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http://www.interfax.com/3/187453/news.aspx

07:02 GMT, Aug 28, 2006

Moscow govt confirms Madonna's show at Luzhniki

Madonna's concert is scheduled to take place at the Luzhniki sports center, First Deputy Moscow Mayor Lyudmila Shvetsova told Interfax on Monday.

"We are preparing a draft order on assisting holding Madonna's performance at the Luzhniki," she said.

"The organizers have already said that the place suits them well," the first deputy Moscow mayor said, adding that "security for the concert-goers and other organizational issues can be guaranteed" at the Luzhniki.

It was reported earlier that organizers planned to hold the September 11 concert at Vorobyovy Gory.

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Looks like concert is moved to September 12th link . All local agencies have different stories but one thing is sure Russian organisation is the worst ever. :rolleyes: I regret not going to Dusseldorf or Prague. Moscow sucks.

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Guest northernlad

It seems a good trade off really, as the general ad people will likely have a much better view in the risers - probably having the promoters wishing some of those $55 tix had went for a bit more. :p

Maybe they'll put a few thousand more on sale, it would certainly seem the have the room!

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Organizers on Monday switched the venue for Madonna's Moscow concert from a hilltop site overlooking the city to a Soviet-era stadium used in the 1980 Olympic Games because of crowd control fears.

Police said they feared up to 250,000 people may try to get into the concert -- Madonna's first in Russia -- which had space for only 35,000. They had wanted it switched to an airfield on the outskirts of Moscow.

After a weekend of talks with officials, organizers agreed to stage the show at the bigger Luzhniki stadium, built in the 1950s in parkland on the Moskva River. Spartak Moscow soccer club plays its home matches at the stadium.

"The concert is due to take place on September 12, at Luzhniki. If nothing extraordinary happens, I think everything will be okay," Vladimir Kiselyov, general director of the company organizing the concert, said on Russia's Channel One television station.

The concert had originally been set for September 11.

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http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=...9&PageNum=0

Madonna's concert organizers push date of show to September 12

28.08.2006, 19.44

MOSCOW, August 28 (Itar-Tass) - Madonna's concert will take place in the Grand Sport Arena of the Luzhniki complex in Moscow, and the date of the show has been pushed to September 12, president of the NGA company Mikhail Shurygin told Itar-Tass on Monday. The company is the main organizer of Madonna's Russian tour.

The initial date was September 11 and the original venue - Vorobyevy Gory /Sparrow Hills/ was replaced with Luzhniki for security reasons.

"It's a fine piece of news for the fans, because Luzhniki has a larger capacity compared with the floor at Vorobyevy Gory. In addition, Luzhniki is more acceptable in terms of security," Shurygin said.

"As I've learnt, vice-president of the Live Nation company Tim Daudall thanked the Moscow mayor for the support," he added.

Initially, it was planned that the U.S. pop diva will perform at Vorobyoby Gory /Sparrow Hills/, but city authorities objected saying it will be difficult to fully ensure the safety of the public and the singer.

The Tushino airfield was offered as an alternative site, and although the show organizers did not like the idea, city police continued to insist on it.

The grand sport arena of Luzhniki is one of the largest football stadiums of the word. The obvious advantage of the facility is its unique overhang over spectators' stands, in terms of design and construction. Luzhniki can accommodate 85,000 spectators.

Tickets for Madonna's show with a price of 1,500 roubles /some 56 U.S. dollars/ upward were sold out a month before the date.

Madonna started her world tour in Los Angeles in May. It covers 34 cities in the United States, 20 in Europe, including Moscow (in September), and two cities in Japan. She celebrated her 48th birthday in London on August 16.

The organizers promised that they would do everything to make sure that the singer sees the best of Moscow.

She will be offered a unique cultural program including not only a historical and architectural Moscow but "also Moscow the glamorous, with its restaurants, boutiques and night clubs."

The safety of the U.S. singer will be ensured in accordance with top world standards.

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Guest jamesshot

I am glad many more will get to see her. Sounds like after the stage set up, she could play to 70,000+. Good news.

Just want this to go off without a hitch. Madonna in Moscow baby. Lovin it!

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Guest Topaz Scorpio

Is Madonna popular in Russia? Did the people there even have access to her music prior to the 90's? How has her chart/sales success been there?

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Guest Beautiful Stranger
Is Madonna popular in Russia? Did the people there even have access to her music prior to the 90's? How has her chart/sales success been there?

COADF has sold well over 100,000 there, which is a HUGE amount for legal copies nowadays. And HU was #1 for 10 weeks in Russia (the singles chart is official airplay.) :)

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Guest bedtimestorynyc
Did the people there even have access to her music prior to the 90's?

pretty much at the same time as in the u.s.a. and the rest of the world.

chartwise it's very tricky, cuz there were no legal charts... until very recently due to a VERY powerful pirate market (it's getting less and less powerful with each year but it's still huge)

and yes she is extremely popular in russia!

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More on the Moscow show change

Posted: 29 August 2006

madonnalicious visitor Polina brings us more news about the Moscow show:

According to leading Russian newswires agency Interfax, Madonna approved Luzhniki as a new venue for her only Moscow concert. Date of the concert has been changed as well as the venue. Now she will perform in Moscow on Tuesday 12 September.

All tickets purchased earlier have to be exchanged though a certain procedure (although this procedure is not disclosed yet). Luzhniki is capable of accepting around 60,000 people which means more people will have a chance to see Madonna’s amazing show.

Tour management announced that extra 16,000 tickets will be issued, reports RIA Novosti. It is estimated that ticket exchange as well as extra sales will start Thursday 31 August.

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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/08/30/001.html

Kremlin Bails Out Madonna Concert

By David Nowak

Staff Writer

At times it seems that nothing gets done in Russia without direct intervention from the Kremlin. On Tuesday, Madonna's upcoming Moscow concert proved to be no exception.

After weeks of confusion and backroom wrangling, it emerged Tuesday that the pop diva's show would most likely be held Sept. 12 at Luzhniki stadium.

But when it came time to brief the press, the private management company hired to arrange the concert and the official spokesman for the Russian leg of Madonna's "Confessions" tour were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, the announcement was made by Vladimir Kiselyov, general director of a state-owned management company called Kreml, or Kremlin, which is part of the Presidential Property Department.

Kiselyov's announcement raised as many questions as it answered, however.

For starters, it became clear later Tuesday that the new venue and date for the concert were not yet set in stone.

First Deputy Mayor Lyudmila Shevtsova told Interfax that officials from City Hall, the police department and the Emergency Situations Ministry had met with Kiselyov during the day to to iron out the details and sign a deal with Luzhniki as soon as possible.

The concert was originally scheduled for Sept. 11 on a hill near Moscow State University. All 36,000 tickets were sold in just four days, Aug. 8-11, a record for concerts in Russia.

Now all those tickets will have to be exchanged -- in person.

Kiselyov said tickets could only be swapped through Ticketpro, the company contracted to sell the tickets in the first place. He added that the details of the ticket exchange had to be worked out. "But this service will have to be provided right up to the last minute," he said.

When contacted Tuesday, Ticketpro and 19-00.ru, a partner ticket web site, said they were working on a procedure for the swap.

Kiselyov also said that an additional 16,000 tickets would be sold for the concert at Luzhniki. The stadium can hold 52,000 spectators for such concerts, he said.

Kiselyov said Tuesday that Luzhniki had always been the organizers' first choice for Madonna's concert. They chose an alternative because there was a possibility that the Spartak football team might be playing an important Champions League match in the stadium on Sept. 11.

When it was announced that Spartak would play its match in Germany on Sept. 12, and that Luzhniki was free, concert organizers decided to move the show, Kiselyov said.

As for the change of date, Kiselyov explained that the organizers belatedly realized it would be "unethical" to hold a concert on Sept. 11, the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. He thanked journalists for pointing this out to the organizers.

Kiselyov did not say, however, who would pick up what seems certain to be an enormous tab for the ticket exchange and new advertising to make sure that concert-goers turn up on the right day and at the right place.

A source within Kreml, who requested anonymity, suggested the state-owned company would absorb the additional costs.

The Madonna saga began earlier this summer. Madonna's management agency, U.S.-based Live Nation, hired St. Petersburg event management company NCA to arrange the Moscow show, which is sandwiched between the singer's concerts in Western Europe and Japan.

Live Nation and NCA then hired Anton Atrashkin on a two-month contract to be the spokesman for the concert. Atrashkin seems to have been quickly cut out of the loop.

City security officials began raising concerns about the Vorobyovy Gory site near Moscow State University early last week. They said repeatedly that they could not provide security for the 250,000 people expected to attend the concert.

Where they got that figure remains unclear. Kiselyov dismissed the figure Tuesday and blasted city officials for speculating.

City Hall's chief security liaison, Nikolai Kulikov, proceeded to suggest holding the concert at an airfield in Tushino, in northern Moscow, where 13 people were killed in July 2003 in a suicide bomb attack linked to Chechen terrorists.

Atrashkin said one week ago that he had "heard nothing about a possible change of venue." On Tuesday, the official concert spokesman said he knew nothing more about the reasons for the change of date and venue than reporters, though he called the change "unfortunate."

NCA president Mikhail Shurygin could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The Madonna concert is hardly the first organizational fiasco the city has seen. During City Day celebrations in 1997, for example, police estimated that 3.5 million people turned out to watch Jean-Michel Jarre's laser show -- also at Moscow State University. People blocked traffic on all streets within kilometers of the area. The crowd stormed public transport, and some people even rode on the roofs of trolleybuses.

Most recently, a concert by Eric Clapton was canceled abruptly in July after authorities withdrew permission to hold it on Red Square, as scheduled, the musician's publicist said at the time.

The organizer of the aborted Clapton concert was Kreml, which was founded in 1999 to arrange cultural and entertainment events, primarily in the Kremlin and on Red Square, according to the mission statement on the company's web site.

In the past, Kreml has arranged everything from concerts for opera singers Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo to a 2002 exhibition tennis match between Boris Becker and Pat Cash.

The involvement of Kreml, and therefore of the Presidential Property Fund, in the Madonna concert could have political repercussions as well, given that the Orthodox Church has taken a strong stand against the show.

Earlier this month, Father Vsevold Chaplin, a church spokesman, urged believers not to attend.

"For an Orthodox believer there is no point of attending [Madonna's] concerts or helping her propagate her spiritual problems via self-advertisement," he said.

On Monday, 350 teachers at a church school in the Sverdlovsk region sent an open letter to the Prosecutor General's Office, Mayor Yury Luzhkov and the Moscow city government asking the authorities to ban the controversial "Crucifixion" number in Madonna's show, which has also generated protests in Europe.

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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/08/30/001.html

As for the change of date, Kiselyov explained that the organizers belatedly realized it would be "unethical" to hold a concert on Sept. 11, the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. He thanked journalists for pointing this out to the organizers.

He did thank them for what? That they reminded organizers that it´s the 5th anniversary of 9/11 or that it´s "unethical" to hold a concert on such a date. First and foremost not to know about 9/11 is plain stupid. And "unethical" is definately the lamest excuse for bad organization. She is certainly not happy with that statement considering she was back on stage 2 days after 9/11, when everyone was still in shock and mourning, trying to tell the world that not even those horrible events and losses will defeat us, the way we are living. And this certainly gave many many people hope to look forward. Therefore performing on Sept. 11 would not be "unethical", more a reminder that we are still here, celebrating our freedom. But this is a perspective that takes some courage but there are people that just don´t (want to) realize.

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Read on Buzzjack.com after Japan Madonna is doing 6 more dates in india and Kosovo, Do you just think there kidding? cos its sounds like a lie to me xxxxxx

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Read on Buzzjack.com after Japan Madonna is doing 6 more dates in india and Kosovo, Do you just think there kidding? cos its sounds like a lie to me xxxxxx

Now this is the biggest pile of sh*t ever. Playing at the Taj Mahal or what? If she´not fed up with the whole tour after Japan she´s rather doing Australia. That´s for sure, because there is much more money to be made and they are much more in need for Madonna than India or Kosovo. But it´s not going to happen anyway.

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Guest boytoyville

The disorganization in Moscow has been redick. There shoud have been 2 dates not 1. How fucked up. I can't even handle it. I hope all goes well for this concert.

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Guest northernlad

Remember in 2004 when Live Nation was in negotiations to extend RIT through Moscow & Helsinki after Israel was scrapped... well the bitch shoulda just jumped on that.

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The disorganization in Moscow has been redick. There shoud have been 2 dates not 1. How fucked up. I can't even handle it. I hope all goes well for this concert.

I had everything ready and now that they changed date I had to change airplane ticket and get another hotel reservation. :americanlife: Extra 200 euros for the trip thanks to their good organization :hurt:

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Remember in 2004 when Live Nation was in negotiations to extend RIT through Moscow & Helsinki after Israel was scrapped... well the bitch shoulda just jumped on that.

She should still do Helsinki sometime - Finland worships that woman.

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Thursday, August 31, 2006. Issue 3487. Page 3.

Madonna Ticket Swap Starts Monday

The Moscow Times

The organizer of Madonna's upcoming Moscow concert said holders of the 36,000 tickets already sold could begin exchanging them Monday.

Vladimir Kiselyov told the newspaper Trud in an interview published Wednesday that the concert would not be canceled as a result of weeks of confusion that ended Tuesday, when the date and venue of the concert were changed.

Kiselyov is general director of a state-owned management company called Kreml, or Kremlin, which is part of the Presidential Property Department. Kreml has emerged in recent days as the lead organizer of Madonna's concert, now scheduled for Sept. 12 at Luzhniki stadium.

Kiselyov told Trud he had just returned from London, where he met with Madonna's representatives and discussed security for the concert. Tickets will be verified at four checkpoints at the stadium, and concertgoers will be given special bracelets.

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http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.htm..._issue=11580469

Aug 31 2006 9:54AM

Organizers of Madonna's Moscow concert deny cancellation rumors

MOSCOW. Aug 31 (Interfax) - Anton Atrashkin, PR manager of the Russian tour of U.S. pop idol Madonna, has flatly denied media rumors about the cancellation of the singer's concert in Moscow.

"That's absolute nonsense. Besides, no educated person has ever trusted the sources of such rumors," he told Interfax on Thursday.

It was announced earlier this week that Madonna would perform at Luzhniki stadium on September 12.

--------

http://en.rian.ru/culture/20060831/53358383.html

Madonna concert organizers scotch rumors of Moscow cancellation

13:20 | 31/ 08/ 2006

MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - Organizers of American pop diva Madonna's hotly anticipated debut concert in Moscow rejected media rumors Thursday that the singer had decided to cancel the show for security reasons.

Russian tabloid Zhizn reported that Madonna, 48, had been informed about possible terrorist attacks in Moscow during her show and had decided to call off her show in the Russian capital even though tens of thousands of tickets have been sold. The Moscow tour date has also disappeared from the schedule on Madonna's official site.

But Anton Atrashkin, a PR manager of Madona's tour, said the rumors were total nonsense.

"The situation has not changed at the moment and the concert will take place September 12, as scheduled," he said adding that Madonna's managers had visited Moscow Wednesday and were satisfied with the concert's venue.

The concert, part of Madonna's world tour to promote her 10th studio album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor", had been rescheduled from September 11 to 12 to avoid it clashing with the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The concert's venue was also moved from the Vorobyovy Gory hill overlooking the capital in front of Moscow State University to the Luzhniki stadium, also in the southwest of the capital.

The decision to hold the event at the Luzhniki was made by NCA, an official partner of LIFE NATION, the singer's concert organizer, and the Moscow authorities, NCA President Mikhail Shurygin said Monday.

"I assure you that Madonna's concert will take place September 12 at the Luzhniki sports center," he said.

Controversy has dogged the tour as religious groups have condemned a section of the show, which features a song in which Madonna is apparently crucified during her concerts on a giant cross studded with small mirrors. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Muslim community have advised believers to stay away.

Madonna already cancelled her concert in Israel eighteen months ago when Palestinian extremists threatened to kill her and her two children.

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