Madonna goes sightseeing in Greece

Pop superstar Madonna has taken a break from her gruelling world tour to enjoy a family day out in Greece.
The Material Girl wrapped up the European leg of her Sticky & Sweet Tour at the weekend in Athens.
And she took a day off from her busy schedule on Sunday to take in a spot of sightseeing in the Greek capital with her children Lourdes, 11, Rocco, eight, and adopted tot David Banda, three. Husband Guy Ritchie did not join them for the day out.
Madonna will kick off the U.S. and South American stint of her tour this Saturday with her first show in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

From contactmusic.com

French Magazines: Aeroports De Paris

Madonna is featured on the cover of the September 2008 issue of free magazine Aeroports De Paris and a two-page article inside. Click on the images to enlarge.

Thanks to Bruno

Vote: Miles Away in Canada

Canadian radio has started playing Miles Away and fans can vote for it now at www.ckoi.com/6a6.php

The radio station also confirmed that Madonna has not filmed a video for this song.

Thanks to Pascal

Brazilian Magazines: Fantastico

)Madonna leads a host of other stars on the cover of the most recent issue of Brazilian magazine

Fantastico.

Thanks to Leonardo

Sticky & Sweet Tour: 'French do it better!'

madonnalicious reader Chris filmed Madonna's speech and Like A Virgin sing-along at the second Paris concert on Sunday 21 September.

Penn texts Madonna to boast about gay kiss

Sean Penn was so excited he had experienced his first same-sex kiss with Milk co-star James Franco - he immediately texted gay icon Madonna to boast.
Penn stars alongside Franco in the forthcoming biopic of San Francisco's first gay Mayor Harvey Milk, in which the pair play lovers.
And after wrapping their first gay smooch scene, Penn wanted to tell his ex-wife Madonna about his risque antics.
Franco tells Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, 'After our kiss, Sean texted Madonna and said, 'I just popped my cherry kissing a guy. I thought of you. I don't know why'.'

From contactmusic.com

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Budva Fan Pictures - Part 1

Madonna played her first ever show in Montenegro on Thursday 25 September at Budva's Jaz Beach. madonnalicious reader Valio took these great pictures at the show.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Athens Fan Pictures - Part 1

The European leg of the Sticky & Sweet Tour came to an end in Athens last night. The tour now travels to East Rutherford in the USA for the first show of the North American leg of the tour on Saturday 04 October.

Below are some pictures taken in Athens last night by madonnalicious reader Chris.

And remember it is not too late to submit any fan reports or pictures from the European shows to us at [email protected]

Sticky & Sweet Tour: First Paris Speech

madonnalicious reader Chris filmed Madonna's speech and sing-along at the first Paris show on Saturday 20 September - she confused the crowd by shouting 'Paris is the sh*t! and then led the crowd in a Express Yourself sing-along.

Check back tomorrow for an upload of Sunday nights speech!

Vote: Madonna Top 20

UK radio station Phoenix FM are running a poll to find out the Top 20 Madonna Songs for them to play in a special show on Saturday 04 October at 10:00pm.

Fans from anywhere can vote - so get thinking and visit www.phoenixfm.com to make your selection.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Vienna Fan Pictures - Part 1

Madonna played her first ever show in Vienna, Austria earlier this week on Tuesday 23 September. Here are the first set of fan pictures from the show by madonnalicious reader Istvan.

UK Magazines: Elle

Guy Ritchie was interviewed by UK magazine Elle for the October 2008 issue of the magazine. While obviously promoting his latest movie, RockNRolla, he also talks about The Missus. Click on the interview to enlarge.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Frankfurt Fan Pictures - Part 2

The Frankfurt section of the Sticky & Sweet Tour gallery is now complete with the inclusion of these pictures taken by madonnalicious reader Gabriel at the show on Tuesday 09 September - to view the gallery click here.

Madonna fined by Wembley Stadium

Pop superstar Madonna is being fined £135,000 by Wembley Stadium for starting and staying on beyond the venue's time limit during a performance there.
Madonna went beyond the stadium's strict 10:30pm curfew by 40 minutes Sep 11, reports thesun.co.uk. She has been charged £50,000 for every 15 minutes she was late.
A stadium source said: 'The concert was meant to start at 8:30pm but Madonna didn't come on stage until 9:10pm. The gig ended at 11:10pm, so she was quite a bit over. Her people knew about the possible implications for going over the curfew but this is a pretty hefty fine, even for Madonna.'
Madonna is not the first pop star to fall foul of Wembley’s curfew. George Michael was fined £130,000 when his concert also ran over time last year.

From New Kerala

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Budva

Here is the official TV footage filmed during the opening section of the show in Budva, Montenegro last night. It shows how the turntable which her throne was on failed to turn in time for Madonna's opening lines of Candy Shop - leaving the audience - and probably Madonna bemused!

Thanks to Mo

Greek Magazines: Soul

An old Die Another Day picture of Madonna is featured on the cover of Greek magazine Soul (September 2008 issue).

Thanks to John

Tiny Montenegro town gears up for Madonna's big gig

More than 65,000 Madonna fans are expected to visit Montenegro's small coastal town of Budva for the pop diva's concert on Thursday, the biggest-ever event to be held in the small Adriatic republic.
Media reports have revealed the singer's various requests, such as kosher food to be prepared by a Belgrade rabbi and her stay at a luxurious hotel's penthouse with a swimming poll on a balcony under banana and palm trees.
Organizers have unveiled that Madonna requested two rooms and a big bathroom in the 50-room backstage area.
'The rooms should be without air conditioning and fluorescent lights and colors,' said public relations officer Aleksandar Rados. 'Smoking is forbidden....'
The event on the Jaz beach, famous for its turquoise water and golden sands, will cost some $7 million, according to the Russian Mirax Group, which is the concert's general sponsor.
The beach was picked as the concert site after the last year's Rolling Stones concert and other musical events including a Lenny Kravitz concert this summer.

From Reuters Via Yahoo! News

US Magazines: 944

Madonna is featured on the cover of the September 2008 issue of 944 magazine, a Californian magazine that is customized for the area it is distributed in (they have one for Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Orange County, etc).

She was featured as part of the VMA edition and had a two page section inside the magazine (this is the San Diego version) - click on the images to enlarge.

Thanks to Tomy

Madonna's tour towels seized by customs

Madonna's tour towels have been seized by Eastern European border control guards.
The 4 Minutes singer - who is currently on her Sticky and Sweet world tour - travel with 300 designer towels for herself and her dancers to use when they come off stage, but Montenegro officials confiscated them because they were suspicious about why she needed so many.
A source told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: 'The customs people had never come across that kind of volume of towels for personal use before, or the cost given for them. People in Montenegro just aren’t used to spending that much on a towel.'
The singer is set to perform in Budva city on Thursday.

From Independent Online

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Rome Fan Pictures - Part 2

These fan shot pictures by madonnalicious reader Serena mark the completion of our Rome Sticky & Sweet Tour gallery - check out all the fan pictures here.

One Sticky & Sweet (and cold) night in Vienna

Madonna played her first ever show in Vienna last night and madonnalicious reader Michael had these titbits from the show on Danube Island:

- Madonna seemed to have a good but chilly time telling the audience she had to clap her hands to keep warm!

- She also wore a warm jacket during 'Into The Groove' to protect her from the cold air.

- She couldn't seem to hit the right notes in 'Ray of Light' and ended up asking the band 'Is that right?!' as she tried to get back into the song.

- She also lost her microphone stand off the stage at the beginning of her 'requests' section. During that section she sang 'Dress Your Up'.

Don't forget to send in all your pictures and fan reports from all the shows to [email protected]

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Paris Fan Pictures - Part 4

These pictures were taken by madonnalicious reader Emilie at the second show in Paris on Sunday 21 September.

Guy Ritchie: Madonna changed my life

Director Guy Ritchie is convinced his relationship with Madonna completely changed his life - because it catapulted him into the public eye.
The moviemaker was relatively unknown when he began dating the superstar in 1998, shortly after the release of his first full-length film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
And Ritchie admits that he was only just starting to adjust to life as a celebrity when he embarked on his new relationship - and was unprepared for the level of attention that dating Madonna brought with it.
He says, 'I'd been with (Madonna) for two years before (we got married). That changed my life more than anything in my career because she is hugely famous. It has an enormous impact on the life of whoever she is with. Enormous. An unimaginable impact.'
'I had just had a hit movie, and then this other thing came along that completely trumped it.'

From contactmusic.com

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Paris Fan Pictures - Part 3

madonnalicious readers David and Matt also sent in these great shots from the first Paris show on Saturday 20 September at the Stade de France.

UK Magazines: Voyager

Madonna is featured on the cover of free BMI inflight magazine Voyager for the September 2008 issue. The magazine features a five-page article about Madonna's career and life - click on the images to enlarge.

Thanks to Rich

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Paris Fan Pictures - Part 2

madonnalicious reader Arno sent in these great pictures from Madonna's second date at the Stade de France on Sunday 21 September.

Stade de France event-only tshirt

Another event-only tshirt was on sale at the two Stade de France shows this weekend. In similar design to the Wembley Stadium event tshirt this Paris version had the two tour dates on the back in the French flag colours.

Don't forget that all other merchandise can also be bought online at Fanfire.com

Fourth date added to Buenos Aires

Madonna.com have confirmed that Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour will play a record breaking fourth date at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires! The new date is on Wednesday 03 December.

Thanks to Julian

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Paris Fan Pictures - Part 1

Madonna played the first of two dates at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night - here are the first set of fan pictures from the show taken by madonnalicious readers Matt and David.

Austrian Magazines: Live Heute

Last week Madonna made it on the cover of the Austrian weekly magazine Live Heute (19 September issue). Inside there is an article written by Austrian journalist Elisabeth Sereda who has interviewed Madonna 15 times over the past 20 years. She recalls the first time meeting her in the Like A Prayer era when she was mainly bitching until Sereda paused her recorder to ask her why she's such a bitch....Madonna laughed at her saying, 'Because you're also a bitch and you can handle me!'

Thanks to Margit

Thandie Newton rates Madonna's acting

Thandie Newton has defended Madonna's ill-received movie career - insisting the pop superstar is a talented actress.
The Crash star says many critics underestimate Madonna's acting skills - and that she will be remembered as a talented thespian.
The Holiday hitmaker won critical acclaim for 1985's Desperately Seeking Susan and in 1997 landed a Golden Globe award for her role in Evita. But her acting career has also been plagued with a string of box office flops including 2002's Swept Away.
But Newton says, 'Actually I think Madonna is a great actress and it's only in years to come will people see that. But for me, she is truly gifted.'

From contactmusic.com

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Dusseldorf Fan Pictures - Part 2

This set of pictures from the LTU Arena show in Dusseldorf on Thursday 04 September was taken by madonnalicious reader Dirk and completes the Dusseldorf section of the tour gallery here.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Paris

madonnalicious has just returned from watching the two Paris shows and will update the site with all the news tomorrow.

In the meantime please send in all your reports and pictures from the Paris (and other) shows to [email protected]

UK Magazines: Hello!

UK magazine Hello! (23 September issue 1039) featured two seperate articles about Madonna - one looking at Guy's birthday night on the town, and the other looking at Madonna's Wembley Stadium show in London.

Limited Edition prints from the Red Collection

Last year madonnalicious brought you news of the Red Collection, a UK art company and its debut collection of art prints based on Madonna’s Confessions Tour. Ged Janczuk, photographer, designer and founder of the company says 'Last years collection was very much a labour of love which started a year earlier, each design went through about a dozen proof stages before the final version.'
When asked about the creative process behind the designs he says '70s music, especially Disco, is one of my favourite genres, so I was overwhelmed with the Confessions album and tour. The whole time that I was designing I was listening to a lot of 1970s LPs. I suppose a lot of the catchier dance-floor sounds influenced my mood. That collection was very colourful and very busy with lots of swishes and swirls. One piece in the collection Let Me Be Your Guide was the figurehead of the collection, with the swooshing lines I incorporated a lot of stars, planets and nebulae.'
'It was my homage to Madonna, 70’s disco and the beauty of the universe. I envisioned Madonna traveling through the universe creating a wondrous world of light and sound around her, the line from Future Lovers seemed so apt and the rest of the collection grew from there.'

This week saw the launch of the 2009 Madonna Collection – utilizing exclusive photos by the Red Collection from the Sticky & Sweet Tour. The new collection is quite different from the last - being sharper, more dynamic – and very iconic!

The 4 designs are 12 x 12 inches (approx 30cm) which makes framing easy. They are limited to a mere 100 copies each, printed using the lithographic process on heavy archive quality paper with a high gloss finish, discreetly hand numbered and embossed with a 3D seal of authenticity.

madonnalicious visitors are being given the chance to pre-order these artworks now with a 15% discount. Prints can be ordered separately or as a complete collection. The 4 new prints are titled 'Savage', 'Zephyr', 'Attitude' and 'Sugar'. To claim your 15% discount enter discount code: madonnalicious during checkout at www.theredcollection.com

UK Magazines: heat

The press scrum ouside Guy's birthday party is pictured in the current edition of UK magazine heat (20-26 September issue) - click on the images to enlarge.

UK Magazines: Look

The current edition of UK magazine Look (22 September issue) features this small snippet about Guy's 40th birthday party in London last week.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Valencia Fan Pictures - Part 1

Madonna played her first ever show in Valencia, Spain last night and madonnalicious reader Sergi managed to capture some great moments from the show in these pictures below.

You can view larger versions and more of his pictures in the Sticky & Sweet Tour Gallery.

Madonna helped Paltrow out of depression

Gwyneth Paltrow has credited Madonna with helping her to kick the baby blues following the birth of her son Moses - because the pop star's wise words gave the Oscar winner the will to get on with her life.
The actress insists her pal's reputation as a tough-talking, hard-living workaholic is not deserved because she has a caring side and often helps those closest to her through difficult periods.
Paltrow says, 'She is one of the most caring women and then she's also a very tough woman....She's very wise and she has a very soft, soft side.'
Madonna's best advice came during 'a long wine-soaked dinner' as Paltrow was battling depression.
Paltrow adds, 'She really helped me out of my post-natal depression. I had a very interesting talk with her one night....She was very wise about life's bigger picture and when obstacles come up in our life it's for a very specific reason - they're there to teach us something that we haven't learned yet.
'She kinda made me see that my post-natal depression was an opportunity for me to change certain things about the way I was living and the way I was going forward. She really sort of reorganised my molecules in that situation.'

From contactmusic.com

French Magazines: Paris Match

The 11-17 September issue of French magazine Paris Match featured this article about Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour - including chats with French tour producer Jackie Lombard and French designer for Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci.

Italian Magazines: Chi

Italian magazine Chi (17 September issue number 37) features these exclusive pictures of Madonna and her family when they visited the Santa Croce in the Gerusalemme Basilica during the Rome stop of the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Although off the Italian shelves, this magazine is now available as an import in the UK in some selected newsagents.

Take the Madonna Lyrics Quiz

Have you got five minutes to spare - then why not take the Madonna Lyric Quiz at GaydarNation? Test your knowledge in the twenty question quiz at www.rainbownetwork.com

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Amsterdam Fan Pictures - Part 6

This set of fabulous pictures by madonnalicious reader materialcowboy completes the Amsterdam Sticky & Sweet Tour gallery.

You can view all the currently uploaded tour pictures in the gallery here. A big thanks to everyone who has sent in pictures so far, madonnalicious is working at gradually putting them all online soon.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Amsterdam Fan Pictures - Part 5

madonnalicious readers Ronny and Danielle too these great shots of Madonna at the Amsterdam ArenA show on Tuesday 02 September.

Lego Mini-Madonna

Madonna is one of the celebrities immortalized by Lego to celebrate the toy-makers 30th anniversary.

Sadly for fans, the Lego stars will not be available to the public as they have been created purely to celebrate the 30th anniversary of mini-figures, of which more than 4billion have been churned out by the moulding machines.

Thanks to Ritchard

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Zurich Fan Pictures - Part 4

This set of pictures from madonnalicious reader Alessandro completes our Sticky & Sweet Tour gallery from Zurich - you can view all the pictures from Zurich and elsewhere in the Tour Gallery.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Zurich Fan Pictures - Part 3

madonnalicious reader Paolo sent in these pictures from Madonna's first ever concert in Zurich on Saturday 30 August.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Seville Fan Pictures - Part 1

madonnalicious reader Jess from Fashion Limbo has sent in this report and pictures from last nights Sticky & Sweet Tour concert in Seville:

Her voice was impeccable, so beatiful, and there were no technical problems (if there were they were swiftly resolved, going unnoticed).
During the gypsy section the stadium went wild, jumping, chanting 'ole-ole' at Madonna's flamenco moves, clapping flamenco style and treating M and her crew to an unforgettable experience. Miles Away was a huge success, the audience clapping all the way through. You could see it in Madonna's face, she had to shush (with a cute smile) the crowd so she could be allowed to sing You Must Love Me.
Like A Prayer again set the stadium on fire, and Ray of Light had everyone jumping to exhaustion, including Madonna. During the 'request' bit she had us all at her feet. She made us show 'how much we loved her' doing her now characteristic 'uhha uhaa' several times (to exhaustion!). She was laughing and giggling at the crowd's reaction.
It was unforgettable....thanks Seville and thanks Madonna for making me the happiest girl on earth.

Vote: MTV VMA's Latin America

South America fans! Madonna is nominated for the Best International Pop Artist Award at this year's MTV VMAS Latin America.

The ceremony will take place on Thursday 16 October and you can already vote for your favorite artist. Make sure to cast your vote by visiting www.mtvla.com/premios/votacion

From Madonna.com - thanks to MarcoBu

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Lisbon Fan Pictures - Part 2

Here are another set of great fan pictures taken at Sundays show in Lisbon - this set was taken by madonnalicious reader Mariska.

You can view her full set of 48 pictures in the Sticky & Sweet Tour Gallery.