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CARDIFF - August 23 - Press Reports/Reviews/Pics

Camacho

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in ARCHIVE - Madonna

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Camacho Mentor

Camacho

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TONS of reports and reviews from the world media will start flooding in before the show is even over tonight. Stick those press reviews/reports in this thread so it's easier to access them all and the forum doesn't get too cluttered, thank you! :thumbsup:

There's no other star who gets this colossal amount of world press coverage on the opening night of their tour. :dramatic:

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Dindi Community Regular

Dindi

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(I swear this forum is going to crash soon. It's becoming intolerably slow due to traffic!)

The Press Association

Madonna opens world tour in Cardiff

50 minutes ago

Madonna secured her title as Queen of Pop by entering the stage on a throne for the first night of her world tour.

The 50-year-old, wearing a sparkly black one-piece outfit designed by Givenchy, was surrounded by dancers in top hats and tails as she kicked off the Sticky and Sweet tour at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Appropriately enough, the first track - greeted by screams from thousands of fans - was Candy Shop.

The black sequinned outfit was accessorised with knee high boots, fishnet tights and a sparkly cane.

Madonna's husband, film director Guy Ritchie, and children Lourdes, Rocco and David, were amongst those in the 40,000-strong audience.

The stadium turned into a sea of pink cowboy hats and feather boas as thousands of fans arrived. They came from across the world to see their heroine perform, with those from Wales itself proud the star had chosen their country to debut the show.

Maria Jones, 35, from Abercynon, South Wales, who was attending her third Madonna show with daughter Roxanne, 17, and niece Rosie Williams, 12, said: "This is great for Cardiff, and all of Wales.

"It's marvellous she's made it to 50 now and she's still going. As long as she keeps on doing the shows, we'll keep on coming."

Emily Newell, 20, from Swansea, said: "I can't believe that she's only playing in Cardiff and London, out of everywhere in the UK - I'm really pleased about it. It's good to have Wales recognised."

Insurance worker Suzanne Alwan, 37, from Swansea, said: "I've been a fan since I was 13. This is the first time I've seen her live, so I'm really excited. I like her old stuff, but it's Madonna - it doesn't matter what she sings, it's fabulous just to see her."

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Nikki Veteran

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LONDON (AFP) — Madonna kicks off her "Sticky And Sweet" world tour in Britain Saturday with a two-hour extravaganza of hits and high fashion showing why she is still the queen of pop despite recently turning 50.

The US star was to play hits including "Like A Prayer", "Into The Groove" and "Hung Up" at the 75,000 capacity Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on the first night of the 49-date tour.

The show, promoting her latest album "Hard Candy" which has hit number one in 27 countries, is to be broken into four sections, her publicists said.

Madonna is taking the stage in a costume by French fashion house Givenchy for the first part, known as "pimp", a homage to gangster chic from the 1920s to now.

She will then revisit New York in the early 1980s -- where she arrived aged 20 with just 35 dollars in her pocket before hitting the big time -- for the "old school" section of the show.

This segues into "gypsy", inspired by Romanian folk music and dance, and the finale, "rave", influenced by far eastern culture.

The show features eight costume changes, 16 dancers, a 12-piece band and a million pounds (1.3 million euros, 1.9 million dollars) worth of Swarovski crystals.

The tour continues in Nice, southern France on August 26 before heading to the rest of Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. It wraps up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on December 18.

Her last tour, 2006's "Confessions", was reportedly the top earning show ever by a female artist, grossing nearly 200 million dollars.

Madonna, who spends much of her time in Britain, celebrated her 50th birthday in low-key style on August 16.

Her eight-year marriage to British film director Guy Ritchie has come under heavy press scrutiny in recent months amid rumours they are about to split, but denied by the singer's representatives.

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Nikki Veteran

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CARDIFF, Wales -- The queen of pop began her world tour Saturday night, appearing before fans on a throne as a retinue of dancers wriggled their way across a stage at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

An army of fans wearing pink cowboy hats and boas waited nearly two hours for Madonna's concert to get under way, erupting into screams at the first song - "Candy Shop" - from her new "Hard Candy" album.

Some had been lining up since Friday to see the four-act show.

It carried the usual Madonna fixtures: sequins, fishnets, and bondage-style outfits drawn from the 3,500 items of clothing reportedly whipped together by 36 designers specifically for the "Sticky and Sweet" tour. Promoters promised a "rock-driven danstastic journey" supported by a traveling crew of 250 - including a chiropractor, personal trainer and a masseuse.

The show itself includes eight costume changes, 16 dancers, and $1.85 million worth of Swarovski crystals. It is billed as a musical mishmash of "gangsta pimp," Romanian folk, rave, and a nod to the blonde material-girl's roots in the 80s New York City dance scene.

Those roots go back three decades to when the aspiring singer reportedly showed up in city with just $35 in her pocket. Despite celebrating her 50th birthday just last week, the world's top-selling female recording artist is still writhing, shaking and shimmying in the limelight - taking her place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March.

But controversy plagued the singer earlier this summer with the publication of a gossipy memoir written by her brother Christopher Ciccone, speculation about her relationship with New York Yankee slugger Alex Rodriquez and rumors that her marriage to British filmmaker Guy Ritchie was on the rocks, which she hotly denied.

Madonna's tour was eagerly anticipated in Britain, where the pop superstar - known here as "Madge" - has made her home.

"I can't wait for it to start," Gemma Thomas, a 24-year-old fan from Merthyr, Wales, said before the concert. She said Madonna should not retire soon. "I hope it's not her last tour."

Tabloids clucked approvingly at the more than 600 hours of rehearsal time and the monthslong exercise regime said to have gone into the show, with the Sun saying the singer was in "incredible shape" and crowing: "She's still got the old Madgic."

However, others wondered at the singer's carbon footprint, questioning the amount of carbon dioxide pumped out by ferrying Madonna's wardrobe, makeup, and freezers (for ice to soothe the dancers' aching feet) across the world.

After Cardiff's opening concert, "Sticky and Sweet" moves across Europe, hitting London's Wembley Stadium on Sept. 11 and Paris on Sept. 20. From there, it goes to North America in October before wrapping it up Dec. 18 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It is Madonna's first tour since striking a deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc. worth an estimated $120 million over 10 years. The partnership gives Live Nation a stake of future music and music-related business she generates, including touring, merchandising and albums. Madonna's last tour was her 2006 "Confessions."

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I really wish she would add some volume to her hair. Its so long and drawn looking - kinda reminds me of a Cocker Spaniel. It doesn't suit her face shape.

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Nikki Veteran

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Reuters:

CARDIFF (Reuters) - "Queen of pop" Madonna kicked off her "Sticky & Sweet" world tour in the Welsh city of Cardiff on Saturday, entering the stage on a throne before performing "Candy Shop" to around 40,000 screaming fans.

The U.S. singer, who turned 50 a week ago, defied her age with high-energy dance routines. She wore a black leotard-style outfit designed by French fashion house Givenchy and black, knee-length boots.

For her second number, "Beat Goes On", she drove along the stage catwalk in a white car from which she emerged wearing a white top hat.

U.S. rappers Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, who featured on her latest chart-topping album "Hard Candy", appeared in video clips, as did Britney Spears.

Madonna will be hoping to shatter her own record for the highest-grossing tour ever by a female artist and prove that the musical master of reinvention still has what it takes to pull in crowds young and old.

"She's got the physique, the music. To us, at 52, she's an inspiration to go on," said Diane, a fan from Cardiff.

At the other end of the age scale, nine-year-old Milly added: "I think she's really good and I'd like to be like her."

According to tour promoters Live Nation, who recently signed Madonna to a 10-year deal reported to be worth $120 million, Madonna and her band clocked up 653 hours of rehearsal time before launching "Sticky and Sweet".

In Cardiff she was due to play a set of around 20 songs which span her pop career of nearly three decades, including "Like A Prayer", "Into The Groove" and "Hung Up".

"Sticky & Sweet" comprises some 50 dates and is due to wrap up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on December 18.

As of Thursday, roughly half the tour venues had yet to sell out including Cardiff, although Live Nation announced in June that the tour was on target to gross more than $250 million.

Guinness World Records list Madonna as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time and she has sold around 200 million albums. The Sunday Times estimates Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie's fortune at around $600 million.

But the last few years have not all been easy for Madonna.

Her decision in 2006 to adopt a young Malawian boy whose mother died was controversial in Africa and further afield.

Madonna has two other children -- son Rocco with British film director Ritchie and daughter Lourdes from a previous relationship. The family was in Cardiff to watch the show.

She directed her first feature film that came out in 2008 to only mixed reviews, and her eight-year marriage to Ritchie has come under increasing scrutiny amid reports the couple planned to divorce. Both Ritchie and Madonna have denied the reports.

(Additional reporting and writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)

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Dindi Community Regular

Dindi

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First bonafide review of the show: :wow:

Wales Online

Hail Madonna, the Queen of pop!

Aug 23 2008 Lauren Turner

MADONNA secured her title as Queen of Pop by entering the stage on a throne for the first night of her world tour.

The 50-year-old, wearing a sparkly black one-piece outfit designed by Givenchy, was surrounded by dancers in top hats and tails as she kicked off the Sticky and Sweet tour at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium tonight.

Appropriately enough, the first track – greeted by screams from thousands of fans – was Candy Shop. The black sequinned outfit was accessorised with knee high boots, fishnet tights and a sparkly cane.

The show was advertised to start at 7.30pm but did not get under way until 9.10pm, when giant video screens showed images of pink and white sweets being made to a soundtrack snatches of Madonna songs.

Madonna’s husband, film director Guy Ritchie, and children Lourdes, Rocco and David, were amongst those in the 40,000-strong audience.

Madonna then got into a white car that came onto the stage for Beat Goes On and was driven down a catwalk into the sea of fans. Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, who feature on Madonna’s latest album Hard Candy, made appearances on video screens.

But their roles were trumped by that of troubled star Britney Spears, who appeared on screens in a montage that showed her trapped in a lift dressed in a hooded top and dark glasses for the next track, Human Nature.

Britney whispered the lines “express yourself, don’t repress yourself” as the CCTV-style footage showed her desperately trying to get out of the lift before lying down on the floor. Madonna herself wore a white top hat and played a guitar during the track. The Britney film ended with the younger singer escaping, taking off her glasses and smiling, as Madonna said: “It’s Britney, b****.” :wow:

Fans were then treated to a raunchy version of Vogue, which saw dancers in bondage-style clothing and black face masks contorting at the front of the stage. The song itself was given a makeover, mixed with a sample of one of her latest hits, 4 Minutes. Into the Groove was delivered with a high-energy dance treatment that saw dancers in 1980s hip-hop clothing. Madonna, showing the energy of a woman decades younger than her, joined in a skipping contest with them and even briefly pole-danced.

As well as showcasing her more recent, urban-inspired hits, the show featured radical reworkings of classic Madonna songs, including a hard rock version of Borderline. Madonna took to the stage with a pink guitar, which she played throughout the darker, heavy metal rendition of the song. The 1984 song, rarely performed live, was received with loud cheers from the audience.

La Isla Bonita was given a Flamenco-style twist, as Madonna performed accompanied by Romanian musicians and hand claps from her fans.

The star paid homage to her chameleon style in She’s Not Me, in which dancers dressed as four of her previous incarnations, including the Material Girl and Blonde Ambition tour eras.

A high-energy version of Music, part of the Old School segment of the show, saw Madonna take part in a dance-off on the stage, with graphics showing a New York subway train covered in bright graffiti.

Despite being given a rapturous reception as she left the stage, Madonna was given a mixed review by fans after the show.

Una Magill, 30, from Belfast, said: “It just wasn’t as good as her last tour. “I think the audience was a bit quiet. There was no drive from the crowd.”

Her brother Marc, 27, also of Belfast, said: “It should have been more of a stand-out performance, seeing as it was her first night.”

Susan Harvey, 49, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, said: “I expected her to say thank you to us, considering we came along for the opening night. Her singing was good, but there was no interaction.”

Ruth Henson, 24, who works in human resources in London, said: “Madonna was absolutely fantastic, but the Cardiff crowd completely let her down. We enjoyed it to the max though, and Madonna, considering she’s now 50, is so fit. She did a really good job.”

Taj Tabbah, 27, from London, who had previously seen Madonna 14 times, said: “I think the fans who have been grumbling about the show are the older ones who aren’t as keen to get into the new songs. I thought it was amazing. She has such a lot of energy. It was a very diverse show, with lots of different things going on. It started fun and light-hearted, but then there was the heavy political moment, followed by 4 Minutes, when she says there’s only four minutes to save the world, which was brilliant.”

Sarah Pearson, 27, of Aberystwyth, south Wales, said: “It was fantastic. I danced the whole way through it. “I paid £250 to get into the golden circle without having to queue, but it was well worth it.” :thumbsup:

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The Guardian

Madge was late, but worth the wait

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Madonna may have turned 50, but the opening show of her world tour in Cardiff proved the queen of pop is still into the groove

Amelia Hill

The Observer, Sunday August 24 2008

Lynne, wearing her best silky cowboy shirt and pink, flashing angel wings, is outraged. 'It's bollocks, that's what it is,' she said. 'One and a half hours late and she still hasn't bothered to come on stage? It's disrespectful. I've driven down two hours from Birmingham. This just isn't right.'

In the semi-filled Cardiff Millennium Stadium, Lynne is not alone in her frustration. At 8pm last night, after an hour's wait, the crowd tried to encourage Madonna on to the stage with cheers and whoops. By 9pm, after two hours' wait, the boos began; starting cautiously in the stands but quickly gaining deafening momentum throughout the stadium.

'I didn't pay £75 for the joy of sitting on a cold, concrete floor, eating hot dogs,' said Tom Allan, one of the most enthusiastic of the booing brigade. 'I do my job properly, why can't she?'

Finally, at 9.10pm the lights went down and the crowd leapt to its feet, instantly forgiving the Queen of Pop as a giant screen appeared and the Material Girl herself burst onto the stage, throwing her heart and soul into confounding and exceeding fans' expectations yet again.

The long-awaited Sweet and Sticky tour had begun.

'This is more like it!' Lynne screamed. 'This is what I came for. I never doubted her really. Madonna rocks. There's no one like her. No one. She's an icon. Her best is yet to come.'

On a stage bookended by two enormous Ms filled with £1m-worth of Swarovski crystals, the world's most successful female recording artist of all time leapt, trampolined and pole-danced with an energy that pulled the audience into her pocket.

A past master at seducing and enthralling her fans, she introduced a whole new definition of 'audience participation' by skipping with a glittering rope in time to their ecstatic rendition of 'Into the Groove'.

With the help of Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, Miu Miu, Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent and Roberto Cavalli, not to mention 12 trampolines and 100 pairs of fishnet stockings, Madonna launched her eighth world concert tour at the 74,600-seat Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Having turned 50 last weekend, Madonna remains defiant amid rumours about the state of her marriage to film director Guy Ritchie, gossip fanned by a warts-and-all biography by her younger brother, Christopher Ciccone, in which he claims that the couple only stay together with the help of a marriage-counselling rabbi.

Swatting such carping aside with the aplomb of the ultimate showgirl, she has crafted a show of exuberance that conceals a tightly controlled narrative. In a micro-managed, four-part stage set, the singer takes fans on a whistlestop tour of the stages of her career.

Those roots go back to when the aspiring singer reportedly showed up in New York City with just $35 in her pocket. Yet three decades on she is still writhing, shaking and shimmying in the limelight.

The Material Girl opens the two-hour spectacle dressed in the first of her eight outfits, 'a mashed-up homage to gangsta pimp and Art Deco'. The first set is a nod to her early years as a new-wave disco nymphette who made her name as a performer more respected in her first British performance at Manchester's Haçienda nightclub for her bravura than her ability to hold a note.

Pausing to transform herself from a Givenchy-clad, dominatrix-style gangsta pimp into a Gothic goddess, Madonna references her early days as part of the Eighties New York dance scene with songs including 'Into the Groove' and 'Borderline'.

A brief 'Romanian folk interlude' features a paean to Romany romance, featuring three gypsy musicians playing tracks including 'Devil Wouldn't Recognize You', 'Spanish Lesson', 'Miles Away' and 'La Isla Bonita' on acoustic guitars. Madge presides over this section in a black Gothic-style Givenchy cloak, peeled off to reveal a flowery top, baggy skirt and knee-high boots.

The evening has nine of the 12 songs on her 11th studio album, Hard Candy, which went straight to the top of the charts in 31 countries. It culminates in a grand finale focusing on what could be described as Madge's 'post-imperial' phase: a futuristic, Japanese-influenced rave set in which she sports diamond-studded trousers, a colourful throw top and black vest, singing hits including '4 Minutes', 'Like a Prayer', 'Ray of Light', 'Hung Up' and 'Give It To Me'.

Arlene Phillips, a Strictly Come Dancing judge and friend of Madonna, who helped to design the look of last night's extravaganza, said the singer had been determined to produce a show as spectacularly steamy as possible.

Having reached her half-century, the singer might now travel with her own chiropractor, personal trainer and masseuse, but Phillips had been quoted as saying: 'Getting older has had little effect on her sense of fashion adventure. She may have turned 50, but has no plans to tone it down. This is going to blow everyone away.'

From Cardiff, the show will cross Europe and the Americas, finishing in São Paulo on 18 December.

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