Madonna pulls in the online fans

LONDON - Madonna bounced on stage for only half an hour and sang just a handful of numbers - but her first British concert in seven years pulled in a world record Webcast audience of nine million.

The online viewer figures from Microsoft's Internet arm MSN showed that the world loves the Material Girl, eclipsing the three million who watched last year's Webcast of Paul McCartney at The Cavern in Liverpool.

The 42-year-old U.S. pop superstar, appearing in her latest incarnation as a discoed-up rhinestone cowboy, whipped the 3,500-strong crowd at the small London venue into a frenzy on Tuesday night.

Mick Jagger, Kylie Minogue and Sting were among the celebrities who turned up to witness the spectacular at the Brixton Academy.

No tickets were sold directly and none were to be had. Only celebrities, competition winners and other invitees got in to see Madonna in the flesh.

The briefness of her appearance disappointed some in the crowd.

"All that hype for half an hour" said one. Another said: "She looked good but it was too short and the sound wasn't brilliant either."

It was Madonna's first live Webcast - three months after she gave birth to her son Rocco - and underlined the growing awareness among stars of the power of the Internet, even if viewer numbers are still tiny compared to live TV.

In October Madonna scored her own victory on the Internet, winning her case to evict a New York cybersquatter from the Internet address madonna.com which was initially a porn site.

Madonna said the concert may be a warm-up to a new world tour next summer.

"I want it to be more intimate so I purposefully tried to find a venue that held about 3,000 people," she told BBC radio.

The mother of two confessed to nerves after seven years off the stage, but broke the ice with a low-key half-hour set earlier this month at New York's Roseland Ballroom.

She repeated the formula in London, her new adopted home, by opening the night sprawled over a pick-up truck with toy-boys dancing around her.

Heavy security surrounded the concert. Brixton, a multicultural inner-London suburb, last saw such tight security four years years ago when then South African President Nelson Mandela passed through on a walkabout.

The venue was decked out by fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana in the Wild West style that is the theme of Madonna's latest album "Music."

MSN is not paying Madonna for the concert rights but the star will enjoy huge free publicity from the Webcast and aggressive marketing of it by the Web portal, which aims to become a leading online music broadcaster.

"Singer. Dancer. Producer. Actress. Mother. Model. Diva," is how MSN hails Madonna on its Web Site.

At the company's after-party, the dress code was strictly "Rhinestone Cowboy or Ghetto Fabulous."

- REUTERS

Links:

MSN/Madonna