NEWS - JULY 2008 « July (part I) - News index - August (part I) »

31 July - Madonna continues to defy convention After setting the standard for pop multihyphenates 25 years ago, Madonna continues to break the mold as she nears the half-century point. Last fall she parted with Warner Bros. Records, the label that launched her, and transferred her entire music franchise to Live Nation, her concert promoter, in a lucrative deal that was the first of its kind. In a 10-year pact worth $120 million, Live Nation would not only continue to handle Madge's tours, but her albums as well. Or as she sings so aptly on her new album Hard Candy, "I'll be your one-stop Candy Shop." Since linking up with Madonna, Live Nation has made $400 million from her performances and has already sold out more than 90% of this year's Sticky & Sweet Tour. A style icon, the erstwhile Material Girl also continues to catch her critics and fans off guard. For example, a recent New York Times piece knocked the singer for not touting a "breakout Madonna look" in her public appearances nor on her album cover where she dons a leather "American Gladiator" get-up. No matter. With Hard Candy, Madonna secured her seventh No. 1 album, with a first week's sales figure of 280,000 copies. Featuring collaborations with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, Candy has Madonna's standard urban disco sound laced with hip-hop flourishes. Reviews have been positive, with the Times exclaiming that "Candy is devoted to the instant gratification of a musical sweet tooth." On the opposite side of the Madonna franchise lies her recent film credits as a producer with the Malawi AIDS doc I Am Because We Are and with her helming debut on Filth and Wisdom about the fringe lives of three London flatmates. Filth has yet to find a U.S. distrib, however, while I Am will receive a run on the Sundance Channel. Age hasn't fazed Madonna, it's only made her more determined. Columnist Liz Smith recently witnessed the singer's stamina during a dance rehearsal for the Sticky Tour: "Watching this star go through her paces, she seems not to have a care in the world," says Smith, "except to perfect her show." Career mantra: "My career mantra and personal mantra are the same: Don't let anyone tell you your dreams can't come true." (source: Variety) 30 July - Miles Away definitely the 3rd single? Fansite MadonnaTribe reports that according to reliable sources, Miles Away is the definite choice for the 3rd single of Hard Candy. There's no info on video or release date yet. We, at Mad-Eyes consider this as a wise decision from Madonna/Warner, after 2 heavy dance tracks, the breezy Miles Away would open the album to new audiences in the fall. Our personal guess is that the video will be tour-related and the single release could coincide with the end of the European leg or the start of the North American leg of the Sticky & Sweet Tour. Also interesting is that last month Mad-Eyes held a poll about the 3rd single and Miles Away easily won by getting 30% of the total votes! 30 July - Tour DVD to be filmed in NYC? According to fansite Drownedmadonna, one of their readers asked Live Nation about the upcoming Sticky & Sweet Tour filming for DVD and they revealed that the October 11th & 12th shows in NYC would be filmed for a DVD release. We think this totally makes sense, as Madonna on the past 3 tours filmed her tour tv broadcast/DVD in cities that had multiple dates. Not to mention NYC raises the chance of her recent collaborators joining her onstage! ;-) 30 July - Confessions Tour photobook by Guy Oseary Madonna's manager is writing a book about her. Guy Oseary is following in the footsteps of Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone by documenting the singer's life in a 224-page book, entitled Madonna: Confessions, containing exclusive photographs from her 2006 world tour. Unlike Christopher's tell-all book Life With My Sister Madonna, Guy's tome was made with full cooperation from the 4 Minutes singer, who handpicked the photographs and provided quotes and annotations. Guy was the only person given full and unlimited access to Madonna during the tour. Madonna: Confessions is the first book authorised by the star since her controversial 1992 coffee-table book Sex. It will be released in October, just before Madonna starts her Sticky & Sweet Tour. The book's publishers, Powerhouse, are also working on another Madonna book, to accompany her documentary I Am Because We Are, about the orphan crisis in Malawi. The book will feature black and white photos by celebrated American photographer Kristen Ashburn. (source: Independent Online) 29 July - Liz Rosenberg defends Madonna photos and dismisses gossip Everybody has a bad angle, even Madonna. The singer, 49, was photographed Friday leaving the Kaballah Center in New York looking gaunt and tired. But pictures can lie, says her publicist. "I just think the photographer got a bad shot of her or it was touched up to make her look bad," says her rep Liz Rosenberg. "I saw Madonna two days before at her rehearsal and she looked amazing – glowing skin and working really hard on her show." "She may look a little thinner than usual," continues Rosenberg, "but she was dancing and singing better than ever and ate a nice healthy meal." Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffery Hoefflin says weight loss can make for sharp cheekbones. "From a physician who has never evaluated or treated Madonna, it's my impression that if she has lost significant weight, that you're seeing a good amount of facial fat loss in her face," he tells PEOPLE. "The cheekbones can often stand out, appearing as [though] someone has undergone some form of mid-face enhancement," he adds. As for the expression on Madonna's face in the photos, her rep joked, "Maybe she was getting ready to hurl a spitball at somebody." Could it be the stress of the recent the rumors about her marriage? No, says Rosenberg. "She's working hard rehearsing eight hours a day for her tour," says the rep, who also called rumors that the singer ghost-wrote parts of her brother's tell-all book "ludicrous." "If she had anything to do with that book, it would have been better written and more eloquent," says Rosenberg. "To say Madonna needs publicity is insane. Her ticket sales are amazing. And she's in a great space." (source: People.com) 29 July - The last missing European tour date added: Seville, Spain Madonna.com has just included Seville, Spain on the tour schedule of the European leg. Madonna is going to perform in the Estadio Olimpico on Tuesday, September 16th. Ticket sales are starting on Thursday, July 31st @ 10 am local time (ICON presales are tomorrow @ 9 am). With this date added, now the European leg of Sticky & Sweet tour is full. This tour is easily Madonna's most extensive European tour as she's visiting 16 cities in 11 countries! 28 July - Official Amsterdam afterparty announced Several fan clubs are taking fun initiatives during the tour and organizing special events for the fans. One of them is the official Madonna fanclub of The Netherlands & Belgium, Madonna.nl reveals that after the Amsterdam show on September 2nd, 2008 there's an afterparty to be held at the Heineken Music Hall. This is a collaboration between Dutch record store Fame and concert organizer Mojo. Madonna.nl will soon reveal more details (thanx to GertJan). 28 July - Vote for The Nation's favourite Madonna songs UK channel BoxTV is organizing a poll to find out Madonna's most loved songs for a special to be broadcast on Madonna's birthday next month. You can vote here. Note that you can only vote for Madonna singles that were released in the UK. 27 July - Something to remember: 25 years of Madonna! "Holiday, celebrate!" How fitting are Madonna's most famous lines from her self-titled debut album, which officially came to life exactly a quarter of a century ago! On July 27th, 1983 something incredible has happened: the very first full length LP of an ambitious female artist hit the shelves, which soon exploded into a phenomenon that forever changed the landscape of pop music. The 8-track record is the first incarnation of the brilliance of the woman, who's the best selling and most influential female artist ever that set a foot on our planet. Madonna's message was crystal-clear from the start: she wanted to make us dance. Simple as that, but the world was in need of a confident yet still lovable pop singer who'd take us away from our everyday lives, put us on a grand dance floor and made sure we were all stars. The first single Everybody demonstrated this goal the best: "I know you've been waiting/I've been watching you/I know you wanna get up." Then, there's the single that put Madonna in the spotlight, Holiday, her first chart hit, which became a Madonna classic and a concert staple for the next two decades. The sound of the all-dance record is based on synthesized music, an innovative mix of disco and new wave, which became a template for female artists and is easily Madonna's most influential recording ever. In the new millenium many female artists would pay homage to the sound of Madonna. Other highlights include Burning Up, the rock influenced track where Madonna yearns to be taken serious and claims "Unlike the others I'd do anything/I'm not the same/I have no shame" which would go on to become her other trademark message. Our personal favourite is the gorgeous mid-tempo tune Borderline with a fantastic instrumentation and and an amazing melody which would be the first of many Madonna songs where she's unsatisfied with her lover and wants the best for herself. The 5th and last single of the album was the catchy Lucky Star. Its accompanying music video became a fashion statement and create a horde of Madonna-wannabes that propelled Madonna into the status of a fashion icon as well. Madonna, the album spent an astonishing 168 weeks on the Billboard album chart, was certified 5 times Platinum and got a re-release in Europe in 1985 under the name 'The First Album'. It got a lot of critical acclaim as well, not long ago Entertainment Weekly named it the 5th best album of the past 25 years. Madonna started it all for our favourite female artist, she'd go on to record a lot more albums, 25 years later she has exactly a dozen under her belt. While the message of making the people come together and dance would remain a recurring theme in her work, it wasn't until 2005's Confessions On A Dance Floor and 2008's Hard Candy where she went back to her roots and recorded 2 albums that harken back to her self-titled debut, being retro and contemporary all-dance records. As she sings it in her very first hit Holiday, let's take out one day in our life and just celebrate the 25th anniversary of an unstoppable woman, who's posed to entertain us with her fantastic music until the end of time. Thank you, Madonna! 26 July - The Dancing Queen continues her reign On next week's Billboard Hot Dance / Club Play chart, Give It 2 Me ascends to #1 and becomes Madonna's whopping 39th #1 on the chart! No other artist is expected to match this remarkable feat, Madonna is truly our Dancing Queen! This is the second dance #1 from Hard Candy, maybe she can score one more chart topper from this album to reach 40? Here's a recap of Madonna's #1s on the Hot Dance / Club Play chart: Holiday / Lucky Star (1983) Like A Virgin (1984) Material Girl (1985) Angel / Into The Groove (1985) Open Your Heart (1987) Causing A Commotion (1987) You Can Dance (LP Cuts) (1987) Like A Prayer (1989) Express Yourself (1989) Keep It Together (1990) Vogue (1990) Justify My Love (1990) Erotica (1992) Deeper And Deeper (1992) Fever (1993) Secret (1994) Bedtime Story (1995) Don't Cry For Me Argentina (1997) Frozen (1998) Ray Of Light (1998) Nothing Really Matters (1999) Beautiful Stranger (1999) American Pie (2000) Music (2000) Don't Tell Me (2000) What It Feels Like For A Girl (2001) Impressive Instant (2001) Die Another Day (2002) American Life (2003) Hollywood (2003) Me Against The Music (2003) Nothing Fails (2003) Love Profusion (2004) Hung Up (2005) Sorry (2006) Get Together (2006) Jump (2006) 4 Minutes (2008) Give It 2 Me (2008) 26 July - Guy Ritchie says marriage to Madonna is "fine" Film director Guy Ritchie broke his silence on Friday over rumors that his marriage to Madonna is on the rocks, telling People magazine it was "fine." "My marriage is fine as far as I'm aware of," the British director was quoted as telling People in an interview. Rumors have been circulating for months that Ritchie's 8-year marriage to Madonna, 49, is on the rocks, despite several denials by the singer that the couple are planning a divorce. Ritchie, 39, who found fame with his 1998 movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," said Madonna had allowed him to look at his hometown of London with fresh eyes. "I live vicariously through my wife, so I was once a spy and now I've become a tourist, and it's much more fun to live in London as a tourist than it is as a spy," he told People. Ritchie is in Southern California promoting his new movie "RocknRolla," while Madonna is rehearsing in New York for her upcoming world tour starting in August. "RocknRolla" which opens in the United States in October, is set in the London criminal underworld of Russian gangster and stars Gerard Butler as a street-smart mobster, along with Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges. His recent efforts, Swept Away starring Madonna, and "Revolver" were both critically panned. Ritchie's next movie is "Sherlock Holmes" a drama based on the English literary detective and starring Robert Downey, Jr., which is slated for release in 2010. (source: Reuters via Yahoo) 24 July - Timbaland to release Hard Candy outtake? Timbaland still can't find the right category to classify his smash album Shock Value. He better figure something out quick — the producer is planning to go into the lab and make another one. "It be hot for the world," he boasted of the 2007 album. "I really do focus groups. I get reports, readouts. I'm not gonna talk about it. If you ask for documentation, I got it. I'm a businessman and at the same time a CEO. But I looked at the charts: I went platinum in 16 different countries. Africa? Double platinum. Ireland? Double platinum. New Zealand? Triple platinum. London? Platinum. London is the hardest place to go platinum. France? Platinum. They don't like nobody unless you French, but they like me." The LP's follow-up, Shock Value 2, already has a few tracks in the can but no release date yet. Tim said he wants to stay away from working with some of the same folks he included last time, just to keep everyone guessing. "Shock Value is really like the Now [That's What I Call Music!] compilation," he said. "That's my goal for this — not [to showcase] me as an artist. Of course I'll do my little part, introduce some people. It gives me room to go tour across the world. People request me. I put on a show. I put on a musical show. "Right now, I have a song with Madonna that I didn't put on her album. I saved [it] in case I wanna do one for me," he revealed. "Of course I'mma do one with Beyoncé. Of course I'mma do one with Jordin Sparks, Rihanna. It's a lot of people. I'mma do one with Jonas Brothers. I'mma try to have 10 major ones." On the hip-hop side, Timbo said he's looking at T.I., already has T-Pain and expects Jay-Z. "Jay was really on the last one, but he wanted to change [the song]," he said. "I said, 'Look, man, I gotta put out an album. You're killing me.' " Aside from Shock Value, Tim said he might be producing one of Jay-Z's next LPs in its entirety. Next up for the super-producer are LPs from Missy Elliott and Chris Cornell. (source: MTV.com) ~ Madonna had recorded around 10 tracks in total with Timbaland and Justin but only 5 made the final cut. Maybe the long-discussed La, La is the one to be featured on Timbaland's Shock Value? Timbaland is more likely to release a Hard Candy outtake than Madonna on her upcoming compilation album, so we might have a new Madonna song by the end of the year after all! 21 July - The UK gives it 2 Madonna Give her a record and she'll break it: Madonna racks up her 61st Top 10 hit single in the UK as Give It 2 Me jumps to #7 on the UK singles chart. That's still the most ever among female artists! The Give It 2 Me-effect is impressive: Hard Candy climbs back to the Top 10 of the UK album chart! Congratulations to Madonna, who has proven her relevance yet again, and don't forget to check out our chart news page for more! 17 July - Madonna to reunite Spears and Timberlake? Madonna is reportedly eager to reunite former couple Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake for her upcoming Sticky & Sweet Tour. The Holiday hitmaker has already roped in Spears to film a short cameo which will appear on screens at the shows and has asked the singer to appear in person at some concerts. And the 49-year-old is allegedly desperate for Timberlake to sing on the tour too, as he recorded tracks on her latest album Hard Candy. A source tells British newspaper The Sun, "Madonna is always trying to raise the bar and Britney and Timberlake on the same stage would be perfect. "They have both been asked but I think both are a bit reluctant. Britney would find it all a bit emotional and JT might not fancy it. More likely is that they both appear on different dates. But if anyone can make this happen it's Madonna." Spears and Timberlake dated for four years but split up in 2002. Timberlake is currently romancing Hollywood actress Jessica Biel. (source: ContactMusic) 16 July - Bob Sinclair to be opening act in Paris We are happy to confirm that French DJ Bob Sinclar will be the opening act for Madonna's Sticky & Sweet shows in Paris on September 20 and 21. After European hits such as 'Feel For You' and 'The Beat Goes on', back in the late 90's, Sinclar also released the amazing 'Love Generation' and 'World Hold On' singles, which hit the top of the charts in most European countries. Make sure to join him in September for some exclusive sets! While the September 20 show in Paris is sold out, a few tickets are still available for the September 21st one. Just click here to access the tour page. (source: Madonna.com) 16 July - Sticky & Sweet Tour to stop in Valencia, Spain We are happy to announce that Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour will stop at Valencia's Circuito Ricardo Tormo Cheste on September 18. Tickets will go on sale Friday, July 18th at 10 am local time. A devoted Fan Club presale will start today, Wednesday, July 16th, at 2PM, local time. (source: Madonna.com)

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