Madonna's first concert in Britain in seven years drew a world-record nine million fans to tune in over the Internet on Tuesday night, according to the pop diva's producer.
The peak audience figure for the six-song, 29-minute performance at London's Brixton Academy set a record for such events, according to Microsoft's MSN Web site.
Only about 2,800 people were able to see the concert in person. The fans crammed inside the theater for Madonna's performance, featuring songs from her latest album, Music, and Holiday from 1987. The 42-year-old singer told a London radio station earlier Tuesday that she was warming up for a summer world tour.
"It's really more of a thank-you show to my fans and I want it to be more intimate. So I purposefully tried to find a venue that held about 3,000 people," she said.
The show began with a giant British Union Jack hoisted to show Madonna sitting on a truck, with bales of hay on the stage.
During the show, Madonna wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of her 3-month-old son, Rocco Ritchie, on the front. The back read Lola, a nickname for her 3-year-old daughter Lourdes.
The Material Girl also reportedly cut a $42.6 million deal with Microsoft for the rights to the Webcast.
Microsoft's MSN Web site said there were three times as many people "at" the Madonna Webcast than "at" a Paul McCartney concert a year ago. NetAid had previously claimed the largest-ever Internet audience of 2.49 million in October 1999, during a trio of charity concerts featuring the Eurythmics, U2's Bono and Jewel. – Albawaba.com.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
