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Everything about Madonna is larger than life, from her record sales to her glittery costumes, to her recent legal battle to adopt a child in Malawi, to the price she paid for a 57-foot-wide town house on the outer fringes of the Upper East Side. Brokers scoffed at her foolishness when it was reported that she was in contract to buy a sprawling Georgian-style town house in the sticks, a k a far East 81st Street, for $40 million. The place was nowhere near the elite homes of Fifth Avenue, beyond the lower-status Lexington Avenue and many blocks from the hallowed soil of Central Park. But last week, when she closed on the purchase, it turned out the hard-working Material Girl, sweating her way through another world tour at age 50, had not lost her street smarts. The rock star, born Madonna Louise Ciccone of Bay City, Mich., actually received a significant discount. She paid only $32.5 million, according to brokers briefed on the transaction. The final purchase price works out to a 28 percent discount from the $45 million price tag of the original listing, by Louise Beit of Sotheby’s International Real Estate. The property was listed last October, after the death of the longtime owner, Louise H. Saurel. Wendy Maitland, a broker at Brown Harris Stevens who has represented Madonna in the past, declined to discuss the transaction. The sale would still make it the highest town house sale in the anemic first half of 2009, but not out of line with recent sales of much smaller town houses in that neighborhood. Last year at the peak of the market, a 19-foot-wide town house on far East 78th Street sold for $9.5 million, or about $2,750 a square foot. The price per square foot paid by Madonna in a weaker market was about the same, but one could argue she got a lot more in the deal. With 57 feet of street frontage, her new mansion is one of the widest town houses in Manhattan, combining what appear to have once been three separate town houses. According to the listing, the house has 26 rooms, including a 38-foot-wide drawing room and 13 bedrooms. There are 9 fireplaces, 11-foot ceilings and, in the rear, a 3,000-square-foot garden. Who needs Central Park when your backyard is park size? If the house isn’t big enough, its size can be doubled under current zoning, and unlike those precious buildings on Fifth Avenue, it is situated beyond the purview of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. In any event, with a two-car garage on the premises, the new owner could whisk her children to the park by limousine in about as much time as it would take to go by elevator from a Fifth Avenue penthouse to the lobby. source: new york time

Madonna knows contraversy – you don’t become the world’s most famous pop singer without ruffling a few feathers. But this time, just about everyone from tabloid reporters to adoption groups seems to be weighing in on her decision to make David Banda, a young boy from Malawi, part of her family TIME: Why do you think people are so upset by the fact that you adopted a Malawian child? Madonna: People or the media? Because I don’t think people really give a shit. But when you throw in things like, I’m a celebrity and I somehow got special treatment, or make the implication of kidnapping, it gets mixed into a stew and it sells lots of papers. But care? People don’t care and the media certainly doesn’t care. What they should care about is that there are over a million orphans in Malawi, and following me around is just a gross misappropriation of attention and money. But I do think there’s a certain amount of nationalism and racism thrown in there. I mean, there’s a lot of Brits – reporters on the street – who’ve said, "Why don’t you adopt a kid from Britain?" Or, "Why did you adopt a black child?" So a lot of people’s hangups and ‘isms’ are sort of mixed into this, too. It’s just kind of a cocktail for disaster in terms of media perception. One of the ‘isms’ that you’re frequently accused of is dilletantism. You’re new to Africa and these issues and there’s a perception that you’re jumping on a bandwagon, and bringing a child into it, too. Well that’s not my problem. I don’t care. I could know about the situation for two weeks and want to do something about it or I could know about it for years and deliberate on a plan of action. Which is better? That I found out about an issue and instantly wanted to take action, or that it took me years to get my shit together? Look, I could have joined the U.N. and become an ambassador and visited various countries and just kind of showed up and smiled and looked concerned. But that’s not getting to the root of the problem – and by the way, neither is building orphan care centers and giving people food and medicine. But it’s a start. I’m saving people’s lives. And whether I have earned the right to do it, or the respect of people who think I may not have the right to do it, is completely and utterly irrelevant. And in any event, no, I’m not interested in going in there like a dilettante and being an idiot and going ‘Ok, I’m going to build 10 orphanages and I’ll see you guys later!’ So this is a lifetime commitment? Absolutely. I’m starting with Malawi. It’s a small, peaceful country, so I feel like it’s a safe place to start. And if it works, I’ll expand. But it is the beginning and I know I’m going to get a lot of criticism and take a lot of shit for it, and it’s kind of like, Go ahead, haze me, have a laugh, and come back and talk to me in five years. You’ve been through other hazing periods in your career. Is this one different than… Yeah, because a life is at stake. And in all those other hazing periods people were just trying to ***CENSORED*** with me. Now they’re going into a village and terrorizing innocent people who live simple lives, terrorizing the father, terrorizing the children that I already have. There are a lot of people who are indirectly being effected by it. That’s the difference. You met Mr. Banda once, in a courtroom. What did you say to him? Obviously when you’re sitting across from the father it’s really heart wrenching. He was looking down at the ground all the time and I felt so bad for him. I said, ‘I feel for you and I want what’s best for David. So if you want him, I don’t want to take your son from you. I just want to save his life. I can’t live in Malawi. I can’t move my family here. He would have to come and live with me and I would raise him as a son. But there’s another option. I can just give you money, and you can raise him.’ And he said no. But he still had a very hangdog expression, which crushed me. It was very confusing, and I’m sure he was very confused. Look, his wife dies, his other three children die, the guy’s been grieving and been through hell. He gives his last son to an orphanage at the age of two weeks… to a certain extent he was ready to move on with his life. Then suddenly I show up and someone from the village says ‘Hey, this white woman’ – he didn’t know who I was – ‘wants to adopt your child!’ And once the press got involved everyone said Oh God, now we better cross our t’s and dot our i’s to make sure we actually aren’t jumping queues, because we’re going to be scrutinized. So the process became extremely tedious and the court dates kept changing and we kept getting conflicting information. It became so difficult that every day I thought, ‘Ok, forget it. We’ll find a family here to look after him.’ Meanwhile I had been given permission to take him to my hotel because I had to take him to a clinic to get chest x-rays and a proper medical examination to see why he wasn’t breathing properly. And I just keep thinking, ‘Oh god, I don’t want to get too attached because what if it doesn’t happen?’ It was all very strange and weird, and I’d go to bed every night and think ok, whether someone else ends up looking after him or you end up looking after him, he’s better off now than he was. But it was one ***CENSORED*** thing after the next, everywhere we went. So the idea that people think I got a shortcut or an easy ride is absolutely ludicrous. I have never worked so hard for anything in my life, and I’ve never been given such a hard time. And my celebrity has worked against me in every way… And by the way, say I did cut the queue? Say I did cheat and not have to wait two years to adopt a child? Well good for me! Do you know how many children are going to die in the next two years? It’s a stupid law. Change the law. Do you worry at all that you’ve saved this child from physical misery… From death. Death. He would not have lived. Ok. But do you worry that you’ve saved him only to introduce him to a much more abstract kind of misery? There were hordes of photographers documenting his arrival in England. Well my other children are exposed to that and they’re not miserable. I think I have a very good life, and a good life to offer David. You know, it’s like the old saying, civil rights don’t mean shit if you’re dead. Even if I’m the worst mother in the world, I’m still better than death! [laughs] Is being Madonna still as fun as it used to be? Fun? Oh, I don’t know. Fun. [several second pause] Fun’s kind of an overrated word. I’m not sure what you mean by that. Do I enjoy aspects of my life? Because what being Madonna is – are you talking about my professional career? All of it. Well, I do get joy out of it. It’s not smooth sailing by any means, but I enjoy a great deal of it, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. But I also know that if you’re going to try and change things – change anything really – you’d better be prepared to find yourself in the headquarters of hell. That’s just how it works. But with resistance comes growth. If you go to a gym and lift weights and its easy then your muscles aren’t going to grow. Your muscles grow because you’re struggling against something. Do you enjoy the resistance as much as you used to? Sometimes. Sometimes I do. There is a part of me that is secretly enjoying pissing people off, because I know that when you’re pissing people off you’re often doing the right thing. What I hope I’m doing better now than I used to do is picking the right battles to fight, and not just being provocative for the sake of being provocative. © Time Magazine

Sep02 Rumour: Will M.J. Lure Madonna to the VMAs? The Net has been abuzz for a bit that Madonna will make an appearance at the Video Music Awards in New York next weekend. Even though the queen’s rep shot down that possibility to Marc Malkin last week, we hear MTV isn’t ready to give up. So how might they entice Madge to hop onboard the very hyped show this year? By dangling the M.J. card, obviously. We hear the VMAs are going to have a “big” Michael Jackson component, and execs are dying for Madonna to pay tribute to the King of Pop, because really, who else can?

LIKE A VIRGIN and HUNG UP (sorry for bad sound)..My Queen dedicated Like a Virgin to the pope... I was there..It was so fantastic.. 06/09/2008

Madonna's definitive Greatest Hits Collection is released shortly and what better way to celebrate Celebration than the 15th London Madonna Party! When? Saturday 3rd October, 2pm - 10pm Where? G-A-Y Late, Goslett Yard (1 minute from Tottenham Court Road Tube station) Free entry and free raffle giveaway including a signed CD direct from Madonna's team. Everyone who arrives before 5.30pm will get two raffle tickets to double your chances of winning! 8 hours of Madonna's Greatest Hits and performances, remix videos exclusive to the Party and as many of your requests that we can squeeze in. Plenty of room to dance, plenty of room to sit and drink and catch up with your friends... just make sure you're there and don't be late!

Madonna joined the Israeli prime minister and his family Friday in the traditional ritual welcoming the Jewish Sabbath. A statement from the prime minister's office says the singer spent two hours with Bejamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at their home, lighting candles and reciting a blessing together. Madonna, seen in the handout picture below released by the Israeli Government Press Office, was wearing a short-sleeved black dress as she left the heavily guarded Netanyahu home Friday. She was accompanied by her manager Guy Oseary pictured on the right in the image below.

Jewish mysticism has transformed Madonna, Karen Berg, the co-founder of the worldwide Kabbalah Center, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday in an exclusive interview. "If you compare her 13 years ago, when she started studying, and today, she's a changed person," said Berg. "She's a good human being, she studies, she wants depth. She's a ravenous student. She's a very highly intelligent and spiritual human being. "She reads and follows Hebrew, and has learned how to speak some Hebrew," said the religiously observant Berg, who attended the final show of the singer's Sweet & Sticky tour at Hayarkon Park on Wednesday night. "Last night before she started her show, she was thanking everybody who was there, humbler than I've ever seen her before. She really had appreciation for the people around her," said Berg. Berg explained that the singer showed up unannounced at the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles in the 1990s and began sitting in on classes. One of the center's teachers, Eitan Yardeni, who was also in Israel this week, has guided the pop icon throughout her Kabbalah studies. Madonna has worn a red string around her left wrist for protection and to ward off the "evil eye," introduced Jewish ritual objects such as tefillin into her videos and adopted the Hebrew name Esther. She included visuals of Hebrew texts during her Sweet & Sticky shows and according to Berg, no longer appears on Friday nights. Berg said that Kabbalah has also filtered into Madonna's music and her message. "Look at 'Ray of Light,'" she said, referring to the singer's 1998 album and song. "There's a direct Kabbalah reference to it." She also said that Madonna told her she would like to spend more time in Israel, and was disappointed when plans to buy a home here two years ago didn't come to fruition. "She'd like to do more, she'd like to be here more. Like she said at her concerts, she loves the energy here. She said she loves the country and wants to come back," said Berg. Asked how close she was to the singer and if she had Madonna's personal phone number on her cell phone, Berg just smiled and said, "Sure."

After wrapping up her Sticky & Sweet Tour at Hayrkon Park yesterday night she went back to her hotel to freshen up and change her clothes, and two hours later at about 2AM in the morning she left and headed to the Seatara restaurant for dinner, joined by Jesus Luz, photographer Steven Klein, and Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli. Madonna is also said to be traveling to neighboring country of Jordan today and meet their queen Rania. It is not clear if Madonna will visit other places in that country but she is supposed to return to Israel on the same day. On Friday Madonna is set to meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, He will give her a tour inside the nation's parliament called "Knesset ". A second visit to Israel's president Shimon Peres, is also on the singer's time table, and that might happen on Saturday evening. Madonna is expected to leave Israel on Saturday night.

An overview of the second night in Tel Aviv… Tonight, the whole family was on stage. Little David danced on stage during Paul Oakenfold’s set, Rocco was helping DJ Enferno during Music and Lola was playing the piano during Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You. The show ended again with Madonna and Lola holding hands. Madonna was full of emotions and energy, to a point where she was almost losing her voice during Ray of Light, yelled “What’s this shit?!” during Spanish Lesson, not wanting to sing the first lines of Miles Away because she jokingly said she couldn’t focus and having difficulty singing the final lines of You Must Love me due to the tears. Her speech, was very touching… I feel like I should say a few words on this very last show of my tour. I couldn’t pick a better place to end my tour here, in Israel. The energy center of the universe. The birthplace of some of my favourite people in the world. Guy Oseary being one of them. I love you Guy. You know, I had such an amazing time doing this show, it’s hardest thing I’ve ever done and the best thing I’ve ever done. and I want to thank everybody. You cannot imagine how lucky and blessed I feel to be able to do what I do. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. And to spend my last evening with you tonight and there’s people here from all over the world It feels like a historical moment and I don’t want it to end. So I’ll savour every moment and I hope you do to. Thank you

The new "Celebration" video will have its Italian premiere tomorrow, September 1st, on the online website of Il Corriere della Sera.The videoclip directed by Jonas Akerlund has been previewed to the media today and it will be exclusively available on www.corriere.it tomorrow from 8 AM local time.Talking about today's preview Corriere.it mentions a supersexy Madonna, a love profusion with model Jesus Luz that will certainly let the press go crazy, and the guest appearance of Madonna's...

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Non fosse lei, non fosse questa piscina immersa negli ulivi a picco sul mare nell' albergo più bello e lussuoso della riviera ligure, la diresti una festicciola (grosso modo) comune. Invece lei è Madonna, e questo è il suo cinquantunesimo compleanno, e allora lo speciale c' è per forza ma è diverso da come te l' aspetti ed è così: la diva che scompiglia il mondo, che si crocifigge sul palco, che fa incavolare gli ultracattolici polacchi perché osa esibirsi in concerto a Varsavia nel giorno dell' Assunta, entra nei suoi fiftysomething come è sbarcata nella notte a Portofino: silenziosa e appartata, lieve e solitaria. Certi compleanni mettono una strana calma. Dentro la cornice dell' hotel Splendido, dove ha prenotato sedici stanze in tutto e per sé la stratosferica suite presidenziale con vista di straziante bellezza sul Borgo, la serata ha un orizzonte pulito e chiaro come questo party: pochi vip, gli amici di sempre Domenico Dolce e Stefano Gabbana che oggi ricambieranno con un pranzo nella loro villa e gita in barca, Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow. Lei indossa un abito bianco. Jesus Luz, il modello brasiliano di 22 anni che Madonna frequenta da qualche mese, non è in lista, forse neanche più in quella della sua vita. Ci sono invece i più stretti collaboratori ad alzare i calici, solo un po' di champagne per brindare che porta sempre bene, la musica sotto non urla ma è di violini leggeri. Maria Lourdes, Rocco, David Banda e Marcy James giocano sorvegliati da due baby sitter ma di tanto in tanto la madre li chiama a sé, prende in braccio Marcy, tre anni, adottata nel giugno scorso in Malawi come David lo scorso anno. «A tavola», e per cena si mangia kosher come piace a lei da quando segue l' esoterismo anche gastronomico della cabala, pochi calibrati piatti preparati dallo chef del ristorante Corrado Corti su indicazioni del cuoco personale della cantante, ma nessuna intrusione vera e propria, il cibo è made in Italy e su questo non si scherza, solo l' acqua sul tavolo di Madonna viene dai vulcani francesi (Volvic), minerale eticamente responsabile (appoggia campagne umanitarie in Africa compreso Malawi) e dunque Madonna la porta da e con sé ovunque vada. Torta di frutta fresca e crema, 51 candeline, la primogenita Maria Lourdes, 13 anni a ottobre, siede al piano della sala Pitosforo e pigia sui tasti le note convenienti al momento, «Happy Birthday mom, happy birthday to you». Applausi, abbracci, bollicine, e a nanna si va che è passata da poco la mezzanotte. Silenzio, materasso molto rigido, niente aria condizionata. Poche rose bianche, finestre aperte, nessun posacenere in vista. Igiene, ordine, detersivi per le pulizie inodori. Una terrazza di 40 metri quadrati, arredi minimal, parquet in ulivo, cinquemila euro a notte. Non ha fatto richieste strampalate per la sua splendida due giorni ligure, ha espresso necessità quasi zen. Allo Splendido hanno ricevuto suggerimenti chiari e un sopralluogo preventivo è bastato a dare il via libera con lode al soggiorno della cantante che qui già era stata nel 2000, correva alla mattina su per il monte. Ci è tornata, volando direttamente da Varsavia con un aereo privato, e poi nel cuore della notte di Ferragosto ha preso possesso insieme ai figli, a poche persone dello staffea una cinquantina di valige, delle sedici stanze dell' albergo. Ci rimarrà fino a domani, a Monaco la aspetta un altro concerto del suo Sticky & Sweet tour, appiccicoso e dolce viaggio per le capitali europee, ultima data il 2 settembre a Tel Aviv. Oggi al mare, una giornata chiara come insegna un anno in più. - DAL NOSTRO INVIATO ALESSANDRA RETICO

froma Greta (4years , my lovely daugheter) and me Valentina. Ciao