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When Niki loses her hanky and is terrified and looks at Donna


karbatal

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I always laugh out loud when i watch this. She looks for her hanky, she is clearly nervous, she looks at Donna in a "oh, my, i really fucked it" way. Then has to do the routine without hanky.

GLORIUS

min. 2.27

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Funny! I noticed this too when it first aired on HBO. :)

I was going to start a new thread to ask this question but I don't have enough posts to be able to start one yet. My question is: does anyone know when background vocalist Nadirah Shakoor worked with Madonna?

All of Nadirah's online bios credit her as having "toured or recorded" with Madonna and she is credited as background vocalist during the ending credits on the Japan Who's That Girl Tour (live in Tokyo) laserdisc/VHS release instead of Niki Harris, even though Niki is clearly performing in the show. Some online listings of the credits for the release credit "Niki Harris (as Nadirah Shakoor)" but Nadirah is a well-known backing vocalist in her own right, so I don't think that Niki would have used the name as a stage name. Does anyone know the story behind this?

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I still don't understand why many M fans apparently despise her. Yeah she made some rather nasty remarks towards M after they stopped working together, but they were awesome together in every tour she took part in! I can't imagine Blond Ambition (and Truth Or Dare) or the Girlie Show without Niki and Donna!

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I miss Niki and Donna, they added so much to the performances, it's really like they were a family, like during BA tour when they fight during Causing A Commotion, hilarious!

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Guest Pud Whacker

I'm glad that backstabbing bigot is long gone. See you around Harris don't let 'the Jews by Madonna's pool" freak you out anymore.

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I thought Madonna had Niki around to do the solos in "Like a Prayer," but never knew why Donna was kept in the mix, and up front for so long.

Next to Madonna's training and her dancing perfectionism, Donna looks like she's in the back row of an introductory Zumba class. I don't remember her having any solo vocals, or standing out vocally.

She wasn't someone who Madonna spent time with socially, and said in Truth or Dare, "those girls annoy me."

This performance would have been much better with Madonna doing it alone.

Niki wipes her brow with a nonexistent hanky!

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I thought Madonna had Niki around to do the solos in "Like a Prayer," but never knew why Donna was kept in the mix, and up front for so long.

Next to Madonna's training and her dancing perfectionism, Donna looks like she's in the back row of an introductory Zumba class. I don't remember her having any solo vocals, or standing out vocally.

She wasn't someone who Madonna spent time with socially, and said in Truth or Dare, "those girls annoy me."

This performance would have been much better with Madonna doing it alone.

Niki wipes her brow with a nonexistent hanky!

It was because their voices blended together really well. When she auditioned she had to sing in harmony with M. After she did, Madonna started complaining because Donna didn't sing along and was shocked to find out she actually did, loud and clear. It just blended the well with hers.

So having Donna around basically meant sounding stronger.

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Besides, Donna is a great vocalist and dances well and has personality. How can anybody prefer another vocalist than Donna? She's so cute in the Confessions Tour during Lucky Star. I likedit so much when Madonna sang and danced with the backing singers... like in MDNA when she sings with the basques and the voicalist. I don't know, it's as if after all the pyrotecnic overdramatic moments, she takes a rest with friends.

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It was because their voices blended together really well. When she auditioned she had to sing in harmony with M. After she did, Madonna started complaining because Donna didn't sing along and was shocked to find out she actually did, loud and clear. It just blended the well with hers.

So having Donna around basically meant sounding stronger.

I agree. And you can hear it when the three of them sing acapela together in Truth Or Dare or in leaked vocal tracks when the three are harmonizing. You can hear Niki's voice and then you often hear what sounds like one other voice but it is Madonna and Donna's vocals blended together. Donna was a backing vocalist in the truest sense in that her role was to provide backing and strength to Madonna's voice. You can hear the difference on her last two tours without her. Her replacement was obviously meant to play the same role and she's good, but Madonna still sounded better with Donna backing her. Plus it was always nice to see her on the tours...she was always warm and approachable without the diva attitude of Niki (who was funny and all but was starting to seem bitter and jealous of Madonna's success and her lack thereof towards the end of their working relationship). And it was cool knowing that she had been part of Madonna's world for so long. According to Nikki Richards Madonna had intended to call Donna for Sticky & Sweet but when she got word that she was pregnant she had to audition someone else. And once Madonna moves on from someone, she rarely looks back again.

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So when did Niki and Donna stop working for Madonna?

Niki last worked with Madonna on the Drowned World Tour in 2001. Apparently Madonna threw a baby shower for Niki in 2003 after she had her first child but didn't call her when tour rehearsals started in early 2004. Not sure if it was because she didn't think it would be feasible to bring Niki on the road so soon after having her first child or if there was more to it than that. I've heard rumours that Madonna had some issues with Niki on the Drowned World Tour, and that she threw her the baby shower to soften the blow that she wasn't going to be asked to join the Re-Invention Tour.

Donna's last gig with Madonna was for Live Earth in 2007.

Edited by sonicboy
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I thought Nikki did Live 8 in 2005?

Donna did, but not Nikki (or Niki). That was Lisa Fischer -- and I think that was the only gig she sang back-up for Madonna. I thought her "Like a Prayer" solo vocals were superior to Siedah Garrett's from the Re-Invention Tour.

Then Nikki Richards joined Madonna for the Confessions Tour, which was Donna's last go-round. If Donna was bitter about not singing the "Like a Prayer" solo, it seems unlikely that she would have continued to tour with M on the CT. I never heard anything like that, but ... who knows.

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Donna doing the solo for LAP? That's impossible, bluebabe.

During 2001 there were rumours about some kind of fallout after 9/11. It's surely tabloid junkie, but they said that Niki had a big argument with Madonna because they thought that she was going to cancel some concert because of the attacks and Madonna didn't even mention it.

Back then i recall it was discussed in Dotmusic and maybe it's a lie, but afterwards Niki didn't come back.

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I miss the golden trio :( I loved them together

Me too.When Donna and Nikki toured with Madonna,they were always a huge part of the show.Madonna clearly respected them and what they brought to the performance.I wish she would bring them back for the next tour.

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I really miss the three of them together . BAT/GS / DWT would not have been the same without Niki and Donna .

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I really miss the three of them together . BAT/GS / DWT would not have been the same without Niki and Donna .

Exactly. The three of them together really was a special sort of magic on stage. Those tours/performances just wouldn't have been the same without them.

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Donna doing the solo for LAP? That's impossible, bluebabe.

During 2001 there were rumours about some kind of fallout after 9/11. It's surely tabloid junkie, but they said that Niki had a big argument with Madonna because they thought that she was going to cancel some concert because of the attacks and Madonna didn't even mention it.

Back then i recall it was discussed in Dotmusic and maybe it's a lie, but afterwards Niki didn't come back.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the supposed fallout she had with Liz Rosenberg when Liz announced they were amicably parting ways after the DWT ended?

http://popdirt.com/liz-rosenberg-left-madonna-over-heartless-9-11-reaction/1828/

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0068824/

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