Liz Rosenberg's Statement on Paris Show

'Madonna's Paris club show was planned as her heartfelt thank-you to France, which she expressed at the start of her show. Despite a grueling concert tour, she desperately wanted to perform for her fans in an intimate setting at the historic Olympia as a means to honor her love for French artists, French cinema and a tribute to France's long history of welcoming and inspiring artists, authors, painters, poets and minorities from other countries over the years.'

'The show was not billed as her full MDNA concert and tremendous effort was made to keep the ticket prices reasonable ($100 for 2,000 floor seats) and keep them strictly for her fans. The show cost Madonna close to a million dollars to produce. She has done a handful of club dates in the past and they were never more than 45 minutes. And by the way, she put on a fabulous show, which was streamed for millions of fans around the world.'

Comments

[Dee Vine]

fans or not. don't spend money on Madonna if you don't have enough. go get some gaga instead. just being with the only Queen (bitches) is worth the 100-300 you paid them. as for the crazy people in the end ... you shouldn't be called people at all - animals ! and real loyal fans don't give a ...

[bristar]

Whilst the concert may not have been billed as the full concert, maybe it was a little misleading to have 'MNDA a l'Olympia' as the backdrop? Whilst M.D.N.A. may be the title of M's album, an abbreviation of her name, the name of her current tour, perhaps it would have been easier to give this event a different name - "Une Soiree Parisienne avec Madonna", for example?

After all, when Madonna appeared at G.A.Y., the event was "Confessions on a G.A.Y. Dancefloor"...

[Steve]

I agree with Gjr711. Madonna has been 'caught out' a few times recently - her crass remarks at Coachella being one of them - and I think this gig WAS an apology to avoid being sued.

I absolutely LOVE Madonna, but I also wish she would stay away from ramming politics and religion down the throats of fans. I am of the belief that, since M's fan base is now definitely skewed into the "older" demographic, many of us can make up our own minds on political and religious matters and do not need to have M's views spoon-fed to us at every opportunity.

Many of us already firmly believe in equality, freedom, etc., so the phrase preaching to the converted springs to mind.

Here's an idea, M - why not run for President, if you REALLY want to make a difference?

[Jim]

One of the worst things about clubs is that if you're in the club you're supposedly somehow better or more 'true blue' (sorry!) than those who aren't in it for whatever reason(s).

I've never been in Madonna's fan club, but I've been a committed fan since 1984.

This talk of 'core fans' versus non-core fans, along with VIP areas, so-called Golden Circles (the phrase makes me judder), and all the rest of it is exactly the sort of sundering that Madonna speaks out against every time she does one of these MDNA concerts.

So please do stop the tribalism and the sundering of folk. If there is another large-scale war, it will be started by these marketing-led categories that we're unthinkingly applying to ourselves and each other, clinging to them as justifications for either our entitlements or someone else's disentitlements. They are used to make money out of our emotional attachments and the desire to not only be included but be seen to be one of the 'in' crowd. We must rise above the whole charade and its proponents, including, if necessary, Madonna herself when she unwittingly sunders her fans into tribes based on how much money they are willing to give her.

We are all equal human beings - no exceptions, no compromises, no negotiations, no abrogations.

[Jim]

From re-reading the official press release and official statements about the performance at L'Olympia, it's clear that not enough information was given.

Liz Rosenberg, Guy Oseary, Live Nation, and Madonna herself all need to take that feedback on board as mature adults and professionals. Any defiance or defensiveness on any of their parts will only make things worse.

Unfortunately, there is a high-level bubble at work around Madonna (and all other major artists) and it's been that way for a long time, with the direct consequence being that foreward planning plus communication suffers by not being able to accurately step into other people's shoes when needed. After mistakes have been made, humble pie doesn't come easily to anyone in the bubble - and Twitter and YouTube are a lousy place to get mature feedback from (please take note, Guy Oseary). It's always seen by within-the-bubble people as an innocent mistake that couldn't have been prevented by them, and after all, Madonna enjoyed it and if you didn't, well you're not a true fan, are you? (...so goes the PR line).

I don't like the so-called internet age of histrionic, strident criticism, but ordinary, factual criticism such as 'the provision of accurate information could have been better so that people knew what they were buying' shouldn't go unheard, nor should it sting such high-level professionals. It's basic buying-selling law, actually, to accurately describe the product or service being offered to the public. Most importantly, it shouldn't provoke adolescent-style defiance. Madonna's team would win a stack of respect if they just said 'sorry, you're right, we were wrong on this one, and we promise to release better information in future - or your money back'. It's easy to say sorry when there are no consequences - it's taking the consequences that is harder.

[Nick]

Just watched a dvd of the gig and i thought it was amazing,wish i was there in person,people are never happy....yes they are when they are moaning!

[Eric]

To Peterd7607 > Congratulations for your subtle Godwin Point: "how to speak about the discontentment of some of Madonna's fans and to link it with events that happened 70 years ago in Europe". She's not going to save the world.

By the way, the revenues from the Paris concerts are usually in the top 3 during her tours:
- S&S Stade de France: 17.5 M$, N°2
- S&S Nice: 4.4 M$
- MDNA Stade de France: 7.1 M$, N°2 so far.
- MDNA Nice: shoud be around 4 M$
This will be a total of circa. 11.1 M$

I think her crew understands the "financial" significance of these shows
I can imagine that she needs to be nice to her French fans in order to maintain such a level.

[Gerardo Gutierrez]

I think people forget that it takes a whole lot of people to make a Madonna show happen. All the people working the stage and behind need to get paid. It is not like she produces scaled down low quality shows. Like she has said, she is worth every penny. If you can't afford, sit back and enjoy the free live show on YouTube. I did. I love you Madonna and all the fans that get sher the way I do.

[Peterd7607]

If the recent reports of so called 'fan' behaviour at Madonna's appearance at the Olympia in France are to be believed I am saddened that a concert held as a thank you to the french fans from a woman who, for the last thirty years has campaigned for tolerance,equality, homosexuality, human rights, feminism and racial and religious equality was met with aggression, hate and intolerance. This is not what Madonna or her fans are about - people should remember a certain person who was aggressive, hateful and intolerant and once invaded their countries - you want to go back to that kind of world????

[JP]

Thanks for posting this Liz! Now maybe those so called "fans" will quit complaining and actually thank her for adding another show to her already grueling schedule. She can't make everybody happy!

[Pitbull]

to Dan: why do you call Kelly stupid? Just because she is not blinded by "love to the one and only Madonna"?
I regret spending 300 EUR for the concert in Brussels. And I will repeat it to everybody. The show sucks!
If I paid 2000$ in Paris for this crap, I would be the first to boo her!
Kelly, two thumbs up.

[Jerome..]

She lip-synced in "vogue" and sounded very bad in the other songs..
Her speech was about NOTHING.. A waist of 10 minutes.. Which leaves us to 35 minutes of performing..

Tickets were not $100 each.. Some of the tickets were 277 euros ($375) a ticket.. for the seated areas.

It was NOT streaming to millions.. The counter on Love Live channel on YouTube showed 750000 (up and down) Watchers during the show..

They NEVER announced that it is going to be a short intimate show.. We all expected a regular show of the MDNA tour, but in a smaller venue for Madonna's "CORE FANS" ..

I want my money back..

[Gjr711]

THE TRUTH (or a theory?)....

Madonna would have been seriously sued if some kind of apology or explanation was not made to Marine Le Pen about the Swasticka images in Madonna's montage on the tour, so...

1. Madonna had to return to Paris to make some kind of apology or explanation in the same kind of public environment in which she made the offensive mistake - at the insistence of Le Pen and her lawyers.
2. A smaller venue and return date was organized by Madonna's team for the sole purpose of making things 'right'. However, Le Pen wanted Madonna's 'apology' a little more in the global public eye ( an eye for an eye?) and so her lawyers insisted the show be streamed live on the Internet.
3. Madonna's fans were given the opportunity to see 'an intimate' gig and charged top dollar for the privilege, and the money was used to pay for the lavish grovel to Le Pen.
4. Le Pen's more 'downmarket' friends attended the concert to see the apology, with the clear intention of making the experience as uncomfortable as possible for Madonna.
3. Madonna's on stage apology really didn't go as far as it was agreed by lawyers behind the scenes and so at the end of the 'brief/phoney' intimate club concert, Le Pen's friends made it clear that they were watching and not very happy - hence bottles, cries of 'slut' and 'refund'.

There is definitely something really suspicious about Madonna's return to Paris. The truth will out soon.

[Dan]

Kelly, you sound really stupid. Got forbid pop music has a message and meaning.

[Jonathan]

It was a gorgeous show. Most people do not realize what it takes to put on these colasol shows, and she does it to a T !
She's always been innovative, controversial, political and outspoken.
Most concerts in small venues last between 45 minutes to about 70 minutes. We knew it wouldn't be her massive show, I actually expected it to be about 30 minutes and a smaller show than it was.
The complainers don't seem to know Madonna at all.
I watched twice and envy those seeing the MDNA shows so far!
Enjoy!
xxoo

[JC]

The concert was Amazing and tyhe venue was so intimate to had her so close will be everyone dreams come true.Now 10 minutes of speech IT WAS NECESARY! people is complaining about it but those 10 minutes about what she was talking about were nothing. in France with this crazy politician girl it can change and confuse French people, Having no tolerance and put hate speech and discrimination is one of the worst infection around the world. We must learn from the PAST AND NOT MAKE THE SAME FUCKING MISTAKES. if no one pay attention on this well how empty of the head they are.

[Kelly]

But spending a lot of that time just talking about politics is not performing. People felt shortchanged and they had every right to feel that way. Yet again, Madonna slights her fans--her CORE FANS. Cost Madonna a million dollars to produce that show? That's like $100 to the average person. Don't put that money she spent as a defense, when she has a half-billion dollars already. C'mon. Madonna's loyal fans deserve a lot better than that, her Icon fan club proves what she really thinks (or doesn't) about her TRUE BLUE fans! NOT MUCH.

[Marcelo Correa]

As a fan of Madonna’s, I don’t understand those guys who booed her at the end of the show. Were those real fans? No offense, but I’m not sure about that. So much controversy for what? She gave a magnificent show. It was understood that it was a special concert. So, why all that fuss? I just don’t get it. Lot's of love from Uruguay.