LIKE AN IDIOT: MADONNA IN THE NEWS

what stupid, arrogant, or smutty thing has mads done now?

check google's news on madonna

See also: General Info Page (Links to other Anti Madonna sites or articles)

Public Reactions to Madonna News Stories

IN THE NEWS

comments in bold face type inside brackets inside news excerpts are mine

Madonna Loses Bourdin Copyright Infringement Case

May 2004

Excerpts:

Lawsuit alleged singer ripped off French erotica photographer

Details of the financial settlement are confidential and Madonna acknowledged no wrongdoing in her liberal appropriation of the images of the late French photographer Guy Bourdin. Last September, Bourdin's son Samuel filed a federal copyright lawsuit against Madonna, claiming that her video for the song "Hollywood" was a blatant visual theft job of his father's racy images.

"It's one thing to draw inspiration; it's quite another to simply plagiarize the heart and soul of my father's work," Bourdin said at the time. Included in Bourdin's federal complaint were side-by-side comparisons of his father's work with images with stills from the "Hollywood" video.

Ananova: Madonna's Re-Invention Tour [Did Not Sell Out]

May 24, 2004

Excerpts:

At least one LA ticket broker is already offering a two-for-one deal on Madonna concert tickets, and seats were still available on all of her first three nights. Reports of a terrorist threat on her family on the eve of the first show are also hardly designed to ease her nerves.

Following the less than stellar sales of her latest CD, critics say the pressure is on Madonna to deliver.

WE'LL KILL MADONNA: Madonna has axed three gigs in Israel - after terrorists threatened to kill her and her kids...

By Gordon Smart, The Sun (UK magazine) / circa May 23, 2004

Excerpts:

MADONNA has axed three gigs in Israel — after terrorists threatened to kill her and her kids.

The singer was terrified by a blitz of poison-pen letters.

Madge “freaked out” when she learned of a terrorist plot to kill her two young children if she performed in Israel.

She first planned to defy the extremists but cancelled after the unnamed Palestinian group mentioned details about Lourdes, seven, and three-year-old Rocco in a series of threatening letters.

A source said: “The notes were unbelievably scary. Madonna is a strong woman but she freaked out when her kids were mentioned.

...They became more frightening as they displayed in-depth knowledge of the star’s closest aides.

...The source added: “It became clear that these people were not messing around — they even knew intimate details like who her personal staff are.

“She thought she was being targeted because of her Jewish Kabbalah religion. But this group were threatening her because she represents many things they hate about the West.”

Same story available from:

What the Scottish papers say

Madonna cancels concerts after death threats, May 25, 2004

PA Terrorists Threaten Pop Star Madonna, May 24, '04

Madonna skips Israel due to terror threats - Jerusalem Post

Madonna cuts dates over death threats, from NEWS.com.au

However:

But Madonna's spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, told us that there were no letters or death threats. The star did consider Israel as a concert stop early on, until her security team pulled the plug on the idea.

Source: Are Terrorists Targeting Madonna? from Extra TV.com

CBS television network (owned by Viacom) to pay Madonna millions to air her Reinvention Tour

Madonna will make a mint

Posted on Mon, May. 24, 2004

Madonna may soon have enough money to build a kaballah center in every state in the union.

We hear CBS will pay the Material Mom $10 million for a two-hour concert special. The broadcast of the Re-Invention Tour show will be her first special on a broadcast network. (HBO aired her last three concert tours, but dropped out of the bidding for this one.)

A CBS rep wouldn't comment on how much Madonna was getting, but $10 million would top the $6 million that Michael Jackson received for his 2001 Madison Square Garden show.

CBS pays record fee for Madonna gig broadcast

21/05/2004 - 17:10:14 Madonna is being paid a whopping £6m (€8.9m) by the CBS American TV network for a two-hour concert special, the highest ever fee for a rock broadcast.

Madonna is being paid a whopping £6m (€8.9m) by the CBS American TV network for a two-hour concert special, the highest ever fee for a rock broadcast.

She gets £2m (€2.9m) more than Michael Jackson received for a concert a couple of years ago.

Her Madgesty’s Re-Invention Tour begins in California next Monday and final rehearsals are said to be getting rather tense, with the material one eager to counteract rumblings that she may have passed her prime.

At least the TV payday should keep her in Kaballah water for a few years to come.

Entertainment Weekly, May 2004:

CBS plans to air live Madonna concert. The Re-Invention performance will mark her first special for broadcast TV.

During CBS' upfront presentation of its fall lineup to advertisers on Wednesday, chairman Leslie Moonves emphasized that CBS is 'still the traditional network,' according to the New York Times.

Then he announced that the network would air a live two-hour concert special by Madonna sometime this season. Does that mean that the woman who was once pop's top provocateur has become 'traditional,' too? Or is she just a safer bet not to embarrass the network than CBS' last live pop diva, Janet Jackson?

The performance would be Madonna's first concert special safe enough for broadcast TV; three previous concert specials (most recently, from her 2001 world tour) have aired live on HBO.

It's not clear when the show, to be shot during Madonna's upcoming Re-Invention Tour, will air; the tour starts next week in Los Angeles and is currently scheduled to run through early September. Viewers will hear such 're-invented' Madonna oldies as 'Papa Don't Preach,' 'Vogue,' and 'Express Yourself,' CBS announced.

Of course, 'live' may be a relative term in the post-Janet era; no doubt CBS will have the concert on some kind of delay, just in case. According to MTV News, Madonna is also shooting a 'Truth or Dare'-style tour documentary for theatrical release. It's being shot by Jonas Akerlund, who directed Madonna's controversial (and ultimately withdrawn) 'American Life' video.

From Reuters News Service:

Madonna's Label a $66 Million Loser - Court Documents Reveal

April 12, 2004

Excerpts:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Madonna's Maverick Records label, home to the Material Girl as well as Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch, has lost $66 million since 1999, according to recently unsealed court documents filed by its adversary and partner, Warner Music Group.

....he documents claim that in order for Maverick to get out of its joint venture with Warner Music, which is up at the end of the year, Maverick will have to pay $92.5 million, in addition to the value of Warner's interest in the label. The price tag includes the $66 million in losses, a $20 million loan and $6.5 million in unrecouped fees.

According to Warner Music's filing, if Maverick cannot raise the money needed to buy itself out the joint venture, Warner can convert the label into a "purely passive economic interest," taking all control of the label away from Maverick. In this case, Maverick would reap no profits from the label until the losses were repaid.

A Warner Music spokesman declined to comment. Maverick could not be immediately reached...

See also

Entertainment News Article (re: Maverick Being a Money Loser)

Madonna Can't Play Guitar (under the "More Madonna News" link)

March 2004

Some more news about Madonna's soon-to-be-announced tour. We hear the superstar has been rehearsing at the Culver City Studios in LA - and it's not going as smoothly as she would have liked.

Apparently, while Madonna was running through Justify My Love and an acoustic version of Crazy For You she kept screwing up her guitar strings [She has no musical talent, so no surprise there] and screaming, "f***!" [again, no surprise].

The tour, which is believed to include all her greatest hits [because her smaller, older, shrinking fan base was hacked off that she didn't include her "oldies" in her last concert tour], is expected to take place at the end of the year.

Music labels quietly use file-sharing data to boost sales

April 6, 2004 / Knight Ridder, Houston Chronicle

By DAWN C. CHMIELEWSKI / Knight-Ridder Tribune News

It was one of those sunglasses-required days in Los Angeles when Eric Garland, a leading expert on music downloading, arrived for his meeting with a senior media company executive. Rather than talking in the company's air-conditioned offices, the executive led Garland and his partner through a fetid back alley to a secluded courtyard.

Only then did the executive ask his question: Which songs, exactly, are the millions of Internet users illegally downloading? "I just thought, this is crazy," recalled Garland, who had to prop his laptop on a dumpster to give his presentation.

The reason for the cloak-and-dagger theatrics: While the music industry publicly flays Kazaa and other file-swapping services for aiding piracy, those same services provide an excellent view of what's really popular with fans.

Record-label executives discreetly use Garland's research firm, BigChampagne, and other services to track which songs are traded online and help pick which new singles to release. They increasingly use such file-sharing data to convince radio stations and MTV to give new songs a spin or boost airplay for those that are popular with downloaders.

Some labels even monitor what people do with their music after they download it to better structure deals with licensed downloading services. The ultimate goal is what it always has been in the record business: Sell more music.

"I know of a case where an artist had obviously gone with the wrong single, and everyone loved this other song they had on their record," said Guy Oseary, Madonna's business partner and head of her label, Maverick Records. "In the world of what we do, it's always good to have real information from real fans."

Maverick used BigChampagne's 100-city breakdown of popularly downloaded songs to convince radio stations to start playing a new band, Story of the Year, during prime daytime listening hours instead of at night.

The online data revealed that despite Story of the Year's lunar rotation, its single Until the Day I Die ranked among the top 20 most popular downloads, alongside tracks from Blink-182, Audioslave and Hoobastank that received significantly more airplay.

And when the band performed in a city, "we didn't necessarily see the phones blowing up at radio, but we saw download requests for the song skyrocket as they went through," said Jeremy Welt, Maverick's head of new media.

Armed with this data, Maverick fought for more airtime at radio, which translated into more CD sales. Story of the Year's album, Page Avenue, just went gold, selling more than half a million copies.

Warner Bros. used data from songs pirated off the Internet to form a strategy to promote Headstrong, the new single from Trapt.

"I definitely don't like to spin it that piracy is OK because we get to look at the data. It's too bad that people are stealing so much music," said Welt. "That said, we would be very foolish if we didn't look and pay attention to what's going on."

It's not an isolated example. Garland said Warner Bros. followed a similar promotional strategy with Headstrong, the new single from the Los Gatos rock band Trapt. Indeed, nearly all the labels work with BigChampagne on a project or subscription basis, he said.

Some promoters at the major labels have gone a step further, using advertising agencies or other intermediaries to place ads on popular file-swapping networks to promote new acts.

Before the music industry effectively shut down AudioGalaxy in 2002, the labels would pay the file-swapping service to sponsor search terms to direct fans looking to download songs from, say, Radiohead, to an emerging band with a similar style.

"We'd promote it to you right there," said AudioGalaxy founder Michael Merhej, whose account was confirmed by two independent sources. "The link took you to a third-party Web site done by the label, but you couldn't tell it was done by the label. This went on for a long time."

"My feeling is there's a promotional value to exposure," said Artemis Records chairman Danny Goldberg, an influential industry player who previously headed Mercury Records, now part of giant Universal Music. "Give something away for free, and hope they fall in love."

Not content to rip off one person at a time as was the case way back when, Madonna is going try and keep her name in the papers this time by clinging on to the names of several different famous types. Check this out:

Madonna Immortalises Kylie Minogue

Herald Sun / 15 April 2004

KYLIE Minogue [who is very famous in Europe and Australia and not so much in the United States] has become pop folklore after being written into the lyrics of a Madonna classic.

The pop princess has been immortalised in a rehashing of the Material Girl's Vogue, rehearsal spies say.

The spoken verse of the 1990 smash hit, in which Madonna harks back to the glamour days of Hollywood, originally begins with the line "Greta Garbo and Monroe".

But that's all been changed for Madge's latest world tour, and now the verse starts with Australia's finest pop export in the line "Britney Spears and Minogue".

The entire verse has been changed to:

Britney Spears and Minogue,
Aguilera and J-Lo,
Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne,
On the cover of a magazine.
They have style, they have sass
Missy E kicks some ass.

Madonna famously donned a Kylie Minogue T-shirt in November 2000 for a performance at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Stockholm, suggesting she might be a fan.

There has been no doubting Madonna's affection for Britney ["Affection?" Er, no, try "I'm an aging pop dinosaur who is using Britney to maintain an illusion of relevancy in today's pop culture," says Madonna] over the past few months, and not only because of the steamy kiss they shared at another MTV Awards bash last year.

After all, Christina Aguilera also got a "peck", but wasn't afforded the privilege of a duet with Madonna in the same way Britney was.

The pair collaborated on last year's hit Me Against The Music, which featured on Britney's album In The Zone.

Britney has also been accused of morphing into Madonna of late, with increasingly risque film clips and a current tour - The Onyx Hotel tour - that is making headlines for its raunchy dance routines and Britney's scanty costumes.

As for Kylie, the only danger she faces of being compared to Madonna would be by giving birth.

....As for Madonna, she embarks on her Reinvention tour on May 24 in LA and will play to sold out venues across the United States and Europe.

Australia is not on her itinerary, but Kylie could catch her in Paris on September 1, 2 or 4.

Madonna Fires Male Dancers from Reinvention Tour for Calling Her Old

April 20, 2004

Excerpt:

Sounding like Donald Trump on "The Apprentice," Madonna screamed, "You're fired!" at three male dancers hired for her upcoming tour. They were gossiping during a break, commenting that at age 45 Madonna doesn't have the energy she once had, and one cattily remarked: "She's no spring chicken anymore."

Well, cluck, cluck ... the ex-spring chicken was within earshot! Madonna went ballistic, storming over and lashing into the lads as they turned beet red. Then she pointed to the exit and ordered all three to waltz outta there!

Madonna Makes it to Mr Blackwell's 2003 Worst Dressed List

Jan 2004

Excerpt:

...Madonna and Britney Spears - "kissin' cousins of couture crime" - were tied for second place, ..."

Same story available from

ABC 13.com

E! On Line News

Madonna Can't Make 'Swept' Suit Go Away

from Contra Costa Times, Jan. 29, 2004

Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie are to be taken to court by an actor who claims the couple stole the idea for their 2002 film Swept Away.

Vincent D'Onofrio says he pitched the idea to the pair in 1997 - but they cut him out of the credits. The couple say he has no proof of a contract.

The legal action was started in October 2002, but a court date has now been set for Los Angeles on 4 May.

Swept Away, a remake of a 1975 Italian comedy, flopped on release in 2002.

'Worst picture'

The movie starred Madonna as a wealthy woman stranded on a desert island with a sailor, and was mauled by critics.

D'Onofrio is seeking $10m (£5.5m). Last year, Madonna and Ritchie asked a judge in Los Angeles to throw out the case after one of D'Onofrio's lawyer failed to turn up for a court date.

Describing himself as a singer, songwriter, director and actor, D'Onofrio is not the actor of the same name who appeared in TV drama Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Swept Away took five Golden Raspberries - the unofficial awards for bad films - in 2003. They included worst picture, worst actress and worst director.

The picture's poor reception in the US meant it did not even get a cinema release in the UK.

Same article available from

Ananova: Madonna and Ritchie accused of stealing film idea

BBC News: Court Date For Madonna Film Case

Detroit Free Press: Madonna and Guy Must Own Up to Awful Film

NBC4.TV: Madonna, Husband Sued Over Movie Flop

Madonna in Facelift Riddle

By Alison Boshoff, Daily Mail / 11 February 2004

Excerpts:

By now, of course, we should have wearied of Madonna's endless capacity for re-invention. What a clichè the remaking of her image has become as, year after year, she has struggled to keep the public intrigued.

But for all that there was something shockingly different about her appearance at the Grammy awards on Sunday night. This time, it wasn't her usual gimmicky splash of fancy dress (a flashed breast, a pretend punk ensemble). Nor was it as vulgar as the 'lesbian' show which she put on with Britney Spears at the MTV awards last year.

Instead, Madonna appeared to be showing off (whisper it) a new face. Well that, at least, is what music industry gossips have insisted since Christmas, when, it is said, she visited a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles and had a 'very subtle and high quality' facelift.

Last year, it emerged that she'd been having non- surgical beauty serums blasted into her skin at a small salon in Hampstead, North London, for £350 a time. She is also a fan of Linda Meredith's Crystal Clear Oxygen Facials and Dr Hauschka creams.

But a surgical facelift? Would Madge have gone that far to keep up with today's divas?

Surely she cannot hope to catch glorious, golden Beyonce, only 22, whose single Crazy In Love outsold Madonna's effort, Hollywood, last year by a ratio of two to one, and who walked away on Sunday with five awards, the acknowledged queen of this year's event.

Certainly, it appeared that Madonna had conceded defeat to the new generation of upstarts when she launched herself as a children's author last summer, all hornrimmed glasses and demure frock.

And with a flop album (American Life), two flop singles (American Life, Hollywood), a flop film (Swept Away) and a particularly embarrassing ad campaign under her belt (Gap), it appeared she was finally ready to leave the stage for a new generation of pop stars.

Madonna Kissing Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the August 2003 Video Music Awards

(1.) Madge Desperately Seeking Attention!, from Closer magazine

(2.) Sirens Pucker Up For Profitl

Excerpt:

"What you are looking at is Madonna, whose career is in decline at the moment... latching on to the new generation - it's literally kissing up to the next generation," says Mast.

"Here's Madonna, who can't cause controversy any more, so she goes for the three-way leso kiss."

(3.) Pity Madonna, career on the slide, betrayed by a kiss

Excerpts:

The utterly contrived, lingering kisses with which Madonna chose to draw the cameras at the MTV Awards show that she is desperate to revive our waning interest, writes Sam Leith

The problem is, we have lost interest in Madonna. But Madonna has not lost interest in our interest. Hence the lingering, sexy, utterly contrived kisses with which she chose to draw the cameras at the MTV Awards . . . The headlines that this gap-toothed, career-on-the-slide, ageing pop legend had in mind will have been "Madonna in sexy snogfest", not "Madonna anoints chosen successor - and it's Britney!"

Beyonce sees off Madonna to stay top of UK single chart

http://www.nme.com/news/105574.htm

July 13, 2003

Excerpts:

Beyonce today (July 13) won the battle of the giants holding onto the top spot on the UK single chart with 'Crazy In Love' seeing off Madonna who enters at two with her new single 'Hollywood'.

And there was double celebration for Beyonce as she held onto the top spot on the album chart for a second week with 'Dangerously In Love' scoring a double double.

Madonna: Keep Off the Grass, from E! Online

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,12089,00.html

by Lia Haberman
Jul 2, 2003

Excerpts:

Madonna's music may be loved by the masses, but the singer herself isn't too eager to mingle with the hoi polloi.

Brit-based Madge has successfully campaigned to prevent people from rambling through the pastoral land near her country mansion.

As such, the Countryside Agency, which advises Britain's government on issues affecting the English countryside, has scuttled its plans to create a footpath 100 yards away from Madonna and Guy Ritchie's eight-bedroom Ashcombe House in Wiltshire, in the south of England.

The power couple sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair registering their concern that the walkway would become a yellow brick road leading looky-loos and paparazzi straight to the diva's dwelling.

. . . . This isn't the first time Madonna has taken extreme precautions to protect her privacy. She has previously complained about low-flying airplanes and had earlier installed a 12-foot-high security gate at her central London house but was told to take it down because she failed to apply for a planning permit [ha ha!]

Meanwhile, the Material One hopes the unwashed masses will make the trek to bookstores September 15 to pick up a copy of her newest venture, a children's book titled The English Roses.

Also available from:

Madonna Bans Pedestrians Near English Mansion, FOX News

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/6214021.htm

http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=214004

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/Entertainment/story_47789.asp

Madonna Makes Millions From Gap Ad, reports TeenMusic.com

Jul 24, 2003

Excerpts:

Pop superstar Madonna's 30-second TV commercial for clothing giants GAP has earned her a reported $10 million as well as a deal to sell her children's book at the chain's stores.

The Material Girl will hit American screens starting July 30th in the ad, in which she'll appear alongside chart-topping rapper Missy Elliot - but source

say the huge pay-check wasn't enough for the pop icon.

A source tells US Weekly, "As part of the deal, she also insisted that her new children's book, The English Roses, be sold at The Gap's children stores.

Madonna Endorses Sweat Shops

(cached by google; otherwise available as a .doc download. This article may be parody or satire)

by Colleen Smith of The Uncoveror

Excerpts

Famous pop divas Madonna and Missy Elliott seem proud to endorse clothing sold at The Gap, as they can be seen wearing it and singing about it in a new commercial.

The Gap hopes that their superstar appeal will get teens to rush out and buy, but how many will consider that Gap clothes (including Banana Republic, Old Navy, and baby Gap) are usually made in third world sweatshops, many of which are guilty of exploiting children? How is it that these two pop culture icons could endorse such an unscrupulous bunch?

Could it be greed, the same kind that motivated former Gap CEO, Millard Drexler to pay himself over 39 million dollars in 2000? Could it be ignorance? Maybe these two wealthy and pampered celebs are so out of touch, that they are unaware of how The Gap treats workers. The Gap claims they are not responsible for the conditions in textile mills, as they do not own or operate them. The Gap contracts with the mills, and the mills hire workers. This stale old excuse doesn't hold up. The Gap could easily require contractors to establish safe working conditions, reasonable hours, and living wages, but refuses to.

Joni Mitchell Says She's Quitting Music Buiz / Rips on Madonna in Interview

http://news.dmusic.com/print/5728

November 21, 2002

Excerpts:

As for Madonna, who was once quoted as saying that as a teenager she had adored Mitchell: "She has knocked the importance of talent out of the arena. She's manufactured. She's made a lot of money and become the biggest star in the world by hiring the right people," Mitchell said.

. . . . She [Joni Mitchell] has refused to do anything to make her music more saleable. "What would I do?", she asked in the W magazine interview.

"Show my tits? Grab my crotch? Get hair extensions and a choreographer? It's not my world," she said.

Also available from

http://xtramsn.co.nz/entertainment/0,,3901-1919280,00.html

http://www.popdirt.com/article9759.html

National Enquirer: Madonna to Publish Children's Books

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/stories/news.cfm?instanceid=57191

March 5, 2003

Excerpt:

According to reports, Madonna has signed a five book publishing deal with Penguin Group -- to write children's books.

According to chairman and chief executive of the publishing group, "Madonna is an artist with a universal appeal and these books will touch children of all backgrounds everywhere in the world."

"Universal appeal"? For whom, bi-sexual, cross dressing men who like to molest children? For strippers in bars? And are these freaks really "universal"????? Is Madonna going to market these by stapling condom packages in every copy?

The Gold Club Scandal: Did Madonna Leave With One of Their Female Strippers to Have Sex With Her?

Madonna denied it was true (I do not believe her for one moment), but interestingly, her publicist said that it was nothing that Madonna would be ashamed of. After all there are photos taken of Madonna at one of her birthday parties from the 1990s where she can be seen topless rubbing her breasts into the chest of a topless female stripper.

Anyway, of course Madonna wouldn't feel ashamed for people to know she's a total trollop. She has absolutely no morals, unless we count bad ones.

Whether or not Madonna did have sex with this Gold Club stripper, the very fact that some people do find it plausible that Madonna used or hired a female stripper tells you something about her (lack of) character in and of itself.

See:

The Condit Brothers | Madonna and the Gold Club from FOX News

Court told of Madonna and stripper called Baby

Excerpt from the Fox news article reads:

According to a witness in the Gold Club trial, Madonna once went to the Atlanta strip club and left with one of the dancers [a female stripper named "Baby"]. This was presented in the trial with incredible melodrama. We were supposed to be shocked by this news bulletin.

This would be the same Madonna who had two children born of out what we used to call wedlock, who published a book called Sex which showed her in every imaginable erotic situation, whose videos stretch the boundaries of good taste, who had a long-term relationship with Miami nightclub moll Ingrid Casares and who starred in a documentary called Truth or Dare in which she demonstrated oral sex techniques on a Perrier bottle.

Her rep, Liz Rosenberg, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that if the Gold Club episode had taken place, "I don't know if it's anything that Madonna would be ashamed of, by the way."

Is there life after ' Life ' for Madonna?

from Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX, by By Dave Ferman

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/living/5937492.htm

(May 24, 2003)

Excerpts:

. . . For the first time since Holiday became a hit back in 1983, Madonna, 44, is seeing her ability to generate interest wane, and wane quickly. After just three weeks, her new CD, American Life, has slipped from No. 1 to No. 15 on the national charts, an amazingly poor showing for any big-name artist. . .

The first single, the CD's title track, generated almost no interest on radio. It's the least potent single of her entire career, and a second, Hollywood, has been rush-released.

This comes on top of her disastrous return to the big screen last year in Swept Away, directed by her husband, Guy Ritchie. . .

...The movie [Swept Away], and now her new CD, shows undeniably that there is simply no buzz around Madonna anymore. The world yawned when she withdrew what was supposed to be a controversial video for American Life.

And hardly anyone noticed when, in Paris a couple weeks ago, she thanked the French for opposing the war in Iraq: There were no major announcements criticizing those remarks, no outraged comments from conservatives, no radio stations crushing her CDs under tractors.

. . . . The influential New Music Express said much the same thing in a lukewarm review of the CD: Critic Johnny Davis opined that her stabs at self-deprecation and self-analysis "just come across as gauche."

"What's the point of Madonna these days?" he asks, before going on to say that she's "simply done everything there is to do. . . surely that's enough now."

And this is the crux of the problem -- or, at least, one of them. Whereas once she sang about hot-button topics like sex and abortion, these days she's rapping (yes, rapping) about her Pilates class and drinking a latte. The mystery, it seems, is gone.

Young people are listening to younger acts like Eminem and Avril Lavigne, but Madonna's fall in popularity can't be blamed only on her advancing years.

In fact, says Medler, the fiftysomething Cher's comeback and '80s phenom Kylie Minogue's recently heightened profile in America have stolen a lot of Madonna's thunder.

"Madonna always pushes the buttons and goes beyond -- she makes people uncomfortable. She isn't likable in the same way Cher is," he says.

"Madonna doesn't seem to know who she is out there," says Danny Owen, a Las Colinas-based musician who's been in the business for 25 years. "She's become much ado about nothing -- and if she's not careful, she'll end up being Mae West."

May 4, 2003 Parade Magazine answers the reader question:

Madonna recently released American Life. Do you think it will be the hit she's been desperately seeking for the past few years?

[Hint: their answer starts with "No."]

Madonna Stalked at Top of The Pops

http://www.curlio.com/new_showarticle.php?id=4129&page=last

Hello, Marcus? Madonna is a loser. Loo - zuh. Find some other celebrity to stalk.

(May 17, 2003)

2003-05-17 23:34:52 BBC News
Madonna's plans to leave the Top of the Pops studio early were put on hold when it was discovered that a potential stalker, Marcus Sessions, was on the premises. Madonna was forced to wait in her dressing room while the stalker was found and escorted away by security.

"A potential stalker had bought a ticket from a tout and he tried to talk his way into the Star Bar," a BBC statement said. "But he was recognised by security staff and was escorted from the premises."

The incident took place at the corporation's Television Centre complex in Shepherd's Bush, west London.

The BBC News article reads in part:

Mr Sessions is reported to be the same man who got a job as an ice cream seller at the capital's Wyndham's Theatre when Madonna appeared there in 2002.

He has previously said he was "a genuine fan and definitely not a nutcase".

In 2000, he told the Express that he spent a whole day in the Top of the Pops studio as the singer rehearsed.

He was also reported to have posed as a flower delivery boy in 1998.

Same information available from

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_782061.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3033203.stm

Get Back Home Madonna, by Bill O'Reilly

http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_5470.shtml

No, no, no, Mr. O'Reilly: we want Mads to stay in the UK. I for one do not want her tainting American soil again and the U.S. media slathering over her every move.

(May 17, 2003)

Excerpts:

Madonna has a lesson for all of us, and we should listen up. The fabulously wealthy diva's career is on the skids, and she is probably as shocked as anyone. Her new album opened at No. 1 but was heavily discounted, selling in many places for less than $10. Since that first week, her sales have slipped badly, and radio play is down 40 percent according to Billboard Magazine.

Madonna left her current home in the United Kingdom to come back to her original home, the USA, to promote the recording. There she was with Regis and Kelly, on MTV and on "Dateline." But the 44-year-old singer really didn't have much to say other than please buy my album.

This was a far cry from the controversial town crier of years past, when Madonna warbled about being "like a virgin" and waxed poetic over enjoying Material Girl status.

Now, Madonna seemingly stands for nothing and lives abroad with her husband who directed her in perhaps the worst film ever made, a remake of the classic Lena Wertmuller movie "Swept Away." Madonna spent a lot of time on the beach in that flick and, at times, the tide actually refused to come in.

In real life, the working-class lass from Michigan often affects a British accent, and is sometimes portrayed in the media as a person seeking membership in the aristocracy.

. . . Madonna used to be fun to watch and listen to. Her success demonstrated the fact that in America you can make it to the top by starting at the bottom.

Today, however, Madonna is no longer fun and is no longer symbolically accessible to the fans who made her a star. She is living over there in England and talking trash about the president of the USA, while using a funny accent that would get you shoved in Detroit.

Sued Madonna wants action dismissed

Better idea: all the world's citizens should sue Madonna for subjecting us to her lousy acting in all her films. Maybe we could take the winnings and get her some acting lessons.

(May 16, 2003)

Lawyers for Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie are trying to get a breach of contract action against the couple dismissed because an opposing lawyer failed to turn up in court.

A Los Angeles judge heard arguments about whether the lawsuit should be thrown out of court. Judge Soussan Bruguera did not indicate when she would rule on the possible dismissal.

The action alleges that Madonna and her British director husband broke a contract involving their film flop Swept Away when they did not compensate the man who claims he brought them the idea.

same information available from

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3034283.stm

http://www.wnbc.com/entertainment/2206873/detail.html

Pop Charts Topped by 50 Cent Again, Madonna Falls, By Steve Gorman

(Wed May 7, 2003 09:16 PM ET)

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2701400

Excerpts:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Madonna took a tail spin on the pop charts on Wednesday, falling so far that two releases spawned by the amateur talent show 'American Idol' outsold her [including the release Thankful by Kelly Clarkson].

Rap artist 50 Cent returned to the top of the album charts just ahead of the two 'American Idol' discs while Madonna's first album in three years, 'American Life,' plunged to No. 8 in its second week of release, after opening at the top.

... Fifty Cent's latest tally was down about 10 percent from the previous week but still enough to reclaim the No. 1 chart position, raising his cumulative haul to 4.5 million units.

Meanwhile, 'American Life' sank to eighth place in the charts as sales dropped more than 60 percent to 91,000 copies. The album opened last week at No. 1 with 240,000 copies sold.

Madonna's Sales Tank After One Week

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,86059,00.html

(May 06, 2003)

Madonna's Sales [of American Life] Tank After One Week
Madonna is in trouble. Her American Life album drops from number 1 to about number 8 this week, selling a paltry 65,000 copies. That's down from 235,000 the first week.

...woe is Madonna, who looks like she will have her first real flop in two decades. At this rate she'll be lucky to hit half a million copies. A Madonna album is so expensive to market — what with flying everyone around first class and catering to all whims — Warner Bros. must be in a panic. Stay tuned.

Madonna's outburst earns TV rebuke, by HILARY DUNCANSON

(Novemeber 2002)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/11-2-19102-0-32-53.html

[My comments on this news story]:

Is is just me, or does it strike anyone else that the reason Maddy keeps using the "F" word so often, other than the fact that she is tasteless and vulgar, is to shock people?

Isn't she getting a bit too old to be using the "F" word in this manner? It doesn't make her look cool, if that's her plan. Instead, it comes across like a pathetic publicity attempt to appear young and rebellious. She's 44 years old now, not 15.

Excerpts:

A foul-mouthed outburst by Madonna on pre-watershed live TV yesterday earned a rebuke for Channel 4 .

The singer used the word "mother...... [f*cker]" as she announced the winner of the Turner Prize art award in December. . .

Producers had put special precautions in place because of the star's reputation for foul language, and she had been cautioned about how she should behave.

Channel 4 said she appeared to be taking the event very seriously, but despite several requests, would not allow the station to see her speech. . . .

Channel 4 later said that its "trust in Madonna had been abused".

One drooling Madonna fan with no more than two brain cells to rub together (a Mr. "jmc muzac") insists that the following news story was not wholly accurate, that Madonna only thanked the French for supporting her pop song "American Life" and that no mention of the Iraqi conflict was brought up. Read my response to this snot- nosed punk on the hate mail page.

Madonna thanks France for opposition to Iraq war (May 2003, Ananova)

http://www.ananova.com/news/index.html?keywords=Madonna&nav_src=more_on

Copy is available at this page:

Madonna Thanks France for Opposition to Iraq War (Top 40 Charts.com)

http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=4936

It's hard to tell if Madonna really is against American involvement in Iraq, or if all her latest American- bashing of the past few months is another tired attempt to create controversy to get media attention. Either way, I think she's a traitor to her country. Britain can have her (no offense if you're a British "anti- Madonna-ist," LOL).

For some reason, ananova has since pulled this story, but they offer no explanation at their site why they have done so. The story headline, though, still shows up in a search on google.com's news section under the phrase "Madonna thanks France for opposition to Iraq war." (I have saved a screen shot of that google page and will be placing it on this site in the future.)

Excerpt:

Madonna has thanked France for its opposition to the Iraqi war, during a private performance for 200 guests of a radio station in Paris. / 16:27 Thursday 8th May 2003

Full Story:

Madonna has thanked France for its opposition to the Iraqi war, during a private performance for 200 guests of a radio station in Paris.

Dressed in a low-cut black top and black glittery trousers, she performed the title track to her album, American Life.

The exclusive event, held at the city's Nobel restaurant, lasted 40 minutes.

But for those not invited to the venue, the concert was broadcast by the radio station live over the internet and to nine European countries.

As she thanked the French for opposing conflict in Iraq, she told fans: "Here in France I feel at home."

Madonna reveals fondness for ale (May 2003)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_776409.html?menu=

See also: Madonna the Drunk

Madonna has revealed that she loves real ale, getting drunk with husband Guy Ritchie in Soho pubs and feeding ducks in the park. / 12:53 Friday 2nd May 2003

Madonna reveals fondness for ale (May 2003)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_776409.html?menu=

See also: Madonna the Drunk

Madonna has revealed that she loves real ale, getting drunk with husband Guy Ritchie in Soho pubs and feeding ducks in the park. / 12:53 Friday 2nd May 2003

Hacked For the Very First Time:

Madonna Finds Out What File Traders Are Doing

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/27699

Excerpt:

...the pop singer and her label released a flurry of phony versions of her latest single [American Life] to file trading services, which instead of music, contained Madonna's voice asking downloaders "What the f--- do you think you’re doing?"

Hackers quickly informed the material girl exactly what they were doing; defacing her website and posting direct links to several versions of the song. The Smoking Gun has a screen capture of of the defacement and a synopsis of Madonna's adventure versus the techno-underground.
Posted 04-22 17:03

Hackers Strike Back at Madonna for Bogus MP3s

http://www.antimusic.com/news/03/april/item40.shtml

Excerpt:

Hacker(s) fought back by hacking into Madonna’s official website and posting real mp3 copies of the tracks along with a message that read "This is what the f*ck I think I'm doing", according to The Smoking Gun.

Madonna.com was reportedly taken offline for nearly fifteen hours after the hack was discovered.

E! On Line: Madonna's New Holy War, by Joal Ryan / Sep 15, 1998

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/Pf/0,1527,3596,00.html

At least she's offending other religious groups besides Christians now.

Excerpt:

Remember that thing Madonna wore on her face during last week's MTV Video Music Awards? Well, it wasn't a "thing," at all. It was a set of facial markings holy to Hindus--and some Hindus aren't happy about its TV exposure, courtesy the Material Girl.

A group called the World Vaishnava Association is demanding an apology from Madonna. MTV, too.

Per usual, the M One isn't going quietly. Her camp's refusing to issue an "I'm sorry."

The last famous person:

Canadians fall to knees before star of Who's That Girl

BY MARC WEISBLOTT

http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_03.12.98/music/madonnaweis.html

Excerpts:

Friday, March 7. Sutton Place Hotel. Madonna. Check in for 3, I'm told. Press conference will commence at 4:30.

... Adrian Bell, a long-suffering radio DJ, made all the papers with his question, "If you took a holiday, took some time to celebrate, just one day out of life, would it be so nice?" Madonna mocked the guy for being uncouth, and yet I found his question utterly, impeccably Zen.

Also, few in the room seemed to catch on to Madonna's apparently deranged backpedal when asked about Celine Dion. ("I spent some time with her in Germany. She's warm and kind. I really liked her.")

The topic of Alanis Morissette was broached, of course, and, in hindsight, maybe I could've chimed in to satisfy my curiosity about those loss-leaders signed to the Maverick label. ("Uh, Madonna, could you, er, tell me when the next Summercamp album is coming out?")

Madonna Blasts Back At Critical Hindu Group

(Wed. September 16, 1998)

http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/501729/09161998/madonna.jhtml

Pop diva answers criticism of her sexually charged performance at MTV Video Music Awards. by Senior Writer Gil Kaufman

Fake Nipples, Anyone?

http://gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=3100

Hmm, why not? Everything else about Madonna is fake.

Excerpt:

We didn't believe it when we saw it on [American calbe television program] Sex and the City, but now Madonna's wearing them

With the see-thru shirt a must-have fashion item this season, nipple enhancers are destined to be in all our wardrobes this spring.

...Ollie reckons that there is no way Madonna could have achieved a certain pert effect in a recent outfit designed by her pal Stella McCartney.

So you've been warned - fake nipples are set to storm spring fashion!

Madonna at the Trap Range!

(December 31, 2000)

http://www.nrawinningteam.com/0012/madonna.html

Wonder what her anti- NRA pal Rosie O'Donnel thinks about this story? (For what it's worth, I don't like hunting. Yeah, I eat the occasional hamburger, so maybe I'm a hypocrite here, but I just could never kill a critter.)

Excerpts:

In December 2000, on it's home page, NRAWinningTeam.com was pleased to provide a link to a short News of the World piece showing rock star Madonna enjoying herself in a manner that all NRA members could identify with -- at the trap range...

While the article contained no explanation as to why Madonna was learning to shoot trap (and even described her as being at a "rifle range"), we are sure Madonna's experience is of interest to the NRA community...

UPDATE - 11/28/01

NRAWinningTeam.com has heard that Paul McCartney's "significant other" has become quite peeved at Madonna as of late. Why? It seems Madonna has taken quite a fancy to small-game hunting, something the Hollywood anti-hunting, anti-firearm crowd can't understand at all. This would certainly explain why Madonna was receiving shotgun instruction as reported above.

RELATED INFORMATION: Stella angry over Madonna's fur coat Madonna wore a coat made out of unborn baby lamb fur http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/music/newsid_2569000/2569157.stm Or read excerpts from above article on the LINKS page

Lycos News: Madonna's Sex Phase Was a Mistake [Admits Madonna] (March 12, 2003)

http://music.lycosasia.com/music_news/7000072188_C.html

Pop queen MADONNA has conceded her early-nineties SEX phase was a big mistake - blaming it on her ego running wild.

The singer and actress - who bared all in the hit art photo book of the same name - thought detailing her sexual fantasies on paper would do some good.

She says, "I was just being an ego-driven nutcase.

I thought I was doing a service to mankind, being revolutionary, liberating women.

I wasn't."

Same article available from:

http://www.rochestertoday.com/entertainment/music/story.aspx?content_id=8C82DF00-2AAA-4C2A-BF07-2F6CB98F53AE

http://www.klrt.com/entertainment/music/story.aspx?content_id=8C82DF00-2AAA-4C2A-BF07-2F6CB98F53AE

http://www.wixt.com/entertainment/music/story.aspx?content_id=8C82DF00-2AAA-4C2A-BF07-2F6CB98F53AE

http://www.woai.com/living/music/story.aspx?content_id=8C82DF00-2AAA-4C2A-BF07-2F6CB98F53AE

http://www.newschannel34.com/entertainment/music/story.aspx?content_id=8C82DF00-2AAA-4C2A-BF07-2F6CB98F53AE

http://www.fox23.com/entertainment/music/story.aspx?content_id=8C82DF00-2AAA-4C2A-BF07-2F6CB98F53AE

Madonna Disses Americans

http://q102philly.com/script/headline_newsmanager.php?id=153986&pagecontent=musicnewschrmain

Her appearance on a British talk show was reportedly edited - after she called Americans 'rude and obnoxious.'

Music superstar Madonna's appearance on a British talk show was reportedly edited - after she called Americans "rude and obnoxious."

The Material Girl recently appeared on BBC show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to promote her new album "American Life."

During the show, the singer reportedly lashed out at America - quotes that ended up on the cutting room floor. A source tells The Scoop, "Madonna said that most Americans are rude and obnoxious

"She said that Americans are upset with her for having abandoned that country for England. "And she's clearly no fan of President George W. Bush. But for some reason, all those comments were left on the editing room floor."