all about Madonna

Rapper-turned-actor Andre 3000 was so starstruck when Madonna paid an unexpected visit to the set of her husband Guy Ritchie’s upcoming movie Revolver he was unable to continue filming.
The Outkast star – who has now turned his attention to achieving Hollywood stardom – only regained his composure after engaging Like A Virgin singer Madonna in conversation.
He says, “After I got over it, we sat and talked for awhile. She’s cool, though, real cool.”
source : contactmusic

1. Mick Jagger
2. Charlie Simpson
3. Bryan Ferry
4. Madonna
(Never trust a rich American who says she loves England: it just means she likes our class system. Madonna married Guy Ritchie who is as posh as they come (his mother chaired Kensington & Chelsea Tories). She then became lady of the manor at Ashcombe House, an 18th-century pile with 1,200 acres in Wiltshire, and tried to keep the proles out by appealing against a right of way that ran through the estate.)
5. Chris De Burgh
6. Kenny Jones
7. Sophie Ellis Bextor
8. Dido
9. Joe Strummer
10. Gram Parsons

source : guardian.co.uk/madonnanation

What do you get when you cross a former Material Girl with a fashion label that shouts out glam – a glam material girl? Well, not quite, but how about a chief executive with sophistication and fashion savvy?
Well, that’s apparently what Madonna is trying to portray in the new ad campaign for Versace’s spring/summer 2005. Or so says its creative director Donatella Versace in her exclusive e-mail interview with StarTwo.
“Madonna represents a modern executive woman who has great style and flair,” says Donatella. Not only is she in control of her career but also of her “fierce” wardrobe.
“The advantage of using a celebrity like Madonna is that she becomes associated with our brand. This personification can in turn reinforce our brand image as well as the public perception. Her aesthetic image, style of life, values and what the celebrity communicates as a public person is capitalised and used towards the brand’s advantage.”
As for the ad campaigns, there is some confusion over what Madonna is supposed to represent. The theme is “women in the office” but what sort of woman is she? A secretary living beyond her means (hello, it’s Versace – how many secretaries not kept by the boss can afford the items?) or a stylish woman in a managerial position? Also, which CEO has to lick an envelope while kneeling on the carpet (however plush the carpet is)?
Why, a CEO that is represented ironically (cue: Alanis Morissette’s song), says Donatella. Hmm, right!
“The woman I have in mind when designing is one whose individuality and inner confidence shines on the outside. She is also sophisticated, sexy, smart and always dynamic and charismatic. The contemporary woman is not afraid to be a woman. She can still be powerful by keeping her femininity and sexiness.”
This does seem to be what Madonna represents or has been trying to portray herself all this while. It is a match made in designer and advertising heaven. It seems a sure thing and they have after all seen it work before when Madonna first appeared 10 years ago for Versace in the 1995 campaign.
There is also some continuity as the photographer then, Mario Testino, is the photographer now. Testino was already a noted fashion photographer then but the Kabbalah-practising Madonna was the first to specifically request that he be used. So now he is a celebrity in his own right and, according to Donatella, the two were joking and laughing during the shoot (they are old friends, after all). In fact, reveals Donatella, it was at the launch of Crystal Noir (the new Versace women’s fragrance) last October that Madonna had dinner with her and Testino and they broached the subject of the ad campaign and came out with the idea and Maddie agreed to appear on it.
The shoot was done in Westway Studio (which belongs to Testino) in London and it was completed in one day. It was reported that they wanted an office with lots of space but couldn’t find any (tsk, tsk, “crampy” London?). Spaces like that are apparently plentiful in Los Angeles, so they resorted to building a mock-up in the studio.
Daughter Lourdes (apparently fondly known as Lola) paid Ma Madonna a visit on set in the afternoon. According to Donatella, she wanted to know what her mother was doing and the dutiful mother, erm, dutifully explained.
“She (Lourdes) is very nice; she already loves fashion and dresses. Madonna is very sweet with her children.”
There were also some reports that Madonna complained about the cold and had to take breaks to do her Kabbalah thing. Nay, says Donatella. “We worked all day without having lunch. Madonna is very professional and wanted to check and overview every photo. She arrived perfectly on time and then we worked all day.”
Sigh, where have all the divas gone?
After all, adds Donatella, she and Madonna go way back (13 years) and Maddie was also a friend of Donatella’s late brother, Gianni. So, she says, there were no problems working with a good friend and it helped that they have worked together before.
“She’s a great artiste, an incredible woman and a fantastic mother,” affirms Donatella. When asked what Madonna would say about her, she replies: “Hopefully the same.”
Still, friendship is not cheap as the grapevine has conjectured that Madonna was paid US$10.5mil (RM39.9mil) although Donatella has refused to comment.
When all is said and done, what about the clothes then? (We think they are the main item, no?)
Well, there is a draped jersey dress split to almost the nether regions and gathered at the waist with a gold buckle – very nice. A shirt that shouts Versace and worn with body-hugging jeans or loose cream pants – very nice too. Strappy, strappy, sandals – excellent! And the bags, they are Versace – what more is there to say?
So, even though the platinum wig makes you do a double-take, the clothes win you over. They can make almost anyone look good and you don’t even have to resort to heavy touch-ups. Think about it.
source : thestar.com.my

“I thought she was special when I first saw her,” Mr. Stein said. “I especially remember when she came to see me at the hospital when it was time to sign her first contract. I had been walking around in my hospital pajamas, opened back, hadn’t shaved, hadn’t washed. When I heard she was coming, I got my barber to come up. Got the good pajamas. She didn’t even notice. She could have cared less. I felt if I was laying in a coffin, she would have waved the papers in front of me.”
source : new york times

Madonna continues to plug away at her new album, and while questions are rampant about what it will sound like and who she’s working with, at least the latter part of those queries can now be answered. According to her label rep, Madonna’s teamed up once again with French producer Mirwais as well as Stuart Price, her musical director on the Reinvention Tour. At least one song title is known so far: “I Love New York.”
source : mtv

Looks like Madonna may return to the silver screen.
The spiritual girl is being coached by her Kabbalah advisers that now would be a good time to get back into acting in a big way, says a well-placed source.
“There was some hope that she might become the main pitchwoman for Kabbalah energy drink, but then it was decided that now was the opportune time for her to further her acting career,” says the insider. “So they’re hoping that Ashton Kutcher will step up to the plate and pitch it.”
Madonna’s rep dismisses the talk. “I’ve heard this rumor before. I can’t imagine where it came from,” Liz Rosenberg told The Scoop. “Madonna is currently in the studio working on a new album, editing a documentary film of her last tour, working on a sequel to The English Roses, her best selling children’s book and of course busy with her family. I wouldn’t rule out acting in her future but her plate seems pretty full at the moment.”
source : nbc

What Makes a Woman Alluring? If we identify the sexiest women in the world, will we also find out what makes all women sexy and alluring? That’s the premise behind a Good Housekeeping study of all ages to answer this question: “What makes some women more attractive than others?”
The answer isn’t their makeup, hair, or curvy bodies. What makes a woman–or a man, for that matter–sexy is the brain because it “generates fantasy, devises seduction routines, and is aroused by sight, scent, and smell,” says Vivienne Parry, science editor of the British edition of Good Housekeeping. “It’s the brain that prompts us to advertise our feelings with the way we talk, move, and act.” Desmond Morris, author of “The Naked Woman: A Study of the Female Body,” told Good Housekeeping, “In today’s world, the concept of beauty and attraction comes via two separate avenues, anatomical beauty and behavioral beauty. It’s comforting then, finally to see a set of top 10 lists that celebrates not only technically gorgeous women, but also those whose looks subvert the norm.”
To illustrate this point, the magazine created lists of the sexiest women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s.
Sexiest Women in Their 40s:
01 Elle Macpherson
02 Sade
03 Nastassja Kinski
04 Madonna
05 Jerry Hall
source: madonnanation/nestcape

from the latest editon of Total Film :
1. Frank Sinatra
2. Will Smith
3. Joe Pesci
4. Barbra Streisand
5. Mark Wahlberg
6. Cher
7. Kris Kristofferson
8. Eminem
9. Madonna
10. Elvis Presley
11. Tupac Shakur
12. Dean Martin
13. Beyonce Knowles
14. Mos Def
15. Mick Jagger
16. Courtney Love
17. Bette Midler
18. David Bowie
19. Queen Latifa
20. Bob Dylan
21. Henry Rollins
22. Mandy Moore
23. Sammy Davis Jr.
24. Meat Loaf
25. Bjork
26. LL Cool J
27. Dwight Yoakam
28. Debbie Harry
29. Harry Connick Jr.
30. Dolly Parton
31. Tom Waits
32. Nick Cave
33. Ice Cube
34. Sting
35. Roger Daltrey
36. Whitney Houston
37. Art Garfunkel
38. Diana Ross
39. Chris Isaak
40. Cliff Richard

Madonna is firing back at Boy George after the ’80s pop star blasted her for cynically bilking her gay fans.
George says Madonna’s devotion to Kabbalah is the ultimate act of hypocrisy. “It’s ironic that she’s joined an organization that says homosexuality is a disease that can be cured and no one picks her up on it,” George told the London Times. “After making all those millions of dollars out of gay people, pretending to kiss girls, pretending to be a lesbian! I think she’s cynical.”
But Madonna’s rep, Liz Rosenberg, says George is the one being cynical. “There’s not enough room on PAGE SIX to respond to Boy George’s ridiculous accusations,” she told our Jared Paul Stern, “much less list Madonna’s long-standing passion, love, commitment and devotion to the gay community which has not changed for 20 years.”
Rosenberg insists Kabbalah does “not discriminate against homosexuals, nor do they work toward changing anyone’s sexual preference. I wish Boy George would go back to writing songs . . . Does he ever have anything nice to say about anyone?”
Actually, no. George also attacks his former friend Rosie O’Donnell in the interview, a promotion for his memoir “Straight,” just released in England. He blasts O’Donnell for ruining “Taboo,” the much-maligned 2003 Broadway musical in which he starred and which she produced. George says Rosie was too domineering and neutered the show because she’s not gay enough.
“She’s a Pottery Barn lesbian,” George sniffed to the London Times.
“Rosie put up her own money [$10 million] to bring his show to Broadway,” O’Donnell’s rep, Cindi Berger, retorted. “It sounds terribly ungrateful, if you ask me.”
O’Donnell herself responded to the barb in her “Formerly Rosie” blog (onceadored.blogspot.com), which she describes as “the unedited rantings of a fat 42-year-old menopausal ex-talk show host.”
“I am cast as a villain, a Pottery Barn lesbian, not quite gay enough,” O’Donnell writes. “My knighted gay brother called to tell me, we laughed. Georgie boy . . . unreachable. Fame is fun again.”
O’Donnell is referring to Sir Elton John, who is also trashed in George’s book. In the interview, George berates John for singing a duet with Eminem – whom some accuse of homophobia – at the 2002 MTV Awards, noting, “It’s like me singing with Pol Pot.”
source: nt post / madonnanation