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SEPTEMBER 28, 2007

Five acts will make it into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Madonna and the Beastie Boys are on the ballot on their first year of eligibility; this year’s nominees had to release their first single no later than 1982, the year that Madonna’s “Everybody” and the Beasties’ punk EP Polly Wog Stew came out. The other first-time nominees are Cohen, Bambaataa, Summer and the Ventures.

Doors opened wide for Madonna Louise Ciccone in 1982, after five years as a singer and dancer on New York City’s competitive club circuit. She signed with Sire Records (her label for the next 14 years) where her idiosyncratic persona exploded onto turntables, dance floors and airwaves and captured the imagination of the first generation of MTV viewers. She went on to become the top female star of the 1980s with seven #1 hits, three #1 albums and seventeen top ten hits in that decade. In addition to molding her public image, Madonna is a meticulous studio craftsperson and completely uninhibited stage performer. From her first #1, 1984’s “Like A Virgin” (produced by Nile Rogers of Chic) to her most recent two year Confessions campaign, Madonna remains one of the most ferociously original artists in music today.

Five new members will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The five inductees will be announced in January, 2008, and the induction ceremony will take place on March 10, 2008. All inductees are ultimately represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs.

Source: Madonna.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Here's something Madonna can really celebrate: a nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Madge joins heartland rocker John Mellencamp, the puckish rappers Beastie Boys and premier dance acts Donna Summer and Chic among the nine nominees for the hall. The five leading vote-getters will be inducted in the annual ceremony March 10, 2008, at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

The other nominees are rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, literate songwriter Leonard Cohen, the original British Invasion combo The Dave Clark Five and surf rock instrumentalists The Ventures.

The nominations illustrate how far the Hall of Fame has stretched its definition of rock 'n' roll to incorporate a variety of musical styles.
It's certainly the case with Madonna, the Detroit-area native who burst out of New York dance clubs in the early 1980s with "Holiday" and soon became a pop culture icon. She scored 17 Top 10 hits in the 1980s alone and is due to put out an album next year, working with the likes of Timbaland and Justin Timberlake.

The Beastie Boys molded punk rock and rap into the goofy hit "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right to Party." They became critical favorites and are still together, releasing an instrumental album this year.

Indiana's own Mellencamp can fill a barrel with rock hits like "Hurts So Good," "Pink Houses" and "R.O.C.K. in the USA." Like Chic and the Dave Clark Five, he's been nominated before without getting into the hall.
Some 500 musicians, industry professionals and journalists vote on the inductions. Check it out here

Source: AP

Madonna grossed more than £100 million for her 60-date Confessions tour, earning more than £1.5 million a gig.

The new edition of the Guinness Book of Records confirms the 49-year-old as the world's most successful female musician.

The Rolling Stones' Bigger Bang Tour took £219 million - making it the most successful tour ever - but they had to share the dosh between them.

The strangest Guinness music record goes to Jamiroquai, who performed at 35,000 feet in a specially converted Boeing 737.

British singer Katie Melua also managed to perform at 994 feet below sea level after boarding an oil rig off the coast of Norway.

But some things never change.

Bing Crosby's recording of White Christmas, released in 1942, is still the biggest selling record of all time, with around 50 million copies sold so far – and many more likely to follow in December.

Source: AP

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

Natasha Bedingfield has newfound respect for Madonna after she struggled covering the Queen of Pop's hit song Ray Of Light. The pretty British singer tackled the 1998 song for an album celebrating Radio 1's 40th birthday. She says, "I have so much respect for Madonna after learning how hard it is to sing that song. She has an amazing voice - the range you need to sing the song is incredible."

Source: ContactMusic

SEPTEMBER 25, 2007

Source: WENN

Grammy winner Annie Lennox has thanked Madonna for her support in raising awareness of AIDS in South Africa. The former Eurythmics star was thrilled with The Material Girl's contribution to the starstudded charity track Sing, which raises funds for South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign. She says, "It was really cool of her. "Madonna has a huge audience and her involvement will help to spread with word wider."

Source: ContactMusic

SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

Helping drive those big grosses are eye-popping ticket prices. Madonna charged an average of $183.76 during her 2006 North American tour, while tickets to the Stones' concerts here averaged $136.63 and seats to Celine Dion's "A New Day..." show at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas averaged $135.33, according to Pollstar.

How do they--or, more specifically, their concert promoters--get away with such prices? Simple: because they can. These older artists' fans aren't cash-poor college kids waiting tables to earn beer money. They're Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers who have the means to pay up to see their favorite stars.

Source: forbes.com

SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

Source: WENN

SEPTEMBER 17, 2007

Source: Novello Theatre

SEPTEMBER 16, 2007

Israeli website www.ynet.co.il are reporting that Madonna and Guy dined on the top floor so they'd have more privacy, also the security that surrounded the place asked people not to take pictures. However after she left the restaurant, people ran to the table and grabbed her used napkins and toothpicks! Also, it says that the restaurant offered her champagne on the house, but she wanted Israeli wine.

An Israeli police officer holds the car door for pop star Madonna and her filmmaher husband Guy Ritchie as they leave a restaurant Charka September 15, 2007 in Jerusalem, Israel.

U.S. pop singer Madonna sits in a vehicle after leaving a restaurant in Jerusalem, early morning September 16, 2007.

Source: AP / Reuters Via Yahoo! News

Reporter's Notebook: Dinner With the Material Girl in Israel

Covering the Middle East is never boring. Threats of a summer war between Syria and Israel have been hanging in the air for the last three months, Gaza is on edge and as a journalist you need to stand ready. You never consider going anywhere without your cell phone or Blackberry and Saturday night was no different. But I never expected that the ‘story’ would be sitting a table away from me on what would be a normal dinner out with friends.

A buddy’s parents were in town and a bunch of us went to our favorite restaurant Chakra to spend a bit of time with the out-of-towners. It’s a place we go so often that when my wife Katherine and I walk in the door at Chakra, the hostess simply points to our table or where the rest of our party is waiting at the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail. Familiar faces at our favorite place. Again, this night was no different, well, until three quarters of the way through our dinner.

On a normal evening we would be bummed sitting upstairs, it’s less chaotic but you are a bit removed from the action. Chakra is one of the few ‘hot’ places in Jerusalem and we had no idea how ‘hot’ this Saturday night would be.

Between the fish and meat courses, I was sitting at the end of the table with my back to the main part of the dinning room talking to my friend Kevin when I noticed two big dudes walk in with curly plastic earpieces – clear signs that they were security. No biggie in Jerusalem. You see that all of the time with the constant flow of politicians and negotiators here for a photo op or while working on the peace process meeting with Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

But this night, a few minutes after seeing the audio-wired heavies, I heard a little burst of applause, like someone was celebrating a birthday downstairs. Again not a big thing…until someone at the far end of our table whispered … ‘It’s Madonna.’

OK, all of us here knew she was in town. She has come here a few times over the last several years to visit sights important to a mystical form of Judaism called Kabbalah. I knew she was in Israel for the Jewish New Year, but it was in the back of my head.

So, needless to say, we were distracted during the last two courses of our dinner. Trying to maintain a bit of cool, I spaced out the times I craned my neck to six o’clock to catch a glimpse of the woman who had inspired the ripped shirt and holey stocking look donned by all of the women in my high school in the 1980’s. Unfortunately, my quick looks were only of the stomach of one of the ceiling-scraping security dudes or the shoulder of one of the men sitting at the most important four-top in all of Jerusalem on this Saturday night. All the diners upstairs had positioned their chairs at angles so they could sneak a peek of the Material Girl like sunbathers following the sun on the beach.

All of us at our table had about enough. After plenty of wine and about two more courses of food than we needed (Kevin’s joke of sending the leftover strip steak to Madonna’s table was met with a forced sinker from the excited-yet-stressed waitress), we made the tough call of leaving our five-star table for home.

I kidded Katherine that I should throw my jacket over her head and dash out of the front of the restaurant to fool the no doubt gaggle of photographers who gathered to grab a shot of Madonna’s ‘private visit’ to the Holy Land.

As we left the place that we know so well, we were slack-jawed when we made it to the sidewalk. The photographers were five deep and funny enough, there was our buddy Emilio, a talented AP photographer who has captured history here in the region. But today, he is sitting there waiting for Madonna to finish her meal. We walked over and chatted with him, yes, still on the cool side of the rope line. I told him all I knew about when she might come down and that he was positioned well for the shot. I kidded that Katherine and I should have run through the rope line so people thought we were part if the glitterati.

Just as we were exiting the security buffer, flashes exploded from all angles. Their wait had ended. The photographers were getting the money shot. A slight woman was being ushered through the crowd with a scarf over her head. It was her. It had to be her. But, alas, it was not Madonna, it was some guy who had the same idea as me and actually did it. After they plowed through the crowd, the scarf came off and out emerged his giggling girlfriend. Their ruse was met by a hearty round of applause.

“OK,” I said to Katherine, “next time we are so doing that.”

Source: Fox News by Scott Heidler

SEPTEMBER 15, 2007

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Madonna toasted the Jewish new year with Israeli President Shimon Peres and declared herself an "ambassador for Judaism," local newspapers reported Sunday.

The singer, who is not Jewish, arrived in Israel Wednesday on the eve of Jewish new year to attend a conference on Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism.

Madonna met Peres at his official Jerusalem residence on Saturday evening and the two exchanged gifts, with Madonna receiving a lavishly bound copy of the Old Testament.

She gave Peres a volume of "The Book of Splendor," the guiding text of Kabbalah, inscribed "To Shimon Peres, the man I admire and love, Madonna," the Yediot Ahronot daily reported.

A Peres aide confirmed the meeting but had no details.

"You don't know how popular the Book of Splendor is among Hollywood actors," Yediot quoted Madonna as telling Peres. "Everyone I meet talks to me only about that. I am an ambassador for Judaism."

Madonna, who was raised a Roman Catholic, has taken the Hebrew name Esther, and has been seen wearing a red thread on her wrist in a Jewish tradition to ward off the evil eye.

But her interest in Kabbalah in recent years has been criticized by Orthodox Jews, who say it is an abomination.

Other celebrities who flew in for the Kabbalah conference included movie star Demi Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, Rosie O'Donnell and fashion designer Donna Karan. Madonna came with her film director husband Guy Ritchie.

The Haaretz daily quoted Kutcher as telling a group of Israeli businessmen and entertainers on Saturday that Kabbalah had answered fundamental questions in his life and made him a better actor.

Rabbis who specialize in Kabbalah have criticized the interest by non-Jewish celebrities in the subject.

Jewish tradition holds that Kabbalah is so powerful and complicated that only bonafide students may begin to approach it and then only after age 40. Among the elements of Kabbalah are mystical revelations drawn from holy books by recombination of letters and other signs.

Rabbis were particularly incensed by Madonna's song, "Isaac," about the revered 16th-century Kabbalist rabbi Yitzhak Luria, which featured on her 2005 album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor."

During her visit, Madonna plans to visit sites sacred to Kabbalists. It was not known how long she intends to stay.

Madonna paid her first visit to Israel three years ago on another Kabbalah-centered trip.

"I can't believe that I'm celebrating the new year with you in Israel," Maariv newspaper quoted her as telling Peres on Saturday. "It's a dream come true."

Source: AFP by Steve Weizman

Madonna, who is in the midst of a Kabbalah tour of Israel, on Saturday stopped in on President Shimon Peres. He presented her with a copy of the Old Testament.

Guy Ritchie, center, is traveling with his pop star wife, who has been a student of Kabbalah for several years now. She recently took the Hebrew name Esther and wears a red thread on her wrist to ward off the evil eye.

The day before her meeting with Peres, Madonna was filmed singing and dancing at a Kabbalah conference in a Tel Aviv hotel.

Photos: Moshe Milner, GPO, AFP, AP, Reuters

SEPTEMBER 14, 2007

Here is the first picture of Madonna in Israel, attending a Kabbalah conference in Tel Aviv

JERUSALEM—Clapping and singing, Madonna joined in a Kabbalah conference Friday in Tel Aviv to celebrate the Jewish New Year.

Madonna was singing Jewish songs with the crowd of hundreds at the David Intercontinental Hotel, site of the conference on Jewish mysticism. At one point she pressed another participant—apparently a friend of hers—up to the front where he danced excitedly, making the singer and the crowd giggle and clap enthusiastically.

The 49-year-old pop star wore a black jacket with elbow-length sleeves that was held at the waist with a belt with a large buckle. She also donned a baseball-type, red-and-black plaid hat with her hair in a ponytail.

Madonna, who is on a private visit to the Holy Land, arrived Wednesday night. She didn't speak to the media, and the conference was closed to TV cameras.

Demi Moore and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, were also attending the conference in Tel Aviv, and were seen out on the city streets Thursday night.

Madonna was raised a Roman Catholic but has become a follower of Jewish mysticism in recent years.

She has taken the Hebrew name Esther and has been seen wearing a red thread on her wrist to ward off the evil eye.

Madonna made her first trip to Israel in 2004.

Source: The Associated Press / Photo: The Associated Press

SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

Madonna and her family will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur in Israel this year.

What is Rosh Hashanah?

According to the Sages, Rosh Hashanah is a return to the moment of humanity’s Creation, before the sin of Adam, before the seed of our personal and global tikkun (correction) took root. It is a return to the part of ourselves that is eternally pure and complete.

At the time of creation, our souls were perfect and completely fulfilled in ways unimaginable. And as there is no time and space in the realm of spirituality, this window of opportunity opens every year on Rosh Hashanah, allowing us to reconnect to that perfection within our soul. We can become a completely different person, a better person, a stronger person. Why? Because once we tap into this unadulterated aspect of our nature, we can carry that forward into the year to come.

But we do this work for more than just our own personal fulfillment. We do it for the world. On Rosh Hashanah, with so many sparks united together again as one, we can bring about the complete removal of pain and suffering from the world.


Rabbi: Madonna drawn to Judaism as evil is drawn to holiness
While the rest of Israel swooned over visiting international pop star Madonna, a leading Jerusalem-based rabbi expressed disgust over the invasion of the Jewish state by the singer and a small entourage of Hollywood friends.
Madonna was joined in visiting Israel for the Rosh Hashanah holiday by movie star Demi Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, Rosie O'Donnell and fashion designer Donna Karan, all of whom are practitioners of a cultish Hollywood-based version of Rabbinical Jewish mysticism, or Kabbala.
The director of a major Jerusalem-based Kabbala yeshiva told The Jerusalem Post that while he is unimpressed with the antics of Madonna and her friends, he is not surprised by their attraction to Kabbala.
“It is a known fact in Kabbala that impurity and evil are inherently attracted to sanctity. That's why people of Hollywood, a place of iniquity and lasciviousness, are naturally attracted to the holiness of Kabbala,” said the rabbi on condition of anonymity. “That's why someone like that lady - I don't even want to mention her name - is so attracted to the Kabbala.”
Despite not being Jewish, Madonna declared herself an “ambassador for Judaism” during a two-hour meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.
The version of Kabbala practiced by Madonna and other Hollywood stars has been roundly rejected by mainstream Kabbala and Torah scholars and rabbis both in the US and Israel.

What is Yom Kippur?

Yom Kippur is the single most powerful day in the calendar. After spending the previous nine days connecting, correcting, and creating our coming year, Yom Kippur is the day on which our destiny is sealed.

This day is a spiritual generator that gives us the power to harvest all that we have sown during Rosh Hashanah and the intervening days. The Zohar teaches that on Yom Kippur, the world is illuminated by the Light of Binah, the dimension of the Tree of Life that provides us with all the energy we need to actualize our greatest desires.

By disconnecting ourselves from any aspect of physicality, we can raise our consciousness higher and higher so that we can draw down all the treasures of life. An easy way to understand this is to imagine our local bank manager opening the vaults for 24 hours so that we could take as much money as we could spend in one year.

On Yom Kippur, through the support of the Rav and Karen, fellow students, and the land of Israel and the energy it exudes, we make every effort to absorb as much Light as possible, both for ourselves and the world around us.

Source: kabbalah.com

Pop star Madonna is coming back to Israel, and this time she's bringing her celebrity friends.

Madonna, last seen in Israel in 2004, is set to return. Demi Moore is expected to join Madonna for Rosh Hashana in the Holy Land.

Actors Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and fashion designer Donna Karan are among the famous faces scheduled to arrive as part of a Kabbalah Center tour being organized for the High Holidays, representatives of the organization confirmed Thursday. The trip was first reported in Yediot Aharonot.

The singer, who celebrated her 49th birthday last week, will travel on a private jet, joining several thousand other Kabbalah Center students for the first few days of the pilgrimage, a 10-day affair that kicks off before Rosh Hashana and will mix lessons in Jewish mysticism with visits to Jerusalem, the Galilee and the Golan Heights.

The trip marks Madonna's first appearance in Israel since September 2004, when the singer spent five days traveling the country as part of a private Kabbalah Center tour and study program.

As with her previous trip to Israel - the singer also performed a 1993 concert in Tel Aviv - Madonna will be joined by her husband, the English filmmaker Guy Ritchie.

In addition to the couple's three children, who include a baby boy the pair adopted in Malawi last October, the singer will be accompanied by Hollywood friends Moore and Kutcher, married Kabbalah Center enthusiasts who may also bring along Moore's ex-husband, the action star Bruce Willis.

For Karan, the trip marks the clothing mogul's second visit to the Jewish state this year, and comes four months after her in-person acceptance of an honorary fellowship at Tel Aviv's Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.

Israel's A-list holiday visitors will be joined on their trip by 3,000 Kabbalah Center students from around the world, who in contrast to their celebrity counterparts will arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport via regularly scheduled El Al flights.

Unlike other participants, Madonna is not expected to stay for the entirety of the program, though "maybe she'll be back here for the end, for Yom Kippur," said Asaf Levi, a Kabbalah Center spokesman.

Madonna's return visit represents the continued closeness of her nearly decade-long relationship with the Kabbalah Center, which first became public knowledge around the release of Ray of Light, the singer's spiritually-themed 1998 techno album.

Criticisms that the center has commercialized an ancient form of Jewish mysticism - its Web site sells $26 packages of red string to ward off "the Evil Eye" - haven't prevented the pop star's successful recruitment of her celebrity friends and acolytes, who include Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Among those accompanying the singer on next month's visit, Moore is "known to have waxed Kabbalistic" on the set of 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, according to an article published the following year in USA Today.

Levi declined to say whether more entertainers may join the upcoming trip, remarking that the issue "isn't closed, so I don't want to give any comments at this time."

The spokesman said Israel's press would be asked to keep its distance from the visiting celebrities, a request prompted by the national media's aggressive pursuit of Madonna on her last trip to the country, when she was heavily guarded by private security and a police escort. "We've talked about [those problems] and we hope it will be different," Levi said, adding that he couldn't be more specific about security precautions being taken this time around.

Madonna and her celebrity friends won't perform for the public, Levi said, though he held out the possibility that the singer would meet with Tourism Ministry or other government officials during her stay. The singer accepted a small gift from then-tourism minister Gideon Ezra during an official reception on her most recent visit, telling audience members that she and those she met on her trip "have one thing in common - we want to create peace in the world."

Should Madonna and her fellow stars end up meeting government officials during their stay, it won't be their first brush with the country's leadership. In a 2005 interview for Israeli television, Willis - still unconfirmed for the trip - expressed admiration for then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, with the Die Hard star commenting that he'd been impressed by the toughness of the veteran politician and army commander.

Kutcher, best known for his work on That '70s Show and MTV reality program Punk'd, had an even more direct encounter with the Israeli government last October, meeting with Shimon Peres briefly in Berlin.
In town to promote his latest movie, the Dude, Where's My Car? star put in a hasty request for a meeting with Peres after learning that he, too, was in the German capital on business.

At their meeting, Peres fielded questions from Kutcher about Israel's security situation, with Kutcher ending the conversation with a pledge to visit Israel someday with his wife.

Source: The Jerusalem Post

SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

"The English Roses," the phenomenally successful series of children's books by Madonna, is scheduled to launch a new series of chapter books on September 13, 2007 aimed at the "tween" market of readers aged 9-12, it was announced today by Puffin Books, the series publisher in association with Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The first four titles, which continue the adventures of five best friends living in London, are illustrated in a highly decorative, whimsical style by renowned fashion artist Jeffrey Fulvimari, who illustrated the original best-selling children's book of the same title (Callaway, 2003). The first four of twelve books -- "Friends for Life!," "Good-Bye, Grace?," "The New Girl" and "A Rose by Any Other Name" (Puffin/Callaway; Hardcover Fiction; $9.99; 128 pages) -- chronicle Nicole, Amy, Charlotte, Grace and Binah's adventures in the sixth grade. Throughout the series, the English Roses will have crushes, survive family feuds, make new friends, and overcome rivalries. The world of the English Roses will continue online at www.myenglishroses.net, where tweens can play interactive games, take quizzes, read horoscopes, download screensavers, and enjoy many other activities. In addition, "members-only" sections of the site will be accessible by using secret codes from membership cards found in all four books.

Madonna, a best-selling children's book author with six titles in the last three years ("The English Roses" [2003], "Mr. Peabody's Apples" [2003], "Yakov and the Seven Thieves" [2004], "The Adventures of Abdi" [2004], "Lotsa de Casha" [2005], and "The English Roses: Too Good to Be True" [2006]), has collectively sold three million books across 42 languages and 100 different countries. The first English Roses picture book debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Doug Whiteman, President of Penguin Young Readers Group, comments, "Madonna demonstrated in 2003 that she knows how to connect with kids through great stories and great characters. We are delighted to be part of this ongoing program, and can't wait to bring 'The English Roses' to a whole new audience."

Nicholas Callaway, Founder and Publisher of Callaway Arts & Entertainment, says, "Madonna knows girls. As one of the entertainment, cultural and fashion icons of our age, she will now take a new generation of girls on a great adventure in the life and times of the English Roses."

All of Madonna's proceeds from "The English Roses" series will be donated to Raising Malawi ( www.raisingmalawi.org ), an orphan-care initiative.

Source: Madonna.com

SEPTEMBER 11, 2007

JERUSALEM (AFP) - US pop diva Madonna and several other top Holywood celebrities who are fellow Kabbalah practitioners will visit Israel this week during the Jewish new year celebrations.

Madonna, who visited Israel in 2004, is due to arrive on Wednesday, said Assaf Levi, a spokesman for a Kabbalah centre in Tel Aviv which is sponsoring the visit said on Tuesday.

On Thursday she will be joined by US actors Ashton Kutcher, his wife Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell, and clothing designer Donna Karan, Levi told AFP.

The celebrities will all be staying at an upscale seaside hotel in Tel Aviv, he said, but declined to release details of their visit.

The ancient Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah has in recent years attracted a number of celebrities.

Madonna turned to it in 1997 after coming into contact with a Los Angeles-based Kabbalah centre that teaches an eclectic mix of Orthodox Jewish tradition, visualisation and positive thinking aimed at spiritual well-being.

In 2004 she took the Hebrew name Esther and is now reportedly observing the Jewish sabbath, although she has not converted to Judaism.

Source: AFP Via Yahoo! News

Arriving for her Pilates class at a north London gym

Leaving her Pilates class at a North London gym

Source: contactmusic.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUY - Celebrating his 39th birthday at London's fashionable Claridges restaurant

Photos: justjared / BIG

Leaving her gym in North London

Source: contactmusic.com

Canadian Magazines: Hello! - Top 10 Most Stylish Women - Madonna #2

Source: Hello! Magazine

Madonna's Chair, Warhol's Airmail Stamps Star in London Auction

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Marc Newson's ``Lockheed Lounge'' chair, once used by Madonna in a video clip, and Andy Warhol's ``Airmail Stamps'' are part of a design collection valued at 8 million pounds ($16.2 million) that Christie's International will offer in London during October's Frieze Art Fair.

The aluminum-and-rivet ``Lockheed Lounge'' chair from 1986, one of an edition of 10, has a top estimate of 1.2 million pounds. The Newson-designed object featured in Madonna's 1993 ``Rain'' video, according to http://www.powerhousemuseum.com . Warhol's 1962 tableau of airplane stamps has a high value of 1.8 million pounds.

The collection is being sold by a European couple who bought some furniture in the early 1990s for as little as $20,000, said Amy Cappellazzo, Christie's co-head of contemporary art, in a telephone interview on Saturday. Frieze, a contemporary art fair that runs Oct. 11-14, counted more than 63,000 visits last year, fueling auctions in the U.K. capital. This year it follows turmoil in the financial markets that has hurt some collectors.

``We're expecting broad interest in the collection,'' Cappellazzo said. ``You'll see U.S. decorators bidding with Europeans, old timers with pop art collections, and California people.''

Ten works by U.S. artist Ed Ruscha, which formerly hung on the walls of the collectors' house, are included in the sale, scheduled for Oct. 14.
London-based Christie's has held occasional auctions mixing art and furniture in New York. New York-based Phillips de Pury & Co. brought the concept to London.

Source: bloomberg.com by Linda Sandler

SEPTEMBER 8, 2007

Leaving her gym in North London

Source: contactmusic.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

The queen of pop leaving her London gym

Source: contactmusic.com

SEPTEMBER 5, 2007

Leaving Harry's Bar in Mayfair, London

Source: WENN

Arriving for her Pilates class at a north London gym

Source: contactmusic.com

SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

Madonna cycles home from the gym, accompanied by her driver. The Queen of Pop, dressed all in black including a black leather jacket, rolled up the legs of her tracksuit for the ride home.

Source: contactmusic.com

SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

Madonna attend the GQ Men of the Year 10th Anniversary at the Royal Opera House in London

Madonna presented the Inspiration award to her friend, the interior designer David Collins

Madonna and Elton kiss and make up

Pop legends Sir Elton John and Madonna have finally called a truce on their bitter three year feud. The row erupted after the bespectacled singer publicly accused the Material Girl of lip-synching on her tours during a foul mouthed outburst at a London awards ceremony in 2004. He denounced Madonna's Reinvention tour at the Q Awards, declaring, 'Madonna, best f**king live act? F**k off. Since when has lip-synching been live? That's me off her f**king Christmas card list but do I give a toss? No.'

But the superstars put an end to the fall out with an onstage embrace at Wednesday's GQ Men of the Year Awards, which John was hosting. He introduced Madonna by declaring their row was over: 'This is a moment you thought you would you would never see.' But John couldn't resist one last jibe, revealing that after their dispute he had 'written a grovelling apology and offered to join the Kabbalah'.

Source: contactmusic.com

Madonna and Guy leaving the GQ Men of the Year 10th Anniversary party

GO SEE "Desperately Seeking Susan" in London

Show Times

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Matinee	-	-	-	-	5:00	3:00	-
Evening	8:00	8:00	8:00	8:00	8:30	8:00	-

The official press release for the musical based on Madonna's 1985 "Desperately Seeking Susan" coming to the Novello Theatre in London's West End has been released:

Desperately Seeking Susan will open in London at the Novello Theatre on 12 October, with a press night on Thursday 15 November. This quirky love story is set in New York City's vibrant Lower East Side and driven by the pulsating energy of classic Blondie songs. Based on the smash hit 1980's movie, this new musical is a whirlwind fairytale of mistaken identity, magic shows and rock 'n' roll.

Featuring all the best-loved Blondie tracks, including "Call Me", "Heart of Glass", "Rapture", "One Way or Another", "Sunday Girl", "Atomic", "The Tide is High", "Dreaming" and "Hanging on the Telephone", the production will also introduce "Moment of Truth", a new song by Deborah Harry and Chris Stein, written especially for this feel-good romantic comedy musical.

Roberta Glass, a suburban New Jersey housewife, escapes her humdrum life by reading the personal ads placed by Susan, a street-smart New York City drifter, and her freewheeling boyfriend Jay. Through a quirky twist of fate, Roberta and Susan unexpectedly swap lives and are plunged into a madcap world of jewel heists, magic shows and rock 'n' roll. The collision of their identities takes them on a wild ride of transformation and discovery until they realise that just when you think you know where your life is headed, something magical happens and turns it all around...

Before there was Madonna and Gwen Stefani, Debbie Harry was rock's reigning blonde pin-up icon, and both are quick to acknowledge her inspiration, as are countless female (and male) rockers since. The ultimate pop-rock diva, Deborah Harry became an icon of the new wave scene and a queen of New York, incorporating the influence of culture pioneers like Andy Warhol, Giorgio Moroder and Fab Five Freddy into her fashion, look and, particularly, sound. With Blondie, she and Chris Stein brought the worlds of disco and rock together with Heart of Glass and Call Me and broke ground by combining hip-hop and pop on Rapture.

Desperately Seeking Susan will star Kelly Price as "Roberta" and Emma Williams as "Susan".

Kelly Price has starred in the title role of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Watermill Theatre and as "Sarah Brown" in Michael Grandage’s production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre and has also appeared in Mamma Mia. Emma's most recent theatre credits include "Johanna" in Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall', "Fran Kubelik" in Promises, Promises at the Sheffield Crucible and "Truly Scrumptious" in the original production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium. She has also starred with Steve Coogan in the British film The Parole Officer.

The show also stars Leanne Best, Mark McGee, Alec Newman and Jonathan Wrather and the cast includes Lucy Banfield, Matthew Boulton, Chloe Campbell, Matt Flint, Alex Gaumond, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Kaisa Hammarlund, Paul Hazel, Christine Holman, Steven Houghton, Toussaint Meghie, Twinnie-Lee Moore, Steven Serlin, Chris Piper, Laura Scott, Lincoln Stone and Gemma Whitelam.

The musical is written and conceived by American writer, director and actor Peter Michael Marino, whose other writing projects include Hollywood Nurses, an homage to lesbian pulp novels of the 1950s, which had a sold out run off-Broadway and is currently in development with The Drama Department in NYC for a 2008 opening. Peter wrote, produced and performed the title role in the critically acclaimed cabaret spoof Lance Jonathan: All About Me!, and its sequel More About Me!, which were met with critical acclaim, were nominated for several Mac Awards and received the Bsckstage Bistro Award for Outstanding Achievement. He has also directed and produced a dozen NYC premieres. As an actor, Peter provided the comic relief for four years in the Off-Broadway smash Stomp.

The musical is directed by Angus Jackson, an Associate Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, and choreographed by American Andy Blankenbuehler.

Set and costume designs are by Tim Hatley, with lighting design by Hugh Vanstone, sound design by Bobby Aitken and Brian Beasley and orchestrations by Martin Koch.

The show is produced in London by Susan Q Gallin, Ron Kastner, Mark Rubinstein, Joseph Smith for Old Vic Productions with Peter Kane, Nordby/Rawley Productions, Mary Lu Roffe in association with MGM On Stage, Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber and by special arrangement with Deborah Harry.

Creators:
Music & Lyrics by Blondie
Additional song by Debbie Harry
Book an concept by Peter Michael Marino
Directed by Angus Jackson
Choregraphy by Andy Blankenbuehler
Set and Costume design by Tim Hatley
Lighting design by Hugh Vanstone
Sound Designers Bobby Aitken and Brian Beasley
Orchestrations by Martin Koch
Casting Director Jill Green

The English Roses will be released on Sep 13, 2007. You can Order them at Amazon.com

Source: Amazon.com

The amazing Annie Lennox is back! Her PR machine clicked into high gear today and it was formally announced that the singer's new album is titled "Song Of Mass Destruction" and will be out in stores on October 2.
Click on the image above to get a better view of the very theatrical and slightly eerie cover art for the new album.

In addition to being an incredibly successful artist, Annie is a celebrated activist and humanitarian. The new album features the soaring and powerful feminist anthem 'Sing', born out of Annie's involvement with Nelson Mandela's 46664 and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - organizations fighting for human rights, education and health care for those affected by the HIV AIDS virus.

The track 'Sing' features 23 of the most recognized and successful female solo artists in the world, invited by Annie, to raise awareness and finances for TAC initiatives. Included among the group are superstars such as Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Celine Dion, Fergie, Faith Hill, Pink, Dido, Gladys Knight, kd Lang, Angelique Kidjo, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Melissa Etheridge, Anastasia, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall and many others, as well as TAC activist members own vocal group known as 'The Genetics', whose CD of music inspired Annie to make 'Sing' a reality.

Source: Amazon.com

LIVE EARTH 7.7.07 - LONDON - MADONNA

HEY YOU

RAY OF LIGHT

LA ISLA BONITA + Lela Pala Tute with Eugene Hutz and Sergey Ryabstev from Gogol Bordello