RUSSIA: Madonna scorns Russian church plea to tone down act as she performs for the first time in the country

Pop star Madonna sang suspended from a cross during her first Moscow concert on Tuesday (September 12), defying a plea from the Russian Orthodox Church to drop that part of her act because it was blasphemous. The 48-year-old U.S. pop star has outraged Christian groups across Europe by staging a mock crucifixion on her global "Confessions" tour. She made no changes for her show in front of about 50,000 ecstatic fans at a Moscow stadium that had been the main venue for the 1980 Olympic Games. For her entrance, she descended from the roof of the arena inside a glistening ball and dressed in horse-riding gear. Madonna, a lapsed Roman Catholic whose shows have been denounced by the Vatican, has attracted accusations of blasphemy throughout her career. The Russian Orthodox Church called on people to boycott the concert and religious groups have staged protests including one where they drove a stake through a picture of Madonna. But that did little to dampen enthusiasm among Muscovites who have lapped up visits by Western pop stars who have made sporadic trips over the last 15 years ago. The concert was the only one Madonna is giving in Russia. Tickets on sale from official outlets cost between 1,500 and 10,000 roubles (55-370 U.S. dollars). But black market tickets were on sale before the concert for up to 78,000 roubles (3,000 U.S. dollars). Police said some 50,000 people had thronged to the Soviet-built Luzhniki stadium to watch the gig, marking the end of her European tour. Riot police and lines of army cadets monitored thousands of Madonna fans who streamed to the stadium. Around 7,000 police and interior troops were on duty inside the stadium itself during the concert, Russian news agencies said.

ITN Source | September 14, 2006

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