Posted on 05/23/2006 3:53:44 AM PDT by MadIvan
MADONNAS world tour began in typically provocative fashion when the pop singer hung from a cross, shouted an obscenity at an image of President Bush, showed video footage that seemed to compare Tony Blair to Adolf Hitler, and writhed around on a device that combined a horses saddle with a strippers pole.
As if that were not enough, the singer also wore a crown of thorns, dressed up as various male icons James Brown and John Travolta included and even briefly played the electric guitar. Early reviews of the event on Sunday night were positive, but the show failed to produce the reaction so beloved by Madonna: shock.
Throughout the night Madonna worked hard, not just to stay on pitch and dance well, but also to connect emotionally to her material, Ann Powers wrote in a Los Angeles Times review that was positive but avoided superlatives.
Lyndsey Parker, on the Yahoo! Music website, was less reserved. She wrote: Despite the surprising and disappointing lack of an encore (what, no Like A Prayer?), during her breathless two-hour set the Divine Miz M justified not only her audiences love, but her somewhat exorbitant ticket price. It can safely be said that those 16,000 fans got their moneys worth, and then some.
The Confessions tour opened in Los Angeles and will travel across North America before resuming in Wales in July. From there it will move through eight cities on the Continent, then to Japan. With tickets priced at up to $380 (£200), the tour is expected to earn more than $200 million a record for a solo female performer. The tour comes amid rumours that the 47-year-old singers marriage to the British film-maker Guy Ritchie is under strain. He is reported to be making a behind-the-scenes documentary about the tour. The last film he made with his wife, Swept Away, a box-office disaster, was ridiculed by critics.
In true showbiz fashion, the concert began 50 minutes late. During the Christian-baiting crucifixion sequence, the singer was suspended on a giant mirrored cross, on which she sang the ballad Live to Tell. Video screens showed images of suffering children in third-world countries.
BAD TASTE
# Michael Jackson performed at the 1996 Brit Awards as a Christ-like figure in a crucifixion pose
# In 2004 a US church group staged a disturbing show for children in which the Easter Bunny was whipped and crucified
# Will and Grace announced a role for Britney Spears as the host of a cookery show titled Cruci-fixins
# Online game Roma Victor said that it would crucify cheaters in the virtual world
# Every Good Friday eight pious Filipinos volunteer to be nailed to crosses on a hill north of Manila
Want to bet she would not pull the same stunt with the faith of Islam???
You forgot Old, Ugly and Perverted.
You forgot Old, Ugly and Perverted.
re: 49
Agreed.
Yawn.
Madonna who?
:)
where did you get that pic in # 56? what is it supposed to be?
It is just a good healthy yawn, exactly the way I feel about Madonna.
correct-a-mundo.
impress me ... desecrate a koran on-stage, while eatin a bag o' pork rinds and drinkin a p.b.r.
It's a bit different in Britain. The largest group of immigrants now to our country are not from the Middle East. They're from Poland.
We'll have more of that, thanks. And anyone else from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, etc.
Regards, Ivan
20 years ago she was still cute, now just a tired old crow. Please retire and go away.
You are so right. When I was growing up - a long, long time ago you had to rely on you VOICE! Now, they can take a partially nude young girl turn her into a star by using tricks to make her sound better than she really is. Also, in my days people didn't rely on lavish sets, etc. They had to have TALENT!
I dont think the world has ever seen someone so bereft of character.
I remember reading way back when that Madonna gets regular waxings to remove her body hair. There is/was one lady who did the waxing and Madonna would have her flown to wherever she was when she needed her services.
It seemingly has become impossible for these has-beens to fade away since the money they make touring is so astronomical. According to Rolling Stone it has quadrupled in the last decade and 85-90% of it goes to the performers as opposed to 15-20% for CDs. Here are the richest rock stars in 2005 according to Rolling Stone. Not the prevalence of the geezer rockers.
1. U2 - 139 million
2. Rolling Stones - 92.5 mil - short tour
3. Eagles - 63.2 mil
4. Paul McCartney - 56 mil
5. Elton John - 48.9 mil
6. Neil Diamond - 44.7 mil
7. Jimmy Buffet - 44 mil
8. Rod Stewart (oh, come on!) - 40.3 mil
9. Dave Mathews - ?
10. Celine Dion - ?
There were only a few rap artists in the top 20 or 40 richest.
Secondly, music is becoming more democratic over time - the cost of entry into the market has fallen dramatically, and the money to be made is likely to become more "diffuse" as well.
To conclude, the era of the big rock star is coming to a close. We can be thankful for this.
Regards, Ivan
MADONNA (To her manager): I wanna do something new and exciting on this tour. I wanna do something that will shock everyone and put me on the front page where we both know I belong. I wanna be the one to break taboos! I want all those pathetic working class people to read about me and be shocked! Me! Me! Me!
MANAGER: Well, a few months ago a little cartoon in Denmark about Mohammed triggered riots and demands for censorship! Maybe you could mock Mohammed and sing a vulgar song while strapped to a giant Koran.
MADONNA: Um, gee, that sounds kinda dangerous...
MANAGER: Well, you could ridicule Buddhism. I haven't heard of any other act doing that.
MADONNA: Uh, well, like, my yoga instructor is Buddhist, and so is my cat's spritual channeler. I really like them and don't want to hurt their feelings.
MANAGER: Well, you could do what you've done for the past 20 years. You could insult Christians. It's safe, and will get you good publicity. And it doesn't insult anyone important. Besides, everybody else is doing it, and you don't want to be left out.
MADONNA: That's it! Get me a big, big crucifix and lots of swastikas!!!!
Boring blasphemous burlesque. Burlesque, satire, and sarcasm (the last refuge of an empty mind) seem to just about cover the full repertoire of "entertainment" offered up by too many lazy lame artistes.
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