all about Madonna

Madonna seems to be a woman of many talents, for after having wielded the pen, she is all set to direct a movie.
According to The Sun, she will sign a lucrative deal to direct a film version of her children’s book, English Roses.
She has penned the screenplay with husbandb Guy Ritchie and will start shooting next summer. The movie will be produced by Sony.
source : ANI

Madonna is nominated for best female performer, best tour and best dressed.

from Madonna.com : Madonna.com can confirm that Madonna is back in the studio today to record new music. Can’t say what it is for just yet, but stay tuned to Madonna.com for more info.

The house of Versace has called in two favorite superstar pals for its latest advertising campaign.
In a major break with recent seasons, Mario Testino shot Madonna last week in London for the label’s next women’s ad campaign, which will break in February 2005 issues of major magazines.
The ads, shot in a London studio, represent a major change in style for the house, which for most of this century has used Steven Meisel to shoot its major publicity efforts.
The move also signals a renewed burst of commitment from Donatella Versace, newly revitalized by her trip to substance rehabilitation clinic this summer.
Earlier this month, Donatella was the fashion star in Hamburg at the Bambi awards, Germany’s most prestigious fashion prize. Looking super-trim, Versace shared a table at the gala dinner with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
A spokesman for the house declined to make any comment on the new shoot. However, a source at the shoot confirmed that Madge and Donatella got on swimmingly in London.
The combination is not unprecedented, as Versace used the duo of Madonna and Testino back in the mind-nineties.
The decision to drop Meisel in favor of Testino is understood to have been inspired, in part, by concern that Meisel has become too much of a ubiquitous presence in fashion advertising. A perennial snapper of US Vogue covers, Meisel regularly shoots oodles of ad campaigns for the major houses.
Versace declined any comment on the fees for the shoot, though word has it that Madonna is primarily interested in nabbing a new wardrobe from Donatella.
source : yahoonews

from : abclocal.go.com
Chicago’s 15th Annual Celebrity Charity Chair Auction will be held on Wed., Dec. 1, from 6 to 10 p.m. The event, hosted by ABC 7’s Steve Dolinsky, will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan.
This popular event involves the silent and live auction bidding of over 100 one-of-a-kind chairs — from ones autographed by celebrities to others that are created by furniture designers and artists. Some of the celebrity chairs were inspired and autographed by Tim McGraw, Madonna, Mike Myers, John Travolta, Bill Cosby, Tom Cruise, Calista Flockhart, Reese Witherspoon, Donald Trump, Sting, and Halle Berry. Robert Duvall is on both a chair and this year’s invitation cover. Some chairs up for bid come packaged with special perks – from airfare to dinners to a ride in a NASCAR pace car. Among the furniture designers and artists involved include Matt Bins, Critz Campbell, S. Lloyd Natof , Paul Schulman, and McKinley Wells.
The Celebrity Chair Auction was founded and produced by Mary McCall benefits a number or Chicago area non-profit agencies including the Chicago Abused Women Coalition, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, and Chicago Communities in Schools. The idea for the event began over 18 years ago, when McCall was working for actor Paul Newman as a location scout. McCall sent Newman to the now-shuttered Florence Restaurant on Taylor Street for lunch. Her late husband, Tom, suggested that she do something with the chair that Newman sat on – and the Celebrity Charity Chair Auction was born!
Chairs featured on ABC 7 News:
# Viggo Mortensen (by James Mesple)
# Robert Redford (by Mary Piper)
# Dusty Baker (by Lisa Riedl)
# Madonna (by Derek Harrington)
# Gene Hackman (by Dan Godsel)
# Marlon Brando – not autographed (by Susan B. Bruno)
# Steve Dolinsky (designed by Steve McDonough of Fire Seating, painted by Ann Haberl)
Well-known Chicago chefs of Chicago will prepare their specialties as well. The celebrity chefs include Jimmy Banos, Heaven on Seven; Kevin Shikami, Kevin; Scott Harris, Mia Francesca; Charlie Brown, WE Ristorante; Ina Pinkney, Ina’s; Chef Ted Cizma; Jean Joho, Everest, and Mary McMahon, Tio Altier.
Tickets are $80.00 each. For more information, visit the Chair Auction on the web at www.celebritychairauction.com or call 312-565-4900.

from : celebritychairauction.com
The material girl, Madonna, stakes her signature claim on this Derek Harrington designed chair. Included in this First Lady of Pop package is roundtrip airfare for two provided by American Airlines to a United States destination of your choice. You, too, can jet towards Miami, New York, LA or where blonde ambition all began: Bay City, Michigan.

Pop icon Madonna says that she is so exhausted with handling her kids and family life that she has no energy left to heed her creative instincts.
The ‘Frozen’ singer, who has two children Lourdes and Rocco and is married to British director Guy Ritchie, said that although she would love to have one more child, managing everything on her own has really taken its toll.
46-year old Madonna also revealed that she likes to play the ideal wife complete with rubbing her husband’s feet when he comes back home in the evening and receiving him at the door.
She also makes sure that she helps out with her children’s homework everyday.
“I need to calm myself. I don’t have a manager anymore, so now I’m my own everything. Then I’m the person who stands at the door when my husband comes home from work, waiting to rub his feet,” The Mirror quoted her as saying.
“And I’m the person who helps my kids with their homework and puts them to bed. I’m exhausted. That’s my problem now. I no longer have time to be creative,” she added.
source : ANI

Madonna has been giving new mum Gwyneth Paltrow advice on bringing up her baby.
The pop queen, who is close friends with the Oscar-winning actress, has admitted she told Gwyneth she didn’t have to be ‘Supermom’ and look after baby Apple all by herself.
Madonna, who has two young children, Lourdes and Rocco, revealed: “I told her to stop trying to be Supermom. She didn’t have a nanny for ages. I kept asking her how she did it.”
Gwyneth – who is married to Coldplay star Chris Martin – recently revealed she would hire a nanny once she goes back to work.
The stunning actress gave birth in May and, despite previously criticising working mothers for not spending enough time with their children, Gwyneth admits she will have to get help.
She told Britain’s Red magazine: “I really love being with Apple. We had a baby nurse for the first few weeks and she showed me how to bath her and get her on a proper schedule.
“I’m sure if I go back to work I’ll hire one, so right now I’m just cherishing being with her while I can. But I’m not some superhero. If I want to get a massage, I’ll ask her daddy to watch her, or we get a baby-sitter if we want to go out for dinner.”
Before Apple’s birth, Gwyneth caused controversy when she hit out at working mothers.
She said at the time: “There are certain women in this business who have children and I just think, ‘You must never, never see them.’ You can’t do movies back to back and see your child if they go to school.”
source : femalefirst.co.uk

Madonna will be spending her Thanksgiving Day shooting the new ad campaign for Versace. A rep for Donatella Versace confirmed the pop queen is doing the shoot in London today. While he refused to say what Madonna was getting paid, we hear she’s being compen sated in trade “

Life just doesn’t seem to stop for pop’s iconic queen.
Madonna, three months after finishing her grueling, super-successful Re-Invention Tour, has just published her fourth children’s book, The Adventures of Abdi, and now says that she won’t mind getting pregnant again.
In an interview with People magazine, the 46-year-old singer said she isn’t making any definite plans, but says, ‘I’m going to have fun with my husband and see what happens.’
Married to director Guy Ritchie, Madonna also talked fondly of her friends Gwyneth Paltrow and Stella McCartney, who’ve made her feel welcome in her relatively new English habitat.
She seems to be loving writing for young readers, and is currently focused to continue work with them. ‘My focus is to turn The English Roses (her first children’s book) into a world of adventure and inspiration for girls,’ she says. ‘I want to turn it into a film. I want there to be an English Roses column where girls can write in and ask questions. I want to be able to help girls and, in the process, help myself.’
source : rediff.com

Entertainment highlights during the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4:
1957: Buddy Holly & the Crickets appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” performing “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue.”
1969: Simon & Garfunkel’s first TV special aired.
1973: The Who spent the night in a jail in Montreal, Canada, after causing $6,000 worth of damage to a hotel room.
1980: The surviving members of Led Zeppelin announced they wouldn’t re-form after the death of drummer John Bonham.
1982: Pop star Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album was released.
1989: Actress Jane Fonda and California Assemblyman Tom Hayden filed separate petitions for divorce. Both said the split, after 16 years of marriage, was amicable.
1989: IRS agents raided the Las Vegas home of comedian Redd Foxx, who owed an estimated $755,000 in taxes.
1990: Madonna appeared on ABC’s “Nightline” to defend her “Justify My Love” video, which MTV had banned. The singer denied the video’s explicit content was meant to stir controversy and attract publicity.
1992: Stevie Wonder received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Songwriters.
1996: Actor Burt Reynolds filed for bankruptcy protection to reorganize $10 million in debts.
1997: The last episode of “Beavis and Butt-head” aired on MTV.
2000: The Smashing Pumpkins played their last concert, at a club in Chicago. It was the same club where they had played their first show 13 years earlier.
source : ap