LISTEN, LOOK BEYOND CRUCIFIX

NY Post ^

[frogjerk]

ay 25, 2006 -- 'THIS IS who I am/You can like it or not/You can love me or leave me 'cause I'm never gonna stop."

So sings Madonna.

FORGET THE crucifix. No, really. It has already become the visual image of Madonna's spectacular (and spectacularly ambitious) "Confessions" concert. But as usual, there is more to M's work than meets the eye. The "blasphemous" sequence, in which she sings "Live to Tell" suspended on a cross, is accompanied by desperate images and dire statistics about children dying of AIDS in Africa. Why the cross? Don't ask M, who'll only tell you her work must speak for itself and she believes in the intelligence and imagination of her audience.

In spite of the crucifix controversy, this show contains some of the great set pieces of Madonna's career. "Music" is transformed into an homage to 1970s disco in general and John Travolta in his white-suited "Saturday Night Fever" persona in particular. This incredible number is worth the exorbitant price of admission. There is her entrance from the ceiling in a giant glitter ball . . . "Like a Virgin" performed in her dominatrix equestrian outfit, playfully gyrating like a 20-year-old on an oversized saddle . . . "Ray of Light" and "I Love New York," display Madonna's impressive guitar licks and her ability to command the stage as a rock-chick extraordinaire. "I Love New York," which is one of the weakest songs on her "Confessions" album, comes alive, thanks to Madonna's ferocious in-the-flesh tackle of it. The sinewy, sometimes androgynous singer/dancer channels Iggy Pop in her angry, defiant "Let It Will Be," and then switches moods instantly with a haunting "Drowned World." Both songs question fame, in a different frame of mind, reflecting Madonna's continuing search for peace within this maelstrom of her

[frogjerk]

Liz Smith is an absolute ass. Madonna is untouchable but Mel Gibson's Father is fair game.

[mtbopfuyn]

Didn't like Madonna decades ago and still don't like her.

[SkyPilot]

Liz Smith is what I expect of a shriveled up lesbian.

Yesterday, she posted a rant saying that Rumsfeld was wrong to assert there are "thousands of Generals" out there who have not gone public to disagree with him.

She dug up some Vanity Fair writer to agree with her that there were really only a few hundred "Generals" - because they only wanted to count full 4-star Generals. So all the one, two, and three star Generals are not really Generals, because Liz Smith and Vanity Fair say so.

Then, Liz Smith said that all the retired Generals and Admirals don't count either, because Liz Smith and Vanity Fair say so. Got it!

So Liz Smith says Rumsfeld was wrong, and......so there!

She is a mental midget, immoral, and completely talentless.

[PC99]

The statement "In spite of the crucifix controversy, this show contains some of the great set pieces of Madonna's career..." reminds me of "apart from that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln"?

[Frank_2001]

"A mental midget, immoral, and completely talentless". She and Madge have so much in common!;)

[silverleaf]

We all know that what "Madonna" spends on a day's limousine service would pay for AIDS medications for a dozen children.

Question: did she tie a piece of red kabbalah string around her faux crucifix?

[trisham]

FORGET THE crucifix. No, really

**************

No. Not likely.

[wizardoz]

The "blasphemous" sequence, in which she sings "Live to Tell" suspended on a cross, is accompanied by desperate images and dire statistics about children dying of AIDS in Africa.

Ah yes. Children dying of AIDS always make such good backdrops for a woman in a spotlight. And they aren't unionized, so you don't have to pay them or anything! It's really cool.

[Northern Yankee]

Heard about this a few days ago.

[AmericanRepublican]

Hahahaha...

I know that's not funny but... okay that was funny, LOL! And it's so true.

[Savage Beast]

"Especially as she makes her political point powerfully in a video montage that includes George W. Bush existing side by side with Hitler, Mussolini and other charmers"

This insult to the victims of the Third Reich, fascist Italy, et al. and to the American people speaks volumes about Madonna and Liz Smith.

[Recon Dad]

You need plenty of props when start looking like Bette Davis in Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.

[OpusatFR]

Good Grief.

What absolute dreck. The multi-multi almost billionaire playacting about problems many good people in the US and throughout the world are attempting to solve and into which have poured their sweat, lives, careers, money, and intelligence, not to mention their research.

Such self-aggrandizement deserves a raspberry instead of the "Ooooh-Look-At-Me-Award-I'm-Being-Socially-Conscious-While-Doing-Jack-About-The-Problem" award.

I never look at a jackass and call it a horse.