Tuesday, May 23, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.
That Madonna - is she starved for attention or what?
It has taken just a single performance on her "Confessions" world tour for the 47-year-old pop diva to ignite some controversy from the stage. On Sunday during the tour's sold-out opener at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., Madonna sang the ballad "Live to Tell" while being crucified (theatrically) on a mirrored cross while donning a crown of thorns.
The Church of England was swift with a response. In a statement, the church said: "Why would someone with so much talent seem to feel the need to promote herself by offending so many people?"
Madonna performs Saturday and Sunday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and MGM officials are not concerned.
"We don't get involved in the artistic expression of performers," MGM Mirage Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Alan Feldman said. "What they say personally or politically is their business. It's up to the public to make decisions about who they want to see."
It isn't the first time Madonna used biblical references to promote her music. Her "Like a Prayer" video was met with condemnation from the Vatican for the use of burning crosses and depiction of a black Jesus character.
But according to a review in the L.A. Daily News, the crowd Monday at the Forum showed little response to the mock crucifixion, even though the Forum is owned by the Faithful Central Bible Church, which holds Sunday services at the former home of the L.A. Lakers and Kings.
Probably, the absence of shock from the crowd was because Madonna also incorporated the requisite collection of seminude backup dancers, innumerable costume changes, a giant crystal disco ball, jodhpurs, a top hat, a jeweled riding crop, a profane scolding of President Bush during "Don't Speak," and images of combat, world leaders and even equines into the dance-heavy production.
Note Mart
Fare play: Inspired (probably) by the fuzzy orange cabs unleashed on Las Vegas roadways by promoters of "Avenue Q" at Wynn Las Vegas, Red Rock Resort last month rolled out 21 Crown Victoria cabs painted in the hotel-casino's multistriped logo. The cabs are driven primarily on the Strip and will roam the streets through September. The number 21 was chosen for its tie-in to blackjack - but don't yell "hit me!" at the drivers (ba-dum-bum!) ...
Yet another wardrobe malfunction: After being introduced by Reba McEntire at a news conference Monday at the Las Vegas Hilton's Shimmer Cabaret, new Hilton headliners Brooks & Dunn recalled an episode from a previous performance at the showroom that was once home to Elvis Presley. Before the show an employee at the venue showed Kix Brooks a bejeweled cape once worn onstage by Presley. The employee then asked if Brooks wanted to wear the garment during the show, and Brooks could not resist.
As his performing partner, Ronnie Dunn, sat on a stool and sang, Brooks approached from behind and slipped the cape across his shoulders. "It smelled like mothballs, so I tossed it to a woman in the first row," Dunn said. That move created a brief panic among the valuable cape's caretakers, but the cape was retrieved and "put back with the mothballs," as Dunn said. Brooks & Dunn are set to perform during National Finals Rodeo week, from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6, and are scheduled to headline in March, July and December of 2007 ...
Deal her in: Vocalist Celine Dion, who has a popular show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, is scheduled to make a special appearance on the $5 million season finale of NBC's "Deal or No Deal," which is evidently a game show hosted by Howie Mandel that I am looking forward to watching sometime ...
Zolten of swing: Announced Monday was the arrival of Zolten Penn Jillette, the second child of Penn Jillette and his wife, Emily. The child, which Jillette jokingly noted has the same first name as the dog of Dracula, weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces. It is the second child for Penn, 51, and Emily, 40; Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette was born in June 2005 ...
They are family: Opening at the Sahara tonight are "The Scintas," who have signed a reported three-year, $20 million deal with the hotel. The indefatigable showbiz clan from Buffalo, N.Y. - Frankie, Joe and Chrissi Scinta and "Irish" Scinta Peter O'Donnell - promise new material mixed with standard fare for the variety production, which runs Tuesdays through Sundays at the Sahara's Main Showroom ...
Runner-up for "V": In another debut, vocalist and "American Idol" finalist Trenyce opens tonight as headliner in the David Saxe production "V, The Ultimate Variety Show" at the V Theater in the Desert Passage mall at the Aladdin. Trenyce was a top-five finalist in 2003, the year Ruben Studdard topped Clay Aiken for the "American Idol" title ...
While on hold ...: The MGM Grand hold music is not music, it is (in part) a segment of Dennis Miller's stand-up act. So while on hold Monday, I got to hear Miller intone, "You know what the best job in the world would be? Coroner. Operating on dead people. I mean, what could possibly go wrong there?" Miller performs June 15 through June 19 at the Hollywood Theater ...
A restaurant nugget: Jerry's Famous Coffee Shop, formerly the Canal Street Cafe, opens Sunday at Jerry's Nugget at 1821 Las Vegas Boulevard North. A famous locals' hangout, Jerry's opened in 1964 ...
More Vegas history: If you care to know what it was like in Vegas generations ago (and I keep hearing "smaller" and "better"), check out the discussion titled "Growing Up In Classic Las Vegas," set for tonight at 7 at Nevada State Museum and Historical Society at Lorenzi Park, 700 Twin Lakes Drive. Taking part will be longtime Las Vegans Ed Von Tobel, George Foley Sr., Gail and Donna Andress, Emmett Sullivan and Mary Cashman. The moderator will be historian Lynn Zook. Admission is free ...
Coincidentally, I have a fear of tailgating: A colleague checks in with the vanity plate PHOBIA on a black Nissan Frontier with heavily tinted windows.
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