Dinner with Tom Ford

Two days ago, Madonna arrived in London. Later on, she had dinner with Tom Ford, at Scott's.

The outtakes

I can´t stop saying this: the internet is one of the greatest miracles of our time. Among so many other things, it brings access to something that leaves any die-hard Madonna fan totally breathless: the never-seen-before stuff.

Every now and then, it starts raining outtakes from M's photoshoots, from recent sessions to the absolute classics. And boy, what a commotion to discover a never-seen-before from the old days, when the only thing we could see was dictated by the press only...

This week, it rained again. And one of the most AMAZING images is this beautiful shot of M and Steven Meisel, during the Sex-inspired session for October 92's issue of Vanity Fair.

A serious case of "OH MY GOD!!!"...

RIT live in Lisbon: a dream come true

The waiting is over. Last Thursday, the Lisbon recordings finally came out, after 5 years of rumours, speculations and a lot of anxiety. Even though it's not an official release, it will always be "Get Up Lisbon!" for us - and a dream come true to me. The Sept. 13 concert from the Re-Invention Tour, Madonna's first time in Lisbon, is certainly one of the most memorable episodes of my life as a M fan.

But to make things even more nerve-wrecking, I had to wait a whole weekend to finally see it. Some hours after it came out, I was about to leave to Porto. I had a great time there. However, it was quite a challenge to me, to stay calm while thinking that the show was out there. I refused myself to watch it online. It had to be special. So I waited.

.

Meanwhile, the reactions were coming at me: Mary's comments on Facebook, Pepe's text messages, everybody totally flipped out with such an amazing event. We were all there, at the front row, in our country, having the moment of our lives. This is huge. And both Mary and Pepe mentioned what I "feared" the most: in one of the audience shots, when M sings "Crazy For You", I am there! My heart almost exploded. I remember the cameras pointing at us so many times, while we were screaming, singing and dancing our hearts out, with such happiness and devotion, so close to her.

Back at home, after 4 days of waiting, I finally saw the footage. And I cannot describe it in words. It is still hard to believe. Each second of the show feels like a trip to Heaven. For 2 hours, I am there again, experiencing the imagens, sounds and feelings that took me to another level - a mystical one.

And there it is: in 2 frames, I can see myself in the audience!!! During "Crazy for You" and before the beginning of the show. This is beyond what I could ever imagine - exactly as when I saw myself in "I'm Going To Tell You a Secret".

It feels like a gift from God, some sort of Higher blessing, for all these years as a devoted fan. No words can describe how grateful I feel.

Hope for Haiti Now: Like a Prayer

Her voice is p-e-r-f-e-c-t. The musical arrangement is stunning. And to think of what happened in Haiti and listening to this song... I get chills everytime I see this.

A great coincidence

I'm spending the weekend with Pachuco in Oporto, which has now become one of our favourite getaways. Yesterday night we went out with our friends to a club I've never been to. The music was perfect: 90s house - so hard to find in Lisbon these days. I danced for hours and had so much fun! The night ended with an incredible surprise: Like a Prayer. Everybody was dancing and singing to it. It felt like a true blessing.

Today, I woke up wondering what song M performed on yesterday's Telethon. "Like a Prayer" was still on my mind and suddenly i realized: it would be the best song to fit Hope for Haiti's purpose. I logged in to youtube and there it was...

Hope for Haiti confirmed

It's official: Madonna will join Hope for Haiti, the global-scale event that will take place tomorrow evening.

Organized and hosted by George Clooney, the Telethon is set to raise millions for the citizens of Haiti, affected by the recent earthquake.

Source: Madonna.com

D&G by Madonna & Steven Klein: the making of

D&G's new campaign, signed by one of my favourite teams - Madonna & Steven Meisel - has been slowly revealed, for the last few weeks.

The photoshoot took place on November 6th and it's such a delight to look at these making of pics, recently featured in Ghi (Italy), Gala (France) and Hello (UK) magazines.

Somehow, my mind goes straight back to some of the great photoshoots from the early to mid-90s...

M's statement following earthquake in Haiti

My prayers are with the people of Haiti. I can’t imagine the terrible pain and suffering they are experiencing. Sadly the depths of the tragedy are just becoming known and the need for our support grows more urgent with every passing moment.
I have given a donation of $250,000 to assist Haiti’s earthquake victims through Partner’s in Health (http://www.pih.org/) one of Haiti’s leading health care providers. I urge all of my friends and fans around the world to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can. We must act now.

Thank you for your support.
Madonna

Source: Madonna.com

Hobo Chic

One of my all-time favourite "out & about" shots.

I've always thought it was taken some time around 1988, but I just found out that it was in 1990, during the auditioning for the Blond Ambition Tour! (Thanks Pud! :))

The style is totally Madonna and what we now call hobo chic. Who else would combine white lace leggings, a white corset and a pearl necklace with cut-off jeans and a wrecked jacket?

L-o-v-e- it!

The Big Bang

Autumn, 1985. I am 7 years old and sitting at my cousin's living room, between cake and running around the house. We are about to watch one of our favourite things on TV, besides cartoons: music videos. This video is announced, from a singer whose name is totally new to me: Madonna. The name sounds kinda mysterious and incredibly fresh. So is the style, the attitude, the moves, the voice, the wedding dress, the lion... I am hypnotized - as much as a 7 year-old can be.


Some days later, my sister - thirteen and a die-hard Duran Duran fan - comes to me and says: «Rui, nowadays everybody has an idol. It's the new thing. You must have one as well. So, let's get you an idol. Is there any singer or band you like?". My mind immediately goes back to that video I saw at my cousin's. I reply: "that girl Madonna".

The rest, as they say, is history...

"Sticky & Sweet", the DVD+CD

Coincidence or not, Live Nation announced yesterday that the Sticky & Sweet DVD will be released on March 30th.

We saw the recording some months ago (via Sky One), but it is always a thrill to have the real stuff. And thumbs up for the cover!

The official press release:

LOS ANGELES, CA

January 12, 2009

Madonna’s most recent stage extravaganza, the “Sticky & Sweet” concert, will be released on March 30th, it was announced today by Live Nation, the world’s largest live music company.

“Sticky & Sweet”, which was produced by Live Nation, was the most successful tour by a solo artist in history and was seen by over 3.5 million fans in 32 countries around the world.

The show, which will be distributed by Warner Bros Records, will be available on DVD, Blu-Ray and CD and will include many of the Material Girl’s hits from the course of her unprecedented career including, “4 Minutes,” “Like a Prayer,” “Hung Up” and “Ray of Light”.

Filmed in Buenos Aires, over four days to a crowd exceeding 256,000 fans, the concert also includes a show stopping moment when Madonna performs a historic “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” to a thunderous audience response from her Argentine fans.

Also included are several hits from the multi-Grammy winner’s most recent CD “Hard Candy” which debuted at No. 1 in 37 countries. The DVD also includes 30 minutes of exclusive footage filmed behind the scenes during the course of the tour.

“Part concert, part block party and all fun, there is still only one Madonna,” raved the Oakland Press in their review of the “Sticky & Sweet” Tour. “A night of triumph and defiance… A two hour multi-media juggernaut,” glowed the LA Times. “Our lady of perpetual motion…This may be the best tour she’s ever stitched together,” claimed the NY Post.

Source: Madonna.com

Will Lisbon finally Get Up?

It's been the topic for the last couple days. To add up the anxiety, there are some excerpts out there from THE concert. My heart almost stopped when I saw them...

The trigger

I'm in the middle of one of the most nerve-wrecking rumours ever: the possible release of Get Up, Lisbon!, the official recording of Lisbon's Re-Invention show.

To cut it short, I can easily name the "Madonna live in Lisbon 2004" experience as the most memorable one, in my entire life as a Madonna fan.

So this whole speculation - and waiting - around a possible official release of Get Up, Lisbon! is killing me.

And it was the trigger to create this blog. So here it is...

It was inevitable

I can say I'm a blogger - to this date, I have 5. And I'm definitely a Madonna fan - she's been under my skin for the last 25 years.

So, this was inevitable. Although the subjet "Madonna" isn't new in my blog activities, this was the missing link: my own diary as a Madonna fan. The first one, for 25 years.