By Dan Williams | Reuters 2 hrs 34 mins ago TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Pop superstar Madonna kicked off a new world tour on Thursday wishing peace on the Middle East even as she showcased grim dance routines depicting violence and bloody gunmen among her more colorful numbers. Madonna , 53, mixed hit songs over three decades in music with tunes from her recent album, "MDNA," before a packed audience, and she took a sly dig at younger diva, Lady Gaga . "She's not me!" Madonna sang at the end of "Express Yourself," which she had reworked to include a sampling of Lady Gaga's recent "Born This Way." That song from Lady Gaga, who emerged on the pop music scene about four years ago and has enjoyed a huge following in recent years, has been cited by many music fans and critics as being very similar to Madonna's late 1980s dance club smash. Since Lady Gaga, 26, released "Born This Way," fans and music lovers have speculated that a gener...

Madonna's tour costumes are a "journey" from start to finish. The singer's MDNA concert tour is set to kick off in Tel Aviv today, and the star has enlisted a team of expert costume designers to create an array of show-stopping looks. According to WWD, Madonna will wear a host of luxe designer labels on stage, including long-time collaborators Jean Paul Gaultier and Jeremy Scott. She will don footwear by Prada and Miu Miu and will also wear creations from American fashion designer Alexander Wang. Madonna's costume designer and stylist Arianne Phillips says the process has been a lengthy one, which will hopefully be represented on stage. Its a real journey from the first act to the fourth, and the way she constructs her shows is like a theatre piece, she told the US publication. Madonna will be joined on stage by backing singers, musicians and 22 backup dancers on the world tour. Italian label Dolce & Gabbana made suits for the band and singers. Fausto Puglisi ...

Madonna reportedly performed an interesting mash-up -- a mix of her 1989 song "Express Yourself" and Lady Gaga's 2011 song "Born This Way." Stories: Madonna reacts to daughter Lourdes smoking: 'I wasn't happy' Madonna's daughter Lourdes shaves her head Madonna posts Facebook photos of bruises, rehearsal with weapons The mash-up, which, according to Billboard was performed by Madonna during rehearsals for her concert in Tel Aviv on May 27, can be seen below. It might confirm to audiences what Madonna herself addressed in a previous interview with Newsweek , that the two songs were very similar. "Of course I heard it," said about "Born This Way" in the January interview. "How could I not? I think it was on the radio a few times. I thought, 'This is a wonderful way to redo my song.' I recognized the chord changes, I thought it was ... interesting." DJ White Shadow, the producer behind Lady Gaga's hit song, ...

May 29, 2012 10:07pm Email Smaller Font Text Larger Text | Print Pop icon Madonn a may have fired another salvo in the ongoing musical feud between her and Mother Monster Lady Gaga. The Material Girl reportedly may be using her upcoming concert tour as a forum to perform a Material Girl/Mother Monster mash-up. During a recent concert rehearsal in Israel, Madonna was caught on video performing her 1989 composition, Express Yourself, before transitioning into Lady Gagas Born This Way, complete with the sound of a revving motorcycle that is Gagas trademark. Madonna seamlessly flipped back and forth between the choruses of both songs to further illustrate the similarities. She ended with a drum-driven remix of Express Yourself and chanted chorus of Respect yourself shes not me. Whether it was an homage or a pointed dig went unstated, but Madonna told Nightline anchor Cynthia McFadden in a January interview that Lady Gagas hit song Born This Way felt reductive of Express Yourse...

Madonna Expresses Herself to Lady Gaga With 'Born This Way' Cover Lady Gaga (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty) / Madonna (Richard Corkery/NY Daily News via Getty) Madonna keeps finding ever-cheekier ways to point out the obvious similarities between Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and the Material Girl's own "Express Yourself." The latest comes via freshly surfaced footage of Madonna performing "Express Yourself" during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv for her MDNA tour. The performance turns into a medley, with Madonna singing the chorus from "Born This Way" before returning to "Express Yourself," intermingling lyrics from both songs to drive the point home. And then, in the masterfully malicious coup de gras, Madonna weaves in a bit of her own Hard Candy track "She's Not Me." The point, we think, is obvious. Madonna has been playing cat-and-mouse with Lady Gaga over "Born This Way" for more than a year now. In Ap...

In a leaked video from Madonna's May 27 tour rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel, the "Express Yourself" singer mashed up her classic hit with a cover of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." Watch below as she transitions seamlessly between the two similar tracks. Madge has previously commented on Gaga's song, which is often compared to the 1989 smash "Express Yourself," in several interviews. After telling Newsweek that it was a "wonderful way to redo" her own song and that she "recognized the chord changes," she told ABC's "20/20" that "Born This Way" "felt reductive." "I certainly think [Gaga] references me a lot in her work," Madonna said in the ABC interview. "And sometimes I think it's amusing and flattering and well-done. When I heard ['Born This Way'] on the radio I said, 'that sounds very familiar." About a minute into the shaky video above, Madonna's...

Madonna made a dig at Lady Gaga this weekend, pointing out from the stage of her M.D.N.A. tour what many have said before -- that Gaga's "Born This Way" sounds a lot like Madonna's "Express Yourself." As Madonna kicked off her highly-anticipated world tour in Israel this weekend, the Material Girl was filmed rehearsing her 1989 hit "Express Yourself." Midway through the performance -- a dress rehearsal for the show -- Madonna began singing "Born This Way," mashing up the Lady Gaga song with her own. The mash-up did not appear to be a tribute to Gaga, as Madonna has criticized her in the past for creating a song so similar to her classic. "When I heard ['Born This Way'] on the radio, I said that sounds very familiar. It feels reductive," Madonna told 20/20 earlier this year. "I certainly think she references me a lot in her work. Sometimes I think it's amusing and flattering and well done. It's a statement ab...

It is a respectable 15-centimetre-high, gold-crown-stoppered, bevel-edged white octagon. On its belly is a thin, stylized gold M impaled by a cross. Described by one commentator as a cocktail of sweet flowers a heady mix of jasmine, lily, tuberose and gardenia mixed with a touch of neroli to give the effect of hot fleshy flower buds and pale green stems, Madonnas new perfume, Truth or Dare, launched in Canada this month, was designed as a tribute to her deceased mothers intoxicating smell of gardenias and tuberose. More related to this story The truth about Madonnas daring new scent Strike a pose: Voguing is back Madonna not 'very happy' over daughter's rebellious act I am holding the bottle, which feels and looks like a devotional icon. I have sprayed a small stream of the fragrance into the air. It smells so bad. Is this an augury? Has Madonna lost the sweet smell of success? On the other hand, virtually every celebrity perfume I have ever come across has the same cloyi...

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Madonna appears to have made a dig at Lady Gaga during rehearsals for her upcoming tour. The singer was filmed performing Express Yourself before launching mid-song into a rendition of Gaga's track Born This Way - a song which has often been compared to Madonna's classic hit - while on stage in Israel. In footage posted on YouTube, the queen of pop then launches straight into She's Not Me, from her 2008 record Hard Candy. Gaga, with her eccentric style and pop anthems, is seen by some critics as a pretender to Madonna's crown. Madonna has previously addressed the similarities between Express Yourself and Born This Way. She told The Daily Beast: "I thought, 'What a wonderful way to redo my song'. I mean, I recognised the chord changes. I thought it was interesting."

Madonna arriving in Israel, May 2012. Photo by Reuters related articles Madonna arrives in Israel ahead of Tel Aviv concert By Uri Zer Aviv | May.28,2012 | 2:04 AM | 6 Madonna flew into Israel with her entourage on Friday afternoon , spending the holiday in prayer and Kabbalah study before starting rehearsals for her Thursday concert in Ramat Gan Stadium. Along with her 70-member crew, she is accompanied by her partner Brahim Zaibat and her four children, including the eldest, Lourdes, 15, who will appear on stage as a dancer. For all the latest updates follow Haaretz on Facebook and Tumblr To avoid the press, Madonna and her children traveled in three separate taxis from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Tel Aviv's Dan Hotel. Teachers from Tel Aviv's Kabbalah Center secretly arrived at the hotel, while Madonna's children spent most of Sunday on the beach, close to the hotel. On Sunday, Madonna held her first rehearsal on the special stage set up for her scheduled T...

Madonna arriving in Israel, May 2012. Photo by Reuters related articles Madonna arrives in Israel ahead of Tel Aviv concert By Uri Zer Aviv | May.28,2012 | 2:04 AM | 6 Madonna flew into Israel with her entourage on Friday afternoon , spending the holiday in prayer and Kabbalah study before starting rehearsals for her Thursday concert in Ramat Gan Stadium. Along with her 70-member crew, she is accompanied by her partner Brahim Zaibat and her four children, including the eldest, Lourdes, 15, who will appear on stage as a dancer. For all the latest updates follow Haaretz on Facebook and Tumblr To avoid the press, Madonna and her children traveled in three separate taxis from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Tel Aviv's Dan Hotel. Teachers from Tel Aviv's Kabbalah Center secretly arrived at the hotel, while Madonna's children spent most of Sunday on the beach, close to the hotel. On Sunday, Madonna held her first rehearsal on the special stage set up for her scheduled T...

Madonna performs during halftime at Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 5, 2012 in Indianapolis. UPI/Kevin Dietsch License photo TEL AVIV, Israel, May 27 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Madonna requested producers of her Tel Aviv concert build her children a private pool on the grounds of the concert venue, sources told Haaretz. Madonna arrived in Israel Friday ahead of the Thursday launch of her world tour, The Jerusalem Post reported. Temporary luxurious housing, a private pool and game room were constructed on the grounds of Ramat Gan stadium, where the concert will be held, unnamed sources told Haaretz. Several Israeli Facebook pages have popped up lauding the queen of pop as she settles in for the concert she has dubbed "Concert for Peace," the Post reported. Avihay Asseraf, who manages what he calls Israel's official Madonna Facebook page, said the fact that the musician is opening her tour in Tel Aviv is monumental. "People don't appreciate the meani...

Madonna and Nick Minaj share a moment after the Material Girl sings happy birthday to the eccentric singer at a bizarre birthday bash Album sales disaster explained ... Madonna unable to commit sufficient time and best songs given to Chris Brown, according to producer William Orbit. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini) Source: AP THE sales disaster of Madonna's latest album has been partly blamed on another musician. Her producer William Orbit has defended Madonna's MDNA , which was her first record for Interscope. Madonna's MDNA does not contain hit single and not among best Madonna's leaked set list for 2012 MDNA World Tour Pictures: Madonna at her best Pictures: Madonna at the Super Bowl The album debuted at number one in ma! ny count ries, But it also achieved the largest second-week percentage sales drop for a number-one debuting album of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the US - an 88 per cent fall.. In a spirited debate with fans on his Facebook page, Orbit gave two fasc...