Pop star Madonna was booed during a concert in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday night when she urged the Eastern European crowd to be tolerant of Roma, otherwise known as the Gypsy population.

The Roma have recently been the victims of targeted killings in Hungary, and they face discrimination in many parts of Europe.

In an effort to bring attention to that, Madonna took a break from performing during her concert in Bucharest to say, “I’ve been paying attention to news reports, and it’s been brought to my attention that there’s a lot of discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in Eastern Europe, and that makes me feel very sad,” she said. “Because we don’t believe in discrimination against anyone, we believe in freedom and equal rights for everyone, right?”

In reaction, Madonna got boos from the crowd, although some fans also showed support for her comments by applauding. Many Roma in Eastern Europe live below the poverty line, and in parts of Eastern Europe it has been common for some to show their hatred of the Roma by displaying the swastika and other Nazi symbols. Many Eastern Europeans have also bristled at any criticism of the way the Roma are treated in their countries, especially if it comes from someone who is not from that part of the world. As a visitor on tour  from the United States, Madonna no doubt ran into that obstacle with the crowd in Bucharest.

See the reaction from a member of the audience with a handheld camera, in the video link below.

So, Madonna penned an article about Jewish mysticism for an Israeli newspaper, and that made some headlines on Wednesday.

But the online world was still buzzing about a photo of the Material Girl that a pair of British newspapers put on their websites on Tuesday, showing Madonna’s arms looking veiny and bulging, like the guns an arm wrestling champion might sport, or a veteran seaman.

The photo was shown here on the website of British publication The Daily Mirror, and here at the Telegraph. (The photos shown on this blog page are from Reuters, and neither one is the photo in question of Madonna, which appears to have been taken on the street in London)

Liz Rosenberg, a spokeswoman for Madonna, said in an email to Reuters that the “4 Minutes” singer has been the victim of some strong-armed photo altering.

“Madonna’s arms do not look like the photo that has been shown this past week in papers and the photograph was obviously altered or photoshopped in some way,” Rosenberg said. “Like Michelle Obama, Madonna has beautiful and very impressive arms.”

Michelle Obama, the U.S. first lady, was the subject of endless media reports earlier this year, after she posed sleeveless in a White House portrait.

The Mirror and the Telegraph continued showing the picture on their websites on Wednesday. MatrixPhotos, which is credited in the Telegraph piece as the agency that took the photo, did not return an email from Reuters seeking comment.

Plenty of media reports have commented on Madonna’s strenuous workout regimen as a possible reason for her buff look. The website Gossipcop.com has weighed in, rating the bicep story and photo a 4 on the 1-to-10 scale of rumor or real, with 10 being real, giving credence to the idea that the image was altered.

Madonna has won her appeal for the right to adopt a second child from Malawi, after a court overturned an earlier ruling blocking the bid, and the 50-year-old queen of pop is likely to face further criticism for her actions.

Local rights groups in Malawi have complained that Madonna has been given special treatment by the judicial system because of her status and wealth, and many people question whether taking a child from its native environment is necessarily a good thing.

Her divorce last year from Guy Ritchie, which has brought with it decisions over custody of their children, appears not to have concerned Malawi’s supreme court unduly. The Madonna brood already comprises daughter Lourdes, born in 1996, Ritchie’s son Rocco, born in 2000, and David Banda, a boy adopted from Malawi. Malawian Mercy James would make it four.

On Friday, Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo said Madonna had shown an interest in helping Malawi orphans and that four-year-old Mercy would have a better life with the star. Madonna has set up a charity called Raising Malawi which plans to build a school for girls in Chikhota village.

Do you think Malawi’s supreme court was right to overturn the earlier decision, thus allowing the adoption to go ahead?

For U.S. pop star Madonna, a photo speaks a thousand words.

She released a picture through Reuters on Monday of her holding a sleeping four-year-old Malawian girl named Mercy James, whom she still hopes to adopt despite a court ruling in the southern African country preventing her from doing so.

The photo was first published in Malawi’s Nation on Sunday newspaper. Madonna has lodged an appeal against a High Court decision earlier this month that said she could not adopt Mercy because she was not a resident of Malawi.

Malawi’s government came under fire after Madonna adopted a 13-month-old David Banda in 2006, with critics accusing it of giving the star special treatment by skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children.

“I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and healthcare possible. And it’s my hope that she like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country,” Madonna told the Nation on Sunday newspaper.

Madonna in Malawi courtHow much she actually cares only Madonna can say. But there are signs that opinion is turning against the singer over her bid to adopt a second child from Malawi. The 50-year-old appeared in court in the southern African country on Monday seeking to adopt four-year-old Mercy James, having already adopted David Banda.

The first case caused some controversy amid accusations that Madonna was given special treatment in Malawi allowing her to bend adoption rules. A similar outcry has met her latest adoption attempt with human rights activists in Malawi threatening to challenge the move and describing it as “child trafficking or kidnapping”. International aid groups have expressed concern over Madonna’s actions in Malawi and in the Western press there has been no shortage of negative reaction, largely in the form of opinion pieces.

In the Daily Mail, Allison Pearson, who defended Madonna when she adopted David, opines that Madonna’s recent divorce from British director Guy Ritchie and decision to move back to New York with the kids may not be good for David. She also described Mercy as a “prop in her (Madonna’s) ongoing mid-life crisis”. Reflecting the other side of the debate, Liz Hunt in the Telegraph supports the pop star, saying that whatever we think about Madonna and her lifestyle she deserves our admiration, not abuse.

Madonna and her team do seem to be aware of the criticism. In a statement released to Reuters on Tuesday, her spokeswoman mentioned “a lot of misinformation out in the press”, said that she is “not skirting any legal issues” and explained that Madonna “is looking to provide a loving family environment” for Mercy.

Curious about what your favorite singer listens to on their iPod?

Here comes a chance not only to find out, but to buy the personal playlist and the autographed iPod of 70 celebrities ranging from Madonna and Beyonce to Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears and fashion designer Marc Jacob.

Philanthropic Web site Tonic.com is auctioning off  between one and five of  the signed iPods every week from now until August and sending all the money directly to benefit Music Rising — an organization that replaces musical instruments that were lost or destroyed by Katrina and other hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region.

First up is Mariah Carey (clearly a big hip-hop fan), Gwen Stefani whose tastes range from Prince to Joni Mitchell, country star Faith Hill (who seems to have a fondness for someone called Tim McGraw?!) and Pete Wentz ( Mamma Mia! and the musical Wicked!??).

Music royalty will gather in Los Angeles on Sunday for the 51st annual Grammys but despite a dazzling star line-up, few big labels are throwing the glitzy after-parties of yesteryear given the recession and industry’s years-long malaise.

Some industry watchers even think the Grammys, which have seen viewership slide, need a facelift to revamp several award categories and change the show’s format to stay current with a generation of fans who have long bypassed mainstream music events.

“The Grammys are looking pretty long in the tooth when you consider the fragmentation of the music culture” said Robert Thompson, professor of culture at Syracuse University.

As usual, the broadcast will be performance-heavy, featuring best album nominees; best new artist nominees Adele and the Jonas Brothers; and veterans such as Paul McCartney and U2.
The night’s top contenders are rapper Lil Wayne with eight nominations and British rock band Coldplay with seven.

The economic crisis is just the latest insult to the music business which has lost its groove and 33 percent in U.S. album sales since 2000 amid a faster-than-predicted shift to digital distribution. But despite all the gloom and doom, the beat goes on. “A lot of people have in the industry have been beaten up in the past few years although the art form is vibrant,” said Mike McGuire, analyst with Gartner.

“We have to find a solution to the economic woes, but this is still a celebration of the artistic product, whether people are buying it or not,” said entertainment attorney Jay Cooper.

 Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” is vying in the best album category against “In Rainbows” by fellow British rockers, Radiohead, which bypassed major labels to distribute the album on its own Web site at a price to be determined by consumers. It later released the album through a small label owned by rocker Dave Matthews.

Another indie release is considered the favorite: “Raising Sand,” an acclaimed collaboration between former Led Zeppelin rocker Robert Plant and American bluegrass singer Alison Krauss, while two rappers are also vying for the prize: Lil Wayne with “Tha Carter III” and Ne-Yo with “Year of the Gentleman.”

The album of the year is just one of 110 categories, with prizes to be given out in such genres as country, pop, reggae, bluegrass, polka, blues and spoken word. All but a dozen awards are hurriedly handed out before the main event kicks off at 8 p.m. EST (1 a.m. GMT Monday)

U.S. pop star Madonna has won a bid to move her children to the United States from Britain, ending a battle in her brutal divorce with British director Guy Ritchie, London’s Evening Standard newspaper reported on Friday.

The paper reported that Ritchie had wanted the couple’s biological son Rocco, 8, to be educated in Britain, but that Madonna’s lawyers argued he should not be split up from his siblings, Lourdes, 12, Madonna’s daughter from a previous relationship, and David, 3, who was adopted from an orphanage in Malawi.

“Everything is going to be resolved in the next couple of weeks. Everything is going well. It’s pretty amicable at the moment. Things are progressing,” a source close to the negotiations told the Evening Standard.

Liz Rosenberg, Madonna’s longtime spokeswoman in New York, declined to comment on the report.

Madonna and Ritchie announced their split in October, nearly eight years after their wedding at Skibo Castle in Scotland, and were granted a “quickie” divorce in November.

Ritchie is a British film director who is making Hollywood blockbuster “Sherlock Holmes” starring Robert Downey Jr. as the Victorian-era super sleuth.

The couple’s combined wealth has been estimated at about $525 million, but Madonna accounts for most of it.

Newly-divorced Madonna is back in the spotlight as the latest celebrity to star in a series of advertisements for Louis Vuitton. Following in the footsteps of unlikely models Keith Richards, Sean Connery, Andre Agassi and Mikhail Gorbachev, Madonna is featured in Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer fashion campaign, photographed by her long-time collaborator Steven Meisel. The ads have 50-year-old Madonna in a sepia-toned setting reminiscent of a smokey, Paris cafe in the 1940s.

“I wanted the campaign to be very bold, very sensual and very atmospheric. To carry off all these references and all this sophistication, we needed the ultimate performer - and for me, that is Madonna,” Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs said in a statement.

The collaboration between Madonna and Louis Vuitton has created a buzz as the Material Girl has  previously appeared in ads for Gap, for her own collection for H&M and for Versace but has tended to avoid being allied with a single fashion label.

The ads will debut in fashion magazines by February.

Photo courtesy of Louis Vuitton

(Writing and reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
If tabloid rumors are to be believed,  baseball star Alex Rodriguez and pop diva Madonna have been spending a lot of time together, flying around the  country, planning to buy an apartment together and generally getting very up close and personal since their recent twin divorces.

But Rodriguez, 33, is not playing ball with all that talk.  After weeks of  silence about their  relationship,  the sports star  is trying to dispel talk of romance with Madonna, 50.

“We’re friends — that’s it,” Rodriguez told People magazine.
    
Rodriguez’s wife, Cynthia, filed for divorce in July, citing the slugger’s alleged infidelities following news reports that suggested Rodriguez and Madonna were romantically involved.
    
At the time, Madonna was still married to British film director Guy Ritchie.  Since then, the couple went through a lightning-fast divorce that was completed last month.

 “I can tell you this,” Rodriguez told People,  “I have never been on a plane with her.”

 ”I’ve been to two [of her] concerts, yet I’ve read that I went to 20. I’ve also read that we were buying an apartment together. That is absolutely ridiculous and not true.”

 When pressed on how much time they have spent together, and whether he had ever stayed the night at Madonna’s home, Rodriguez laughed: “If I answered every rumor, we’d be here for three weeks.”