all about Madonna

18 More Pictures – Madonna going to pilates class / Madonna and Guy in London (August 11 2006) – are added to the gallery.

All 30,000 tickets for Madonna’s debut show in Moscow sold out in four days, a record for Russian rock concerts, according to the company that organized the show.
For her Prague concert, the same company sold all 36,000 tickets a bit quicker — in nine minutes.
The disparity was a result of the old technology used to sell tickets in Russia, said Serge Grimaux, founder of Czech company Ticketpro, which distributed tickets for both concerts. He promised to close the gap by the end of the year and bring the latest technology, a move that could revolutionize the local market.
Ticketpro sold its tickets though local partner 19-00.ru, with most delivered to sales points or directly to consumers by couriers, who collect payment from those who file requests by phone on online. In Prague, tickets payment is taken directly over the phone, on the Internet or in shops with direct links to a centralized computer system.
“Currently, there is a lot of human processing in Russia, which slows the process down,” he said.
19-00.ru president Ildar Bakeyev said the Madonna sales marked a record for the Russian market in terms of speed and the value of tickets sold, although neither Ticketpro nor 19-00.ru would say how much all sales were worth.
Bakeyev said the fastest concert his company had previously sold out was Ramstein, which sold out in 20 days. He said the landmark Paul McCartney concert on Red Square in 2003 took about four weeks to sell out.
If Russia had 300 outlets linked to a central server, plus proper Internet sales, there is no doubt that tickets would sell out as fast as they do in other markets, Grimaux said. “Within a year, we will be able to do this.”
The vast majority of Internet and phone ticket sales in Russia today merely register bookings for couriers who deliver the tickets and collect the payment. Other tickets are printed and then resold to ticket offices for resale.
The technological and legal problems that have prevented direct ticket sales in Russia have been overcome, but credit card penetration remains an issue, Grimaux said.
Experience in other markets has shown that one major concert can prove the tipping point for credit card sales, Grimaux said. In Greece, a Rolling Stones concert led to average credit card sales surging from about 5 percent to 30 percent. In Russia, 3 percent to 4 percent of pop concert tickets are booked — but not paid for — via the Internet
Grimaux said he would try to avoid direct conflict with established local players in Ticketpro’s move into the Russian market.
“To make strategic alliances with already established people and bring them my international network, technology and expertise is something I would much prefer to get into instead of getting into fierce competition,” he said. “I’m a believer in peace.”
Source : Moscow Times

Madonna and Guy Ritchie hold on tight in a crowd of onlookers after taking son Rocco ice-skating for his sixth birthday.
The mega-rich couple opted to pop along to the Queens Ice and Bowl in Bayswater, West London.
Madonna, 47, broke off from her controversial Confessions world tour for Rocco’s big day.
But the superstar sparked Catholic outrage for the second time in a week after a giant poster of her was pasted on an Italian cathedral. Last week the Vatican slammed the star for “blasphemy and profanity” in her Rome show when she was suspended from a crucifix.
Now churchmen have protested after the 60ft advert for clothing chain H&M was used to cover scaffolding at the Milan Duomo.
Although she is fully clothed in the poster, officials say Madonna is not an appropriate person to appear on their building.
Source : Sunday Mirror

Singles :
29 (16) Madonna – Get Together

Albums :
24 (28) Madonna – Confessions On A Dance Floor

12 Pictures – Madonna and Guy in London (August 11 2006) – are added to the gallery.

Tickets to Madonna’s concert in Moscow have been sold out a month before the scheduled concert in Moscow, PR manager of the US singer in Russia Anton Atrashkin told Tass.
A total of 34,000 people will be present at the Confessions show that will be held in Vorobyovy Hills in Moscow on September 11.
Thousands of tickets to the show were booked by the singer’s Fan Club on the Internet, so that people from many countries will arrive in Moscow to enjoy Madonna’s show. Most of the singers’ foreign fans are from the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
Russia will watch the show of the US pop star after the Czech Republic, where Madonna will perform on September 6.
Source : Itar Tass

3 Pictures – Madonna going to pilates class in London (August 11 2006) – are added to the gallery.

Hot 200 Albums :
– (174) Madonna – Confessions On A Dancefloor

Billboard Comprehensive Albums :
– (199) Madonna – Confessions On A Dancefloor

Hot 100 Singles Sales :
10 (08) Madonna – Get Together
29 (22) Madonna – Sorry
33 (35) Madonna – Hung Up

Hot Dance Music/Club Play :
43 (36) Madonna – Get Together

Dance Radio Airplay :
07 (02) Madonna – Get Together

Hot Dance Singles Sales :
03 (02) Madonna – Get Together
06 (04) Madonna – Sorry
07 (08) Madonna – Hung Up

Top Music Video :
21 (11) Madonna – I’m Going To Tell You A Secret

Billboard Comprehensive Music Videos
21 (11) Madonna – I’m Going To Tell You A Secret

8 Pictures – Madonna going to pilates class in London (August 08 2006) – are added to the gallery.

3 Pictures – Madonna and Guy Ritchie arrive at Madonna’s Confessions Tour After Party at the Villa Fendi in Rome (August 07 2006) – are added to the gallery.