- Title: UK: MADONNA'S BRIXTON ACADEMY GIG REACHES ON-LINE AUDIENCE OF NINE MILLION.
- Date: 28th November 2000
- Summary: MV: SOUNDBITE) (English) Tracey Blacher Marketing Manager of MSN says, "MSN havn't paid Madonna anything for the show at all. What we've done is provided all the bandwidth so it can be broadcast all around the world. Also what we're doing is providing millions of millions of ads banners in all thirty-three countries that MSN is available in - in seventeen languages to up to 210 million people world-wide."
- Embargoed: 13th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BRIXTON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: General,Technology
- Reuters ID: LVA19H80I0M2UUTSBACPB4TJ6E4W
- Story Text: Madonna wowed nine million fans in the world's biggest online show when she saddled up for her first British concert in seven years at the Brixton Academy in south London. Only 3,500 fans got the chance to see her latest incarnation as a discoed-up, rhinestone cowboy in the flesh, but fans at home didn't need to budge to see the pop icon's show, as the concert was webcast live on the internet.
Madonna may have bounced on stage for only half an hour singing just a handful of numbers -- but her first British concert in seven years pulled in a world record Webcast audience of nine million.
The Queen of pop's intimate London gig on Tuesday night (November 28) at south London's most famous music venue - Brixton Academy - was webcast live on the Internet and was predicted by Microsoft's MSN to be the biggest online show in history.
A lucky 3,500 ticket holders including celebrities from film and pop music and competition winners from all over the world saw the 42-year-old star, singing songs from her new album 'Music' as well as the odd old favourite at the UK gig.
The exclusivity had turned the show into a public relations triumph for Madonna's minders, with newspapers saying even the stars themselves were falling over each other to get in.
Newspapers reported that those "double A" names who made it on the list included Mick Jagger, George Michael and actor Ewan McGregor. There was speculation that Brad Pitt and new wife Jennifer Aniston were guests at the show - though they weren't spotted arriving.
Stars who were seen included British director Alan Parker, actor Alan Rickman as well as two of Australia's top singers Natalie Imbruglia and Kylie Minogue.
Joining the cream of the world of celebrity were some ordinary folk -- winners of radio and TV competitions and one couple, among the paying few, who bid 1,102 pounds ($1,560) each in a charity auction online.
Before the concert, MSN was hoping that millions around the world wouldl log on to watch the concert and predicted that inspite of the high demand, the website would cope.
It was the maturing Material Girl's first live Webcast -- and took place just three months after she gave birth to her son Rocco, underlining the stars' growing awareness of the power of the Net, even if viewer numbers are still tiny compared to live TV.
Madonna, who told Britain's Sun newspaper this week she planned to marry Rocco's father Guy Ritchie, a British film director, said the concert might be a warm-up to a new world tour next summer.
The mother of two confessed to nerves after seven years off the stage, but broke the ice with a low-key half-hour set earlier this month at New York's Roseland Ballroom.
Brixton, a multicultural inner-London suburb, last saw such tight security four years years ago when then South African president Nelson Mandela passed through on a walkabout.
The venue itself was decked out by fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana in the Wild West style that is the theme of the latest album. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None