Both UK dates on Madonna's Sticky & Sweet world tour have sold out.
Tickets to the gigs, at London's 02 Arena on 4 July and Manchester's MEN Arena on 7 July, were snapped up by fans just minutes after going on sale.
The tour, to promote her album Hard Candy, is the biggest grossing in history for a solo artist.
Madonna has visited Europe and both North and South America since kicking off the tour at Cardiff's Millennium stadium in August last year.
Welcome to the 3rd annual American Photo Images of the Year Competition. This year's contest topped all others in the number of entries, which came to us from around the globe. As you will see, the imagery we looked at is extraordinary.
This photo contest differs from others in the breadth of the subject matter we call for -- from war photography to advertising work, from student work to nature imagery. Our contest also looks at work by pros and amateurs alike.
This year, for the first time, all the entries were received, and judged, online. The editors of American Photo did the first two rounds of judging. The final round was judged by three distinguished names in photography: veteran photo editor Laurie Kratochvil, based in New York City; Boston-based photographer and educator Henry Horenstein; and David Fahey, director of the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles.
Winners in the six categories will share $10,000 in prizes. A Grand Prize winner will be announced at a special event in New York in December and here at PopPhoto.com.
Credits (clockwise from top left) Steven Meisel, Callie Shell, Chang Kyun Kim, Felix Hug, Walter Astrada, Mona Kuhn
Madonna has worked with a handful of photographers throughout her career to create a carefully calculated collection of iconography. Early on she collaborated with Herb Ritts, who polished her photographic image to a high sheen, establishing Madonna as a force in culture and fashion. Over the years, Bruce Weber, Mario Testino, and others helped her shape-shift her identity, always being careful to place her persona just outside the bounds of middle-class tastes but close enough so that her every move could be witnessed by her followers. Such is her genius. Her most notable -- and most interesting -- work has been done with Steven Meisel, who photographed her for the cover of her 1984 album, Like a Virgin, and for a series of projects in the early 1990s. The most infamous of those was the 1992 book, Sex, made at the moment when Madonna's persona was veering from neo-punk to neo-Marquis de Sade.
Reuniting for the cover of Vanity Fair's May 2008 Green Issue, the pair updated Madonna's cultural status once again, turning the 49-year-old soon-to-be single mother into a lingerie-clad warrior, guarding the globe through the sheer power of her sexuality. In Meisel's beautifully rendered pictures, the Material Girl becomes an Earth MILF, demonstrating again the power of imagery to create seductive fantasy. Environmentalism aside, the issue coincided with the release of Madonna's Hard Candy album, and readers were invited to explore the hardworking entertainer's personal high-wire act.
Vote at wintermusicconference.com (registration required).
As Gatecrasher reported Tuesday, Her Madgesty stepped out with 22-year-old Brazilian boy toy Jesus Luz - and two of her children - last weekend in the Meatpacking District. Now sources tell us her recent flame A-Rod is mortified. "Alex is well aware that Madonna is out and about with Jesus, and he isn't happy about it," an insider tells us. "It's embarrassing for him because he and Madonna have been so publicly linked, and now it looks like he's been dumped for a younger stud."
Madonna has been trying to soothe the Yankee slugger by telling him Luz is just a decoy to take the heat off of their own romance. "Madonna pooh-pooed her relationship with Jesus and called it a publicity trick," the insider confides. "But now that Jesus was spotted out with her kids, she can't hide her subterfuge any longer."
So far, the Material Mom's (r.) relationship with Luz has been uncomplicated. "Jesus comes and goes, but he never stays at her house. He's certainly not moving in," says the source. "It's not like Madge is going to marry Jesus. He's keeping her warm at night."
Despite Madge's burgeoning relationship with Luz, she still isn't ready to let A-Rod out of her grip. "Madonna likes to be in control, and she hasn't been able to completely control Alex yet," says our source. "Jesus has been much more attentive than Alex recently. If A-Rod will commit to Madonna, then he'll win her affections. But it's not like he's giving her a diamond ring. Neither he nor Madonna is 100% committed to each other yet."
Regardless of who is last man standing, one fact remains. Being linked to a 22-year-old model and a 33-year-old sports star makes Madonna, 50, "one of the greatest spider traps of all time," our insider laughs. "She's the ultimate cougar!"In a blockbuster deal that will realign the music industry's balance of power, concert-promotion giant Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment, the nation's largest ticketing operation, are planning to merge, The Post has learned.
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, talks between the two companies are at an advanced stage and a vote on a deal could be put to Live Nation's board as soon as Wednesday.
The source cautioned, however, that talks are at a delicate stage and could fall apart amid last-minute wrangling over finer points of a merger.
The source said the deal is currently seen as a merger of equals, with the board of the combined company totaling 14 members to accommodate equal representation from both companies.
Barry Diller, CEO of Ticketmaster parent company InterActiveCorp, will serve as chairman of the combined company, while Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino will be chief executive.
It's unclear what responsibilities Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff, the legendary manager of The Eagles, Guns N' Roses and other acts, will have in the new company, though it is assumed he will have some role.
Representatives for Live Nation refused to comment. Ticketmaster and Diller did not return calls and emails for comment.
The impending merger comes as Live Nation and Ticketmaster were about to go head-to-head on the ticketing front, as Live Nation spent much of last year building the infrastructure to support its own ticketing business.
That, in turn, prompted fear on Wall Street about Ticketmaster's prospects, particularly since the company has only recently been spun out of IAC as a standalone business.
Indeed, Diller brought Azoff to Ticketmaster in part because Azoff's control of artist-management firm Frontline Management would help even the playing
field against Live Nation.
While Live Nation's foray into ticketing was cheered by Wall Street, its rich deals to sign top acts like Madonna and Jay-Z were roundly criticized.
Live Nation's stock fell precipitously as a result of the bad publicity and an ugly internal power struggle between Rapino and former chairman Michael Cohl erupted into public view.
Rapino won the battle, and if he can sign the deal with Ticketmaster, he may have won the war. Without question, a combined Live Nation-Ticketmaster will be able to deal with the major record labels on its terms rather than vice versa.
This time prices for these packages are even higher than last summer as if the world "recession" isn't included in vocabularies manifactured in Europe. We really hope at least this time Live Nation/Madonna customers will definitely get what they pay for and treated they way they should always be - with the respect due to the paying customer.
Anyway, after a few lines of due personal considerations, here are the prices for the Madonna Tour packages for London and Manchester, that will be on sale tomorrow:
Give It 2 Me Package (Seated) - £299:
* Great seat location to see Madonna live in concert (select your block and row . Hot Tickets are sold by Block and Row only. Seat numbers are generally allocated 3 Weeks before the show date. There are no Box Office collections available, so please ensure that you provide a correct mailing address.).
* Official Sticky & Sweet tour t-shirt (1 per package).
* Official Sticky & Sweet tour programme.
* Commemorative VIP laminate.
Madonna and her latest (alleged) boy-toy, the Brazilian model Jesus Luz, were spotted dinning in Macelleria steakhouse at the West village this Sunday!!
Golden Cirlce: 85 € + fee
General admission: 75 € + fee
They will be on sale from 9 AM on Saturday from the www.proximusgoformusic.be online website, the Proximus Go For Music hotline 0900 2 60 60 and by SMS - 3060 Code: MAD.
Please note that there will be a 6 ticket per person limit for this event.
