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Madonna Rocks Israel With Messages Of Love, Peace, Freedom
By Joel
Leyden Tel Aviv,
Israel ---- September 3, 2009 ..... It had become a magical Odyssey
for both Madonna and the Israel public. A much awaited "show"
(Madonna does not like to use the term concert) to take place
in HaYarkon Park, Tel Aviv in September 2009. Only in June
was it announced by Israel promoter Shuki Weiss that Madonna,
a global icon of song and film, one of the greatest singers of
all time, was coming to Tel Aviv. Within weeks that solo show
was totally sold out. Weiss then scheduled a second show for the
following night, September 2. Promotion in Israel for Madonna could be seen everywhere. On billboards, newspapers and on the Net - including Web 2.0 viral marketing on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and MySpace. There was no escaping the fact that the most famous female vocalist of all time was coming back to Israel to perform since appearing in Tel Aviv as part of the Girlie Show World Tour in 1993. Although Madonna
had been performing elsewhere, she has been drawn back to Israel
several times since 1993 and in 2007 celebrated Rosh Hashana in
Israel with the Kabbalah Center.
In 2008, she surpassed Elvis Presley as the artist with most top ten hits in the history of Billboard Hot 100. In 2007, Madonna was listed by VH1 as eighth in the Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. On March 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Madonna's use of at times shocking sexual imagery has both benefited her career and had an impact on public discourse on sexuality and feminism. The Times has commented that, "Madonna, whether you like or not, started a revolution amongst women in music. She made the female body seem more like a machine with cravings, rather than a Barbie doll. Her attitudes and opinions on sex, nudity, style and sexuality forced the public to take up and notice." Rodger Streitmatter reported in his book Sex Sells! that "from the moment Madonna burst onto the US radar screen in the mid-1980s, she did everything in her power to shock the public, and her efforts paid off". He further commented, "The reigning Queen of Pop thrived on the criticism, and continued, throughout the decade, to reiterate the most fundamental of her issues by consistently celebrating women's sexual power". The book Sex depicts her in sexual situations with men and women, and she has been credited with educating people about bisexuality. Her first words in addressing two shows of over 60,000 each were: "Hello Israel" and her final act before going off stage was to wrap herself in the Israel flag. For journalists, it became a true challenge to cover these two events, press conferences and the Madonna visit to Jerusalem. One had to speak with Warner Brothers in New York, Live Nation in the UK and the PR agency of Shuki Weiss. Those who had the final say as to which reporters and editors would be granted press credentials were left to an Israel PR agency which has little or no experience in international PR. As such, many accredited journalists in Israel stayed away from the show as they did not care to be upstaged with those few invited to press conferences and VIP events. This truly hurt Madonna, Live Nation and Warner Brothers financial investors and share holders with badly needed media coverage. But most of all it hurt Madonna who wanted to reach as much of the world public as possible. Approaching HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv became an expected nightmare, but the police did the best job they could and in keeping the traffic slow were able to profile each and every car coming into the area. There were other intensive Israel security tactics put into place, security that would normally be reserved for Israel borders in our fight against Islamic terrorism. Each and every one of the 120,000 people who attended both shows was profiled before being physically checked at the last entrance. The second show did not sell out as expected. So Weiss pushed aggressively with advertising on Facebook, kept the billboards up and fed the press as much as they could write. In the end, they opened an impromptu ticket office at HaYarkon Park, operating out of caravans with magic marker brown paper cardboard signs. It's a cut throat business for musical concert promoters in Israel, with only about 5 agencies trying to outbid each other in securing global talent to come to Israel. Their profit margin is very small as the performers take the lion's share upfront. The selling of just a few thousand tickets defines profit or loss. Tickets for Madonna in Israel sold from discounted Netvision customers at 450 NIS to VIP seats at 1,500 NIS. The show, which was expected to start at 8, was sold out both nights by 9 and Madonna appeared on stage at around 9:30 pm. Both shows became nothing less than a Woodstock happening event. It was a sea of people for as far as the eye could reach. But each wore a smile and as the show took place all 60,000 appeared to be hypnotized by Madonna's dazzling charm and creative talent. The producers could not have done better with their finely tuned organizational skills. The sound crew, the computers, the electronics, the laser kinetics, the pyrotechnics and the video stage art were breathtaking. It almost appeared that the bright spotlight beams were fixed tubes with blue and purple laser streaks dancing to the stars. Even the moon was brightly lit with a nearby kissing star. One would not have put that pass Madonna to have staged her show with the galaxy working for her. It was a perfectly oiled and professional entertainment machine. But transcending all of the audio and visual effects, was a smiling and cheerful Madonna. Appearing on two massive screens, all could see each and every move, kick, squat, kiss, hand gesture, every smile and every tear that was Madonna. At the age of 51, the The Material Girl who was born as born Madonna Louise Ciccone from Bay City, Michigan, appeared more like one who was 30 with the physical stamina and endurance of some of the Israel Defense Forces finest combat commando units. Props in the Madonna show included a blue antique car from the 50's and a boxing ring. Black and white dancers with sculpted bodies enhanced each and every move of Madonna with a strong chorus in the background embracing some of the world's most talented musicians. Most of the audience was younger than Madonna by a decade or two. But this was nothing new for a Madonna who has reinvented herself throughout the years and whose current boyfriend Jesus Pinto da Luz, a 22-year-old blue-eyed model from Brazil keeps her smiling and up to date with his generation. Madonna skipped and hopped, danced and dove, alternating erotics and robotics. Her energy level was way off the chart. For those merely standing for hours to watch Madonna perform, you could not feel tired as Madonna was doing all of the work. Madonna performance included a creative and warm tribute to Michael Jackson with photo and video appearance images of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Even Madonna's 12-year-old daughter Lourdes appeared on stage recreating her mother's Like A Virgin pose.
The Tel Aviv,
Israel concert was the last live performance by Madonna before
the release of her upcoming CD, "CELEBRATION" - the
definitive Madonna collection - which is scheduled to be released
at the end of September. "Celebration: The Video Collection"
DVD will include unedited and never before seen footage of "Justify
My Love" along with 18 Madonna videos to be released on a
2 disc DVD compilation for "the very first time" including
"Into The Groove" and "Give It 2 Me" as well
as the just completed video of Madonna's new single "Celebration." Transcending the Israel politicians of which the pop diva dined with including Israel President Shimon Peres, Israel's moderate parliamentary opposition leader, Tzipi Livni and meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Jerusalem residence last Friday, the concert took the minds and souls of many in Israel away from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Iran terrorism. A welcome relief from a weak and struggling economy and the threat of war for thousands of people who were not wearing IDF green but rather blue jeans, tank tops and cut off shorts. Madonna is not new to supporting global efforts for humanitarian causes. Madonna has supported the following charities: Afghanistan Relief Organization, American Foundation for AIDS Research, BID 2 BEAT AIDS, Bony Pony Ranch, Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, Children in Need, Children of Peace, H.E.L.P. Malawi, Live Earth, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Millennium Promise Alliance, Millennium Villages, Raisa Gorbachev Foundation, Raising Malawi, Treatment Action Campaign and the UN Millennium Project. Before her arrival, leftist and anti-Israel groups appealed to Madonna to skip the Israel part of her tour, while Israel leftists urged locals to boycott the concerts. Madonna did not come to Israel for the money. She is already worth over 325 million dollars. Whether or not Madonna was criticized by a few extreme religious Jews for shaking her crotch or by Palestinians who wish to destroy Israel and responded to Madonna embracing the Israel flag, labeling her Madonna the Devil worshipper, their is no doubt that her presence in Israel and the Middle East could only bring smiles and some hope of normalcy and peace to the majority of Jews, Christians and Muslims living in the Holy Land. "It's so good to be here," Madonna told a standing-room-only crowd of cheering fans. "I was here a little while ago, but I did not perform then. I shouldn't have stayed away so long. It won’t happen again. Every time I come here I feel re-energized. I believe that Israel is the energy capital of the world." "If we can live together in harmony in this place, we can live in peace all over the world." As the thousands of young and middle-aged spectators poured out of a warm and humid HaYarkon Park, passing the Madonna T-shirt vendors and the Must chewing gum marketing people, they must have had only six words for Madonna. Thank you for coming to Israel.
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