her religion too. How crazy is that.
Oh that is not as bad as I thought. I mean I was afraid it was the wooden cross and her dragging it along the stage. This is just plain stupid and corny.
Oh, I'm not so sure that such is the case. Satan and one third of those living with our Heavenly Father at the time, were cast out of Heaven for rebellion, never to have bodies. Now that's a "mass market" if there ever was one, and I'd wager that every tormented follower of Satan is a big fan of Mad-Donna........
Her mother, a devout Catholic, died of breast cancer when she was five. Since then she has hated God for not saving the life of a woman who served Him so well and whom she needed so much.
Her entire personality, from her desparate need for attention, her relentless social climbing and her contempt for and desire for revenge on religious Christians is yawn-inducingly predictable.
She is a sad caricature - a person whose emotional development obviously ended at the age of 5.
She did get a raw deal. Not many girls her age have to go through that tragedy. I feel sorry for her. Her father did raise her Catholic and she still says she will always be Catholic. Poor girl lost her mother at 5. Did you?
"Madonna crucifies herself"
What does she do in the SECOND act?
(This may be history's shortest road tour.)
Quilla,
I change my mind. I see the picture closer and it is pretty sick. I wish I could erase my last post. Dang, why doesn't Freepers let us delete. Oh well. I will be blasted but I can take it. I was just posting on a picture that was much further away and I could not see her hands tied and that nasty crown of thorns. I am ready for the valid blasts coming my way. I have put on my bullet proof vest and standing by...
That's life. It can be hard.
Not many girls her age have to go through that tragedy.
Depends what you mean by "many." Believe it or not, thousands of small children lose a mother every year.
Her father did raise her Catholic and she still says she will always be Catholic.
She can say whatever she wants. However, "Catholics" do not join non-Catholic cults like Kabbalah, denounce the Catholic Church and mock its iconography.
Poor girl lost her mother at 5. Did you?
My mother lost her mother at age 6 to ovarian cancer. Yet my mother managed to be a faithful Catholic, devoted wife and outstanding mother - not a grandstanding, arrogant whore.
We all have tragedies in our lives - those tragedies do not justify vile behavior.
If she wants to criticize W, she should do it on FR like everybody else.
ROTFLMAO. That was funny. Obviously a joke, but a good one. Maybe you should call Leno.
ping
I thought you were, like, dead or something.
Your right on all counts. Your mother must have had a very strong father where I don't think that Madonna did. My grandmother lost her father at around 5 and she was a complete mess. My poor mother...Your right was all have lessons in life and tragedies, but sometimes it affects other differently. Honestly, I really don't have any real feelings for Madonna because I don't know her at all.
This must be titillating for homos... Pardon the pun.
You're both over-thinking her.
She wanted to be "rich and famous" and through force of will, smart business dealings and a semi-astute eye for population culture she got both.
Yes, she's one of the most successful women in pop culture managing a business worth a couple hundred million. And yes, she's lacking in any real talent. Prince,a guy with genuine talent, famously walked out on one of her shows because he was so offended.
What an artist, what a maverick, what a BRAVE GENIUS... We've never seen anything like that before...
It was much better than Cats...I'm going to see it again, and again...
You nailed that one 8-)
population = popular
I wouldn't look out my window to see that "ho" performing in my front yard!
Why doesn't she wear a burka and rip it off revealing her typical S&M costume or do something making fun of ISLAM!
She DISGUSTS me. I have never listened to or purchased her music and I NEVER WILL!
I wish she understood what Jesus did for her and for the rest of us on the cross He was nailed to.
Hopefully, her punishment will be that her daughter will grow up to be just like her or WORSE (if that is even possible)!!!
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