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Madonna news - Nov. 2007
← Oct. 2007 | Dec. 2007 →
Grammies TV special with top 25 favourite moments
30 November 2007Tonight at 8 pm ET/PT CBS is going to host a special show celebrating the upcoming 50th Grammy Awards and the top 25 favourite Grammy moments, as voted by viewers. The Madonna/Gorillaz performance from the 2006 show will be included, where she performed her megahit Hung Up. You can read more about the tv special here.
Pharrell's collaboration with M: speaker-bleeding fun
Source: People.com - 30 November 2007Pharrell Williams stepped out Wednesday night for the launch of his New York store featuring his Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Ice Cream sneakers. But, turns out, the in-demand producer (who recently contributed the song "Why Should I Be Sad" to Britney Spears's Blackout) is working up a Material project of a different sort – a musical collaboration with Madonna.
"It was sick," Williams told PEOPLE about working with her. "I don't want to say so much. I'd rather for you to hear. It's mean though." Uh, mean? "It makes the speaker bleed," he says, clarifying. "It's heat."
Live Nation planning 2008 Madonna tour!
29 November 2007Fans from the Madonna community reported that they received the Live Nation newsletter today and it said that they are developing a Madonna tour for next year and they need opinions on the tour itself and on the sponsors.
The questions were among the lines of "How big fan are you of Madonna?", "How many Madonna concerts have you been to?", "How much would you spend for certain areas of seating?" and other similar questions. We're assuming that the tour in 2008 would be launched around the release of the new album, and would serve as cross-promotion.
You can check out a screencap of the newsletter here and you can sign up here.
Lourdes won't star in Harry Potter movie
Source: ContactMusic - 29 November 2007Harry Potter producers have dismissed rumours Madonna's daughter Lourdes will appear in the next instalment of the wizard franchise. It has been reported the 11-year-old has been offered a role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, alongside star Daniel Radcliffe.
But a source for studio Warner Brothers insists, "Casting is complete on the film, and she is not a part of it."
Madonna aims to boost Guy Ritchie's 'Revolver'
Source: New York Daily News - 27 November 2007Madonna is hoping to sprinkle a little stardust on hubbie Guy Ritchie's latest gangster flick, which has been retooled for its delayed U.S. release.
The couple will co-host a VIP preview of 'Revolver' with Piaget on Sunday for invited tastemakers including Howard Stern, Lauren Bacall, Helena Christensen, Patricia Clarkson and Ivanka Trump.
Madonna's star power can only help a film that stumbled after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005 and was slammed by critics when released in the U.K.
A pal says the flick was marketed to British audiences as a comedic romp similar to Ritchie's 'Snatch' - but it left them confused by its more "cerebral" theme. (Or "pretentious style and fractured storytelling," as The Hollywood Reporter sniffed.)
"You have to pay attention — you may have to sit through it twice to figure it out," co-star Vincent Pastore (who plays opposite Ray Liotta, Jason Statham and Andre Benjamin) told me yesterday. "Which I just did with 'No Country for Old Men,' so it doesn't mean it's a bad movie."
The film, due in cinemas Dec. 7, has been recut for its U.S. release.
24 November 2007 Something to remember: Never gonna hide it again
After the underperforming lead-off single of the Erotica project, a second single was rush-released, Deeper And Deeper. Its video premiered 15 years ago today, on November 24th, 1992. While the track is the most commercial one on the album (the most straightforward dance tune in the vein of Vogue, with actually lifting 2 lines from the megahit at the end), the video is among Madonna's most un-commercial.
Directed by Bobby Woods in LA, it features M with short blond hair and without eyebrows, giving her an odd look. The storyline of the video is unclear as well, has a mixture of simple clubbing and some underground cult too, along with Madonna and her girlfriends (including Debi Mazar) eating bananas while watching a one of the guys strip. The video is sad to be a homage to Andy Warhol's style and it's also noteable that Madonna is not lipsynching to the words of the song. The video features many stars: Udo Kier, Sofia Coppola, Chi Chi LaRue.
As the second single, Deeper And Deeper unfortunately didn't fare well: failed to become a top 5 hit, which was uncommon for a second single by Madonna. Its airplay was going strong (peaking at #8), but the sales didn't match up (#15 peak), so on the Hot 100 it reached #7, at thetime when the charts were being dominated by the unstoppable 'The Bodyguard' juggernaut, led by Whitney Houston. But thanks to the remixes by producer Shep Pettibone and famous house DJ David Morales, it was a natural #1 on the Hot Dance / Club Play. It also marked the end of Madonna's seven consecutive Gold singles (from Keep It Together to Erotica).
The video is unfortunately remembered for being excluded from Madonna's second video compilation (Video Collection 93:99), so far it has not been commercially available. Fortunately the song itself got its share in the spotlight: David Morales' house remix got an energetic performance on The Girlie Show and the uptempo dance track got a gorgeous makeover on the Re-Invention Tour, becoming a beautiful torch song. It's also noteable that Deeper And Deeper opens Madonna's second greatest hits collection, GHV2.
One more bit of trivia: Shep Pettibone hated the spanish guitar bridge in the middle of the song, but Madonna herself insisted on keeping it in the track. Good decision! ;-)
Like A Prayer among 1000 albums to hear before you die
22 November 2007Guardian Unlimited compiled a list of the 1000 albums you have to hear before you die, and as an entry, Madonna's 1989 album Like A Prayer yet again gained some nice critical acclaim:
Madonna's presence in pop was crucial for young girls in the 1980s. Dressed in don't-fuck-with-me gloves and silver crosses, her tongue barbed and ready, here at last was a headstrong young woman, whose powerful songs spoke to their hearts and their minds. With huge hits about sexuality (Like A Virgin) and pregnancy (Papa Don't Preach), she raised pop's game and purpose by miles.
But by 1989, the clock was ticking fast. Having had a three-year gap between studio LPs - an aeon in pop terms - Madonna's new record had to be something special to silence the critics. Like A Prayer shut them up. At the time, the press described this as her "serious album", a theory given ballast by her divorce from Sean Penn, a spell in a Mamet play on Broadway and her world-shattering decision to go brunette.
It shows off Madonna at her best. The title track remains the greatest example of her art, even without the controversial Black Jesus video that accompanied it - a huge, gospel-flavoured pop statement. Elsewhere, anger crackles and burns.
Express Yourself is a starter lesson in female empowerment, blaring with sass; Till Death Do Us Part a raucous hi-NRG annihilation of her broken marriage.
The ballads are heartbreakers - Promise to Try addresses the death of her mother from breast cancer, while Oh Father's sad pianos settle old scores.
Since then, Madonna has reinvented herself, flitting between roles of starlet, mother, Kabbalah queen and lady of the manor. None of them has suited her as well as the character she knew best - the frank, flawed woman who lived behind the masks. Jude Rogers
Lola tipped for role in next Harry Potter movie
Source: Hollywood.com - 22 November 2007Madonna's daughter Lourdes has been offered a part in the next Harry Potter movie.
The 11-year-old - nicknamed Lola - is reported to have been invited to join actor Daniel Radcliffe in the next installment of the boy-wizard franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Madonna is apparently considering an offer made by studio Warner Bros.
A source tells British newspaper The Sun, "Lola has definitely inherited her mother's hunger for fame. After all her recent public appearances, looking more like a sophisticated teen than a child, the attention on her is really growing. Offers have poured in - film offers, sponsorship.
"An executive at Warners wanted to cast Lola in the last Potter film and has renewed his interest for the next movie. Lola would love to do it - she is a huge fan."
Lourdes - whose father is fitness trainer Carlos Leon - has also reportedly been approached to star in a kids' musical similar to Bugsy Malone in development by Warner Bros.
Madonna cancels Christmas
Source: AZcentral - 21 November 2007Madonna has "cancelled Christmas" and refuses to give her children any presents.
The star's husband Guy Ritchie says Madonna - who is a devout follower of Kabbalah, a mystical off-shoot of Judaism - will not allow their seven-year-old son Rocco, two-year-old adopted son David, and the singer's 11-year-old daughter Lourdes to celebrate the Christian holiday.
Speaking at the London premiere of new Christmas movie 'Fred Claus' Monday, Guy told BANG Showbiz: "We cancelled Christmas two years ago in our household.
"Once we cancelled it we stopped all the presents, and once we stopped all the presents we started enjoying ourselves more."
Followers of Kabbalah only celebrate Jewish holy days. They do not recognise Christmas or Easter as they do not believe that Jesus is the son of God. Madonna has been involved with Kabbalah since the late 90s.
In 2006, it was revealed the 49-year-old singer had spent $2.4 million promoting her faith around the world in the previous four years.
Madonna changed her name to the ancient Hebrew name of Esther and has based her series of children's books on the faith's teachings.
Malawi lauds Madonna for helping orphans
Source: Reuters via Yahoo - 20 November 2007The Malawi government on Tuesday applauded Madonna's efforts to put the plight of the country's AIDS orphans on the global stage and raising money to support them.
The American singer said last week she would work with luxury goods maker Gucci to raise at least $2 million for Malawi's one million orphans.
Madonna and the Italian firm will host a fundraising event with dinner, musical performance and a party on February 6 next year to mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New York's Fifth Avenue.
"What she is doing for orphans of this country very few super stars like her can do that, she has managed to put their plight on the world stage," government spokesperson and Information Minister Patricia Kaliati told Reuters.
"Madonna has built clinics in rural areas where government has failed to reach and because of that she has saved many lives of pregnant mothers who could have died," she said.
The pop star and her husband Guy Ritchie's bid to adopt David Banda from Malawi has hit several snags since they took the 13-month-old boy from the African country last year to their home in London.
The boy had been placed in an orphanage by his father after the death of his mother. Madonna is due to return to Malawi next April for a hearing before she can permanently adopt the child.
Madonna said the charity event would benefit UNICEF and the charity she co-founded in 2006, Raising Malawi, which focuses on trying to help Malawi's orphans, many of whose parents have died of AIDS.
Each Time You Break My Heart demo leaks
Source: MadonnaChile; thanx to the fans Virgo & Cloud for the link - 20 November 2007In 1986, Nick Kamen released the song Each Time You Break My Heart, which became a hit that year. Madonna performed backing vocals for the song, which was also written by her, originally for the True Blue album, but then got rejected.
Co-written by Stephen Bray, it's a fairly simple pop song, reminiscent of the other outtake Spotlight. The original demo, with Madonna doing the main vocals has now leaked online; you can download it here
Stuart Price confirms he's not on Madonna's new record
19 November 2007Stuart Price, who recently produced Seal's new album System gave an interview to BBC Radio 1 in the UK and was asked if Madonna is going to have a new album or a tour. Regarding the tour, he said "I don't think there will be a tour, imminently".
About the album he said "She's doing a new album, but she wants to do an urban record this time that's not really the kind of what I do, so she's hooked up with Pharrell and Timbaland and she's doing that record at the moment which I think will come out next year". He also talked about the life on tour with Madonna and about his recent work with Seal. You can listen to the interview here.
Well, it means we'll get a completely new sound from Madonna, but of course we'll never forget Stuart's amazing work on COADF! ;-)
News/rumours about Justin tracks on new album
19 November 2007Fansite MadonnaTribe posted some interesting info about the new album: Justin Timberlake & Timbaland together produced five songs and last week they had their final mixing at Hit Studios Miami.
The first song is "4 Minutes To Save The World", it's an upbeat and catchy hip hop duet between Madonna & Justin.
Another song is "Across The Sky", it has a lot of acoustic guitars with a similar flow to The Power Of Good-Bye. Justin sings backing vocals.
"Dance Tonight" is the next, a funky midtempo Madonna/Justin duet, similar to his hit "Rock Your Body"
The fourth song is a ballad with Justin on backing vocals and is reminiscent of his hit "Cry Me A River". The song is called "Even The Devil Wouldn't Recognise You". [We wonder if it's a rework of the 1920s torch song co-written by Patrick Leonard (or Mirwais?) for 'Hello Suckers' a few years ago.]
The fifth song is named to be the best among the bunch, called "Miles Away", a beautiful uptempo song with Justin again on backup. Full of acoustic guitars, and its structure recalls Love Profusion, but is much better.
They also say that the album is going to be "incredible" and it will mark Madonna's 50th birthday in a "fantastic way".
Something to remember: Everybody is a star
17 November 2007
20 years ago today, on November 17, 1987, Madonna's first ever compilation album, You Can Dance was released. It was not an ordinary greatest hits release, rather a big dance-mix containing some of Madonna's biggest dance hits mixed together. Innovative at the time, the concept of a remix album was copied by many artists after.
The album contained one new song, Spotlight, which was a relatively simple call to the dance floor and was recorded during the True Blue sessions with Stephen Bray. The tracks were mixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez, Bruce Forest & Frank Heller, Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero and Shep Pettibone.
The vinyl release contained the 7 regular tracks but the cassette & CD versions had additional and different bonus tracks as 'dubs'. While the compilation peaked only at #14 on Billboard, it actually gained a Platinum certification for 1 million copies (fans speculate that it's overdue for a double Platinum certification).
Worldwide it was also successful with selling 5 million copies, becoming the best selling remix album ever until Michael Jackson's Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory In The Mix, released ten years later. A promo of shorter 'remix edits' of the tracks was released to clubs and radio and altogether they topped the Hot Dance / Club Play, while Spotlight was released as a single in Japan in April, 1988 and reached #3 there.
You Can Dance was well-received by fans at the time, but 20 years later it's obviously branded as a dated project that didn't stand the test of time. Its significance is that it closed Madonna's first period in her career, and after her teeny-pop image she was about to transform into a mature songwriter and an unstoppable world-famous superstar...
Live Nation defends $100 million Madonna deal
Source: CNNMoney.com - 16 November 2007Live Nation responds to critics who say the giant concert promoter paid way too much for the Material Girl, reports Fortune's Paul Sloan.
Ever since Live Nation, the giant concert promoter, announced a sweeping 10-year deal with Madonna to handle her albums, tours and merchandize, investors have worried that the company spent too much to lure the superstar away from Warner Music Group. The stock has fallen roughly 30 percent since the news came out last month.
On Thursday, CEO Michael Rapino and his top executives defended the deal before investors and analysts gathered at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, one of Live Nation's venues.
Judging from the immediate reaction -- the stock was off slightly in early trading Friday -- the Street isn't yet convinced.
The execs didn't offer up exact figures of the deal -- citing a confidentiality agreement with the material girl -- but they did estimate it will be valued at roughly $100 million for Madonna.
Live Nation paid Madonna $25 million in stock as an advance. In addition, according to a person familiar with the terms, Madonna received about $25 million in cash, although Rapino wouldn't confirm this. For each dollar that that comes in, Los Angeles-based Live Nation gets a share and Madonna gets a share that counts against her advance.
Michael Cohl, who runs Live Nation's Artist Nation division and helped broker the contract with Madonna, described the deal as pure partnership and said that any money after that is a basic revenue share, although the splits vary depending on the products. The problem, he said, is that people are viewing the deal as if it's a record deal -- and everyone knows the record business is suffering.
Instead, he said, investors need to realize that the rights deal will be "cross collateralized" across dozens of products -- ticket sales, DVDs, books, t-shirts, clothing lines, streaming videos, private concerts. "Anything you can think of we can do," said Cohl, who runs tours for the Rolling Stones, among other acts.
"Make no mistake," said Rapino. "We are not getting into the record business. We are not building a system to sell 6-inch discs....We're a marketing and distribution company."
Record labels have big infrastructures around the world to get CDs into stores, but Rapino argues he doesn't need that.
He likes to point to the deal the Eagles just did to sell its 2-disc set exclusively through Wal-Mart, without having to give a cut to a label. They sold 700,000 in the first week. Whether its Wal-Mart or Starbucks or Victoria's Secret, Rapino said plenty of companies are eager to cut deals to distribute albums.
"Corporate America couldn't be more excited about the demise of the record companies," he said.
~ In other news, Madonna's new representatives, Live Nation just received 'Best Promoter' award @ the Billboard Touring Awards.
Sing video premieres without Madonna
15 November 2007The music video for Annie Lennox's Sing has premiered. Contrary to earlier reported rumours, Madonna does NOT appear in it. You can watch the video on MSN.
Madonna, Gucci team up for Malawi charity gig
Source: Reuters via Yahoo - 15 November 2007Madonna is joining forces with luxury goods maker Gucci to raise funds for orphans in Malawi, from where she has been trying to adopt a child since last year.
The U.S. singer and Gucci will host a fundraising event with dinner, musical performance and a party on February 6 next year to mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New York's Fifth Avenue.
Madonna said the event will benefit UNICEF and the charity she co-founded in 2006, Raising Malawi, which focuses on trying to end the poverty and hardship suffered by Malawi's one million orphans, many of whose parents died of AIDS.
"I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help," Madonna said in a statement.
"Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children. But we have much more to do and this event will surely bring us closer to our goal."
Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie's bid to adopt David Banda from Malawi has hit several stumbling blocks since they took the 13-month-old boy from the African country last year. He had been placed in an orphanage by his father after the death of his mother.
Rights groups have accused Madonna of using her fame and wealth to circumvent the country's adoption rules although the singer has insisted she is following the law.
Malawi's High Court is to hold a hearing next year into whether Madonna and Ritchie are suitable parents and should adopt the child.
The New York event is expected to raise at least $2 million with Madonna joined by a list of celebrity co-chairs in the event including Adrien Brody, Arpad Busson, Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault, Tea Leoni, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Gucci, which is owned by French retailer PPR, has been a UNICEF corporate partner since 2004.
Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, thanked Madonna and Gucci and said AIDS remained one of the most devastating public health problems in recent history.
"Every day, 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS, and 1,400 children die from AIDS," Stern said in the statement.
Confessions On A Dance Floor certified 5x Platinum in Canada
14 November 2007On the second anniversary of Confessions On A Dance Floor we can report great news from Canada because the all-dance album has been certified five times Platinum by the CRIA for shipments of 500,000 copies!
The total sales of the record is above 8 million worldwide. Let's hope Madonna's next album will be just as successful!
Bio explores why Madonna keeps us riveted
Source: USA Today - 14 November 2007Madonna: Like an Icon is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough.
The latest in a succession of Madonna biographies written without the artist's direct cooperation is no cheapo rush job assembled from press clippings. Author Lucy O'Brien is a well-respected British music journalist whose Dusty Springfield is the definitive take on the life of a fabled, troubled diva.
The life of this book's fabled diva is meticulously chronicled, the history buttressed and illuminated by quotes from friends, family and associates.
But it all seems too familiar: the Michigan cheerleader and dance student who through sheer blonde ambition becomes the biggest female star of the '80s and then constantly reinvents herself to maintain her star status well beyond the average career life span.
Maybe that's because, at least since she hit the mass-culture spotlight in 1983 with Holiday and hijacked it wholesale the next year with Like a Virgin and Material Girl, Madonna, now 49, has lived her life in public like few other artists. The records, tours and videos have been thoroughly documented, as have the liaisons and the controversies (from the Sex book all the way up to the Malawi orphan adoption).
O'Brien's retelling of Madonna Louise Ciccone's childhood is absorbing, particularly in dealing with the death of her mother (also named Madonna) when the future star was just 5. That forced her to take on adult duties early and set the pattern for the legendary self-centered drive that, after considerable struggles in New York's music and art community and a frequent use-'em-then-lose-'em approach to lovers and professional contacts alike, helped her hit the top. At which point we pretty much know the story.
O'Brien does a solid job of dissecting the albums and tours. She is most interesting when offering her perspective on what it feels like for a girl (or woman) who admires Madonna.
"Underlying her seamless pop tunes, driving her music... is a sense of white-hot anger," O'Brien writes.
"She encountered her own worst possible scenario, becoming a victim of male violence (a rape in New York in the '70s), and thereafter turned that full-tilt into her work, reversing the equation at every opportunity. This is why women respond to her on such a gut level, why so many heterosexual men feel ambivalent."
A provocative proposition? Definitely. A bit extreme? Maybe. There's no way to tell for sure until Madonna finally decides to tell her own story, and that, as detailed and well reasoned as this biography may be, is what we're still lacking.
~ Read an excerpt of the book: "What makes Madonna an 'Icon'?"
Madge introduces singer to the world of cross-dressing
Source: Yahoo! - 14 November 2007Pop diva Madonna introduced Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hutz to cross-dressing while shooting her directorial debut, 'Filth and Wisdom.'
Hutz, who stars in Madonna's 30-minute film, said that he completely enjoyed sporting the new look.
"She suggested it. I love jumping into an entirely different persona - especially the opposite sex," the New York Daily News quoted Hutz, as saying.
The film, described as "comedy/drama/musical/romance," is said to deal with everything from ballet school to lap dancing.
"I'm the star. She's behind the steering wheel. It was mutual inspiration," Hutz said.
The premiere of the film is due at the Sundance Film Festival.
Madonna to go brunette in Sing video? *rumour*
13 November 2007Madonna will be appearing in the video of Annie Lennox's Sing which is being released as a single in December. Fansite DrownedMadonna says that Madonna is thinking about going brunette for the new video.
Also, the new album could be launched with a brunette look as well, but with more of a punk rather than a rap look.
Kanye West to feature on new Madonna album
13 November 2007Fansite MadonnaTribe exclusively reports that while Madonna was putting the finishing touches on her new album last week in LA with Pharrell next door, rapper superstar Kanye West was working on the new Michael Jackson album next to them.
Pharrell invited Kanye to meet Madonna, the two hooked up and Madonna came up with an idea for Kanye to rap on one of her new songs! Kanye just recently scored high with his new album 'Graduation' with its second single 'Stronger' being a huge hit all around the world.
New album photoshoot in December?
10 November 2007Fansite DrownedMadonna has just revealed that Madonna's next photoshoot for her new album was brought forward to December 12th, 2007! The photographer is not definitive yet, but chances are it's going to be Steven Klein, who also did the photos of the previous album.
Mark "Spike" Stent working on new Madonna album
10 November 2007Singer Darren Hayes mentioned on his blog that Mark "Spike" Stent has been working on the new Madonna album lately. It's no surprise for fans, because Stent worked on the Music, American Life & Confessions On A Dance Floor, with mixing most of the songs on the all-dance record from 2005.
Madonna back to her youth
Source: The Sun - 9 November 2007Madonna looked amazingly youthful as she hit the town this week.
Perhaps it’s her pulled-back hair do that gives her such a taut finish.
The superstar was snapped as she left a Mayfair restaurant with her fashion designer pals Stella McCartney and Tom Ford.
It was the second night in a row that Madge had been out with heavily pregnant Stella.
It’s starting to feel like a time warp.
Live Earth DVD teaser
9 November 2007Madonna.com revealed the corrected release dates of the Live Earth CD/DVD set: November 26th (internationally) / December 4th (US).
They also gave us the dazzling fan-favourite performance of La Isla Bonita with Gogol Bordello from the DVD as a teaser, which can be watched here.
Sean Penn didn't know Madonna during marriage
Source: Contactmusic - 9 November 2007Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn insists he didn't really know his ex-wife Madonna when he was married to her, and can't remember having "a single conversation" with her.
Penn, 44, married the superstar in 1985 at the height of her career and divorced her four years later (89), but blames his own vanity and excessive drinking for the relationship's demise.
He says, "She was a phenomenon, but nothing could have told anybody what would happen next. I describe that marriage as loud. That's how I remember it. I don't recall having a single conversation in four years of marriage.
"I've talked to her a few times since, and there's a whole person there. I just didn't know it. I was just living in my own head. Who was it that said 'Men are vain, particularly young men'? That was me, and I liked to drink a lot. "I'm not saying it was meaningless. I've carried over the lessons to things more applicable now."
Madonna's apartment dreams dashed
Source: Contactmusic - 9 November 2007Madonna's dreams of expanding her New York apartment home have been dashed by co-op bosses, because they refuse to let her buy a fourth property in the building. The pop superstar has reportedly put in a bid to take over another apartment in the luxury Manhattan block, which she calls home - but complex bigwigs have insisted three homes in the building is more than enough.
Residents are already far from happy with their celebrity neighbour - because paparazzi and fans greet them at the entrance whenever the Material Girl is in town. An insider says, "By rejecting her offer to purchase yet another apartment, they're hoping she'll sell her other three and buy elsewhere... Madonna just causes too much commotion" Madonna and her husband, British moviemaker Guy Ritchie, also own homes in the English countryside, Los Angeles and London.
Madonna's Malawi letter
9 November 2007Madonna has posted a new message at RaisingMalawi to raise awareness and improve the quality of life for "orphaned and vulnerable" children. Read the full letter here.
Madonna mention on Pharrell's blog
7 November 2007Hip hop producer Pharrell Williams left an entry a few days ago on his own personal blog about a "secret studio with 2 rooms, one for Madonna, one for N*3*R*D [his own band]" which confirms the reports of seeing Madonna & Pharrell entering a LA studio in the last days of October.
We thought it was interesting to post because it contradicts all the fan speculations that Madonna would throw out the leaked Pharrell-produced tracks and change the direction of her new album (he wouldn't mention her if she was disappointed with his work, right?)...
Madonna and Guy 'wonderful parents'
Source: Yahoo! Music - 6 November 2007Madonna's mother-in-law has described the singer and husband Guy Ritchie as "loving and wonderful parents".
Shireen Ritchie was speaking on ITV1's GMTV programme, which is highlighting the thousands of children in the UK who need adoptive homes.
Madonna and her husband were granted temporary custody of toddler David Banda, then 13 months old, last October after his father placed him in an orphanage following the death of his mother.
The singer previously came under fire for allegedly attempting to bypass normal Malawian adoption rules, an allegation she has strenuously denied.
Mrs Ritchie, a Conservative councillor, is stepmother to Madonna's film director husband. She is Cabinet Member for Family and Children's Services for The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and was asked how the situation is going, having probably one of the most famous adopted grandsons in the world.
She said: "It is working very well. They are wonderful parents - loving and wonderful parents... and he's a very lucky little boy."
Speaking generally, she said the children hardest to find adoptive parents for were sometimes sibling groups and older children.
Mrs Ritchie was asked about the myth that it is difficult to adopt in Britain, prompting people to look abroad. She said: "Adoption processes in other countries are different, that's true.
"I think what we have in Britain today is a very robust system which puts the child at the heart of the adoption system.
"It is the interests of the child, what is best for the child, that is considered the whole time."
Madonna's son meets real dad again
Source: People.co.uk - 4 November 2007The dad of Madonna's adopted African son has told The People: "I hope he rescues his family from poverty when he grows up."
Peasant far mer Yohane Banda will be reunited with David for the first time in more than a year when pop queen Madge retur ns to Malawi to finalise the adoption this month.
And last night he opened his heart to The People, saying how he:
- Hopes that David will use his future riches to help his family.
- Can barely hold his excitement at seeing him.
- Fears that the little boy may not recognise him after a year apart.
Yohane, 33, has not seen his son since he left Malawi in October last year - and is not likely to see him again for another three years after this month's brief reunion.
He said: "I can't wait to see my son again after a year. It will be a fantastic moment. But I have my anxieties though. Will he recognise me or his granny after all these months?
"It's a surreal feeling. It's terribly sad that David will now officially be de-linked from us. But we want the adoption to go ahead in David's best interests.
"When he grows up he will be a wealthy man. I may be gone by then. But I hope he will lift his other relatives out of poverty in the way that Madonna is doing for him.
"We consider David as Madonna's child as from October last year.We have been praying that nothing gets in the way of the adoption."
Yohane said the singer never promised any assistance to him or his village when she took baby David from an orphanage in Malawi to her mansion in London.
When David grows up, Yohane said he hopes the lad will remember his roots.
He said: "Madonna told me she will tell David where he comes from. I know he will return here, not to stay but just to appreciate his roots."
Potato and onion farmer Yohane and his second wife Flora live hand-to-mouth in a two room mud brick hut with a thatched roof.
He gave his then one-monthold son David to an orphanage after his first wife of ten years, Marita, died a week after the boy was born. Yohane and his ageing mother, Asineti Mwale, could not afford baby milk.
"I am not worried about David," Yohane said. "I know Madonna means well for him.
"In any case when I met Madonna in court she promised to be bringing David back after three to four years.
"I know she is a noble woman. I am told she is also very religious. She can't go back on her word."
The adoption is due to be finalised in Malawi this month.
Malawian Chief Welfare Officer Simon Chisale made the first of two home visits in September to see how David has settled with the star and film-maker hubby Guy Ritchie.
He wrote a glowing report about how the tot has bonded with his newfamily. Malawi government and High Court sources have also revealed the process is being speeded up to finalise the adoption this month.
Meanwhile, Madonna is funding at least six orphanages in Malawi. She has also opened her own Kabbalah centre offering education and meals to underprivileged children as well as to old folk in the town of Namitete, just outside the capital, Lilongwe.
Madonna back in studio with Pharrell
2 November 2007Fansite Madonnadownload reports that Madonna was seen going to a recording studio in LA on Halloween day and yesterday with her current collaborator Pharrell Williams.
It means that the hip hop direction of the new album was not dropped, but they might change something in the previously leaked Pharrell-produced tracks The Beat Goes On & Candy Shop.
You can see pix of Madonna entering the recording studio here.
Madonna remembers Linda Stein
Source: USA Today - 2 November 2007Linda Stein beat cancer, survived the Bowery's seedy punk rock scene and thrived amid the high-stakes world of Manhattan real estate. Her sudden death came in an unexpected way and place: violently, inside her $3 million Fifth Avenue apartment.
Friends like Madonna and Elton John recalled Stein's indomitable personality, and her triumph against breast cancer.
Madonna was an unknown singer when she signed with Sire Records, owned by Linda's ex-husband Seymour, in the early '80s. Later, with Linda's help, the now international star purchased a pricey Central Park West apartment.
"I had a great visit with Linda and Seymour backstage after my show last year at Madison Square Garden, and we of course reminisced about the good old days," Madonna said. "I deeply admired her courage in her battle with breast cancer, as well as her career success."
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