Madonna plans Kabbalah pilgrimage? - Sept 12 2007
Madonna is reportedly heading to Israel to mark the Jewish New Year in true Kabbalah style.
The Queen of Pop is planning to fly to Israel to join a study tour organised by the religion, The Sun reports.
Madge, 49, will apparently spend more than a week taking part in religious lessons.
She will also visit some of the country’s holy sites such as Jerusalem, Galilee and the Golan Heights.
The paper says Madge’s filmmaker hubby Guy Ritchie and her children, daughter Lourdes, 10, seven-year-old Rocco and 22-month-old adopted son David Banda will fly to Israel with the star.
Some other big name celebs who apparently follow the Kabbalah faith - including actress Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher - are thought to be going on the pilgrimage.
In total, about 2,000 people are expected to join the event, which starts later this week.
Madonna’s adoption one step forward - Aug 29 2007
Good news for the Queen of Pop - a Malawi social worker has finally been given permission to visit and assess the family.
The saga hindering Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie’s successful adoption of David Banda has reportedly taken a turn for the better, with Penstone Kilembe, the director of Malawi’s Child Welfare Services preparing to spend some time with David’s adopted family.
"There has been a change of mind by my government minister. I am expected to spend two weeks," he told People.com
The social worker had previously been refused an entry visa to make the trip, and had warned that this might jeopardise the Ritchies’ effort to adopt the 22-month-old boy.
"Madonna is looking forward to this, so her adoption process is not hampered.
"The matter was a misunderstanding which has now been resolved," continued Penstone, who added that the singer has been told of the proposed visitation dates.
The Ritchies have been granted temporary custody to take David to London after his biological dad, Yohane Banda, placed him in an orphanage.
Madonna and Guy top in fashion stakes - Aug 3 2007
Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have been voted the best-dressed celebrity couple.
The pair beat David and Victoria Beckham and Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick in the poll.
Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whose relationship is rumoured to be going through a troubled patch, came second for their "smouldering" red-carpet look.
New Los Angeles residents Posh and Becks were third in the survey of 7,000 fashion fans for In Style magazine.
Singer Gwen Stefani and her British rock star husband Gavin Rossdale were fourth, followed by actress Demi Moore and younger lover Ashton Kutcher, for their "complimentary" wardrobe.
English rose Kate Winslet and American Beauty director Sam Mendes are sixth, while SJP, famous as Carrie in Sex And The City, and hubbie Matthew, star of The Producers, are seventh.
Super-skinny Batman Returns star Kate Bosworth and British model James Rousseau make it into eighth place.
Katie Holmes - who has received fashion advice from Posh - and Tom Cruise also made it into the list, in ninth position.
Despite Kelly Brook’s disastrous appearance on the red carpet for the premiere of the film Snatch, when she wore a pink crystal-encrusted dress with matching knickers, the British TV presenter and actress is 10th, with fiance Billy Zane.
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The following year Madonna broke away from Kamins and recorded Holiday which went straight in to the American top 20 and was a hit across Europe. She cemented her raunchy image with Like A Virgin, her first US number one, and Material Girl with it’s iconic video. By this time Madonna was becoming one of the most emulated and best loved artists in the world and she became even more popular thanks to her part in Live Aid and a high profile marriage to Sean Penn.
The pop diva followed up her success with several singles from the True Blue album and turned her hand to acting for the first time in the poorly received A Certain Sacrifice and of course, Desperately Seeking Susan. Her first real flop was alongside her husband in the laughable Shanghai Surprise. Her failure’s in the film department didn’t stop David Mamet from casting her in a Broadway production of Speed the Plow - by this time talent or no, Madonna’s was name that guaranteed attention.
1989 saw the singer court controversy with the video for Like A Prayer, featuring a black Jesus, which outraged and shocked the Catholic church and caused Pepsi to cancel a sponsorship deal. But far from ruining her career, this stunt saw her become the icon that we know today. The 1990s were the pinnacle of Madonna’s success, her divorce from Sean Penn pushing her further in to the lime light, beginning with a part in Dick Tracy opposite Warren Beatty and a fantastic soundtrack album alongside featuring hit song Vogue. Documentary film Truth or Dare and her Blonde Ambition tour (with that pointy bra) followed with further controversy.
In 1992 she signed a multi million pound deal with Time Warner guaranteeing the release of music, films and books through her own record label, Maverick. She made the most of the deal with picture book Sex, which caused another controversy but rocketed up the bestsellers charts nonetheless. Erotica was her first album for years though not to generate a US number one. People thought that perhaps Madonna had gone too far with her need to shock, and perhaps she had realised it too as her next album was far mellower and a part in Evita in 1996 made her bankable again.
Later that year she fell pregnant with Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, daughter of her personal trainer. But far from slowing her work, having a child only seemed to spur Madonna on, she released the runaway success, Ray of Light which produced hit after hit and recorded Beautiful Stranger for the second Austin Powers movie. she also starred alongside Rupert Everett in romantic comedy The Next Best Thing.
It was around this time that Madonna met British director Guy Ritchie - the man who would change her life. They had son Rocco in 2000 and they married in 2002 after Madonna moved permanently to England, took to wearing flat caps and drinking tea. The title track of her album Music gave her a transatlantic number one hit. Collaborations with Ritchie, especially their film Swept Away, have generally been unsuccessful but Madonna’s music career continues to go from strength to strength, her latest album American Life has been a worldwide hit and she has even found time to pen a children’s book, The English Roses. Now, an honorary Brit and devout follower of Kaballah, Madonna lives with her family in Marylebone and Wiltshire. She also owns a ?4 million Spanish-style villa in Beverly Hills, a house in Miami and a duplex overlooking Central Park in New York.
(Updated April 04)
November 2007