May 30, 2001. Copyright, 2001, Graphic News. All rights reserved

LADY MADONNAÕS BACK IN TOWN
By Mark Samms

LONDON, May 30, Graphic News:  IT speaks volumes for MadonnaÕs enduring appeal that tickets for The Drowned World Tour, her first global gig for more than eight years, began to sell-out literally within minutes of becoming available.

The facts are quite extraordinary. Such was the demand that the box office at LondonÕs Earls Court almost seized up, and every ticket for the first show on July 4 had gone within 15 minutes. A little over five hours later, more than 97,000 tickets had been snapped up, and London was a sell-out on all six nights.

The on-line ticket site at Earls Court took a million hits in the first ten minutes of the seats becoming available, and a total of 30 million attempts were made to phone the hotline. It was the same story in Germany and Italy, where the Òsold-outÓ signs for every performance were up within a few hours.

In America, the response was equally manic. Such was the clamour to see one of the few truly world-class performers, that extra shows had to be hastily arranged in New York and Los Angeles. ItÕs widely believed that millions of disappointed fans will console themselves by tuning into HBOÕs live broadcast of the August 26 show from Detroit.

It may seem like an awful lot of fuss to make over a 42-year-old mother of two, but MadonnaÕs fans Ð nourished by the Blonde Ambition tour in 1990 and The Girlie show three years later Ð know only too well what they are going to get Ð an extravaganza of staging, singing, performance, dancing and special effects.

So how has this woman managed to remain at the top of her profession for so long, attracting fans from two different generations? The answer, like most thing connected to MadonnaÕs life, does not have a simple answer.

However, she has always made a point of remaining ahead of the game. Not for her a reliance on past glories or the tired reprise of old hits. She has constantly reinvented herself and in the process has manipulated the media to such a degree that they have never been sure where one image ended and the next one began.

Controversial, seductive, innovative, unpredictable and with mystery surrounding her next professional incarnation and even her sexuality at one stage, Madonna has kept everyone guessing for almost 20 years. The one thing that has never been in doubt, however, is her talent.
/ENDS


Drowned World Tour itinerary

Jun 9: Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Jun 14,15: Fila Forum, Milan, Italy
Jun 19, 20, 22, 23: Max Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
Jun 26, 27, 29, 30: Palace Omnisports de Paris Bercy, Paris, France
Jul 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12: Earls Court, London, England
Jul 21, 22: First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 25, 26, 28, 30, 31: Madison Square Garden, New York
Aug 2, 3: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Aug 6, 8: Fleet Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Aug 10, 11: MCI Center, Washington D.C.
Aug 14, 15: National Car Rental Center, Miami, Florida
Aug 19, 20: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Aug 25, 26: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
Aug 28, 29: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Sep 1, 2: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sep 5, 6: Oakland Arena, Oakland, California
Sep 9, 11, 13, 14: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

Sources www.sindrismadonnapage.com; www.buysellmadonna.com; www.wallofsound.go.com