THE teenage girl whose breast was flashed to the world when Madonna pulled down her top at her concert in Brisbane says it was the best moment of her life.
Gold Coast barista and aspiring model Josephine Georgiou, 17, has defended Madonna for exposing her breast when she was invited on to the stage during Thursday night’s concert at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
She mocked suggestions that she may sue the singer.
“Seriously, why would I sue Madonna for the best moment of my life?,” she toldThe Courier Mail.
“It was the best night.
“She was calling me a Victoria’s Secret model the whole time I was on stage, which is so flattering.”
A video of Madonna yanking at the teenager’s top to expose her breast has gone viral and made news around the globe.
Georgiou said she was wearing her mother’s corset and it was too big, which meant she was adjusting it on stage while Madonna was talking to the crowd.
She added she was not offended by the incident.
“Only I get to decide if I’m humiliated or not, why would people assume I am humiliated by my own breast, nipple or body?,” Georgiou said.
Josephine Georgiou was on stage with Madonna in Brisbane. Picture by: Splash NewsSource:Supplied
“It’s hilarious to me how much of a big deal it is to everyone, people just need to understand I was on stage in front of Madonna, I was looking her in the eyes and most people would just melt into a pool on stage, so it was only because I was standing in front of her that I looked so surprised.”
She also denied claims the incident was staged and insisted she was randomly plucked from the crowd.
The latest stunt by Madonna has not gone down well.
UK commentator Piers Morgan has called on the veteran pop star to cancel her Rebel Heart tour because she’s having a “meltdown”. “Madonna is in total meltdown. She needs to cancel this tour asap,” he tweeted on Friday.
Madonna was two-and-a-half hours late on stage on Wednesday for her first Brisbane concert, and four hours late on stage for a Melbourne show last week.
The tour ends on Sunday at Sydney’s Allphones Arena.
During the past 7 months, Madonna saw a lot of amazing and funny Unapologetic Bitches joining her on stage. If you think you got what it takes to be the#FinalUnapologeticBitch, post a video of you dressed for the show and showing your best dance moves to your Instagram along with the #FinalUnapologeticBitch hashtag. You may be selected to join her on stage during her March 19 & March 20 shows in Sydney! Good luck!! (Photo: Joshua Brandao)
Documenting her return to Australia for the first time in 23 years and saving the best for last,Madonnatoday announced that she will film her Sydney Australia concerts at the Sydney Olympic Park NSW on March 19th and 20th. These are the final shows of her seven-month Rebel Heart world tour where Madonnahas performed 80+ shows in over 20 countries.
Throughout the tourMadonna has pulled several actors, comedians, fans, fellow musicians and even a news anchor to the stage for a special dance as her “Unapologetic Bitch.” This weekend in SydneyMadonnawill choose a few fans as her “Unapologetic Bitches,” all which will be documented by the taping this weekend.
Danny B. Tull and Nathan Rissman, both of whom have worked extensively withMadonnaon her feature films and tour movies, will direct the live video which will be part of a larger project to be released at a later date.
The multi Grammy Award winning superstar has four shows left with upcoming stops in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia. A full list of tour dates can be foundHERE.
MADONNA REBEL HEART WORLD TOUR
AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND 2016
Date
City
Venue
Mar. 16
Brisbane, AU
Entertainment Centre
Mar. 17
Brisbane, AU
Entertainment Centre
Mar. 19
Sydney, AU
Allphones Arena
Mar. 20
Sydney, AU
Allphones Arena
*Brisbane dates have changed.
Tickets for the previously scheduled March 26 show valid March 16.
Tickets for the previously scheduled March 27 show valid on March 17.
Singer’s Career-Long Ticket Sales Cross $1B Mark Thanks To Her 9th World Tour
Queen of Pop Madonna proved a long time ago her reign was far from limited to pop charts.
Currently holding the record for the most successful tour ever by a solo act (see: 2008’s whopping $408 million-generating ‘Sticky and Sweet Tour’), the songstress is now making more noise in touring history books thanks to her current outing ‘The Rebel Heart Tour’ (christened after her 13th album of the same name).
And, while the ‘Living For Love’-led project is the worst-selling of her career, its supportive tour is singing a much different tune.
“Altogether during the first month of the year, the pop diva performed for just over 150,000 fans at 12 concerts, adding $19.3 million to her tour’s overall gross that has now topped the $100 million mark. Since the Sept. 9 opening performance in Montreal, the Rebel Heart tour has reached $107.3 million in ticket sales at 61 concerts.” BILLBOARD
With the latest receipts added to her overall tally, Madge is etched in history books as the only female artist in history to cross the $1 billion mark in reported ticket sales. In fact, she is only one of six acts “who have topped the $1 billion mark in reported ticket sales since Billboard began tracking concert grosses in the early 1990s.”
Those artists, in order of ticket sales, are:
Rolling Stones – $1.8 billion
U2 – $1.6 billion
Madonna – $1.24 billion
Bruce Springsteen – $1.23 billion
Elton John – $1.05 billion
Bon Jovi – $1.03 billion
It should be noted that many of these acts are currently on tour and, as a result, should expect to see their revised grosses only cement their spots as the most sought after touring acts in history!
Modal TriggerMadonna performs in concert at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.Photo: Getty Images
Madonna’s 2015 album “Rebel Heart” came and went, but the decades- long fascination with her personal life is stronger that ever. And on her current tour of Australia, she’s serving it up with near-painful honesty.
During dates down under last week, she performed an intimate and conceptual “Tears of a Clown” concert, which featured her attempting to ride a tricycle, doing a cover of Elliot Smith’s “Between the Bars” (which she previously performed with Rocco), and stopping to address her family issues directly.
“It’s not a fun story to tell or think about,” she told 1,500 fans inside Melbourne’s Forum Theatre. “I probably could have enjoyed myself a little bit more on this tour if he hadn’t disappeared so suddenly, and also if I knew when I would see him again.”
It’s clear the 57-year-old is hurting. But she also knows she has a job to do. Art is at its most compelling and most provocative when it comes from a real place, and so instead of turning up and doing the same tightly rehearsed show and mechanically dishing out the hits as though everything were dandy, Madonna is giving her art a compellingly erratic edge that mirrors her own personal life.
But Madge is also smart enough to know that the world’s media is watching her and looking for cracks in her psyche. So why not give them a few?
In the last week, she requested that someone “f - - k” her — although she quickly followed that up by saying she was just kidding — and has been doing shots of tequila (not really a way for her to drown her sorrows — the tour’s sponsored by Jose Cuervo). But it’s more than enough to send rumors and headlines about “boozy meltdowns” and “sloppy” performances around the world, and keep the “Rebel Heart” tour in the conversation.
But if decades of Madonna-watching has taught us anything, it’s that she likes to give fans and others the emotional insight they seek — but on her own terms. Even when she’s seemingly coming off the rails, she’s firmly in control. Manipulation is just part of Madonna’s savvy.
So gaze into her mind if you want, but just know that she’ll be gazing back into yours.
It has been 23 years between visits but Saturday night’s packed concert at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena only proved the old adage that perhaps distance does make the heart grow fonder.
When Madonna was last in Australia she had just released her infamous book, Sex, and was riding on the back of her latest album, Erotica.
In the years since Madonna has become a mother-of-four and has seen countless imitators come and go.
But as she proved during her Melbourne Rebel Heart’s show: “You don’t mess with the Queen.”
From the opening number, Iconic, Madonna commanded the stage. Even after all these years in the spotlight her sheer force and determination astounds.
What was most refreshing about Saturday night’s tour de force is that the years have not tamed her desire to shock.
The opening sequence was a fantastic mixture of Catholic imagery and samurai-inspired costuming, culminating in an erotically charged depiction of The Last Supper.
This section featured what can only be described as scantily clad pole-dancing nuns. It was a sight to behold as Madonna, now 57, straddled one of the near-naked nuns whilst spinning at the top of a pole singing a song, an ode to oral sex titled Holy Water.
Madonna shows us she has the self-assured courage to challenge what seems “appropriate” for a woman of her age.
In recent years there have been comments that she needs to tone it down, or that she is too old to be overtly sexual. I think this goes hand in hand with the general sentiment that a woman of a certain age needs to relinquish her desire, and age gracefully.
But this is Madonna we are talking about — the woman who became a worldwide superstar rolling around the stage in an erotic fervour singing Like A Virgin.
Sex has always been her game and she is one of the best at it — and if anyone has the guts to not follow the boring notion of ageing gracefully, it is Madonna.
Madonna has survived a career spanning over 30 years in the often fickle world of pop music, and this concert is a testament to her skill as a performer, as well as an “I’ll show you” to ageism.
Show a mix of new work and back catalogue classics
The show epitomises physical endurance, with Madonna singing and dancing for more than two hours.
The attention-grabbing opening sequence gives way to a series of other set pieces, each elaborately staged. From a 1950s car workshop, to a bedazzled matador extravaganza — her stagecraft is magnificent.
She mixed a raft of songs from her Rebel Heart album with classics from her significant back catalogue.
You could almost feel the crowd’s hearts melt when she pulled out a ukulele to sing True Blue and the nostalgic goosebump-inducing rendition of Like A Virgin, which she sang alone on stage.
It was a beautiful moment for a crowd who had grown up with her voice.
Her powerful rendition of Living for Love showcased her strong dancers, and it was great opportunity to focus on the female dancers who are amazing artists in their own right.
Another highlight of the show was the incredible artistry of the Melbourne-based company, Strange Fruit.
Their circus poles were used to stage a daring and hair-raising sequence with male dancers flipping and bending high above the crowd, balanced precariously on the ends of elastic looking poles.
The show slowed down slightly in its final third, with a moving tribute to Molly Meldrum. Madonna singled him out in the audience and dedicated the song Take a Bow to, in her words, “the first Australian man to fall in love with me”.
Meldrum responded as Madonna gave him a kiss by saying, “I f**cking love you”.
Madonna smiled as the crowd chanted “Molly, Molly, Molly!” Many would remember their first encounter with the superstar more than 30 years ago on ABC’s Countdown.
Madonna is well-known for her controlled career and, remarkably, Saturday night showed a few chinks in her armour.
There were genuine moments where she seemed to let go and a sense of chaos and vulnerability crept into the performance.
Madonna seemed at times emotional and open to spontaneity. This was on the back of her recent career-first intimate show, Tears of a Clown, at Melbourne’s iconic Forum Theatre.
It was refreshing to see this side to her and as she sat on the side of the stage singing a beautiful version of the Edith Piaf standard La Vie En Rose, surrounded by a glow of twinkling iPhone lights, the crowd was mesmerised.
The final act was a gorgeous tribute to the glamour of the 1920s and the phenomenal Josephine Baker.
Madonna looked sparkling in a Jeremy Scott for Moschino flapper dress, complete with thousands of Swarovski crystals.
Throughout the show a bawdy sense of humour and profanity pervaded and built to a cameo from Australian drag star Courtney Act who capped the camp quota for the evening.
By the time she closed with the classic party anthem Holiday the crowd were on their feet. Hopefully it would not be another 23 years before her next holiday down under.
Madonna continues her tour in Brisbane and Sydney this week.
‘The queen reigns supreme’: Madonna’s Rebel Heart tour is in Australia until 20 March Photograph: Kevin Mazur/”Getty Images for Live Nation”
Rod Laver arena, Melbourne From simulated sex acts to pole dancing on the belly of a woman dressed as a nun, Madonna proves she can still do whatever she wants
The show begins before the show. A masked, female DJ dressed like a war-crier from Mad Max lurches over her decks and demands of the packed house at Rod Laver Arena: “Are you ready for the queen? Are you ready for your queen?”
The queen herself takes another half hour to materialise, but when she does her entrance is beyond mere expectations of the regal. The music blares, the lights blast, the queen descends from the ceiling in flowing red and black robes, and with her retinue styled as a legion of armed samurai reenacting in mime the battles of the Crusades at a nightclub goth night, the queen hits the stage as, within an explosion of video, the words “I’m the best there ever was!” is shouted by a convicted rapist.
Mike Tyson? Seriously? But the crowd is on their feet, dancing, cheering. OnlyMadonna can get away with this.
If the video placement of a screaming Tyson amongst the bright colours of an opening song and dance number is startling, consider the lyrics of the song itself, Iconic: “If you don’t make the choice / And you don’t use your voice / Someone else will speak for you instead.”
Herein lies both the central theme of this Rebel Heart tour show, as well as perhaps the enduring appeal of Madonna herself: only by doing exactly as she pleases can she define herself on her own terms.
Pop queen, Madonna. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
It’s more than thirty years since Madonna first appeared as the swaying, self-absorbed singer of songs such as Holiday, amusing herself by dancing around in the kind of see-though, cheap-lace clothes that, at the time, everyone – even your mum – would have called you a slut for leaving the house in. The defining image of her “give a fuck”-free attitude was cemented in a scene from her role in 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna, as the happily amoral Susan, cleans herself up in a public toilet, drying her armpits in the airflow of an upturned hand-drier; matrons watch on, horrified, but an uncaring Susan/Madonna immerses herself in a moment of sensual joy.
She’s been doing exactly as she pleases ever since, and “making the choice, using her voice” in a parade of wilful reinventions and reimaginings of her pop persona. The difference between Madonna and pop stars like Britney Spears is her self-reinventions have always been her act, rather than a strategised rebranding intended to sell more records to new markets.
And what an act it is. Twenty years since she last toured Australia with her Girlie Show, one could be forgiven for expecting a new performance to be slowed by the weariness of ageing. Madonna’s now 57, but Rebel Heart explores the mechanics of just how much ageing is a performance, too; there’d be teenagers hard-pressed to replicate her onstage gyrations, her sudden press ups, rapid squats, burst of flamenco, trapeze work, pole-dancing, or circling the stage on a tricycle, let alone while also singing, managing costume changes and keeping up her repartee, launching into a dark shred of Burning Up on a flying-V one moment and a tender acoustic rendition of True Blue the next.
She’s Madonna, she can do what she wants; if that means dressing herself up as a matador and herding men dressed as minotaurs, pushing a lover from a staircase into a pit, or shoving men from the stage while belting out Material Girl, she will if she can and she does.
Sound exhausting? It is, as much for the audience as for the performer, who around the two-thirds mark seems to hit a problem with the sync of the sound, and attempts to distract us with some breathlessly flat jokes about spilled nuts. Ever the pro, Madonna throws to Molly Meldrum, spied in the audience, thanking the local hero who supported her early career, while buying her crew some crucial seconds with the chanting gratitude of the crowd. The pace had slackened; she recovered it.
Madonna, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Photograph: Chris Putnam/Barcroft Media
Later, she suggested she was recovering from a cold, and said she’d missed a song. It may have been a medley including Lucky Star and Get Into The Groove, featured in other Rebel Heart shows but missing here. It hardly matters; with pole-dancing nuns in nappies, stage bungee-diving, a reenactment of Da Vinci’s Last Supper as an orgy, leaping samurai, acrobats, simulated sex acts and Madonna belting out old hits, new hits, and old hits done in the manner of new hits – plus a bit of Sondheim and Motown, as well as a surprisingly moving cover of Edith Piaf – one hardly walks away unentertained.
If the definition of an artist is their unique contribution to spectacle, the queen reigns supreme.
Madonna plays Brisbane Entertainment Centre on 16 & 17 March, and Allphones Arena in Sydney on 19 & 20 March
Bizarre encounter: Rita Ora with Madonna Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock
Rita Ora has revealed Madonna made her kneel before her when they first met.
Ora, 25 – who met the singer at London’s Chime For Change three years ago – said Madonna made the bizarre request because of the lighting.
“I was once doing a charity event and I met my idol Madonna,” she recalled at the Glamour Beauty Festival.
“I was waiting for her and I was shivering. And my sister said to me, ‘Are you OK? You look really crazy.
“And I was like, ‘I think I am going to be sick’. And Madonna walks in with lighting all around her.
“I said, ‘Hi, it is so nice to meet you’ and she was like, ‘This is the lighting here. Can you just kneel down here on the floor?’
“I was like OK. So I kneeled down on the floor and we had this conversation where I was on the floor.
“Can you believe that? But that is Madonna and she can do whatever she wants. That was major. Everything is a learning curve.”
Clearly undeterred by the strange request, Ora went on to front Madonna’s Material Girl clothing line and made a cameo appearance in her music video for B***h I’m Madonna.
One can argue that Madonna is very depressed right now due to her custody battle. However, anybody who thinks Madonna was drunk at her Rebel Heart Tour stop in Australia Saturday evening is wrong, at least according to people who were actually there and people who actually watched the videos that made the false accusations.
Madonna has been letting loose on her current tour and is trying (although not always succeeding) to be funny. Still, fans and critics love the change from Madonna’s previous icy persona. However, The Sun, a notoriously anti-Madonna outlet, once again, appeared to have fabricated a story that Madonna was wasted on stage at her recent show in Melbourne.
“After falling off a tricycle, she told the crowd in Melbourne that she had ‘messed up’ her songs, before joking: ‘You would think it was in my DNA!’ And at one stage, after downing booze from a fan’s hip flask, she pleaded: ‘Somebody take care of me, please. Who is going to take care of me?’”
The tabloids are obsessed with Madonna having an alleged “meltdown.” [Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images]
The Sun noted that, in addition, Madonna made some vulgar jokes. But they didn’t note that Madonna herself told the crowd she was joking and obviously having fun. The news soon spread to the Daily Mail, the Drudge Report, and everywhere else on the Internet. Finally, Gossip Cop put a rest to the tabloid reports Monday morning.
“Madonna was not drunk at her Saturday show in Melbourne, despite reports. A production insider tells Gossip Cop media claims that she was intoxicated during her performance at the Rod Laver Arena are inaccurate.”
Gossip Cop adds that during the footage sites posted of Madonna drinking from a bottle of vodka, Madonna told the crowd that it wasn’t even real. And she didn’t pull out a fan’s flask as the tabloids reported. She had her own and shared it with Molly Meldrum, one of Australia’s biggest television personalities. According to News.com.Au, Meldrum said that the flask was filled with water.
Madonna’s shows in Australia have earned rave reviews. [Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
If Madonna was actually drunk and unable to perform her tightly choreographed show, she wouldn’t have earned the unanimous rave reviews from the Australian press, which is usually harsh on visiting superstars. The Sydney Morning Herald claims that Madonna still does it better than anyone.
“On Saturday, it felt like the queen had re-asserted herself. Her dancers were better, her sets more impressive, her re-interpretation of classics more creative. Everything was polished to within an inch of its life – which is what made it so magnificent,” claimed critic Michael Lallo.
The Guardian, which gave the show four stars, was just as impressed.
“Madonna belting out old hits, new hits, and old hits done in the manner of new hits – plus a bit of Sondheim and Motown, as well as a surprisingly moving cover of Edith Piaf – one hardly walks away unentertained. If the definition of an artist is their unique contribution to spectacle, the queen reigns supreme.”
Madonna plays Brisbane this week and ends her tour in Sydney on Sunday. As Inquisitr recently reported, Madonna is expected to make as much as $160 million when all is said and done. Her latest tour falls behind Taylor Swift’s in terms of audience attendance and money made, but it proves that Madonna is still a force to be reckoned with, whether one thinks she is drinking or not.
The press thought they hadn’t complained about Madonna enough en decided to spent more time writing article on her in yesterday’s press. However we all know that constantly writing articles about a certain someone is a secret obsession with that individual. We all know the press has been obsessed with Madonna ever since she first arrived ‘on the scene’.
We have scanned the articles and uploaded them to our Rebel Heart Tour page. Please enjoy the pictures they print, forget the words.
