Madonna Shines in ‘Celebration’ Tour after Near-Fatal Illness

Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)
Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)
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Madonna Shines in ‘Celebration’ Tour after Near-Fatal Illness

Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)
Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)

Madonna kicked off her "Celebration" tour in London on Saturday, with a performance that proved her energy, charisma and appetite for controversy were little dimmed after four decades of pop super-stardom and a brush with death earlier this year.

The 65-year-old's greatest hits show was pushed back from its original July start date after she was hospitalized in intensive care for a serious bacterial infection.

"I'm really damn surprised I made it this far. And I mean that on so many levels," she told fans at the O2 arena.

Wearing the corset and chains that defined her breakthrough, she sang "Into The Groove" before a sound problem forced her to ad-lib about her early struggles in New York.

With the backing track restored, 1983's "Holiday" recreated the hedonistic joy of a New York club before the onslaught of AIDS, marked by a tribute to those who had died.

She performed hits "Like a Prayer", while "Vogue", the hit that powered her into the 1990s, saw one of the stages become a catwalk.

Madonna addressed the situation in the Middle East. "There's a lot of really crazy things happening in the world that are so, so painful to witness," she said. "But even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken."

On her health scare, she said: "It was a crazy year for me as well. And I didn't think I was going to make it."

With more than 40 songs in the show, some like "Papa Don't Preach" were dispatched in seconds, but all of her re-inventions, from Catholic Madonna to Country Madonna, featured.

The seven-time Grammy Award winner has rescheduled the tour's North American leg to start in December after her European concerts.



New Film Academy Members Include Danielle Deadwyler, Ariana Grande, Jason Momoa, Conan O’Brien

Ariana Grande. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ariana Grande. (Getty Images/AFP)
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New Film Academy Members Include Danielle Deadwyler, Ariana Grande, Jason Momoa, Conan O’Brien

Ariana Grande. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ariana Grande. (Getty Images/AFP)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 534 new members to its organization on Thursday, adding recent Oscar nominees and many more to Hollywood's most exclusive club.

The newest class of Oscar voters includes a number of stars like Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Danielle Deadwyler and Andrew Scott. They, along with filmmakers, below-the-line professionals and executives will bring the film academy's membership total to 11,120, with voting members numbering 10,143.

That's the largest membership ever for the academy. Since the #OscarsSoWhite backlash, the film academy has added thousands of members to swell its ranks and diversify its voting body. This year's class is 41% female, 45% from underrepresented communities and 55% from outside the US.

Those new members will make the entire academy 35% women, 22% from underrepresented communities and 21% international.

"We are thrilled to invite this esteemed class of artists, technologists, and professionals to join the Academy," said academy chief executive Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang in a statement. "Through their commitment to filmmaking and to the greater movie industry, these exceptionally talented individuals have made indelible contributions to our global filmmaking community."

Invitations went out to 91 Oscar nominees and 26 winners, including best actress winner Mikey Madison ("Anora") and best supporting actor winner Kieran Culkin ("A Real Pain"). Recent nominees who were invited include Ariana Grande, Jeremy Strong, Sebastian Stan and Monica Barbara. Gints Zilbalodis, the director of best animated film winner "Flow" will join the animation branch.

Other filmmakers set to join the academy include Mike Flanagan ("Doctor Sleep"), Azazel Jacobs ("His Three Daughters"), Brady Corbet ("The Brutalist"), Coraline Fargeat ("The Substance") Jane Schoenbrun ("I Saw the TV Glow"), Halina Reijn ("Babygirl") and Gia Coppola ("The Last Showgirl").

Payal Kapadia ("All We Imagine As Light"), Lena Waithe ("Queen & Slim") and Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley of "Sing Sing" were all invited in the writers branch. In the music branch, new members include Brandi Carlile ("Elton John: Never Too Late"), Branford Marsalis ("Rustin") and Youssou N’Dour ("Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love").

The last two emcees to host the Oscars — Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien — were also invited as members. After a well-reviewed broadcast that drew 19.7 million viewers, O'Brien is returning to host the 2026 Academy Awards on March 15.

A few new rules will await the 2025 academy members.

For the first time, members will be required to watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final road of Oscar voting. This year, a new award category for casting will be voted on for the upcoming Oscars. The academy has also established a new Oscar for stunt design, but that won't be given out until 2028.