ICON MAGAZINE #49 - Quarterly publication of The Official Madonna Fan Club - Web: www.madonna.com - Honorary Madonna - Edited by Johann Delebarre - Assistant Editor David Marion - Additional contributions by Annie Lennox, Philippe van den Bossche, Jonas & Francois - Art direction, layout & design Johann Delebarre & David Marion - Photo Credits Steven Klein, David Marion, Guy Oseary, Shavawn Gor-don, Barry Peele, Frank Micelotta - Special thanks to Alice «the nails» Poulain - The usual suspects Madonna, Guy Oseary, Liz Rosenberg, Sara Zambreno, Denise Lambertson, Stephanie Patafio, Christophe Caron, Magali Devernay, Bibi & Krys, Théo, Lola and all Madonna fans around the world... Copyright © 2008 Boy Toy, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited.

Dear Friends,

There has been so much going on in the Madonna world lately that I don’t even know where to start! In less than 3 months, our queen released a single, a video, a full length album, and promoted all of it through 3 exclusive live shows. Earlier in the year, she was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame, and just recently premiered her ‘I Am Because We Are’ documentary in New York and Cannes. As if all of that was not enough, Madonna also filmed the video for Hard Candy’s second single and announced a world tour! If you know of another artist doing so much in such a short period, please give me a call now!

While we’re all in love with all of Madonna’s recent achievements, there’s no way we would be able to cover them all within just one issue of Icon... And that is why we’ve decided to make this issue a double one, with the second part to be released within the next few weeks.

On a more web-based note, I hope that you like the brand new website and community features that are now part of your membership. Also, don’t forget that you can now get your printed copy of the magazine sent to you by using our new «print-on-demand» option!

Enjoy this new Madonna year!!xoJohann

04 EXPRESS YOURSELF

08 MY SUGAR IS RAW

16 SPEAK MY SISTER SPEAK

22 4 MINUTES

26 JONAS & FRANCOIS

32 MAKING A DIFFERENCE

36 ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME

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one day I will have the honour of making your acquaintance in person I will never forget that moment. I always share with everyone how you continue to educate and empower me in hopes that they will also find the encouragement you continuously give to everyone. I love you!John, USA Hey Mrs. Ritchie!That’s what I shouted at the Filth & Wisdom red carpet in Berlin and cought your attention. The brief moment that you looked at me brought the biggest smile to my face and it still lasts on. Thanks for my very own Madonna moment. Sometimes even the shortest moments in life are the most special. You made Berlin sparkle a little brighter that night!LoveDirk, Germany You’re too fabulous Madonna. Can’t wait to see both of the movies coming out (IABWA and FAW). But I want you to act again. Swept Away was brilliant. I had a very intense emotional response to the ending and I thought the movie had something to say that most movies don’t. But whatever you are up to, I am always interested in seeing what that might be. You keep me entertained while inspiring me in my own life. Maybe one day, we will work together if you deem me worthy (after I have proven myself, I’m sure. LOL).William, USA

Dear Madonna, It’s been almost 13 years that I got interested in your music. Amazing how time flies by. Over the years I have enjoyed «getting to know you» - and I do not mean only the music. It’s the things you stand for and the person you are. You have inspired me in many ways and you keep showing me that dreams do come true. Beside all that you keep giving me wonderful music to enjoy. I hope to see you on stage any time soon again because I missed you last time - unfortunately you did not make it to Australia and that’s where I was at that time. It’s wonderful to see how life has turned into a certain direction for you that seems to make you happy and settled. Marriage and children suit you very well. But you never sit back, there are always new challenges. And that’s what makes you so special - you surprise

us with new ideas, new styles, new projects. Your energy is amazing and infinite. Thank you so much for everything you do. Maybe one day I will get the chance to express my gratitude in person, we never know. Until then...just know that there are people out there who really appreciate your courage and honesty. All the best for you and your family, may you be blessed with good health and happiness. Love, Marian, Germany

It looks like it’s going to be another busy Madonna-filled year! I know you’re going to be incredibly busy so here is just a quick note expressing my love and gratitude to your never ending reign as Queen of Pop. The album that changed my life was Ray of Light – as soon as you started singing with euphoria on the track Ray Of light, I was hooked. Line and sinker. Seeing you live (twice) has been the highlight of my summer’s and I hope that I get to live that incredible feeling as you make your entrance on stage. It’s been a rough couple of years what with beating Cancer and learning to live with a disability. But my determination to succeed at Uni and get my degree is forever strong because of your influence. I’ll be seeing you on tour (crosses fingers!)Claire, UK

Hi Madonna!I think you’re the greatest monarch the world has ever known! I’m not a fan from the beginning, since Hung Up, but I’m only fourteen. You started while I didn’t exist yet. After buying Hung up and Confessions On A Dance Floor I started to collect all of your CDs, and after that I started collecting your CD-singles. I surprised myself by liking it all! At first I didn’t really like the R&B thing, but after Timbaland confirmed he collaborated with you I listened to some of his songs, and I really liked ‘The Way I Are’. I’m busy now learning ‘Hollywood’ and I can already play songs like ‘X-Static Process’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’.As the Vulcans from Star Trek say: live long and prosper!Thomas, The Netherlands

Hi Madonna,It was 24 years ago when I was 15 that I first discovered your music. Ever since then, you have been there in my life. Your music always seems to reflect my own life. I hope it will do so for many years to come. Keep on doing what you’re doing!Love you.Patricia, UK I think you are so awesome and I wanted to let you know Drowned World is my favourite song in the whole world. It meant so much to me when you sang it so beautifully during Confessions. Your music is in my soul. It’s everywhere I go. I love getting down and into the groove with Bedtime Stories. You’ve stolen my heart and I want to thank you for it. Love, Anthony, USA Dearest Madge,For as long as I can remember, your music has (literally) played a part in my life. My close relationship with my older sister (a fellow Madonna-maniac who I have idolized from birth) has had me hooked on you for as long as I can remember. Your music has both inspired me and brought me up from some of the worst times in my life. For all of my life, you have been a fixture in the background of my life. Your music has been the soundtrack of my life, eerily mirroring my real-life happenings. For your music, your signature attitude and spunk, your skill and of course your live performances, I could never thank you enough!Brian, USA Hey M,Just wanted to say THANK YOU for giving me inspiration and encouragement, and for showing me how to use the tools that life gives us to make this the best life we can all possibly live! Life has not been kind to me, yet with you in it and everything you share with all of us I have found strength, unconditional love, and the ability to succeed. Having only a single moment to catch your eye in Philly at ‘Confessions’ during ‘Lucky Star’, your energy surged so strongly throughout me everyone around me knew we made that connection and they felt it too! Although I will never give up hope that

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my life as you have. Whenever I start to doubt myself, my dreams or my place in this world, I think of people like you and remind myself that you got to where you are today by doing all of those things I thought I was never capable of doing. I also have to remind myself that you are a human being just like the rest of us, and that the difference between you and me is you never stopped believing in your dreams. I love you Madonna!!!Gina, Canada Madonna, Madonna, Madonna.... Just hearing your name makes me feel better, I’d like to express how I feel when I sing your songs, when I hear you on the radio, when I see you on TV, when I play your music... you make me feel very good and I’d like to thank you for it cause you’re very special for me and all the people around me, you are part of my life. My children sing your songs and know perfectly who you are and they know you are a special person for their daddy, and I LIKE IT. Please, never stop to make us feel that way.Paco, Spain I have been a fan since first hearing Borderline and Holiday (that ages me). My parents always said my Madonna fascination was a phase. It has been a long phase that has only intensified over the years. I get just as excited with new songs and videos now as I did back then. I’ve grown up with Madonna and she still influences my life. Her song «Jump» helped to motivate me to go back to graduate school and start working on my master’s degree. I can not wait to see what the future brings for both me and Madonna!!Todd, USA

Madonna!You are and will always be there for me. I was 14 when you came into my life and changed it. Today I’m 37. I will always admire your courage, intelligence and sense of humour. You are my role model. You push me. You teach me how to never give up and to fight for what I want. You show me how to be strong and brave. You have given me so much joy with your music and the lyrics to your songs. You have made me a queen on the dance floor so many times and I love to dance. I’ve been able to see you perform live twice, and that’s the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was totally surreal and I was on a natural high all the time. You are really something else.

Madonna, is there something I can do for you? Just tell me. I will always support you and send you happy thoughts. I hope that your dreams will come true in the future and that you and your beautiful family will have a happy life filled with lots of love.Melinda, Sweeden

Hello Madonna,I have been a long time fan and never fail to enjoy your creative energy and spirit. You are so uplifting and have been a beneficial part of who I have become today. Thank you for all you do and for your impeccable artistic vision and presence. Love,Norman, USA

I just wanted to say that I’ve been a fan for 22 years and counting. Ever since I saw that gorgeous cover of True Blue, I’ve been hooked! You’re music is so amazing and brings so much joy to my life. Your live shows are spectacular and well worth the price of admission! Can’t wait for the new tour, I’m on pins and needles! Thanks so much Madonna!Brian, USA

Dear Madonna,I really look forward to your 25th Anniversary later this year and I have so high hopes that you will release a new Hits Collection and a new more Complete Video Collection on DVD with all your 62 Videos on it and I have been dreaming of this for such a long time. And a few of my favorite Videos that are not including on any Collection is Dress You Up, Live To Tell and True Blue. I really really loved these Videos of yours so Please Please Madonna I just hope that you will release them as part of your 25th Anniversary CelebrationKrister, Sweeden

Thank you Madonna, your passion and drive motivates me to work as hard as possible to achieve the best results out of everything i do in life. I have been a fan since 1984 and it just gets better and better all the time, I have enjoyed the thrived on every moment of your dazzling career. Thank you Madonna, you are a true inspiration to us all.Gaynor, UK

Dearest Madonna,I’ve loved you since I was 10 years old. I’ve never really been a person to write celebrities, but you’ve made such an «impact» on me like no other artist ever has. I truly believe that you had a big influence on me growing up. You helped to make me a strong and confident woman. But....You also taught me how to be sexy. I too had Catholic Parents (Irish). So there were no «Sexiness» teachings. LOL On your first album, l listened to every song. Not only the hits like «Lucky Star» and «Borderline». I also loved the rest of your songs too, like «Everybody» and «Spotlight» Which are still great today! Oh, and «Burning Up» will be bitching for a long time to come. To my surprise, I can’t think of anything else that I want to say right now! Except, that you’re the «Marilyn Monroe» of our generation. By that I mean you’ve made such a major impact on society, that you’ll never be forgotten. Love you always,Jennifer, USA Madonna - What to say to a legend and an icon such as yourself...I have been a fan since the first single release and have continued to follow your work through the years. I never cease to be amazed with the way you continue to push the limits with everything you do. I applaud you for the impact that you have had on MILLIONS of people, your fans...such as I who adore you and thank you for the difference you have made in my life, not to mention the difference you have made in the lives of the children in Malawi through Raising Malawi. You are an inspiration for anyone who has a dream and have inspired me to persist at everything I do. I am 42 years old and have had many dreams that I just didn’t believe could ever come true. As I’ve grown older I have come to realize that my dreams are just as important as anyone else’s and that with determination, strength, persistence and belief in myself, I can achieve great things in my life. NO ONE has had as much of an influence on

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“Say which flavour you like and I’ll have it for you”. Ma-donna has officially opened

her own Candy Shop on April 30, 2008. Don’t pre-

tend you’re not hungry, she has seen it before. Time to

taste Madonna’s brand new flavours and to join her on

the dance floor!

It’s time to celebrate Madonna fans! The queen is back and once again, she is giving us what we were all waiting for: Amazing music. 25 years have passed since the release of her very first solo album, but it all seems just like yesterday. When you put on a new Madonna album, it never sounds the same as the previous one, but there’s one that will never change and that is its ability to make you dance or sing, to get up and to do your thing. ‘Hard Candy’ is her 11th studio effort but also another instant classic. How can you get to always make the right choices and go for the music the public is waiting for? That is part of the Madonna Magic. Whatever people say, she never disappoints. After the ‘Confessions On a Dance Floor’ storm, you thought she couldn’t get any better. But once again, she has done it.

Back in early 2007, when Madonna started to work on her new al-bum, the disco vibe was still huge and she had the option to go for a follow up to ‘Confessions’, which was the best way to guarantee a commercial success. By now we’re used to that girl from Detroit, Michigan and all know she will never go for the easy stuff. It’s not because you’ve brought back the disco that you need to make it your own for the next two decades, right? When she first listened to Justin Timberlake’s ‘Future Sex/Love Sounds’ album, she just ha-ted it. But she then got to give it another try during some friends’ party and decided to add it to her Ipod playlist. It soon became the soundtrack to her daily workout sessions and the album she would play to everyone, all the time. While it is true to say that Timberlake’s

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album was a killer, having our girl to work on her own with him was no evidence. What you also need to know is that the Timber-lake/ Timbaland collaboration was not part of Madonna’s plan at first. When she decided to contact them, she was already working on some demos with Pharrell Williams, the guy behind a lot of the R&B hits released during the past four years. Those demos included ‘Candy Shop’ and ‘The Beat Goes On’, which were later reworked and added to the finalized album. Madonna was delighted with Phar-rell’s contribution at the time, but she also wanted for her album to use different styles/sounds and to cover all of the options R&B could bring to her own music. Was it her first R&B experience? Not really as her 1994 ‘Bedtime Stories’ can be described as “Pop meets R&B”. But when you get Pharrell to create some Funk inspired tracks, you want to see how far it can take you, and that is probably what Madonna had on mind when she offered Justin to join her. Would describing ‘Hard Candy’ as “Funk meets R&B” be wrong? Probably not…

Ok, so we now have Pharrell and Justin. Asking for Timbaland’s contribution was Justin’s idea as Timbaland was the other name behind his last studio album, providing his so unique touch to most of the songs included on the lp. ‘4 Minutes’ was the first track Justin and Madonna wrote together. Originally recalled as ‘4 Minutes to Save the World’, the track can be best described as what two diffe-rent musical worlds can bring one another through a single song. The sound is loud, the lyrics are deep and we have two voices to illustrate a virtual race against the clock. You can instantly feel Tim-baland’s touch here, not just because of his vocal introduction, but also because of the heavy beats coming out of the speakers as if they were about to explode. If you fell in love with ‘Hung Up’, back in the late 2005, you probably felt very surprised when you first got to hear ‘4 Minutes’… And that was Madonna’s intention with this track.

Back to the first song of the opus now. ‘Candy Shop’ being the ope-ner, it had to reflect the album’s overall mood. “Come into my world, taste all of my flavours and you’ll find the one to boggle your senses”. In a world we’re all afraid to go for things we’ve never tried before, ‘Candy Shop’ is an invitation to go ahead and release our fears and just enjoy what’s offered to us. Maybe we could end wanting more of it… It’s all up to you… Who better than Madonna could get us to think outside the box?

“Nothing’s gonna stop me, if that’s what I want, I will get it”. Doesn’t it remind you of someone we all know? Yes, ‘Give it 2 Me’ is probably one of the most autobiographic song Madonna has ever written. Both the sound and lyrics depict her true self, the girl who never takes “no” for an answer and who will always get what she wants, no matter if you’re not ready to give it to her. That’s also the story to her life, fighting the elements and to get where she wanted to go from the beginning. This song has to be one of the most positive songs you could wish for, as it makes you realize that you’re the only one controlling your destiny. If you want something, don’t wait for someone else to give it to you, go ahead and get it yourself. No wonder why ‘Give It 2 Me’ is one of her fans’ favourites. ;-) ‘Heartbeat’ is Madonna’s tribute to music but also to what she is made of. “Don’t you know, Can’t you see, When I dance I feel free”. You can’t write good songs when music is not the key to your heart. Basically, Madonna has proved it all the way during the past two decades, and music will always be her own way to express herself. As she said while being inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year: “I have gone on to do many things in my life, from writing children’s books to designing clothes to directing films but for me it always starts with the Music.” Everything is said.

We’ve been asking for it for such a long time and there we have it. ‘Miles Away’ has to be another classic Madonna ballad. We like it when our girl makes us dance the night away, but we also love it when she takes us miles away from the dance floor, right back to our own feelings and roots. ‘Miles Away’ is not about the beginning or the end of a love affair. It’s more about the way you love someone for who he/she is or not. Most of us always tend to want for their lover to look like them or to think the same way as they do. It’s only when the loved one is gone that you realize you were wrong. “Love me for who I am or I’m gone”, that is my own understanding of it. That said, I’m sure you have your own! Also, and in opposition to what was said about the song at some point, Madonna didn’t write it while on a plane to New York. The idea of it sounds pretty roman-tic, but you don’t necessarily need to be far away from love to write about it.

Do you remember when you first saw that special someone and that you instantly fell in love with him/her? A brand new love makes you feel so different, so much more confident and happy. With ‘In-credible’, Madonna wants to go back in time and feel that way again. All of you who met love at least once know what she is talking about but also that such a feeling doesn’t last for long. Is it just because we get used to it or because passion grows to a more “classic” love after a little while? ‘Incredible’ is not there to answer that question, but to make you feel that way again. It starts pretty slowly and gain more speed, just like a heart beating faster and faster as we get to fall in love. Good things always have to end, but don’t we all secretly hope for it to invade us again at some point?

‘Beat Goes On’ is one of those songs that will make you want to move your feet and celebrate. While you can feel the Pharrell touch as soon as the song starts, it’s also the only song on the album fea-turing Kanye West. It reminds you of some of the late 70s’ best an-thems, like all of the Chic and Imagination stuff, but with a pinch of R&B. When it comes to the lyrics, they are meant to make you get up and to just be who you are, no matter what the others around you can think about it. As with several Madonna songs, this one reminds you that life is short, that time goes by and that you need to stop

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thinking too much and just go for some action instead. Play it loud and just let the rhythm take you!

Here comes the second and last Madonna & Justin duet featured on the album, the other co-produced tracks mainly involving Jus-tin background vocals. ‘Dance 2night’ is probably the sexiest song those two have worked on. If you ever need a seduction lesson, just listen carefully to those lyrics! I’m sure you can imagine the both of them standing on a deserted dance floor, flirting and using dance as the ultimate way to turn the other on while listening to it. “Do you wanna take it further?” is the only clue the song is giving us as to what could happen afterwards. Will they get to fall in love or just dance with someone else? That is all up to your own imagina-tion…

Ok, I can hear the bell ringing right now… ‘Spanish Lesson’, the song that generated lots of comments. It even received mixed reviews from die hard fans who thought it had nothing to do on the al-bum. Do you really think Madonna would go for it if that was the case? No need to discuss her love for Spanish music after listening to ‘La Isla Bonita’ or to the Spanish version of ‘What it Feels Like For A Girl’ or even the ‘You’ll See’ one. It is true to say that when listening to ‘Hard Candy’ for the first time, you have to wonder why ‘Spanish Lesson’ pops up right in the last part of it. But after a few of them, you understand that it was meant as a transition between the mid to up-tempo first nine songs and the last two, which are more tor-tured and dark. ‘Spanish Lesson’ gives you the opportunity to not take things too seriously before going for more introspective mate-rial. Just forget about your job, your bills and your problems, just let yourself go and you’ll soon realize ‘Spanish Lesson’ is what you need when life doesn’t treat you right. Olé!

‘Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You’ was co-written by Madonna’s bro-ther-in-law, Joe Henry. Love sometimes lasts, love sometimes go, but never on its own. There are always two people involved in a relationship and always two to put an end to it. There’s usually one of them to blame for it and the other to feel sorry for. When it ends, it’s also usually because the one to blame was too blind to see that he/she was not acting the right way. And it’s also usually because the one to feel sorry for got to finally open his/her eyes on the situa-tion. Love can hurt. Love can make you do things you’ll get to regret at some point. The one you fell in love with can change along the way and turn to be someone you never thought he/she could be. Why don’t we realize it when we go too far and cross the line? Why can we get to be so bad that even the devil wouldn’t recognize us? Some will keep on asking for more and some will just decide to reject it. Love can make you do or accept crazy things, the only limit being your own desire.

‘Voices’ is the pretty mystical song Madonna chose as last track for the album, and was co-written with Justin Timberlake and Nate “Danja” Hills. The lyrics are not only telling you about someone else’s story but also forces you to think about your own. Introspection is the word that would describe the song the best. It goes beyond what your eyes can see and take your vision of life and love to ano-ther level, a more complicated one. Are you in control of your life or its poor victim? You need to make a choice at some point and decide on what you want to do: Assume who you are or just deny it by saying it’s someone else’s fault. When one is not strong enough to be the master of his own destiny, then he can get for those who love him to pay the price of it. Can you hear the voices? Will they tell you what to do? Could those “voices” be your own conscience?

Released as a 12 tracks CD on April 30 in the US and two days earlier in the rest of the world, ‘Hard Candy’ went straight to the number one spot in more than 20 countries, making it a new success for Madonna. Talking about success, the Material Girl sports a wrestling belt on the picture of the album cover as well as on those featured in the booklet (photographed by Steven Klein). Madonna decided to use the boxing theme and the lyrics to her ‘Give It 2 Me’ song as main inspiration for the photo shoot, adopting the look of a sexy fighter ready to break a new record. Also part of her boxing themed look is a “M-Dolla” (M-Dolla being Pharrell’s nickname for Madon-na) ring made of gold and 258 diamonds, which was designed by french jeweller Chopard.

When it comes to the album’s title, Madonna had it on mind while in the studio, recording the first demos. “The title is a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness - kind of like I’m gonna kick your ass but it’s going to make you feel good. And of course, I love candy». This is how our lady described her choice and we have to say it was a thou-gh one! Pushing the Hard Candy theme to its most realistic end, the limited edition of the album includes real candies you can taste while listening to our queen’s latest effort (I’m pretty sure most of you wouldn’t even dare to open the plastic bag and give them a try, right?!). Once again, the Japanese edition of ‘Hard Candy’ included a few surprises… The ‘Ring My Bell’ bonus track was one of them, along with all of the songs lyrics being included in the album’s boo-klet. Co-written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams, ‘Ring My Bell’ was also given away to those of you who pre-ordered the Deluxe edition of the album from iTunes.

To promote her new release, Madonna created different photo shoots and shared her thoughts about it through exclusive inter-views. In addition to the “classic” media campaign, Madonna was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, Elle, Q and Dazzed & Confused, just to name a few… For the Vanity Fair photo shoot, she teamed up with long time friend and collaborator Steven Meisel, creating a breathtaking series of photographs we most certainly fell in love with the very minute we saw them. The giant globe featured on the magazine’s cover was signed by Madonna and later sold by Vanity Fair on Ebay, all of the benefits being then given to Madon-na’s Raising Malawi foundation. The Elle photo shoot was created by photographer Tom Munro. This was Munro’s first collaboration with Madonna, but she was so happy with the whole series that she asked for him to direct her upcoming ‘Give It 2 Me’ video! The girl also performed 3 promo shows in New York, Paris and during BBC’s Radio 1 Big Week-end Festival, which will be detailed in the next issue of Icon, along with some great images.

‘Hard Candy’ is not just her 11th studio album. It not only marks the beginning of a new Madonna era for all of us, but also another successful project our girl can be proud of. If you’re hungry for more Hard Candy, then you’ll soon get to see Madonna perfoming some of the album’s songs as part of her 2008 ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour! It’s the first time she embarks on a tour so soon after the release of an album. But no worries, it doesn’t mean that she won’t serve us with more singles, remixes and videos. The album was described as a collection of potential number 1 hits, so get ready for more candies coming your way. Some candies you will be able to enjoy without moderation…

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SPEAK MY SISTER

SPEAKBack in 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin was one of the most played tracks on the radio, another one was a song called ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Eurythmics. Almost 24

years later, the Material Girl is now also known as The Queen of the Dance Floor, while the voice behind ‘Sweet Dreams’ is also known for her solo career and

several number one hits. Those two girls never cease to prove that talent can take you as far as you want, as long as you know how to use it. Comparing Pop and

Rock would be like comparing coffee and tea: both are hot and taste good, but you will always start the day with the one that please you the most. When it co-mes to Madonna and Annie Lennox, there’s evidence you can’t ignore: both girls have a big heart and use their talent to make this world a better place. No need

to wonder why Annie asked Madonna to join her on her ‘Sing’ project and why Madonna instantly accepted, right? Sing is not just a track featured on Annie’s latest studio album. It’s also a way to raise money and awareness for the HIV/AIDS organization. If you haven’t bought the song yet, let Annie tell you more

about this fantastic project and don’t forget that we can all make a difference if we really want to…

Dear Annie, Welcome to Icon, Madonna’ official fan club! First of all, we would like to congratulate you on such a fantastic new album*! How do you feel now that your latest opus is in stores?

It’s an exciting time right now. My contractual term with the record company ended ( after 27 years of being signed!)...which leaves me very footloose and fancy free creatively. The music “industry” as we have known it is finally waking up to the fact that technology has completely taken over the status quo, and everyone is holding their breath, waiting to see what the future’s going to look like. For me, it really couldn’t be better in a way. I see myself as a multi faceted artist, and am looking forwards to creating unique and individual recordings, art pieces, writing, photographs, events etc..via my web-site.

Back in 1983, Madonna released her very first studio album while Sweet Dreams was already a worldwide hit. What did the Eurythmics girl with the orange hair think of Madonna and her music at the time?

I remember the video for “Like A Virgin”, because ( if I’m correct) Mary Lambert, who I knew at the time, was the director, and we were all so excited at the work she was doing.I thought Madonna was incredibly self assured, but I don’t think anyone could have even imagined the immense profile, and ground breaking career, as an iconic image maker, music maker, artist, per-former etc....She’s uniquely outstanding in so many ways.

25 years and several albums later, the both of you now evolve in a world where music is available the minute after it was pro-duced and can be downloaded from the internet in the blink of an eye. How did technology affect your work as an artist?

It doesn’t thrill me that people can simply download your work, as if it has no intrinsic value whatsoever, but the horse already bolted out of that stable years ago. To be honest, I think that intellectual copyright should have been, and should still be protected. The re-cord companies made outrageous fortunes from artists for far too long. The kind of contractual terms we signed and agreed to back then were just indecent.

Just like with Madonna’s, your music has been and is still the soundtrack to a lot of people’s life. How do you feel when thin-king about it? What are your own musical roots?

I’ve been collating all my work over the years in terms of albums, videos, awards, discs, clothes, memorabilia etc...Taking photogra-phs of things that people have never seen, so they can be housed in my website “The House of Me”, and shared with anyone who’s interested. I just used to put things in storage, and forget about them, but I think the website creates a wonderful opportunity to have a kind of “museum/archive/gallery/space/shop window”.

If people have enjoyed the music over the years, and it has meant something to them, then it’s a cause for satisfaction. I can look back, and feel it was absolutely worthwhile. My own musical roots are very eclectic..encompassing everything from Scottish folk music, Tamla Motown and Stax, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones...Ravi Shankar..Brazil 66...classical music..Debussy, Bach, Vivaldi...The list is endless.

Ok, as you can imagine, we now need to talk about the whole SING project! You’ve always been highly involved in the fight against AIDS, but when and how did you decide to turn this human fight into a musical one?

Well, back in the day, I contributed to the first HIV AIDS charity re-cord, called Red Hot and Blue..which was based around the theme of Cole Porter songs. So the idea of using music to convey the mes-sage is nothing new. Basically, I became passionately involved with the issue of HIV AIDS after my first trip to South Africa, where I had the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela, and understand the call for assistance he was trying to get across to the rest of the world.The AIDS pandemic is continuing to destroy people’s lives in an uni-maginable fashion, on an unprecedented scale.

As a mother, I believe that all all mothers should have the right to live, so they can raise their children..and equally, it should be the right of a child not to have to become an orphan. AIDS is killing mothers, and making orphans out of millions of unprotected, vul-nerable children. I am fortunate. I have many resources in my life that can help to facilitate helping others, and this is my goal. I want to empower women... to give those who have little power a Voice...That is what SING is all about!

In addition to being one of the tracks featured on your new album, SING is also a charity project recorded to raise money and awareness for the HIV/AIDS organisation and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which was founded in South Africa, back in 1998. Would you tell us more about your latest trip to Africa and the situation there?

Despite having many wealthy members in it’s the society, South Africa also has the highest incidence of HIV AIDS, which is an incre-dibly serious situation.One in three pregnant women are HIV positive, which means that their babies have a very high risk of being born with the virus, if they don’t get access to medical treatment. Generations have been wiped out for over a decade, and the situation will only continue to get worse, if it is not effectively responded to. On my trips to SA I have had the opportunity to visit hospitals, hospices, orphanages, townships, clinics, and individuals in their homes, who are all strug-gling to survive under the grindingly harsh conditions of chronic and endemic poverty. I feel that in many ways, South Africa has a kind of AIDS fatigue. So little has been done, to really get the situa-tion in hand, and the systems area all rife with corruption, just to compound things even more. Women and children are subjected to violence and sexual abuse, as a matter of course. I am deeply concerned about what lies in store for the future of countless peo-ple....not only in South Africa, but across the continents of Africa, India, Asia Latin America and Eastern Europe. Aids has no physical boundaries.

«I want to empower wo-men... to give those who have little power a Voice...»

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Even when you’re Annie Lennox, developing a project as huge as SING must be quite complicated. How did you get to convin-ce all of those famous ladies to collaborate on it?

Well, I sent out a bunch of letters to various artists, who I thought might be prepared to give it some consideration, and to be honest...most of them did. I didn’t personally have to persuade too many of them to get on board.The problem is that everybody’s got a busy schedule, and they mi-ght not all be available or accessible, when you might need them to be! Somehow we did it though!

Recording a song with 23 different artists and bands must be above insane in terms or organisation! Did you all record your part during the same session or separately? And what about the mixing process? Where you behind it all?

Obviously people were in different countries and time zones. I thou-ght it would simplify things therefore, to simply send everybody the song, and have them record on top of the backing track in their own way. The majority of recording took place either in London or LA, via the benefits of modern technology. I met up with Tom Lord Algae in Miami, and he mixed it in his studio there.I made the decision not to give people individual lines to sing, as it would have made things terribly complicated, but rather use most of the voices as a “choir”.

As a lot of Madonna fans would like to know about it, did you know Madonna personally before offering her to collaborate on SING? Did the two of you meet to discuss the project?

I’ve only ever met Madonna very briefly on a couple of social occa-sions. We didn’t need to meet to make this happen. People record in other parts of the world all the time...thank god!

Quite a lot of us are used to say that they would like to help by donating to a great cause but also end not doing it because they are not sure their money would be used the right way. What is your reaction to this? What would be your message to them?

I think they are entitled to feel this way, and I completely un-derstand how they might feel. I don’t want my time and ef-fort wasted either, so I’m committed to following through how any financial gain is used, so that I can be sure that it’s effective.

Treatment Action Campaign is very grassroots, engaging with ordi-nary people at a very local level, which is one of the reasons I like it’s approach, and I have the utmost respect for Zackie Achmat who is the founder of the organisation. This is not a short hit thing for me. I’m fully committed to dedicating my time and effort, and am in for the long haul.

You are one of those artists who believe that we can make a difference by joining our efforts. If you could change just one thing about the world we live in, what would it be?

Oh..only ONE thing?? OK...I think that many of us are half asleep, too self obsessed, or distracted to realise that if we want change, we need to BE it. It’s that simple.

Annie, there are so many topics we would like to discuss with you, but you’re a very busy woman, so we’d better let you get back to your work now. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. But most importantly, thank you so much for being who you are and for trying to make this world a better place. Before you leave, would you have a message for Madonna and her fans?

Madonna’s contribution to The Sing Campaign was hugely signifi-cant...especially as she sang the second verse ( without even being asked more over!) I am terribly grateful for her support and endorse-ment, and I hope that in years to come we can all look back and say that we REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE to millions of people’s lives.

For more info about SING, please visit www.annielennoxsing.com *Songs of Mass Destruction / Sony BMG

While the original version of SING is included on An-nie’s ‘Songs Of Mass Destruction’ album, the song was also released as a CD single and 12’’ vinyl single in the UK in March 2008, including several club/dance remixes. The EP available through online retailers in-cludes the following versions: • Moto Blanco Club Remix• Dean Coleman Silent Sound Vocal Remix• Harry Choo Choo Romero Club Mix• Moto Blanco Dub• Dean Coleman Silent Sound Radio Edit• Moto Blanco Radio Remix• Harry Choo Choo Romero Radio Mix• Harry Choo Choo Romero HCCR Mix Show

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INTERVIEW

«If You Only had 4 Minutes To Save The World,

What Would You Do?»«Next Question!»

…That’s Madonna’s answer to the interviewer who was taking the title of her song as a real chal-lenge. That’s right, you can’t save the world in 4 minutes. But at the same time, 4 minutes is more than you need to understand what this song is all about: Dance until the very last second of it.

It’s about time. That’s the comment we probably all made when we finally got to listen to the first single to be taken from Madon-na’s 11th studio album. ‘4 Minutes’ is exactly what you could ex-pect from Madonna in 2008. It’s just in total opposition with her last album’s sound and there’s nothing better than entering a new Madonna era while you know she will once again get to surprise you. Ok, we all knew it was a Timberlake/ Timbaland collaboration even before the song premiered, but none of us said it was just what we thought it would be. ‘4 Minutes’ is a song you need to get used to. It is so different from a classic Madonna song that any fan would feel confused after listening to it for the first time. Come on guys, it’s Madonna & Justin! You thought it would use the vibe found on Timberlake’s ‘Future Sex/ Love Sounds’ album? You were wrong. ‘4 Minutes’ is more to be described as a virtual sound battle between the Queen of Pop and the Prince of R&B. Some die hard Madonna fans were also expecting for this duet to be the Madon-na & Michael Jackson duet finally coming to life. And they were wrong too. While Timberlake is a huge Jackson fan, you just can’t compare his sound to Jackson’s. They are both using the same in-fluences, but Justin’s are the natural evolution of Michael’s early 80’s songs with an additional pinch of a dirty-sexy vibe.

Another comment coming right after listening to the ‘Hard Can-dy’ album is that ‘4 Minutes’ does not reflect the album’s overall sound. That’s true, and it’s just probably because a battle between a queen and a prince has to be done within just one round. Those two had so much to bring ‘Hard Candy’, that they went for diffe-rent themes and sounds instead of sticking to just one of them. Well, it doesn’t explain the reason behind Madonna choosing it as the first single. The rumours say that she wanted for Candy Shop to be used as the album’s lead single and changed her mind after several of her collaborators told her ‘4 Minutes’ should be THE one. Remember back in 1990, when the same happened with ‘Vogue’? Madonna didn’t know if she should include the song on the ‘I’m Breathless’ soundtrack, ‘Vogue’ being too different from the rest of the album… She was right by listening to her entourage and made the right choice again almost 18 years later with ‘4 Minu-tes’. Another reason behind Madonna’s first choice was probably

because of ‘4 Minutes’ being a duet. And all of us fans know that Madonna never used a duet as first single during the past 25 years. This one time exception proved to be a success, as ‘4 Minutes’ be-came an instant hit worldwide.

“4 Minutes to save the world”…? When Justin attended the recor-ding of the Ellen show mid May, he explained that ‘4 Minutes’ was the first track him and Madonna had worked on. At the time, he wanted for the song’s lyrics to be sexy and more aligned with his latest studio album while Madonna wanted them to sound more serious. “You can’t save the world in four minutes. Alright, we’re going to save the world in four minutes” Justin told Madonna. “Ok, I’ll call this song ‘4 Minutes To Save The World’” she answered. Who said you had to spend hours on it to find a title that matches a song the best? Certainly not those two! All of the song’s lyrics were written after the title and using the concept Madonna had on mind for both the song and video. ‘4 Minutes’ had to be about “dance until you drop” and the fact that this song could be the one playing right after the end of the world is announced. Run as fast as you can or death will catch you, tic toc tic toc.

While Timbaland co-produced the song, he was also the one to test it on the crowds during some of his own club appearances. First playing the instrumental version of it, he then added some of the vocals and put the whole dance floor on fire. If you can get a mainstream song to work on clubbers, then you’re almost sure it’s going to be huge when commercially released. And as with most of Madonna’s past releases, ‘4 Minutes’ turned the crowds on, gi-ving her another reason to make it the album’s lead single. Do we need to add that it went straight to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot Dance/ Club Play chart a few weeks later?

Turning words into images might be pretty hard, especially when it’s all about running faster than death… At the time, Justice’s ‘Dance’ was all over music channels but our girl discovered it while surfing on the internet (her not watching tv is a fact, really). She instantly fell in love with the special effects featured in the video and decided to contact the French men behind it, Jonas &

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While the album version of ‘4 Minutes’ was making its way to the top of the charts, a full set of remixes was being put together by Orlando Puerta’s office at Warner Bros. For the first time in Madon-na history, none of them were pressed on promotional 12 inch vinyl singles, most club deejays now getting remixes sent to them by record companies as mp3 files (sad news for our Madonna col-lection, I know…). Classic Madonna remixers like Tracy Young and Peter Rauhofer providing respectively tribal and hard house ver-sions of the song (Rauhofer “saving” almost every single city in the world through his remixes), while French remixer/ producer Bob Sinclar was commissioned a Space Funk themed remix. For those of you who wonder why Madonna picked Bob Sinclar, you need to know that she had him to open the French leg of her Confes-sions Tour back in 2006, Sinclar being one of the most famous deejay in his country at the time, before turning to be more and more successful all over Europe. The sound found on his remix of ‘4 Minutes’ reminds of his first huge track, ‘Gym Tonic’, which was released almost 12 years ago. Back in the day, Jane Fonda sued Sinclar for including a sample of her aerobic training videos into the song. Also featured on the maxi-single are a vocal and dub versions by Junkie XL. We all got to discover their sound through their hot remixes of Britney Spear’s ‘Toxic’ back in 2004, and we now can confirm that their musical evolution has turned to be a positive one (isn’t their ‘4 Minutes’ remix one of the most tripping experiences you’ve ever had on the dance floor?).

«That’s right, critics have yet to understand that you can’t stop our girl from going

where you think she shouldn’t go.»

Francois. The guys were asked to create a story board for Madon-na’s new video and won out of the different ideas submitted by various directors. The next week, the guys flew to London for a very special meeting with the queen of all things avant-garde. Ma-donna wanted for them to share more details about their concept but had soon to realize their spoken English wouldn’t be of help. Using their hands and smiles as the only tools to depict the dif-ferent scenes to be included in the video, both guys’ vision was just what Madonna was looking for. Filmed in London in February 20008, the ‘4 Minutes’ video includes tons of visual effects as well as an unforgettable dance battle between Madonna and Justin, Timbaland being seen during the video’s intro as well as within the last few seconds of it. Did you ever try to jump from the top of a car wearing high heels? That’s just no problem when you’re Madonna! The finalized video premiered on iTunes April 3, just 48 hours before topping the devoted iTunes chart both in the US and Europe. Talking about the digital world and related records, it only took ‘4 Minutes’ five weeks to become the second single ever to have digital sales exceeding one million units in five weeks, Rihan-na’s ‘Umbrella’ being the only song to make a better score.

Once again, Warner Bros made us fans happy by releasing the re-mixes through 2 different sets: one regrouping all of the remixes in their full club version as well as two dubs, and the other featuring the edits. I really wonder why they included Junkie XL’s Dub edit instead of the vocal one? Guess only God knows!

Now, let’s take you behind the scenes of Madonna’s ‘4 Minutes’ single. That’s your favourite part, right? Its mine too! In opposition to the Hard Candy artwork, the single uses a black & white pic-ture of Madonna and Justin, which was not taken by Steven Klein but by Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary. While on the set of the ‘4 Minutes’ video, Guy took several pictures, some illustrating this ar-ticle (Thank you Guy!). And while you could think the photograph featured on the single’s cover artwork was taken in front of a white background, it wasn’t! It was taken in the corner of the bathroom you can see in the video, Madonna not sitting on a black cube but on the white chair found right next to the bathroom’s door. The story doesn’t tell if it was Guy’s idea to have them form a “4” and “M” with their legs, but Madonna ended up loving the pictures and decided to pick one of them for the cover artwork.

While reviewing the whole set of pictures, you can tell they both had lots of fun posing!

So many things were said about ‘4 Minutes’ and Madonna’s new sound… That’s right, critics have yet to understand that you can’t stop our girl from going where you think she shouldn’t go. At the end of the day, she always proves she was right by giving it a chance and that’s probably what annoys them the most. Twenty five years have passed and she is still “Ready to Jump”, setting new trends, taking the right decisions and pushing the right buttons. When you’ve been a musical critic for years and got used to those one hit wonders, you can’t help but feel disturbed by that girl co-ming out with one anthem after another, no matter what you can write about her, positive or negative. Yes, Madonna has changed the music industry and is still working hard on it. “Rules are there to be broken”, that is what she is used to say. If one of those rules claims that you cannot save the world in 4 Minutes, let’s bet Ma-donna can prove it wrong!

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4 MINUTES

If you loved Justice’s “Dance” video, then you’ve already probably heard about Jonas & Francois, the French directors behind it. It seems that Madonna also liked it, as she asked for the guys to work on a concept for her own “4 Minutes” video. The directors took the time to answer our questions and also share their thoughts about their very first Madonna collaboration.

Jonas and Francois, welcome to Icon, Madonna’s Official Fan Club. We would like to start off by finding out a little more about the people behind those two names. How did you guys meet?

We are both 25 and met 7 years ago during our 1st year at the French Beaux Arts. We very quickly started to collaborate on seve-ral artistic projects (paintings, photography, fine arts…) but video really helped us to “meet”. We didn’t really have the same cinema-tographic or video references, not even the same music culture. But this how it all happened, with video making. As far as music is concerned, Jonas used to listen to jazz, some old rock titles, as well as early electro. I was more concentrated on recent UK or US based rock. We later, together discovered the electro scene. To make it short, we listen to music all the time and the making of videos was more or less something that was bound to happen in our lives anyway. On the visual side, it was almost the same thing: our differences eventually mixed in together, Jonas’ cinema culture, more video clips for myself (François), and we both are very up to what is hap-pening now, to everything that is…different. Making videos was not our main goal when we started Art school. We were there to study design, sculpture, drawing, “hand made” animation and photography. But our first videos were some kind of natural evolution. Our first creations were experimentations that used video but without much emotions but rather some kind of frenetic desire to create animated stuff on screen, building up our own images. During our studies at the Arts Décoratifs in Paris, we decided to send our work to different production houses in Paris. This is how, while in the middle on our scholar process, we got to work on our first videos, which were small budget ones.

Working together on one project is not always easy, especial-ly when it comes to the creative side of things. How do you

work while developing a concept? It’s the exact contrary for us. As there are two of us, we like to mix our ideas, concepts and different visual ideas. We don’t see it as some-thing that needs to be 50-50 when it comes to ideas, we don’t make concessions, we are not « creative room mates ». We can’t have each of us developing his own ideas alone, our best ideas come when we are both sitting down on the ground and talk and talk for hours !

We usually always start with new ideas. It’s not as if ideas that have been developed before are useless but we don’t like to recycle or use old concepts. To us, our ideas for a video always reflect a certain time in our lives. Also, we get tired very quic-kly with it when a project is not realized quickly enough. The other main characteristic of our work sessions is that we try and develop as many visions as we can for one video. We carefully analyse the sound, the lyrics, draw sketches and go very much into details. It doesn’t always help, well it depends, but it always allows us to bring out a lot of ideas. In fact it’s a way to take some distance and think about it in different ways. What we need now is a place to develop these so called concepts. Jonas remembers « the room of ideas » his grandfather used to go to pick up some stories and write them down along with some drawings. It was some kind of little empty room, filled with a chair, a bucket with water and ions, as well as a hose that would com-municate with the outside (more or less). We would like to try that kind of stuff, and see what could come out of it! The release of Justice’s ‘Dance’ video allowed the whole world to discover your work. Who decided to include animated t-shirts in the video? Madonna brought back the “let your clo-thes say it all” concept back in the early 2000’s. Did it inspire you somehow?

The idea of the animated T-shirts was somewhere in our heads, like a video that had never been done. But nothing really looked like the same as in ‘Dance’. We are great fans of printed t-shirts.

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That’s what we wear all the time, along with a pair of jeans. It goes beyond inspiration! Ed Banger, Justice’s label, actually came up with the idea. It was already used for the visual of the vinyl single (a frame of Gaspard and Xavier being featured on t-shirts).

So the idea of animating the artwork featured on the t-shirts was a logical follow up to our previous video for Ed Rec Vol 2, the com-pilation, which everyone loved: we made an animation from all the artworks of the label’s vinyl releases and included it on blank moving albums.

We’ve watched almost all of Madonna’s videos at least once, as well some other cult ones by Jackson, Radiohead or Bowie. They are all part of our culture and inspire us at some point, even un-consciously like a bible in a way, but not necessarily something we will consciously think about while developing our own projects. The printed t-shirts have always been part of our lives, but it’s true that back in the early 2000’s, some cool coloured logos and typos started to be used on t-shirts. If Madonna is behind it, then it’s pretty funny!

Tecktonic is almost everywhere lately, not only in France but also in all of Europe. Your work fits that concept so per-fectly… Do you feel inspired by Tecktonik or is it more about people using your work as main inspiration while developing Tecktonik related projects?

We don’t really see the link between our work and Tecktonik, ex-cept they wear bright coloured t-shirt and sneakers. That’s the only thing our work and the artists we work with have in common with Tecktonik. We don’t like to be part of a movement that uses its own defined codes while pretending to be all about self-ex-pression.

Your creations use a mix of images and graphic effects. How would describe the filming of such a video? Do you have to think about all of the effects you want to add to a particular scene be-fore filming it?

We’ve always liked to mix different techniques, including motion images and graphic design, real and fake cameras moves, visible special effects or hidden ones, anyway, everything helps us to show what we have on mind. Sometimes it works, sometimes not that much, but the idea that comes out of it is the most important point.

That was how our vision worked a year ago. We keep on following the same logic these days but we also tend to explore frames and images and use them in a more photographic way, adding more narrative stuff to them. That said, we could just change our minds and do something totally different in the next month. The thing is that we’ve found a new playground and we want to explore it as much as we can, working on images in a way we couldn’t in the past or that we thought we couldn’t. As mentioned before, we have our moments, we just don’t get stuck to a particular medium or concept.

A shooting is always organized after the effects we will want to add afterwards. No one can shoot a scene and then decide on what he wants to do from it, mixing things without respecting a logic defined before the filming. We know you can’t because we’ve already made that mistake. As graphic designers and video artists, we are used to use bits and try to make something out of them. We just like it when we have to work in a messy environment. Anyhow, there are always lots of ideas popping up after a shoo-

ting, and that we then try to include in the finalized video (when they work). We just can’t help it… It’s our own way of working!

Your Myspace page states that you are both 25 years old. Al-most all of the past 25 years were filled with at least one Ma-donna hit. Can we say you’ve grown up listening to her songs or were you more into other music styles?

Of course, we grew up with her. By the way, during the last days of production, while we were putting together the last seconds of the video, we made a blind test: it might happen that we didn’t remember the title, but all the gigs were very familiar. It’s really great to think that this one « will be ours »! Back in the day, If one of us was listening to some particular stuff while the other was more into a different style, we both listened to Madonna.

Let’s discuss your latest creation… You’ve just directed Ma-donna’s ‘4 Minutes’ video. How did you get to work on the project? What was your reaction when Madonna decided she wanted to work with you?

One day, our producer called us: Madonna was inviting us to listen to the first single of her new album. A few days later, we went to London, in her office, and listened to « 4minutes » and « Candy Shop » as a bonus! Like with any video related project, there was a competition between several directors and so we decided to wri-te down a concept and create an artistic file. Some days later, we were back there again, presenting our project using sketches and drawings all over the floor, while « 4minutes » was playing in the background: it was totally incredible, us standing on our knees, with Madonna, showing and tracing the movements of each part between the different sets, already thinking of all of the dancing playgrounds to be used for the choreographed parts.

Most importantly, we were very touched that she thought about us. Madonna always worked with video artists, photographers or young directors that were just in their early steps, with total confidence. Chris Cunningham or Johan Renck were about the same age as us when they directed their first Madonna video. So it was really incredible to realize that she was interested in our work and that we had some ideas that could bring her something new,

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INTERVIEW

And this is how the concept became a video in which Madonna and Justin Timberlake only have 4 minutes to escape their “immi-nent” fate: they happen to walk through revisited daily life spaces, go through the each other’s life, pass by some people that indif-ferent by and unaware of the imminent threat. There is no panic, no drama, but an energetic tension brought by the game and Madonna and Justin’s choreographies. It also gives us the oppor-tunity to see things like never before, watching the film through the eyes of the “threat” at some point.

Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland all appear in the video. How do you get to direct such famous people and at the same time handle the pressure it surely involves?

The pressure was always there, but not for that particular reason, just because we didn’t have much time to shoot all of the stuff we wanted to at first. We were willing to shoot difficult stuff and sometimes we had to go to the essential instead. Madonna, Jus-tin Timberlake and Timbaland arrived on the set with a precise idea of the story and concept on mind. Once everybody is on the same wave, it’s pretty easy to make people understand why we are going in a specific direction, or why some things need to be changed.

The choreographies had been rehearsed several times. It was great to film them. The most difficult part was to adjust our « cha-racters » to the 4th actor: the camera. Once on the set, things are not always as they were on paper. There were the 3 of them, very concentrated and listening to our directions, but also sharing their feelings on some specific scenes with us. You can’t control stress. When it appears, you have to handle it and get rid of it as soon as possible by finding the right solutions. We didn’t stop doing this for 3 days. The most helpful against stress is to be reactive, not being overwhelmed or lost without answers to possible pro-blems.

thinking about all of the videos she has done during the past years (most of them turning to be mythical ones).

We all know that Madonna is also famous for being a perfec-tionist and that she knows exactly what she wants even be-fore developing a particular project. Can you confirm? How would you describe your collaboration with her from a hu-man and artistic point of view?

Madonna is a perfectionist, we realised that during the rehearsals. During the filming, and even after, during post-production, she always kept an eye on the film and never let go what she wanted to get. At the same time, she didn’t want to impose us a specific vi-sion and so she gave us the opportunity to think about the project on our own. We came up with the idea right away, the concept, the sets and what we wanted for the public to see. She left us free to do what we had in mind and only showed up when she felt we were running away from the original idea.

Speaking about concepts, what was the one behind “4 Minu-tes”? Did it evolve during the filming?

We wrote the video’s concept after our own understanding of the title. When we first listened to “4 Minutes”, we went through diffe-rent feelings that we all wrote down on paper: some kind of emer-gency, a very strong relationship between Madonna and Justin, with Timbaland as the narrator, the idea of something you can’t avoid, that something was there and was following them, at the same time relating to our own universe.

Weird or funny things usually happen while on the set of a video or movie. Would you share a few behind the scenes me-mories with us?

In the video, there is a scene that was filmed in a bathroom built on a set and Madonna was supposed to put her hand in the bath-tub at some point. Once all of the cameras were ready, the bath-tub was supposed to be filled and put on the set. To us, it sounded like that it could be done within a few minutes before we could get to shoot the related scene with Madonna, but the bathtub was much more deeper than we thought it was! There was no sink close to the set, and buckets of water would have to be carried again and again. It couldn’t be done faster so everybody started to help filling up the bathtub (electricians, assistants, art department, people on set….us). We were more than 20 people around it.

The Cadillac made us laugh too as it was really huge and we had that « man with big muscles » pushing it. Then Madonna had fun playing on the shiny and slippery car hood while wearing high-heeled boots. She was supposed to walk on it in the first place, but we then found a more sexy way for her to step over it!

Chris Cunningham directed the ‘Frozen’ video back in 1998, which was filmed in the Mojave desert. When Madonna got to watch the very first roughs of it, she called Cunningham in the middle of the night, being afraid the images wouldn’t fit the original concept of the video. What was her feedback after watching the ‘4 Minutes’ video for the very first time?

The video was already working without the effects. The effects just add the graphic and dramatic dimension that was missing. Madonna kept an eye on the post-production process and could see finished scenes, including effects. She liked and approved all of the steps of it, and at the end of the day, we came up with something that we all found very interesting and unique. Then Madonna found a way to make us add more stuff than we thou-ght we would! And it really helped the finalized video. The view from the interior of the effect was an idea we developed with the graphic crew. We wanted to add some effects where we thought we couldn’t and that was Madonna who pushed us to work on such solutions.

In addition to the ‘4 Minutes’ video, you’ve also worked on the new Flairs. What are your projects for the next 12 months?

The Flairs video was released at the same time as ‘4 Minutes’. They are 2 very different videos: process, budget, concept and result… Anyway, it’s good for us to show that we work like schizophrenic people! We receive projects for advertising, look for people we’d like to work with. Everything depends on the idea and the music. Nothing is decided yet but we are working on it.

Guys, thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions. Do you have a personal message for Madonna?

Yes, of course! We would like to thank her for her trust in us. We’ve already given her our personal messages, but we’d also love to say that we are ready to sign on for another 3/4 months adventure, working on another video with her!

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INTERVIEW

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INTERVIEW

There is a very special man involved in Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation. Someone who understood Madonna’s desire to make things change in Malawi the very second she asked him to join her. Someone who understood that loving someone else at least as much as himself could make a difference. He is not the kind of person you will find posing for photographers. No, he prefers to give the best of him to people who are in the need. He is someone we admire, but also a man who doesn’t take no for an answer, just like Madonna. Philippe Van Den Bossche is most certainly the best person to tell you more about Madon-na’s involvement in the whole Raising Malawi project. Let’s learn more about him through this exclusive interview.

Dear Philippe, Welcome to Icon, Madonna’s Official Fan Club. As the Executive Director for Raising Malawi and Director of De-velopment for the Spirituality for Kids Foundation, you are the man behind causes close to Madonna’s heart. Would you tell us a little more about you and why you decided to get involved in both projects?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my experiences with you. It’s always an honor to serve madonna and communi-cate the power of her intention. I have been involved with many projects around the world (for madonna and others) – projects that help those in need. And i am motivated by the belief that “we can never truly be happy in life – not really happy - until we care for other people at least as much as we care for ourselves.” So, several years ago, i decided that i would, in my small way, work to quietly serve two masters: the most vulnerable people in the developing world, and those who possess the greatest resources. I see myself as a middle man between those who want to share their gifts and those who need those gifts most. Over time, i have learned that madonna is really my favourite philanthropist. She’s a model of intelligence, compassion, commitment, sharing and tenacity. So, when madonna asked for my help, i knew that she would pursue her philanthropy as she does her career, and i had to be a part of that.

You are behind the whole Raising Malawi project, helping Ma-donna to spread the word on a really great and important cau-se. What is your day-to-day schedule made of? What about the collaboration process between you and Madonna?

I see myself as a manifestor. Every day, i try to create a series legen-dary accomplishments – not of profit and gain, but of contribu-tion. I simply help madonna create the projects that are most closely connected to her values. She loves to care for all children in need, especially girls who are abused and repressed – which is why we are now creating an innovative, progressive and sustaina-ble academy for girls in malawi.

Earlier this month, you’ve attended ‘A Night to Benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF’ with Madonna in New York. How did it all happen? How would you describe that very special night and the way it helped spreading the word?

The event, like everything we do, was an incredible collaboration – a collaboration between GUCCI, the United Nations, UNICEF and RAISING MALAWI. The experience for me was evidence that we are turning a page in our culture. That people all over the world (not just the wealthy and powerful) are starting to realize that we all share a common fate. That we have a responsibility to help the poorest and weakest members of society. That it’s not just something that we should do, but something that we will do—together.

So many celebrities attended the event, including some of Ma-donna’s close friends. How did you feel when all those famous people joined you and Madonna on the red carpet, ready to do-nate of their time and financial help?

My personal mission is to help create great change in the world by leveraging the gifts of the world’s agents of change. And, many of them were at the event. I knew that the depth of their generosity would motivate and inspire others, especially the countless fans and supporters who admire them, to feel that they too can join Madonna in this effort. On a personal level, this event felt like the manifestation of 2 years of hard work and commitment.

You’ve joined Madonna on her last two visits to Malawi and already went there several times during the past years. How can you describe her reaction when she first met with all those children? Would you say that the woman you saw that day had nothing to do with the one singing and dancing on stage?

That kind of journey has a profound impact on anyone willing to embark on it, and Madonna is no different. I think any mother who meets a young child who is leading his or her household or an

infant who is dying of treatable illness is moved on a very deep level. What I saw that day was a woman who could connect with chil-dren experiencing overwhelming pain and chaos; a woman who could share their suffering; a woman who would make a lifelong commitment to raise their standard of life. It was not her position in the world, but rather her humanity and compassion that was dis-played.

When visiting the Raising Malawi website, you can’t help but feel moved after looking at those pictures and the mix of joy and pain you can see in those children’s eyes. Do you get to talk to them when visiting the country? Put aside their situation and own culture, are they different from children you would meet in other parts of the world?

I do have an opportunity to connect with these children during my visits, and in many ways those are the relationships that provide me with the strongest motivation to do more. There is one child in par-ticular that inspires me and haunts me to this day. I met him during my first visit; he was about 10 years old and he was the head of his household, which unfortunately is very common in certain parts of Malawi. Within moments of meeting him I knew that I had to do everything I could to help him. I also knew that this was going to be a challenge: if I was to give him money to buy food or medicine or a pair of shoes, he would become vulnerable to theft and attacks from older children. All I could do was try in my own way to make him feel really special and let him know that he had value. While spending time with him, I discovered that despite everything that he had suffered through: poverty, parental loss, chronic hunger—he was exactly the same as any other child in the world. A few months later, I found out that he had died of AIDS. After experiencing this kind of personal loss, it has become so important to me that we all recognize that we are equal. That these children are no different than children in any other part of the world—no different than our own children. And they need our help and support.

Three years ago, most of us had never heard of Malawi. Thanks to your amazing work and to Madonna’s devotion to the cause, we now know more about the situation there. How did donations help since the creation of Raising Malawi and what are the main goals for the future?

At the end of the day, you can have an incredible program, the most experienced team, and the best of intentions, but if you don’t have the necessary funding, those programs are not going to be effecti-ve—they are not going to manifest lasting results. Having said that, the overwhelming response that Raising Malawi has received be-cause of Madonna’s involvement and personal commitment is ha-ving a tremendous impact on the lives of Malawi’s children. We have been able to expand feeding programs, place doctors and dentists in orphan care centres, scale up our commitment to providing psy-cho-social support to abused and traumatized children—and this is only the beginning. Our main goal for the future is to constantly improve the work we are already doing. If we can create a precedent in Malawi—a country that many had previously written off as “hopeless”—then we can also help a lot of other children who are in need elsewhere.

In collaboration with Consol Homes, Raising Malawi recently opened an Orphan Care Centre. What is the main purpose of the centre? Did you go to Malawi since its inauguration?

The philosophy behind the Orphan Care Centre—and of all of our work in Malawi—is simple: empower and support the smartest and most dedicated people on the ground and in the villages. Give the mothers and grandmothers and village headmen the resources they need to help create a better future for their children. As we provide daily meals, medical care, educational scholarships, and psycho-social support through the Orphan Care Centre, we also seek the input of the entire village on how to best manage this pro-cess. We have hired many of the widows and elderly caretakers in the community to work with us at the Orphan Care Centre, which is very much appreciated by the villagers. I’m proud to say that I have been to Malawi many times since the inauguration and I can tell you that the village is so proud and than-kful to have the Orphan Care Centre. Moreover, the children really have the education to succeed – not just survive- in their lives.

Philippe, thousands of Madonna fans are going to read this in-terview. As the man who gives so much of his time and efforts into the Raising Malawi project, what would you like to tell them about the different ways to get involved and help you and Ma-donna to “Raise Malawi”?

I would first ask them to adopt the philosophy that we all have the responsibility and power to help these children – even though we may not be celebrities or aid workers; even though we night think we have few gifts to share. I would ask them to understand that if we all just cared a little bit more, and then took action to prove our care - even if only in our small way - that the world would be a better place. I would ask them to make a commitment to dedicate an hour or two a week or a month to help children in need—it’s so easy to do. Contact us, we will help you. You can do it from home.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions Philippe. On a more personal note, is there something you would like to say to Madonna about her fi-ght for children in Malawi but never got to tell her before?

I think even Shakespeare would find it difficult to choose words that adequately convey the deep sense of gratitude, respect and love I have for Madonna. I have become a better person because of her. I think the best thing I could tell her is “Thank You.” Everyone should realize that behind the exterior is a woman who is using every ounce of her energy, intelligence, resources and love to improve the world.

For more info about Raising Malawi or to get involved, please visit www.raisingmalawi.org

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INTERVIEW

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MEETING HER FANS

On March, 10 2008, Madonna was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame. In order for one to receive such honor one needs to be a living legend, an artist who has brought a lot to the music world. Madonna is without question one of those people and has proved to be the most successfull female artist in history. When it comes to accepting an award, our girl can be quite shy. But this time, she came up with a speech those in attendance will not soon forget. Making funny references to her early years, she also shared some facts even her most devoted fans didn’t know. She most likely had a blast writing and reading it... But maybe not as much as Liz “The Validator” Rosenberg while discovering what the Material Girl had to say about her first encounter with her! We asked Madonna to give us a copy of her memorable speech as we’re sure that you’ll enjoy reading it again and again…

It’s a great honor to receive this award and I am grateful and appreciative for the acknowledgement that this implies but there is something finite about an award and I would like to reflect for a moment on the things in my life which have not been and continue to not be finite.I have always, been fortunate to have people around me that believed in me. Starting with my ballet teacher in Detroit Michigan, Christopher Flynn, who told me at the age of 14 that I was special and that I should go out into the world and follow my dreams. I can assure you I did not feel special at the time and those words meant everything to me. And then there was Dan Gilroy. He lived in an abandoned synagogue in Queens with his brother Ed and they had a band together. Dan was my boyfriend at the time and I was sick of being an out of work dancer so he taught me how to play the guitar. When Dan and Ed were away at there day jobs I would practice playing the drums to Elvis Costello records. I would practice the 4 chords I learned on the guitar. I wrote my first song in that synagogue. It was called Ironically, Tell The Truth. I remember the hair standing up on my arms when I finished it and thinking, “Who wrote that song?? That wasn’t me.” It was almost as if I was possessed by some kind of magic. And that magic continues to miraculously possess me.And even now my Manager Guy Oseary, who is out there in the audience, says to me almost everyday, “M, anything is possible. What do you want to achieve” and I know that he means it.35 years later people are still encouraging me to believe in my dreams.What more could I ask for?There is a saying in the Talmud that for every blade of grass there is an angel that watches over it and whispers Grow, Grow. I can still hear those angels whispering.And even the nay sayers, the ones who said I was talentless, that I couldn’t sing, that I wouldn’t last. They helped me too. They made me question myself and they made me push harder. And I am grateful for their resistance. I know that I would not be up here right now without all of it.Without all of you. Because life, like art, is a collaboration. I did not get here on my own. And why would I want to? There is no way I could have ever imagined that my life would have unfurled as it has. In one way it feels like a series of suddenly’s.One day I was a struggling dancer in Manhattan and then suddenly I was tea-ching myself to play the drums in a synagogue in Queens.

Then suddenly I was in a band, doing gigs at CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City and then suddenly I was meeting Seymour Stein hooked up to an IV drip in a hospital.Then suddenly I was signed to Sire Records and then Suddenly I was rolling around in a wedding dress at the MTV awards with my underpants showing and one of my high heels missing and my manager, in the dressing room afterwards, white as a ghost was freaking out and telling me my career was over.Then suddenly I was on the stage of Madison Square Garden and every girl was dressed like me.

And then suddenly and suddenly and suddenly.That’s one way of looking at it.

The other way of looking at it, is that everything happened exactly as it was supposed to happen.That I worked with the amazing people I was supposed to work with, That I travelled to the places I was supposed to travel to,That I made the mistakes I was supposed to make,That the Universe would conspire to help me and guide me all the way up to this moment in time where I finally have the chance to say “Thank You to so many People”

First and foremost my record company Warner Bros. whom I have been with for my entire recording career.Not many people can say that.Then there’s Michael Rosenblatt who more or less discovered me in a ni-ght club, he told me he was an A and R guy at Sire Records. I had no idea what that meant but it sounded important so I jammed my demo tape into his hand and after taking a tab of extacy with him and dancing the night away I was introduced to the next person I need to thank. That’s Seymour Stein. To know Seymour is to love him. Who takes mee-tings with people when they’re gravely ill in a hospital bed?? I mean I thought the guy was going to die but he asked me to play my music for him on the boombox I was carrying so I did. I am happy to say that Sey-mour is still with us, alive and well.

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OK so far we have synagogues, nightclubs and hospitals.Does any of this sound strange?? Believe me it just got stranger.The next person I have to thank is Liz Rosenberg. She was and still is the head of publicity at Warner Brothers Records. Does anyone understand the insanity of being my publicist for the last 25 years?I think she was smoking a joint the first time I met her. Of course she put it out as soon as I walked in the room but I knew we were going to hit it off. She was tough and irreverent and funny. My kind of girl. After dealing with the nutcases she has had to deal with and putting out the fires she has had to put out it’s a wonder she isn’t shooting up heroin now.I don’t mean to grass everyone up or make it sound like I ended up with a bunch of drug addicts. The reality is that I ended up with a group of very responsible hard working, people who gave me enormous amounts of love and support along with everyone else at my record company.

So then I needed a manager. I asked myself, “Self, who is the most success-ful artist in the music business today?” And my Self answered back, “Michael Jackson” So oF I went to LA to find the man who managed Michael Jackson and make him MY manager. Cut to Freddy DeMann, the ultimate Mac Daddy manager, slicked back hair, tanned, smelling of very expensive cologne.He had a Big Desk, He smoked a cigar, He drove a Porsche, He gave me a ride back to my hotel in that Porsche and by the time we got there he managed me. We had an amazing 15 years together, he taught me a lot in those 15 years and I am very grateful for that wisdom.And it’s while I was with Freddy that I met this cocky Israeli teenager named Guy Oseary. He was like Freddy’s step and fetch it boy. He was always putting

his 2 cents in, especially when I did not ask for it. He was the most ambitious, confident, idealistic, hungry for knowledge 18 year olds I had ever met. He kept pestering me with his ideas, he never stopped scheming, he was relentless. And today he is my manager and I know he would fly to the ends of the earth for me. Thank you Guy. But what’s a record label and a manager without the music?Without Nile Rodgers, Pat Leonard, Baby Face, Joe Henry, William Orbit, Mi-rwais Amadzai, Stuart Price, Pharrell and now Justin Timberlake and Timba-land. I feel so lucky to have been able to work with such gifted and talented songwriters and producers.Thank you.

To my Fans who have stuck by me through thick and thin, God knows there has been a lot of thick. Thank you. To the Semtex Girls, who are my soldiers and I know they would walk throu-gh the fire with me. Thank you.

To my teachers my friends, and my family,I thank you all for facilitating this journey which for me has only just begun.And for reminding me that I am only the manager of my talent, not the owner.

I have gone on to do many things in my life, fr