Madonna HOME

By Sonia Murray

 It is so easy to get caught up in the self - generated swirl that is Madonna.
 The sexually - charged themes of her music, performances and costumes over the course of her 21 professional years. The 'sex' book. The children's book. The kiss. The Kabbalah. And the latest about her wanting to be called Esther.
 It's enough to make you weary way before you learn that attending her greatest hits concert billed as the Reinvention Tour could cost you up to 0; one of the priciest tickets this summer for a star with fading record sales.
 But then you see Madonna alone on stage confidently strutting along the moving sidewalk during 'Nobody Knows Me,' or playing the guitar exceptionally well during 'Burning Up,' and it is hard not to marvel at the force she is all by herself.
 From the moment the 45 - year - old appeared on stage at Philips Arena in Victorian costume and ageless shape, until the confetti came down two hours later during 'Holiday,' Madonna's 'Reinvention' commanded the senses.
 Sometimes it was the jarring, jittery images flashed on the ever - changing screens of her backdrop.
 Even the brief interludes packed with trapeze artists, a skateboarder, a tap dancer, a bagpipe player and a drum corps deserved ovations.
 But Madonna simply, finally, appealing to her ravenous audience by doing her ever - catchy hits 'Vogue,' 'Express Yourself,' 'Material Girl,' after 'Into the Groove' and all was without question the biggest pleaser.
 The last time she performed in Atlanta, three years ago during the 'Drowned World' tour, her focus was current - album heavy and there was little to no attempt to connect with the audience. This time around there were holes on the side of the stage, MTV Awards - show style, so that fans could dance right along  though just below her.
 And there were plenty of opportunities. In fact, even thuds like 'American Skin (LIFE)' and that awful rapping the still - capable vocalist does during 'Mother and Father' became somehow slightly more tolerable reimagined for the live audience.
 'Don't ever tell me,' Madonna sang three - fourths into the concert, almost as if she was testifying. 'I saaaiiid don't ever tell me. Don't you ever, ever, ever, ever tell meeee. Toooo stoooop.'
 Yeah right Madonna, like you would listen.
 Or more importantly, after performances like this, like someone would actually suggest such a thing.

 CONCERT REVIEW
 Madonna Saturday night and tonight at Philips Arena.

 The Verdict
 Even more seamless than one of the most well - choreographed careers in pop musi

Angela Pacienza

TORONTO (CP) - The original Material Girl strutted, writhed and wriggled Sunday, showing her fans she still had the goods to compete with performers half her age.

 Madonna's concert, the first of three in Toronto, was an over - the - top theatrical production complete with costume changes, choreographed dance numbers and an ever - changing stage. After an awkward, avant - guarde video display where she appeared to turn into a wolf, the 45 - year - old singer opened with Vogue, her tribute to New York club life.

 Dressed in a glittery corset, black short - shorts and knee - high boots, Madonna sashayed from one end of the stage to the next with the help of a moving sidewalk - a conveyer - belt built into the entire front section of the stage.

 Aptly - titled the Re - Invention Tour, the set went through several incarnations, at times appearing as a Renaissance painting, a war field, a circus, a traditional concert stage with a full band in the centre and finally, a dance club.

 Moving parts included a V - shaped catwalk that dropped down on top of the floor seats, giving Madonna greater access to fans at the back end of the Air Canada Centre.

 It's been 11 years since Madonna's strutted on a Canadian stage and fans showed they've been patiently waiting with thunderous applause throughout the show.

 "It's good to be back, Toronto," she told more than 16,000 fans who paid up to 0 - considerably more than the top - ticket price of for her 1993 stop.

 "Just because I've changed my ways doesn't mean I don't still like to have fun."

 She briefly mentioned a run - in with Toronto police in 1990, when officers investigated reports of lewd acts during her concert.

 "I'm a good girl," she purred.

 The Material Girl has re - invented herself dozens of times since she left her Michigan working - class home in the late 1970s. Her most memorable persona was the sex - crazed diva, a harbinger of the current generation of pop music tarts.

 She offered the crowd some of that sauciness on Sunday with suggestive dance moves - although the show was relatively tame compared to her former self. Instead of sexual provacativeness, she filled the two - hour set with religious iconography.

 An illustration of Jesus was her backdrop for Mother and Father. She wore a T - shirt with the words Kabbalists Do It Better during Papa Don't Preach.

 Madonna's calmed down considerably in recent years, with her current role of demure mother, children's book author and spiritual practitioner. The show seemed structured to show off Madonna's new maturity, urging people to think about government, religion and world events, rather than push the usual buttons with simulated sex scenes.

 Her fans didn't seem to mind and said they continue to support her chameleon career.

 Carla Filoso drove from Ottawa for the show.

 "She's probably the most influential artist of our time," gushed the 24 - year - old, who spent 0 on her floor seat ticket. "She's re - invented herself about 100 times."
Natalie Michaud thought the '80s icon was worth buying a ticket from a U.S. scalper for 0 US. On top of that price, the 25 - year - old psychology student flew from Grand Falls, N.B. with her boyfriend for the show.

 "I grew up with her. I love her," she gushed from her floor seat.

 Madonna didn't disappoint, working her way through the maze of past hits with confident ease, even finding inventive, modern ways to interpret her '80s songs.

 Express Yourself saw her treat a rifle like a baton, twirling it round and round and giving the song a more political slant. Burning Up, a syrupy pop ditty from her first record, became a bold, new wave rock song.

 Wielding an electric guitar, Madonna belted out her signature song, Material Girl to some of the loudest screams of the night.

 Other hits included Frozen, Into the Groove and Crazy for You.

 Madonna, who found time earlier in the day to stop in at the city's Kabbalah Centre, proved herself a versatile performer, putting on a Vegas - style show that left the audience panting right until the red - and - white confetti sprayed overtop during the finale, her song Holiday - the singer's first Top 40 hit back in 1983.

 With a huge library of songs to choose from, Madonna seemed to have picked one to represent her many image makeovers.

 Lament, from Evita, showed a bit of the sophisticated lady. Like a Prayer was her first religious foray. Hanky Panky, from the film Dick Tracy, reminded fans of Madonna's many attempts to conquer acting.

 Her button - pusher attitude was let loose during American Life, with dancers dressed like soldiers attacking others dressed as religious figures including a nun and a rabbi.

 She performs again Monday and Wednesday. The three Toronto shows are her only stops in Canada. Her tour ends in Lisbon in mid - September.

By JANE STEVENSON - - Toronto Sun

  TORONTO - - After an 11 - year absence, Madonna returned to Toronto last night with the first of three sold - out shows at the Air Canada Centre.

The 45 - year - old pop icon notably didn't bring her 2001 Drowned Tour to T.O., disappointing fans, but she seemed to have been forgiven last night judging from the roaring reception.

"Ah, it's good to be back in Toronto," she said towards the end of her hour - and - 50 - minute set. "It's been so long. Just because I have two children doesn't mean I don't like to have fun."

Believe it or not, Madonna last performed in this city in 1993 with her sexy Girlie Show Tour at SkyDome. (She mistakenly remembered her last visit as the infamous 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour saying: "The last time we were here, the police almost arrested us. I'm a good girl.")

But back in 1993, she was a vastly different artist, single and childless, and without her new - found faith in Kabbalah, the study of a kind of Jewish mysticism that has found her choosing the Hebrew name of Esther for herself.

Not to give anyone the wrong idea.

Last night's show - - which began 45 minutes later than scheduled and found 17,000 anxious fans chanting "Madonna! Madonna!" - - was still a hi - tech, flashy and fun affair but overall more tame, and slightly preachy with plenty of Bush - bashing, anti - war messages and Hebrew references.

 Like the L.A. tour launch on May 24, a select group of fans were guided into tiny pits on either side of the stage before the concert began for a first - class view of Madge, although five giant moving video screens enabled the masses farther away to get a good look at The Material Girl. (Given her tour merchandise ranged from for a keychain to 5 for a pink hooded sweatshirt - - so much for her claim she's now The Non - Material Girl.)

Kicking off the night with a slick, stylized video and recorded spoken - word monologue called The Beast Within, the concert really began when Madonna made her big entrance laying down on a platform that came out of the stage floor to the opening strains of her 1990 uber - hit Vogue.

She was quickly joined by nine dancers, all dressed in French period costumes, with her seven - piece band divided into two camps in the shadows on either side of the stage.

 The biggest production number, however, came during the title track from her 2003 release, American Life, which saw a gleaming silver catwalk descend from above for a fashion show featuring Madonna's dancers dressed as everything from a rabbi, a priest, a nun, an Arab, etc.

By this point, Madge - - who began the night in a sparkly champagne - coloured corset top, short black shorts and knee - high black boots - - had changed into army fatigues and a black beret with the rest of her dancers brandishing rifles for army - themed choreography.

The background video, meanwhile, was sober images of victims of war ending with a Bush and Saddam Hussein look - alikes sharing a cigar. (Similar video of children in war - torn countries was shown during her cover of John Lennon's Imagine.)

Because this is called the Re - Invention Tour, many of Madonna's songs were reworked, some better than others.

Often she appeared as a solitary figure on stage playing the electric or acoustic guitar on such songs as Burning Up and Material Girl or the new tune, Nothing Fails, respectively.

The weakest link in the entire show was the circus - themed third portion where, for some unknown reason, Madonna dragged out the awful Dick Tracy song Hanky Panky, and turned the normally robust dance song Deeper And Deeper into a cabaret ballad.

Thankfully,that segment was saved by a wonderfully inventive tango version of her James Bond theme song, Die Another Day, before she was placed in an electric chair for the Evita number, Lament.

Other crowd - pleasers proved to be a mix of old and new songs like Frozen, Express Yourself, Don't Tell Me, Like A Prayer and Music.

 Although Get Into The Groove, which featured bagpipes, drums and Madonna and her dancers in kilts, and the show - ending Holiday, complete with red - and - white confetti and another stroll down the catwalk, have to be singled out for special mention.

 Madonna wraps up the North American leg on her Re - Invention tour on Aug. 2 in Miami before heading over to Europe.

Otherwise, she plays two more shows at the ACC, tonight and Wednesday. The Toronto shows initially sold - out in a record - setting 80 minutes but more seats were released once the Re - Invention production was finalized.

 Rumoured among those to be in attendance last night were Madonna's two children - - seven - year - old daughter Lourdes, a.k.a. Lola, and three - year - old son Rocco - - and hubby Guy Ritchie.

Warner Vision Intl. has won the rights to release the long - awaited DVD of Live Aid, the biggest concert in rock 'n' roll history.

Warner will put out the historic four - disk Live Aid set on Nov. 1 worldwide.  The concert, which took place July 13 1985 in London
and Philadelphia, raised over 0 million to fight the African famine. Over 1.5 billion TV viewers watched the event.
It featured all the biggest rock and pop acts of the time, including U2, Sting, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael, The Who, Madonna, Queen, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Phil Collins and many, many more.

Vote for Madonna's Hollywood in the 2004 MTV Viewer's Choice Pre - Nomination Award....you can vote as many times as you like!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

NOTE All other artists are listed alphabetically EXCEPT Madonna who is right at the bottom of the list - so scroll down the page till you find her name

This just in from Madonna's management:

The Lisbon concert at the Atlantico Pavilion originally scheduled on September 12th has been moved to September 13th.  On sale date to be announced soon.

By ANTHONY J. SANFILIPPO  

 I savored a new recipe over the holiday weekend, and I'd like to share it with you.
 Take Cirque du Soleil, mix it with a little "Moulin Rogue," the X - Games and old - time Burlesque shows, add a dash of animosity toward our government and a whole heaping helping of Broadway, and you've got the best stage performer in the world today.

 Madonna.
 
Let me start off by saying that what I shared with the 20,000 members of the Madonna Nation Monday night at the Wachovia Center was not a concert.

No, my friends, it doesn't take much to figure out why the pop diva dubbed this the "Reinvention Tour." it's not because she reinvented herself, although she is a much more tame performer now as a 45 - year - old mother than she was in her days as a provocative sex symbol, but instead because she has forever changed the concert experience.

What we were treated to was a full - tilt, non - stop, three - ring circus extravaganza that had your mouth agape, your heart pumping, and your eyes fighting with themselves as to where to look next.

My first observation in recollecting the evening's festivities is that I learned three things as fact.

1. Despite criticisms to the contrary, Madonna can sing, and sing with verve, with passion, and with a deft talent that never misses a note, even while she maintains pinpoint accuracy on all the dance numbers.

2. Not only can she sing and dance, but she can play the guitar as well, as was evidenced in several numbers when she played the instrument that she taught herself to play a mere four years ago.

3. The choreography of the entire show was perfect. And I mean perfect. So perfect that I was stunned at its precision. As a veteran theater - goer who has seen hundreds of musicals and dance routines, I can honestly say that what I saw on the stage this past weekend was better than all the rest combined.

There was so much to see that I Can't describe it all here, but what stood out was the brilliant white tuxedoed - tap dancer; the red - top hat - wearing breakdancer, who windmilled around the stage doing things that didn't seem physically possible; the mohawk - wearing skate boarder who careened up and down a half - pipe; the Scottish bagpiper, who danced with Madonna as he flawlessly played away on his instrument; and the three trapeze artists who undulated in perfect synchronicity while dangerously flying out over the audience.

The costumes of the Maddonistas were equally eye - popping, ranging from army fatigues to Scottish kilts (and the audience did see what they were wearing underneath), to a flapper - esque '20s show girl look, to an anti - war eclectic ensemble that saw a nun, a few Middle Easterners, a few soldiers, a Confucius look - alike, and a bishop all being disrobed by some men with guns.

As for the music, the fans couldn't have had a better treat. After years of blowing off her older music, Madonna reverted to her '80s roots and gave the fans great renditions of her classics.

She opened with a stylized yet fun rendition of "Vogue" and finished with a confetti - laden, party atmosphere with "Holiday."

In between she wowed the crowd with a remastered "Material Girl" and classics like "Into the Groove," "Papa Don't Preach" and "Express Yourself."

She sneaked in a couple of songs from her latest album, "Nobody Knows Me," and "American Life."

She made her anti - Bush commentary, begging the crowd to register to vote and not let the president lead the country astray.

She immediately followed that statement with a wistful, and fun rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" which inspired older fans in the crowd to unleash the cigarette lighters.

But perhaps her two best songs of the night were the dance - heavy (and I mean the crowd, including yours truly) "Music" and the showstopping "Like a Prayer."

The one disappointment was the lack of an encore - which I know is a Madonna staple, but hey, when you charge folks 0 a ducat, I think you owe them at least one return trip to the stage.

Nevertheless, that was only one small blip on a huge radar screen that announces to the world that the original pop diva has plenty left in the tank, and remains the greatest entertainer on the planet.

Madonna has an unbelievable gift for ICON members! The chance to win a Gibson Guitar identical to the one that she plays in the Re - Invention Tour, except for you it's signed by the lady herself!
 It's time to put your love for Madonna to the test and Re - Invent yourself! Here is the contest: Madonna has had many faces and looks through the years. Sometimes brunette, sometimes girlie blond sometimes dressed with highly sophisticated outfits but also sometimes very pure and natural.
 Your mission, if you choose to accept it, will be to pick up one of those looks and re - invent yourself by turning your own appearance into Madonna's! No, you are not dreaming, we are asking you to try and look like Madonna herself!
 No matter if you're a boy or a girl, strike a pose dressed like Madonna and sending us your Re - Invented shot, as well as the original Madonna image you decided to copy.

 For more details about the competition please visit ICON - the closing date is 31 July

Madonna's Yakov and the Seven Thieves Debuts at No. 7 on The New York Times' Best - Seller List

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire/ - - Callaway Arts & Entertainment is pleased to announce that Madonna's third children's book, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, will debut at No. 7 on The New York Times' July 11, 2004 best - seller list three weeks after its June 21 release. Yakov and the Seven Thieves will be Madonna's third book in a row to hit The New York Times best - seller list in the children's picture book category.
 
Madonna's first two children's books, The English Roses and Mr. Peabody's Apples, both debuted at No. 1 on the best - seller list of The New York Times, and remained on the list for 18 and 10 weeks, respectively. Both books have appeared in 38 languages, plus a Braille edition, and in more than 110 countries worldwide, including England, France, Germany, China, Slovenia, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.

Yakov and the Seven Thieves, written for readers aged six and up, is a 32 - page jacketed hardcover. The book's evocative images were painted by Gennady Spirin, an award - winning artist, who has illustrated 33 previous children's books.

Madonna says Yakov and the Seven Thieves "is a story about how all of us have the ability to unlock the gates of heaven - - no matter how unworthy we think we are. For when we go against our selfish natures, we make miracles happen, in our lives and in the lives of others."

Callaway Arts & Entertainment, headquartered in New York, is the originating publisher of Madonna's children's books and has licensed book rights through The Wylie Agency to 42 distinguished houses, including Gallimard Jeunesse in France, Penguin Books for Young Readers in the U.K., and Hanser Verlag in Germany. The book is distributed in the United States by the Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Publisher and CEO of Callaway Arts & Entertainment, Nicholas Callaway says, "The response to Madonna's books has been overwhelming. She strikes a chord with both parents and children, creating stories that both speak to them and entertain them."

Callaway Arts & Entertainment, founded in 1980 by Nicholas Callaway, is best known for its hugely successful Miss Spider book series. The firm specializes in family entertainment across all media - - book publishing, 3 - D computer animation for film and television, and product design.

Yakov and the Seven Thieves is the third of five children's books by Madonna. "Each book deals with issues that all children confront," she says. "Hopefully there is a lesson in each book that will help kids turn painful or scary situations into learning experiences. I hope [they] inspire kids of all ages - - even grown - up ones."

Madonna's FOURTH CHILDREN's BOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF ABDI, WILL BE RELEASED WORLDWIDE ON NOVEMBER 8, 2004.

Canadian fans now have a chance to win pit tickets for the Re - Invention shows at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto with www.muchmoremusic.com

Madonna has made a career out of reinvention - and you've been with her every step of the way.
Now, we're giving you the chance to win VIP passes to Madonna's Reinvention Tour - giving you exclusive access to the Dance Pit right by the side of the stage! it's the ultimate way to experience Madonna live!
If you'll be in Toronto between July 18 - 21, enter the contest for your chance to win www.muchmoremusic.com

Madge dedicates "Crazy for you" to her adoring fans!

From the Boston Globe By Joan Anderman

 Even before the mohawked skateboarder began riding the half - pipe during 'Hollywood,' interest in the thin red string circling Madonna's left wrist had vanished. As well it should have. With a two - hour show this gorgeous and this artful, Madonna hardly needed to rely on a spiritual stunt to generate the sort of excitement that, 20 years into her iconic pop career, she's still capable of conceiving brilliantly and executing it masterfully.
 That said, she takes pleasure in keeping us guessing. Or maybe she's just an equal - opportunity disciple, happy to give props to Hebrew script and Jesus on the cross, which were both featured prominently on video screens.
 More to the point - this is a concert, not a celebrity inquest - in the era of over - the - top arena spectacles, Madonna has taken the concept to a new level. Without a unifying thread and in defiance of every aesthetic law known to man, she wove elements of burlesque, extreme sports, rock concerts, Cirque du Soleil, military drills, art installations, dance theater, yoga, and antiwar rallies into a whole. And seamlessness was merely the icing.
 The 'Re - Invention' tour, which sounded so desperately self - referential on paper, turns out to be impossibly accurate. Madonna manages to reinvent her reinventions. She gilded 'Vogue' with a French court twist, delivered an irony - free 'Material Girl,' deepened 'Into the Groove' with bagpipes and kilts, and redefined 'Express Yourself' as a drummer boy's march into battle.
 The latter tune featured the fatigues and rifles from the proceeding number 'American Life,' but the jarring image neatly summed up what Madonna's career has been about: Mindful confrontation, artful provocation, and the use of every part of her body and mind to spark her own little culture wars.
 She's never sounded better. The treated chirp of her early years, which morphed into the dreadful earnestness of the 'Evita' era, has matured into a strong, clear singing voice. A few years ago the idea of Madonna standing alone at a microphone singing 'Frozen' would have been a dubious one. Last night she commanded her spectacle and her music with equal clarity.
 Describing the breath of the pageantry during 'American Life,' her most blatant political statements, images of firestorms, screaming helicopters, and wounded children flashed on video screens while dancers dressed in religious frocks (this being a Madonna show, the habits and burkas were minis) traversed a massive V - shaped catwalk above the audience. Sure it was preachy. Timely, too.
 She's traded in her bullet bra for spangled hot pants, disco beats for finger popping, and transformed 'Hanky Panky' and 'Deeper and Deeper' into noir numbers. Likewise, the abstract ballroom choreography of 'Die Another Day' was an elegant antidote to the rote gyrations favored by the next generation of pop stars.
 A blipping, bloated take on John Lennon's 'Imagine' was the evening's one misstep. But her heart was in the right place. And for the first time in a long time, so were all the artistic pieces.

From the Providence Journal By Rick Massimo

 Madonna's Re - Invention Tour rolled into the Worcester Centrum for the first of four performances last night, and while there were new touches on several songs, the set - list emphasis was still on dance - floor thumpers, mostly from her last album, American Life. And the visual element was at least a co - star of the show.
 The sheer scope was exhausting - costume changes after every few songs, a troupe of 10 backup dancers, a five - piece band, two backup singers, and four giant video screens showing different projections (as well as two more trained on the star of the show).
 Heck, some of the interludes that covered Madonna's costume changes were more opulent than many bands' tours. Some were borderline offensive, as when beefy background dancers made war look like a particularly strenuous dance number, while the video screens showed graphic war footage, all to cover Madonna's change into faux Che - gear for 'American Life.'
 The next interlude, with a belly dancer, break dancer, tap dancer, skateboarder and guitar soloist, on the other hand, made interesting connections between seemingly unrelated disciplines.
 The near - sensory overload veered between moments of interesting juxtaposition and semiotic incoherence. The Weimar - style black - and - white 'set' for the acoustic guitar - driven 'Don't Tell Me' was lovely, but what 'American Life' was trying to say is anyone's guess. it's rare when an artist onstage gives an upturned middle finger, and you're not sure whom it's directed at. (The song also incorporated some of the video footage that was excised from the song's video.)
 Similarly, 'Express Yourself' followed 'American Life,' with the martially - dressed Madonna doing rifle tricks while singing 'Don't settle for second - best/ Put your love to the test.' Huh?
 And so it went: The sequence of a gently swinging 'Hanky Panky' and a hushed 'Deeper and Deeper' gave something to hang onto, but then there were images of x - rays and the elderly on the too - slight 'Die Another Day,' Hebrew letters and stigmata on 'Mother and Father' (which featured some of Madonna's best singing of the night).
 Many of the songs worked as individual production numbers, but after a while the images became gimmicky - There she is with an electric guitar! There she is in an electric chair! - and detracted from each other.
 Madonna's voice has never been the world's strongest (as she has said herself), but it was as strong as ever last night. There was some lip - synching, particularly on the first couple of songs.
 As has been widely noted, 'Get Into the Groove' began with an interlude of bagpipes and martial drums, and broke down to bagpipes on the bridge, but the effect was inconsequential - indeed, by the end of the show, nothing was a shock.
 There's something about the widely varied looks and images that works in aradio or video context - it's a shot of variety and the unexpected, and in small doses it's invigorating. In a live setting, with the condensed, cascading effect of so many numbers in a row, it's easy to appreciate, even be wowed by, the sheer scope and the energy being expended. But to what end?
 As a collection of dance - floor thumpers, the show had more than its share of moments - 'Nobody Knows Me,' 'Vogue,' the early 'Burning Up.' But if the gaudy show business was intended to make a deeper point, it's not immediately clear what it was.
 The tour continues with shows tonight, Wednesday and Thursday.

Fans in the UK should tune into TOTP this Friday at 7.30pm on BBC1 (Euro 2004 football schedule permitting) to enter a very exciting Madonna competition....

Madonna adds a bag-pipe player to her tour!