Madonna made sure orphaned children in Malawi had a merry Christmas – she sent boxes of toys, clothes and other gifts to her charity in the African country.

The Holiday hitmaker brought some festive cheer to parentless children by shipping the aid packages – which also contained chocolate and sweets – to staff at the Raising Malawi foundation to hand out to local kids.

She included a handwritten note reading: “To my Malawi children on Christmas and Boxing Day. I wish I was with you. See you soon, M.”

Source: Contact Music

“Give It 2 Me” producer Pharrell Williams confirmed in the recent interview with The Herald Sun that he is involved in a new project with Madonna.

Speaking from a Miami studio, Williams reels off an equally jam-packed calendar for 2011. "I've just been all over the place from project to project. Right now I'm working on lil' Neptunes music," he says. "And there's another Despicable Me. We've also got some stuff going on with Madonna."

Source: The Herald Sun

American music video and theatrical films director Mark Romanek (who also directed Madonna’s videos for Rain and Bedtime Story) talks about Madonna’s new movie W.E.

Source: All About Madonna

Merry Christmas to all the readers of MadgeTribe. You are all amazing and I’m thankful for everyone of you and all your comments. Have great and joyful holidays, whatever you might be doing ;)

Madonna’s longtime producer John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez is being sued for $10million over royalties from her hit song Holiday.
Benitez offered the track to the pop superstar back in 1983 when she was recording her debut album – and it became her first hit single.
He agreed at the time that all royalties would be split between him and the Spirit One Music group, with Jellybean responsible for distributing the cash, according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
But Spirit insists Jellybean reneged on the deal – and has held back at least $10million owed to the firm.
Jellybean ‘repeatedly and unrepentantly misstated and underreported revenues due to its joint owner, Spirit,’ and ‘repeatedly, systematically and intentionally made delinquent and tardy payments’ to Spirit, according to the lawsuit.
The suit says Benitez has ‘concocted flimsy, bad-faith excuses for its inaccuracy.’
Spirit wants $10million in allegedly unpaid royalties, said Spirit’s lawyer, Wallace Collins. Representatives for Benitez did not respond to requests for comment.

Source: Splash

With snow causing shutdowns at UK airports, passengers on a diverted Virgin Atlantic flight from New York are complaining, not about the weather but about special treatment given Madonna and her entourage.
Flight VS010 was supposed to land at Heathrow, but was instead diverted to Standsted Airport, where passengers sat on the plane for nearly three hours -- except for Madonna, who was reportedly allowed to disembark two hours before everyone else.
"After about an hour, a bus came along and took her and her party of about 15 off the plane. It seemed a -- little unfair -- it's not like she is the President or anything. The rest of us all had to wait for another two hours," a disgruntled fellow passenger tells the UK's Daily Mail.
A statement from Virgin, obtained by AOL Travel News, says the plane was diverted "due to very difficult weather conditions" and the disembarkation was delayed by ground crew until buses arrived to take passengers to London's Heathrow. "We apologize for any inconvenience this diversion caused, but for safety reasons this action was unavoidable."
As for Madonna's special treatment, Virgin says, "It is common across airlines that business- and first-class passengers disembark first and this is reflected in the higher cost of the ticket."
But the unidentified passenger, who was also in Virgin's Upper Class, says "Madonna was taken off the plane way before the rest of the first-class people. We were all grumbling about it."
The passenger also complains the Queen of Pop used her hour-long delay to do yoga in the plane's aisles.

Source: AOL

Its official! I need to move. I need to sweat. I need to make new music! Music I can dance to. I'm on the look out for the maddest, sickest, most bad ass people to collaborate with. I'm just saying...... – Madonna

Source: Madonna’s official Facebook, Guy Oseary’s Twitter

Madonna in partnership with her manager Guy Oseary and Mark Mastrov, Chairman of New Evolution Ventures (NeV), announced the opening of the second Hard Candy Fitness Center in Moscow which is projected to open in mid-March 2011.
The new facility will be a beautifully designed and unique 35,000 square foot space located near Red Square. Moscow’s Hard Candy Fitness will also include a partnership with Irina Razumova, founder of the well know Russian chain Planet Fitness. The news of the Moscow location comes on the heels of a successful grand opening for the brand’s premiere location last week in Mexico City, which featured a special dance class taught by Madonna.
“It’s especially exciting to have the second Hard Candy Fitness open in Moscow as I really enjoyed the city and the people when I visited during my ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour.’ Working in collaboration with the experts at NeV and Irina, I know that we will create the ideal workout environment in Moscow that represents my health and fitness philosophy as well as include innovative and inspiring programs,” commented Madonna.
Mastrov, his partner Jim Rowley of NeV, along with Madonna and Oseary are in the planning stages of opening 10 additional Hard Candy locations in Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Europe and Asia. They are currently exploring opportunities around the globe for facilities that will offer a unique member experience in all aspects including curriculum, environment and fashion.
Throughout her career, Madonna has been devoted to fitness and well being. Having worked out in hundreds of gyms around the world, she developed a strong vision on what the ideal exercise, dance and workout environment should look like. The vision took shape during an initial meeting between Mark Mastrov, the innovator behind some of the World’s best known Fitness Brands and Guy Oseary early in 2008. Mastrov has built a fitness empire of over 1100 clubs in over 20 countries. "Our goal is to create an environment around the world inspired by Madonna's vision and high standards. Hard Candy Fitness Centers will be a reflection of Madonna's point of view and will reveal her input on every detail including music, design and class curriculum. Madonna's touch will be everywhere," stated Mastrov.
The Moscow Hard Candy Fitness Center along with others in the planning stages will include proprietary Hard Candy Fitness programming inspired by Madonna and her dance team, a Bike Studio as well as a Mind Body Studio, featuring The Great Wall, where members can practice BarWorks, Sculpting, Capoeira and the newest trends in Yoga. It will also house a healthy alternative Juice Bar/Café and lavish locker rooms.
Members will benefit from state of the art cardiovascular equipment with personal viewing screens, more than 60 pieces of strength equipment/free weights and the best group fitness, functional training accessories using brands including Precor, Marpo Kinetics, Hoist, Free Motion, StarTrac and TRX suspension training. “We are so excited and honored to be able to open the Hard Candy Fitness brand here in Moscow. Madonna has been an inspiration for us all and we can’t wait to bring this beautiful facility to life,” said Irina Razumova, partner with Hard Candy Fitness and NeV.

Source: Madonna.com