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Madonna says criticism of her adoption of a Malawian boy hurt so much, she compared it to giving birth.

“It was painful, and it was a big struggle, and I didn’t understand it,” the 49-year-old singer told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, where her documentary, “I Am Because We Are,” which shows poverty, AIDS and other diseases devastating Malawi’s children, was being shown.

“But in the end, I rationalized that when a woman has a child and goes through natural childbirth, she suffers an enormous amount,” she said. “So I sort of went through my own kind of birthing pains with dealing with the press on my front doorstep accusing me of kidnapping or whatever you want to call it.”

Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, have been raising David Banda, now 2, since 2006. The singer met David while she was establishing charity projects in the southern African nation.

The couple have a 7-year-old son, Rocco, and Madonna has an 11-year-old daughter, Lourdes.

Critics have said she used her celebrity status to circumvent Malawian adoption laws – allegations she denies. Regulations only stipulate that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi, a rule that was bent when Madonna was allowed to take David to London.

The adoption still must be approved, and a judge in Malawi was expected to issue his ruling next week.

Madonna said she was “happy to be the guinea pig” for Malawian adoptions.

“Hopefully, after we get through this adoption, it will be easier for people to adopt children,” she said.

Madonna was at Cannes to show her documentary, which she produced and narrated, and to attend a gala benefit dinner for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The film was screened outside the official festival.

“I Am Because We Are” was directed by Nathan Rissman, a first-time filmmaker who has worked for Madonna as a gardener and a caregiver for her children.

“He’s a great nanny,” she said.

“It’s `manny,”‘ Rissman joked.

Rissman said Madonna “loves to give people opportunities” and that he always tried to do his best at whatever task he was assigned.

“And I noticed,” she said.

source : ap

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Timbaland and the Neptunes are so dominant as producers, they can sometimes upstage the artist they’re working with … unless that artist is Madonna.

On her new album, “Hard Candy,” Madonna made sure that she wasn’t a guest star on her own album.

“I thought of it as a true and equal collaboration. … I like to think that when you listen to the record, you don’t just go, ‘Oh, that is a Timbaland record or that’s Pharrell (of the Neptunes).’ That you hear it and you go, ‘There is something new and different about it.”

Finding something new and different is the approach that’s kept Madonna on top for most of her 25-year recording career — and made her a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

The 49-year-old pop queen is once again dominating music airwaves, but she’s also making her mark far away from the celebrity spotlight, in Malawi. The impoverished African nation, from which she found David, the young child she is in the process of adopting, is the subject of her new documentary, “I Am Because We Are,” and her charitable efforts.

Madonna sat down with The Associated Press recently and chatted about her new musical path, life in Malawi and raising kids in the eye of the paparazzi, among other things

AP: You recently signed a deal with Live Nation and “Hard Candy” is your last on Warner Brothers Records. What do you hope to accomplish with the deal?

Madonna: No. 1, coming up with new interesting ways of releasing music. Finding new ways to get music to people, that is one thing. Two is being an equal partner on my records which I have never been before. I have always been signed to a label and I get a percentage of what I earn and now it is 50/50, which is great, and three, is all the great shows I plan on doing.

AP: Would you ever do a pay for play with your music similar to Radiohead?

Madonna: No … I don’t know. I am not sure I like the idea of saying pay whatever you want for it. I think it is good to be specific. … Put a value on it.

AP: Your film, “I Am Because We Are,” is about Malawi, a country that has been ravished by AIDS and poverty. Is it difficult to find hope in such depressing circumstances?

Madonna: I did find hope there because in spite of all of the hardships that people have to endure there, as I say in the film, I saw so much happiness there. I saw that people with so little had so much appreciation for life and so much joy. It gave me a real sense of appreciation for what I have and it made me, it put things in perspective for me. … We have so much and we can often get caught up in our little stupid problems. The kids have nothing to play with. They get plastic bags and bunch them together in what looks like a ball with twine and that is their soccer ball. They are happy. It is fine. You get a real sense of appreciation there.

AP: Do you think the documentary will help to silence some of your critics?

Madonna: It helps explain a lot of the story and the mystery to people. People will have a better perspective. It is always good to know the whole story before you jump to conclusions. The movie isn’t just about the adoption, but I hope it will fill in some blanks for people.

AP: What is the hardest thing you had to endure while making this documentary?

Madonna: I think the hardest thing is watching parents lose their children. I think that is a pain that is unendurable, to bury your children. It is supposed to be the other way around.

AP: Would you adopt again from Malawi?

Madonna: I would like to. They are still trying to finesse the laws and make it so it is not such a long waiting period, which would be good. I would prefer that.

AP: How are you going to balance your projects in Malawi with promoting this album?

Madonna: Not that I have very much free time, but I have a lot of ongoing projects in Malawi. I am building a girls school, and orphan care center. I am refurbishing an orphanage. I have lots of kids to look after on scholarship funds, so I have relationships with people and I want to go back and check in on everybody.

AP: How do you deal with the paparazzi always taking pictures of your children?

Madonna: I don’t like it when they get in their face. It is scary and frightening especially if you are not used to it and you are a kid. I think Lola is a little bit more familiar with it now. My son (Rocco) is still seriously irritated by it.

AP: You, Prince and Michael Jackson turn 50 this year. Will you be throwing a big, joint party?

Madonna: If there is, I am not throwing it. I am tired of throwing parties!

AP: Maybe you all could do a Rolling Stone cover together.

Madonna: Really? (smiles) I don’t know. Ask them. I am a little bit tired of being the one who always has to ask everything. You are going to have to go to them.

source : worldstarhiphop.com

She’s like a fine bottle of wine; she gets better as time progresses. Not only is she one of the BADDEST entertainers in the business, but she’s also one of the BEST! International superstar, Madonna stopped by BET’s 106 & Park to promote her new album, Hard Candy and BOY was it a sight to see.

While Madonna chopped it up with Terrance and Rocsi, we all (mainly me) stood there in AMAZEMENT as this cougar (a term for extremely attractive older women) displayed an effortless cool like NO OTHER. Yea I sound like a groupie right now, but I dare you to catch an in person glimpse of this blonde bombshell and act too cool for school….I DARE YOU!

There really isn’t more to say, except I am now OFFICIALLY in love! Catch Madonna on the 106 couch today at 6pm Eastern Time.

source : bet.com

A short and sweet, nonstop high-energy dance party — that was the half-hour-plus set Madonna turned in Wednesday night at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, in a special “secret” club show promoting her new LP, Hard Candy.

And after that, we got the rare — as in almost unheard of — opportunity to talk to Madonna and her special guest for the night, a certain talented dynamo named Justin Timberlake. I hate those tired “pop royalty” cliches, but what the hell: We had a 20-minute audience with the Queen of Pop and her Crown Prince.

So how was the show for them? “I think she killed it” was JT’s assessment. As for Madge, “Yeah, it was very good. It was a bit airless — a bit of a hotbox in there.” Well, it was plenty hot out in the audience, so I can imagine what it was like for them onstage.

Of course, during the Confessions Tour, Madonna had a habit of shutting off all air conditioning in the venues, reducing arenas to 20,000-strong steamrooms. “It’s true — I generally don’t like AC,” she admitted, “but I could have appreciated it in this instance!”

These record-release club shows of Madonna’s have become something of a tradition for her last few albums, and they tend to be tightly paced affairs. This was no exception — 35-or-so minutes, or as I put it to her, “no fat.”

“Are you saying that my big shows have fat on them?” she shot back. Yikes, here she comes! Madonna likes to come after me: John as punching bag. It’s cool. “No, of course not,” I replied, “but there’s just not a lot of chit-chat in these shows.”

Justin chimed in, telling Madonna, “I think you just had a woman moment!”

However, she explained, short-and-sweet is the point of these shows. “It’s more like, the record’s out — you know, it’s a sampler? Like with those chocolate boxes, you just get all the best stuff — and no chocolate-covered cherries, ’cause everyone throws that sh– out!”

Ah, the inevitable candy reference: perfect for the sex-and-lollipops vibe of Hard Candy. Even Justin admitted that at first, he was a bit surprised to learn the show would be so short, but then he added, “After watching it in rehearsal I was like, ‘That’s perfect,’ ’cause like she says, you get enough of a taste of it to want some more.”

The show was yet another how-to in pop showmanship, and Madonna spared nothing. The band was tight, the six dancers were tighter. The visuals included retro NYC subways and graffiti, a crew decked out in Kangols and Day-Glo during “Music,” lasers on the disco-fied “Give It to Me” — the production values were as high as any you’ll find in a 3,000-capacity venue.

So how long does it take to put something like this together? “Well, this time the rehearsal period was a bit short and mad,” Madonna said. “I felt like we got thrown into a juggernaut. I like just a tiny bit more preparation — I would have liked two weeks but only got 10 days. Of course, Justin doesn’t like to work as much as I do.”

“I do!” JT demurred.

Madge relented. “Well, I don’t know — you’re a fast learner, I’m not. And also, I get a little obsessive about details.”

No matter — JT is one guy who seems like he rolls out of bed ready to perform. And when black-booted Madge was joined by white-jacketed Justin for “4 Minutes” — to a deafening roar from the crowd — it was unquestionably the high point of the night. They jammed, bumped, grinded, worked the stage and made the already urgent, driving song drive even harder.

While that was the only appearance from Justin — who not only inducted Madge into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year, but also worked extensively with Timbaland on Hard Candy — during the show, he told us that there could have been another. “She pretty much had the set list done and everything how she wanted it,” he recalled, “and we talked on the phone about ‘Miles Away’ [a wistful, acoustic tune that's one of the album's standout tracks], and originally I said, ‘Yeah, I wanna come on and play the guitar riff that I came up with for the song.’ But she was like, ‘Well yeah, but that comes before ‘4 Minutes,’ and I was like, ‘Oh. OK.’ ” Yep, the lady calls the shots.

Madonna ended up playing that guitar part on ‘Miles Away’ herself — and later strapped on an electric for a rocking “Hung Up” that ended with a Joan Jett moment: a feedback-filled amplifier grind. I wished she would have gone further back in time for at least one old chestnut (”Borderline” was rumored, but it didn’t happen), but who’s complaining? There’s plenty of time for all that on Madonna’s Hard Candy tour later this year.

But on Wednesday night, it was a candy sampler — and a chance to see Madge and JT, the pop superhero tag team, together. If they’re not saving the world, at least they’re making our corner of it a pretty fun place.

source : mtv.com

The always evolving Madonna sat down with our Cojo at Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York to discuss her sweet new CD in stores now, Hard Candy, featuring the hit single “4 Minutes.” She also opens up about her gorgeous kids and her former life as a “brat”!

“I think I’m many things,” she tells Cojo. “I think I’m a lady, I think I’m a brat, I think I’m a nerd, I think I’m a pimp, I think I’m a mother, I think I’m a kid.” A brat, he probes? “I can’t be a brat forever!” she concludes. “But that was fun, it was fun being a brat. I’ve got my cheeky side.”

That cheeky side is on display in the pop queen’s single with Justin Timberlake that’s climbing the charts. “I did want to make a great dance record for sure,” she says, “but more than anything, I wanted to write great songs with good beats, so who better to do that with than Justin, Pharrell and Timbaland?”

source : et online