NEW YORK, US – One of underground rock’s most unusual stories of the 1970s, the tale of an obscure debut LP by a Detroit singer-songwriter named Rodriguez becoming a source of hope and inspiration to the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, is the basis for the thought-provoking new film, Searching For Sugar Man.

The original motion picture soundtrack album will be available starting July 24, 2012 through Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. The vinyl version of the soundtrack will be released by Light In The Attic Records.

Searching For Sugar Man, a Red Box Films & Passion Pictures Production in association with Canfield Pictures & The Documentary Company, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, premiered in New York on April 24, 2012 at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film opens in New York and Los Angeles on July 27, 2012 and will open in other markets throughout the month of August.

Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, Searching For Sugar Man tells a story that begins with the 1970 release of Rodriguez’s debut album, Cold Fact. In its Reissues Of The Year tally for 2008, Rolling Stone magazine called the album “A remarkable artifact of Michigan hippie soul by singer-songwriter Sixto Diaz Rodriguez.” The soundtrack album on Legacy will compile tracks from Cold Fact and its follow-up LP of 1971, Coming From Reality, reissued to critical acclaim in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Celebrated Motor City producers Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore discovered Rodriguez in the late 1960s in a local bar and were struck by his Dylanesque songwriting. A charismatic and mysterious artist behind his shades, Rodriguez had built a strong local following, a true folk hero in the purest sense.

Cold Fact was a fusion of gritty funk with “street-tough lyricism and psychedelic folk arrangements,” in the words of Doug Freeman of the Austin Chronicle. The album’s politically-charged “topical lyrics and druggy avant-garde arrangements” “folk-soul weirdness” and “lysergic gutter poetry” were unique even in the ’70s.

Nevertheless, the album did not succeed commercially, and despite the release of a second LP, Rodriguez drifted into obscurity. Rumors of his fate were widely and wildly exaggerated, ranging from reports of escalating depression to a sensationally gruesome suicide onstage, involving self-immolation.

Meanwhile, the LP had made its way around the world to South Africa, where it was banned by a repressive government. Copies were bootlegged and circulated, and Rodriguez inadvertently became the soundtrack of an emerging liberal African youth, whose resistance movement adopted Cold Fact as its rallying cry. Over the next two decades, Rodriguez became a household name in the country, where the number of copies of Cold Fact would have earned it platinum sales status.

Both sides of the story, Rodriguez’s life in Detroit and the subsequent impact of his music in the smoldering Apartheid era, pre-Nelson Mandela, proved fascinating to Stockholm-based documentary filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul. His subjects have included Kraftwerk, Bjork, Sting, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Madonna, Mariah Carey, U2, Kylie Minogue, Prince, and others.

His short documentary films for Swedish Television’s international cultural weekly show Kobra became the basis for such films as Men Who Stare At Goats (George Clooney) and The Terminal (Tom Hanks). The evolution of the financing, production, and filming of Searching For Sugar Man is as fascinating and complex as the life of Rodriguez himself.

“I describe myself as ‘musico-politico’,” Rodriguez said recently. “I was born and bred in Detroit, four blocks from the city center. Back then, I was influenced by the urban sounds that were going on around me all the time. Music is art and art is a cultural force. As far as my work from Detroit comparing to the South African Apartheid, the similarities echo. The placards of the 1970s in the United States read things like: We Want Jobs and Stop the War – I was looking at the music from a working class.

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Madonna has returned for the 8th time to the top of the Billboard’s Pop Charts with MDNA selling 359,000 albums according to Neilsen Soundscan and is  the biggest selling first week debut this year. MDNA is The Material Girl’s fifth  No. 1 studio album in a row and her first album for Interscope Records.

On the Billboard Dance Club Play Charts, Madonna remains queen of the clubs with two songs from MDNA in the Top Ten including “Girls Gone Wild” which has gone to No. 4 and is the “greatest gainer” for the last three weeks.  Her first dance hit from MDNA  “Give Me All Your Luvin” after going to No. 1 remains in the Top Ten in the No. 8 spot.

The critical response to MDNA has been equally impressive:

“Madonna has made it through the wilderness to deliver one of the best albums of her career.”  Daily News

“Her best album since “Ray of Light’”  Chicago Tribune

“Still the Queen of Pop”  The London Times

“Some of the finest musical moments we’ve heard from the pop legend in the last few years”   MTV News

“The woman is pop’s most durable alpha female”  USA TODAY

Other facts:

-MDNA debuted No. 1 on iTunes Charts in 40 countries and had the biggest one day pre sale on iTunes by any artist in history.

-Madonna’s “Girls Gone Wild” video is her most viewed video on YouTube with 32 million views.

-Barbra Streisand is the only other female to have more No. 1 albums (9) according to Billboard’s Keith Caufield.

-In the UK, the MDNA album puts Madonna in a league of her own. MDNA’s No. 1 spot gives Madonna  the most No. 1 albums of all time in the  UK  (12) by a solo artist –  surpassing Elvis Presley. The Beatles are the only artists who have had 15 No. 1 albums in the UK.

-In Japan, MDNA is her 22nd Top Ten album passing The Beatles record of l9 Top Ten albums in Japan. MDNA  entered their Oricon  international charts at No. 1 and the combined Oricon Charts at #4.

To celebrate the first week success with her millions of fans, Madonna will once again be on Twitter this Wednesday, the 4th of April at l0:00 pm

The link is:  @MadonnaMDNAday.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/madonna

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It’s been a record breaking week for Madonna.  Along with the largest halftime US viewership in Super Bowl history including Madonna’s Bridgestone Halftime performance (peaking at 112.6 million viewers), the pre-orders for the Material Girl’s upcoming MDNA album ascended to the top spot on iTunes stores in 50 countries and was the largest one day pre-order of any album in iTunes history, it was confirmed on February 8 by her record label Interscope.  Commented Madonna, “Thanks for all the L-U-V!! from around the world.”

A key part of the album release included a first of its kind worldwide promotion by Clear Channel, a leading global media and entertainment company, which premiered Madonna’s highly anticipated new single and video, “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” across its full range of media platforms, including radio, outdoor, online and mobile on Friday, February 3.

As part of the campaign, Clear Channel used extensive on-air and online promotions to drive listeners and Madonna fans to iTunes, where they could buy the new single and pre-order MDNA, scheduled to be released globally March 26.

Below are some of the astounding numbers that add up for Madonna this past week.

MADONNA BY THE NUMBERS:

SUPER BOWL BY THE NUMBERS:

MADONNA BY THE LETTERS:

Image Courtesy of   DSPA / Shutterstock.com

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Madonna is having a huge party and everyone’s invited. The Madonna 2012 World Tour begins May 29th 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel it was officially announced by Live Nation Entertainment, the tour’s international promoter.

The shows will include arenas, stadiums and special outdoor sights including the Plains of Abraham in Quebec and a return visit to South America as well as Australia where she has not performed in 20 years. The tour will stop in 26 European cities including London, Paris, Milan and Berlin.

The first of 26 North American shows is scheduled for August 28th in Philadelphia and includes a September 6th show in NY’s Yankee Stadium and an October 10th performance at LA’s Staples Center. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale beginning February 10th in Tel Aviv and the United Kingdom, with North American tickets going on sale beginning February 13th. Tickets for North America are available at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. A complete itinerary of Madonna 2012 follows this release.

Madonna’s previous tour, the phenomenally successful “Sticky & Sweet” Tour reaffirmed her status as one of the most successful touring artists of all time. The historic tour included such incredible touring feats as a 70,000 seat sell-out in Werchter, Belgium, an 85,000 sell-out in Helsinki (the largest show ever in the Nordic countries by a solo artist), a 40,000 ticket sell-out in Oslo, Norway, and 72,000 tickets sold out in one day in Tallinn Estonia.

Other record breaking ticket sales around the globe include 650,000 tickets sold in her series of South American dates, 72,000 tickets at Zurich’s Dubendorf Airfield – the largest audience ever assembled for a show in Switzerland, 75,000 tickets in London and four sell outs inNew York’s Madison Square Garden (60,364 tickets).

The announcement of Madonna’s 2012 World Tour follows an extraordinary week which included a monumental extravaganza of a performance at the Bridgestone Super Bowl Halftime which was seen in over 200 countries by over a billion people. Last week also saw the release of Madonna’s new single, “Give Me All Your Luvin” from her highly anticipated new album MDNA on Live Nation Entertainment/Interscope Records – scheduled to be released on March 26th.

Pre orders have already catapulted MDNA to No. 1 on iTunes in 51 countries including the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain,Canada, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. The single’s  video directed by Megaforce which also stars Nicki Minaj and MIA previewed on American Idol. Additionally, the Madonna directed Golden Globe Award winning film “W.E.” opened in NY and LA with other markets to follow later in the month.

“Madonna’s track record as a world class entertainer and touring artist speaks for itself. Her artistry, talent and creative productions get bigger and better with each tour and Madonna 2012 will be no exception. We are thrilled to have her back on the road and know her fans feel the same,” commented Arthur Fogel, CEO Live Nation Entertainment Global Touring and Madonna tour promoter.

In the course of her phenomenal career, Madonna has a record breaking 37 Top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart along with a record breaking 40 Number 1′s on Billboard’s Dance/Club Play Song Charts. No other act has more Top 10′s on the Hot 100 or Number 1′s on the Club Chart.

Madonna has sold over 300 million albums and holds the record for the most successful tour by a solo artist in history. She is a seven time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, producer and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Her last CD “Hard Candy,” debuted at Number 1 in 37 countries including US, UK, Canada, France and Australia. Madonna 2012 World Tour is the Material Girl’s 9th Tour. Her first tour was the 1985 Virgin Tour.

Madonna’s recent Golden Globe winning song “Masterpiece” from The Weinstein Company film  “W.E.” as well as “W.E. Music From The Soundtrack “W.E.” film have both been released digitally on Interscope Records. A physical release will be in stores in the UK on February 6th and on February 14th in the US.

US residents ordering tickets online to a US performance will receive their choice of a digital or physical copy of Madonna’s new MDNA album with every ticket purchased.

Citi is the official credit card of the US leg of Madonna’s upcoming world tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Wednesday, Feb. 8th at 10am through Citi’s Private Pass Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

Icon is Madonna’s official fan club. Lifetime Legacy members of Icon will receive first access to tickets and VIP Packages starting February 7, 2012. Registered free Icon members will have the opportunity to purchase an “Icon Live Pass,” which gives them access not only to ticket & VIP Package pre-sales, but also to a tour devoted forum and an exclusive tour gift. Fans can sign up for a free Icon membership at Madonna.com today.

VIP Packages will are available through VIP Nation, including premium seats, exclusive merchandise and more. For more information please visit: www.VIPNation.com viagogo, Europe’s leading secondary ticketing company (www.viagogo.co.uk), has been named as the Official Premium and Secondary Ticketing Partner for Madonna’s 2012 summer tour dates across Europe.

Viagogo will handle premium tickets for select shows this summer, offering fans the chance to see one of the most anticipated concert tours of the year. Fans that can no longer use their tickets will be able to resell them to other fans through viagogo’s secure online platform, and, as always, all tickets are guaranteed.

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The Golden Globe nominated music from Madonna’s upcoming film W.E. composed, orchestrated and produced by Abel Korzeniowski, which also includes Madonna’s Golden Globe award winning song “Masterpiece”, is scheduled to be released digitally on Interscope Records on January 31st, it was announced recently.

W.E. which was directed, co-written and produced by Madonna and distributed by The Weinstein Company is scheduled to be released in February. The score was recorded in April 2011 at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London with a 60-piece orchestra conducted by Terry Davies including piano, violin and viola solos.

The Polish born Los Angeles based Korzeniowski previously wrote the original score for the Tom Ford film A Single Man for which he also received a Golden Globe nomination.

“The prevailing sense of obsession was what inspired me in W.E. — the irrational compulsion to sacrifice everything and anything for love – a love that could easily be just an illusion. In my music, I wanted to reflect those powerful and conflicting emotions through a web of melodic themes, which relentlessly repeat and constantly swing between despair and sorrow, and hope and joy,” commented Korzeniowski.

“W.E.” tells the story of American divorcee Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) and England’s King Edward (James D’Arcy) who abdicated his throne to be with the woman he loved. It is considered one of the greatest love stories of the 20th century.

The story is told through the eyes of a modern day New Yorker Wally Winthrop (Abby Cornish). Composer Korzeniowski masterfully and seamlessly bridged the two unique worlds of Europe in the 30′s and 40′s and the contemporary Manhattan environment of a woman lost in her dreams of the perfect love.

In addition to Korzeniowski’s magnificent score, the soundtrack includes the original song ”Masterpiece” composed by Madonna, Julie Frost and Jimmy Harry and sung by Madonna which is played during the end credits of the film. It will also be included on Madonna’s upcoming solo album for Interscope, MDNA,which is scheduled for release this spring.

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Madonna, a multi Grammy Award-winning Universal Records recording artist, will perform in the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show on NBC at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday, February 5, the NFL and NBC announced during Sunday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions. Madonna’s performance will be imagined by Cirque du Soleil and Jamie King.

The Bridgestone Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched musical event of the year. More than 162 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year’s show. The Super Bowl and halftime show will be broadcast worldwide. Madonna joins an esteemed list of recent halftime acts that includes The Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2.

A world class entertainer, singer, songwriter, producer, director and video visionary, Madonna has sold more than 300 million records in the course of her three decade career as The Material Girl. She is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Her last tour was the most successful tour by a solo artist in history.

Madonna is currently in the recording studio working on a new album scheduled to be released next year. Her new film W.E. which she directed, wrote and produced is opening in a limited one week release December 9 in Los Angeles and will open nationally on February 3, two days prior to Super Bowl XLVI.

Madonna has partnered with a creative team from Cirque du Soleil, Jamie King, and multimedia artists from Moment Factory, to create a signature performance for the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show. This year marks the fifth time Bridgestone Americas has sponsored the Super Bowl halftime show. The tire company’s new brand campaign, fittingly titled “Time to Perform,” will debut during the game.

The Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show is an NFL Network production and will be executive produced by Ricky Kirshner and directed by Hamish Hamilton.

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When we first met Lady Gaga as her first single “Poker Face” was dropping, we were introduced to a cute blonde who was comparing flirting and encounters with men to poker. We saw as she danced her butt of through elaborately choreographed routines, and from right off the bat, we could tell that she had her own way of doing things. Since 2008, she has become a fashion icon (in her own right) as well as an inspiration to many people. She has an enviable amount of self-confidence, and she used this for her inspiration for her latest album “Born This Way.”

The Mother Monster stayed true to herself for her third studio album. The album has electric dance beats with a little added rock that would fit in at any dance club and, once again, with songs like “Judas,” has people flipping out over her shock value (see the video if you’re sure who Judas is, but definitely hold onto your hat.)

Something new this album provides is a more direct line between Gaga and her fans. With songs like “Born This Way,” “Hair” and “Edge of Glory,” we can hear her screaming out to the world that everyone is great and we need to love ourselves. This is a beautiful thing.

To me, it feels like we rarely hear artists singing about their experiences with wanting to fit into the crowd in song-form. A lot of stuff that is coming from the music industry is just about drinking and partying. In a single song, she calls out at least six different races, the LGBTQ community and even the disabled, telling them not to be ashamed or feel bad. They were born this way, and, according to Gaga, “God makes no mistakes.”

Another topic featured on the album is the hot topic debate over homosexual marriage. In the song “Americano,” Gaga describes falling in love with a girl but not being able to marry her except for on the west coast on a Wednesday. Lady Gaga has been extremely outspoken regarding her support of the Gay Community, and it shows her dedication to the cause and that she isn’t some celebrity who’s trying to join a cause because it’s fashionable. We also get to see another side of Gaga as well, because this song is infused with Spanish influence, and Gaga herself sings in Spanish (she also sings in German in the song “Scheiße” if you’d prefer that.)

The only thing I didn’t like about this album was that it sounds essentially like something you would expect from an early Madonna. When the song “Born This Way” first came out, a lot of people criticized it saying it was a rip off version of Madonna’s “Express Yourself” (even though people seem to forget that song was a knock off of The Staples Sisters’ song “Respect Yourself.”) In a way, this factor takes away from the album. The first time I listened to it, I just sat and compared it the whole time. I think this could be a potential turn off for a lot of people.

All in all, “Born This Way” is an empowering album. It has classic love songs (such as “Fashion of His Love”) on it, while it digs down into deeper topics such as religion, politics and self image. Gaga has done a good job of trying to make her albums sound different from one another, and this album is successful at doing that. If you can’t get over the Madonna thing, Madonna has already given her approval to Lady Gaga on the album. The Queen of Pop has spoken.

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25 years of history making, and life changing television, ended yesterday, on May 25, 2011.  An atmosphere full of emotions surrounded Oprah’s final show. Goodbye is always a sad word. That denotes that something has ended and its time to say farewell. After being an iconic figure, a role model, and an admirable woman, she says goodbye to the screen.

Taking once again the stage, and standing in front of her audience, she began to say the first words of her final episode “”There are no words to match this moment.” The showed reveal all the greatest achievements that Oprah considered were made by her, or the ones that she had most pride for. “Every day that I stood here I knew that this was exactly where I was meant to be.”

The show had around 7 million of spectators that day. Exposing a remarkable cipher, and becoming the most important Oprah moment, in her 25 years debut on T.V.  The Oprah Winfrey’s Show was one of the longest running talk shows in United States. It began on 1986, and had emitted 24 seasons, and more than 4,000 episodes.

Everyone has a platform, Winfrey said. “Mine is a stage in a studio. Yours is wherever you are, with your own reach.” We’ve seen Oprah grow, and we have watched her ups and downs during her career. With a rough background and childhood, she found a way to start again, and succeeded becoming one of the most powerful women on the world.

Remarkably, every advertisement that was emitted during the final episode, having duration of 30 seconds was valued in one million of dollars.

The final program was recorded in the United Center and 15.000 people attended as an audience. During the record of the last episode, many artists, and important figures were present such as:  Beyonce, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Halley Berry, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Dakota Fanning, Jamie Fox Queen Latifah and many others.

“Well, I say, all sweet, no bitter. And here’s why. Many of us have been together for 25 years. We have hooted and hollered together, had our a-ha moments, we ugly-cried together and we did our gratitude journals. So I thank you all for your support and your trust in me. I thank you for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. …I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I’ve tried to be for you. I won’t say goodbye. I’ll just say, until we meet again. To God be the glory.

But for her fans out there not everything is sad news, because she will not be leaving the small screen completely. She will dedicate her time completely to the channel OWN T.V, that stands for Oprah Winfrey Network. Released a couple months ago.

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