Nothing new really, but a cool letter from Madonna and a great picture from the Celebration video rehearsal…

Here’s a transcript of the letter…

20 November, 2009
New York

Hello My Friends:

Hopefully I got to see many of you on my Sticky & Sweet travels. While I’m happy to have more time to breathe and sleep, I miss my touring family. Sometimes I have to remember that I won’t be seeing them for afternoon rehearsal and the big show. It was great visiting countries that I’d never been to before and of course returning to lots of my favorite places.

I’ve just finished a script for a film that I hope to make next year. Its working title is W.E. It’s two love stories intertwined together. One is about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the other is a fictional story of a woman searching for love. That’s all I am going to reveal at the moment. Stay tuned for further info on this.

I am just back from Malawi and Brazil. Was so exciting to see the results of many of the projects that are underway in Malawi and to see first hand the improvement in the lives of the children that we have all grown to love like family. I’m especially looking forward to watching the building of the Girls Academy which hopefully will give a new meaning to girl power and produce the future leaders of Malawi. Thanks to all of you who contributed n the matching donation program, and feel free to keep helping in any way you can. You will be hearing more about the programs in Brazil in the near future, I look forward to sharing that endeavor with you all.

Earlier this month I got to work with one of my favorite photographers, Steven Klein. We did a photo shoot for the next Dolce & Gabbana women’s campaign - it’s always an adventure when I work with Steven.

Lastly, thanks to everyone for helping CELEBRATION reach No. 1 in so many countries. It’s a wonderful reminder that my fans continue to celebrate music - old and new - and I can continue to inspire people to dance and dream. To quote the great Stevie Wonder from “Sir Duke”, “Music is a world within itself. It’s a language we all understand. You can feel it all over.”

Blessings to all of you

Love Madonna.

Have a look at the picture…

The French DJ claimed that his management has been in contact with Madonna and that the pair will work on a project “very soon”.

“I would love to work with Madonna. It will probably happen very soon actually. It’s all in the early stages and I’m not allowed to speak about it yet,” he told Digital Spy.

Does this mean Madonna is giving up on working with groundbreaking real musicians to go for moderately skilled DJs to produce her work? Let’s hope not!

“The picture is talking in a way. It’s saying ‘Look who I am. I’m not famous but I’m going to be.’ She didn’t drink much but she liked her Martini. I don’t think she smoked. Maybe I gave her the cigarette for attitude. I never saw Madonna smoking cigarettes as much as other people. She never did coke. That’s why she was Madonna, why she became as big as she did: because she was always in control.”

“I am not ready to adjust physically, just to be marketable. My sell-by date will run out eventually. Unlike Madonna, I wouldn’t be willing to do Pilates round the clock just to slow down the deterioration of my body. I prefer to sit in the kitchen, drink tea and eat biscuits. After the tour I was terribly exhausted and had to find a way back to a healthy routine. I cooked chicken soup for my family and just enjoyed everyday life. The small things that make you happy are important to me.”

“I love J-Lo, you know I do, I have said it countless times, but I think she needs to just stick to acting. Her and Janet, when woman reach a certain age, the jumping and dancing can become a bit…you know, a bit slow…unless you can truly make it happen, like Madonna, she can really make it happen, she’s doing it. But these other ladies, I don’t know…..”

“Madonna is an icon of an earlier generation, and then Britney of the newer generation. She was at her peak at that point. So it was a challenge to kind of bring both of the worlds together. I wanted it to be a bit of a cat-and-mouse sort of game and a little bit of a foreplay between Britney and Madonna and just sort of tease the audience.”

A few years back, Britney revealed that the collaboration came together thanks to the 2003 VMAs — you know, the show where Britney and Madonna kissed.

“I was in the middle of rehearsals for the VMAs and I played her the song, and she was like, ‘That’s your first single, right?’ “ Britney recalled. “I was like, ‘Yeah, hopefully.’ She was like, ‘I really like it.’ I was like, ‘Really?’ I was like, ‘Well, you wanna do it with me?’ She said, ‘Yeah.’ “

Hunter said the video was all about setting Spears and Madonna apart…

“I try to play opposites, when you have Britney in dark and Madonna in white. And then we see them kind of dance around the bed … and you think they’re gonna get on top of each other and do something crazy.”

She was invited to Batista’s estate on the island of Angra Dos Reis on Saturday to discuss the project after he agreed to fund a large proportion of her latest charitable venture.
During dinner, Batista - who has an estimated $7.5 billion fortune - offered to give Madonna $7 million after asking how much money she collected and how much more she needed to set up her charity’s initial projects. When she answered that she had $3 million and needed to raise $10 million, the billionaire announced his readiness to complete the sum, leaving the pop superstar in tears.
At the meal, Madonna declared her love for the country, saying: ‘I worship Brazil.’

Also, the mayor of Rio told the media that the singer had accepted his offer for her to perform at the next New Year’s festival, for which some two million people would gather on the Copacabana beach.

Madonna left Brazil Friday after a five-day visit seeking investments for a number of social projects that she wants to launch.

Michael Schmidt is a designer who has garnered attention for his work in a variety of innovative materials. Based in Los Angeles and New York City, his studio produces works in collaboration with the top performers in entertainment. Known for creating elegant yet edgy and often rock and roll inspired wardrobing and accessories, the studio is especially sought after for its approach to crystal detailing as well as its metal and chain-mail work.

His list of clients includes Dita Von Teese, Bjork, Marilyn Manson, Grace Jones, Lenny Kravits and of course… Madonna. They worked together on various costume designes for the Sticky & Sweet Tour, the W magazine ‘Madonna Rides Again’ photoshoot, the Sorry video including…

S&S (4 Minutes) - Football pads with Swarovski crystal and metal-scale embellishment;
S&S (Ray of Light, Hung up…) - Metal scaled and Swarovski crystalled bustier;
S&S (Ray of Light dancers) - Metal scaled helmet;
S&S + Promo Tour (guitar) - Crystal-mesh guitar strap;
S&S tourbook - Swarovski crystal-mesh boxing shorts;
W Magazine - Crystalled bridle and bit;
DWT (Punk look) - Clothing and jewelry;
Sorry video - Crystal corset;
Fever video - Silver chain-mail dress.

Have a look!

Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, it’s just Madonna, her music unadorned by post-production magic and elaborate orchestration. The songs on the tape include “All My Love,” “Hear Me” (a song that evolved into “Shine a Light”), “Simon Says” (which became the familiar “Love Express”) and “Little Lost Boy.”

Julien estimates the tape will bring $1,000 to $2,000, noting that the Material Girl still holds the copyrights to all the songs.

People can also bid online…

“Fame doesn’t freak me out, and I can handle it. But sometimes out in public there are people that just are so rude. Like, people are really cool about it and they’ll come up to you and they’re just like, ‘Oh hey man, I really liked you.’ It’s brief, it’s sweet, it’s genuine. But some people freak out. And I’m like, ‘why are you freaking out?’ I don’t get that mentality. I’ve never felt like that about a celebrity before — except maybe Madonna.

When I met Madonna my heart was racing. That’s my one experience being star-struck. And I told her, ‘I’m freaking out.’ And she said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because you’re f—ing Madonna.’”

“Ever since the ’80s, I’ve felt that Cyndi Lauper won the battle between her and Madonna. Madonna is the public’s champion, but Lauper made some fucking masterpieces.”

The stars are rumoured to be queueing up to sing along with the pop icon on an album which will include his classics like `Billie Jean` and `Beat It`, reported Mirror online.

Existing recordings of the hits will be reworked so the stars can sing “duets” with Jackson in the album which is sure to top charts worldwide. The album, in aid of a new charity being set up in the singing legend`s name, is being masterminded by music producer Mike Blakey.

“There are going to be some big surprises both in the tracks used and who is involved,” said Blakey.

“It wasn’t the poverty or hardship in Malawi that shocked Madonna - it was your response to it. When Madonna pledged to match $100,000 in your donations to Raising Malawi, she never dreamt that you’d crush that goal in just a few days! After the news of your generosity set in, Madonna looked around and said, “We must do more!” Madonna has upped the stakes and pledged to match an additional $150,000 in donations made in the next week.”

Will you make a donation to Raising Malawi? Madonna will match your donation today: www.raisingmalawi.org/doubletheimpact.

Marie Claire : Madonna and Lady Gaga seem to think homosexuality and bisexuality are quite bankable values. You also have quite a taste for ambiguity and controversy…

Robbie Williams : I think that pushing the envelope when it comes to sexual correctness is always tempting. It makes people react in an emotional way… But I don’t think that I’m capable of the marketing calculation you’re accusing me of. I made some mistakes when my heart was broken, that’s it! And when it comes to Madonna and Lady Gaga, they are liberating women, and succeed in what they do. That’s good!

The writer decided the Material Girl wasn’t a good fit and declined her offer to produce the film, about an obese, illiterate teenager.

Sapphire also turned down other interested parties until moviemaker Lee Daniels convinced her he was the right man for the job.

Sapphire tells Entertainment Weekly magazine, “There was this really earnest college student with his backpack on who wanted to do his first film, and then Madonna wanted to produce it. I was like, ‘Madonna? I don’t think this is her film.’”

“Lauren Bacall, Madonna and Elizabeth Taylor all made me starstruck when I met them. Madonna was very frightening but very kind. Before I met her, people kept asking me if I was nervous, so yes, I was nervous! The theme of these three women is they are icons.”

He said, “Madonna’s like a Black Widow spider. She tends to use people, then they shrivel up and disappear. She was horrible. She sat there with her back to us, and Rob went up and said, ‘We were wondering if you wanted to appear later at the club’, and she just went, ‘F**k off.’”

“I only met her once, at a premiere. I was waiting outside with a group of people, surrounded by photographers, and she was walking towards us. I said, ‘Madonna, come here,’ because she looked so alone, and we were photographed together. She was charming and very respectful to me, but you know, she looked very lonely.”

Lady Gaga says she struck up a friendship with Madonna and her teen daughter Lourdes — and might be hoping to work with the Queen of Pop in the near future.

“Madonna is great. And I guess I could say we are friends. I love her daughter Lourdes. She is such a lovely young girl. She came to my show with her mom and we got along famously. We got along fine and we did the skit together on SNL and helped the writers. So who knows?”

She also told Grazia Australia
“I love her, she’s always been an idol of mine and she’s been so nice to me - I think I can say now that we’re friends, which feels a bit weird”.

“Madonna and I have been friends for almost three decades — dear friends. Our children have had play dates, and we will always be friends. We are both creative minds,” she says, adding that she hopes to work with her again.

About 140 villagers are demanding more money for land the government has leased to Madonna’s charity — Raising Malawi — for 99 years.

District Commissioner for Lilongwe Charles Kalemba, other senior government officials and Raising Malawi failed to reach an agreement in talks with representatives of the villagers on Thursday in a bid to resolve the dispute.

“If we cannot agree on this and if you cannot understand that this is government land, then I will have no choice but tell police to arrest you people for blocking development work on the site.” Kalemba told the village chief, Chinkhota.

The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls — in Chinkhota village about 15 km (10 miles) outside the capital Lilongwe — is expected to be completed in two years and will admit 500 girls from the small southern African country’s 28 districts. The construction is expected to cost $15 million.

“We are protesting because we feel government and Raising Malawi have not been fair … earlier agreements about how much they were supposed to pay us have been scrapped and now we are being told the land does not belong to us. The construction of this school will be affected if these problems are not resolved, my people are not given enough money for them to buy farm land somewhere else and continue their lives.”
” Chinkhota told Reuters after the meeting.

Ministry of Lands senior official Nector Mhura said compensation for the land was based on fair market prices.

Just Jared: Glee recently got the rights to use Madonna’s entire catalog of music. Is there a song of hers you’d like to perform?

Mark Salling: I’ve been dreaming of singing Madonna since I was a little girl. (laughs) So this was a really big thing! I would say, what’s one of her songs? I mean. I’m a dude I don’t even know. (laughs)

Ozap: On your MySpace you mentioned Madonna as an influence, but you write ‘in her early years’. Why is that?
La Roux: Because what she did since the 90’s is shitty (laughs)! Her last song what is it… 4 seconds? 4 Minutes, I just don’t like it.

Ozap: Still, she’s an inspiration for many artists…
La Roux: She is. I was about to say “I”, but I meant “I had” the utmost respect for her, but she should have stopped after Ray of Light!

Ozap: Ray of Light was her big comeback…
La Roux: Yeah well, she should have stopped with Music, but I didn’t like Ray of Light, it was too 90’s for me.

Ozap: But you were 10 when it came out…
La Roux: Yes and I hated this album, at the time, and I still hate it (laughs). No she’s brilliant, she’s a legend, I’m not minimizing what she did ! But I’m not gonna lie and pretend I absolutely love everything she ever did. There no such artist for me. David Bowie is my favorite artist of all time, but still I didn’t like Ziggy Stardust, even though it’s his most successful record. Same for me. Many people might hate my album, but I don’t care.

Ozap: You seem very pessimistic…
La Roux: I kinda am. About Madonna, I really love what she did in the 80’s. Very synthetic music. I don’t like ‘Music’, even though I think it was a good album. And she’s one of the rare artists who are making music for what 30 years? And she has been successful for 30 years! I give her props for that. She’s also a fucking brilliant businesswoman. For me, she’s more about the business than the music, these past years. And to be honest, I wouldn’t walk in a leotard at my age. Seeing someone doing it at her age isn’t really appealing to me. She’s got a great body, but I think it’s time for to retire nicely.