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McCain Camp Rips 'Outrageous' Madonna

By JOEL RYAN

posted: 302 DAYS 20 HOURS AGO

comments: 51

filed under: Fight!, Music News, Politics

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CARDIFF, Wales (Aug. 24) - Even at 50, the queen of pop just can't stop courting controversy.

As Madonna kicked off her international "Sticky and Sweet" tour Saturday night, she took a none-too subtle swipe at the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. president.

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Madonna Snapshots

Madonna kicks off her highly anticipated Sticky & Sweet Tour promoting Number One album Hard Candy at the Millennium Stadium on August 23, 2008 in Cardiff, Wales..Madonna "Sticky and Sweet" Tour Opening.Millennium Stadium.Cardiff, United Kingdom.August 23, 2008.Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com..To license this image (55551345), contact WireImage.com

WireImage.com

Amid a four-act show at Cardiff's packed Millennium Stadium, a video interlude carried images of destruction, global warming, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, Zimbabwe's authoritarian President Robert Mugabe — and U.S. Senator John McCain. Another sequence, shown later, pictured slain Beatle John Lennon, followed by climate activist Al Gore, Mahatma Gandhi and finally McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds condemned the segment.

"The comparisons are outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive all at the same time," Bounds said. "It clearly shows that when it comes to supporting Barack Obama, his fellow worldwide celebrities refuse to consider any smear or attack off limits."

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See What the McCain Camp Calls
"Outrageous, Unacceptable and Crudely Divisive"

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The rest of the show had the usual Madonna fixtures: sequins, fishnets, and bondage-style outfits drawn from the 3,500 items of clothing reportedly whipped together by 36 designers specifically for the tour. Dancers sauntered across stage in top hats and tail coats, and Madonna tried her hand at break-dancing and pole-dancing.

Some 40,000 fans — many in pink cowboy hats and boas — were treated to a heavy metal version of "Borderline," while "La Isla Bonita" served as backdrop for a flamenco routine. The show, billed as a musical mishmash of "gangsta pimp," Romanian folk, rave, and dance — was an homage to Madonna's continuous reinventions over the past three decades.

She took a playful take on her variegated career, mocking dancers dressed as her previous incarnations — including the "Material Girl" and "Blonde Ambition" — before they sank into the stage to the tune of "She's Not Me." Madonna finished off the concert with her thumping "Give it 2 Me" from her new urban-inspired album, "Hard Candy."

If the world's top-selling female recording artist is still writhing, shaking and shimmying with the best of them, her personal life has recently been unsettled. Earlier this summer her brother Christopher Ciccone published a gossipy memoir, and she has faced speculation about her relationship with New York Yankee slugger Alex Rodriquez and rumors that her marriage to British filmmaker Guy Ritchie is on the rocks — which she hotly denies.

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Get Full Coverage, Polls, Photos and More From the Convention Floor

Madonna's tour was eagerly anticipated in Britain, where the pop superstar has made her home, and fans weren't disappointed.

"We enjoyed it to the max," said Ruth Henson, 24, who works in human resources in London. "Madonna, considering she's now 50, is so fit. She did a really good job."

Following Cardiff's opening concert, "Sticky and Sweet" moves across Europe, hitting London's Wembley Stadium on Sept. 11 and Paris on Sept. 20. From there, it goes to North America in October before wrapping up Dec. 18 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It is Madonna's first tour since striking a deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc. worth an estimated $120 million over 10 years. The partnership gives Live Nation a stake of future music and music-related business she generates, including touring, merchandising and albums. Madonna's last tour was her 2006 "Confessions" — in which she staged a mock crucifixion only a few miles (kilometers) from the Vatican.

2008-08-23 15:14:07

Christopher Peterson, BuzzFoto / FilmMagic

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MFrench817

07:27 PMAug 25 2008

Madonna is a has been. That comparison of McCain to Hitler reminds me of a minister I knew saying Barry Goldwater was like Hitler. Half ot the church got up and left the church., permanently. He was soon replaced. Madonna is a low life, so who would listen to her anyway - a real scag going through mid-life crisis.

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Gbriggster

03:49 PMAug 25 2008

So, it's ok for McCain to compare Obama to juvenile celebrities (i.e. Hilton & Spears) in an attempt to show Obama in a less than desireable light, BUT it's not ok for Madonna to do the exact same thing? Mr. McCain this would be an example of when one apparently cannot take that which they so freely dish out. By the way, I am most definitely NOT an Obama supporter......and most certainly NOT a McCain supporter.

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Popup28

02:48 PMAug 25 2008

I wonder what Mc Cain would say if things were the opposite. Let me guess NOTHING! Has anybody ever seen any of Mc Cain's underhanded ads?? He would probably incorporate this kind of stuff (Which by the way I don't go along with) if he had the opportuniy in his T V ads.

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Popup28

02:47 PMAug 25 2008

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Reikomax

02:04 PMAug 25 2008

Two words:MADONNA ROCKS!

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Bacchusveg

01:58 PMAug 25 2008

"A "PIG" POSEING AS A "DOG". WELL YEAH, GUESS "BOTH ARE RIGHT", AS LONG AS THEY ARE FEMALE.

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DanBeiro

01:53 PMAug 25 2008

JWALLSTROM...I agree that McCAIN'S VIDEO DENOUNCING THE U.S. FOR WAR CRIMES WHILE BEING TREATENED WITH TORTURE is something most of us would have done under similar circumstances.But please tell me how the hell does this make him a heroe?????????????????????

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JWallstrom

01:36 PMAug 25 2008

Well, I guess this means McCain can't count on the skank vote.

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JWallstrom

01:35 PMAug 25 2008

AllanDolgow--McCain was not a collaberator--Jane Fonda was. McCain was tortured into signing a bogus confession. Big difference. You would sell out your own mother in similar conditions.

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WILLYSCAPEWILLYS

01:30 PMAug 25 2008

have to wonder,how many fromher loyal, fan [followings]have turnedinto themost malignantgenerationever \producedby abuse togirlswomanboyssans MEN???????.Do any have the keys and codes to the ""NUKES"???.Did Wales take the time to POLL.If the audiences, was enjoying Mad don na:OR the Blood and gore shoot 'em up blow 'em updestroy all, any way possibleback ground.maybe just some secretive Codex.Too finally RID ""EARTH"" of all Men???.

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