http://www.theage.com.au/...click=true


'Vulgar' Elton not sorry

British singer Elton John held back yesterday from apologising for his recent foul-mouthed attack on Madonna, whom he accused of miming during live performances, saying she was an "artist of the video age".

"I do regret hurting her feelings because she's a major artist," John told New Zealand television from Las Vegas where he is performing.

However, he appeared to qualify his regret by adding: "But she's a major artist of the video age and she's not the same kind of artist as U2 or Springsteen or Prince or Sting, or someone like that."
Picking up a song-writing award from Q music magazine in London earlier this month, John publicly attacked Madonna when he heard she had been nominated for best live act.

"Anyone who lip-synchs in public on stage when you pay, like, 75 quid (about $A185) to see them should be shot," he said, referring to London ticket prices for her Reinvention Tour.

"Madonna, best f---ing live act? F--- off," John said loudly.

Asked by the New Zealand interviewer if Madonna was still speaking to him, John said: "Well, she's probably not actually which is a shame, but I'm going to have to rectify that."

He said he did not regret saying it, "because I have a bee in my bonnet about live shows.

"Her show isn't totally live, he said. "Madonna is a great artist - I hate to hurt her - I don't like slagging people off. It was in the context of a very rowdy lunch.

The American pop superstar rejected John's charge at the time, saying she did not lip-synch or criticise other artists.

- DPA


Awww Shit!!! Here comes the Brigade.....

Elton thinks he hurt Madonna's feelings? What a pompous ass

i have more Madonna cds than i have elton cds ... BUT

i totally agree with Elton ...

they should create ... best live dance routine or something for acts like Madonna or Janet Jackson ...

dont call em "live singers" ...

yeah, i'm totally sure madonna has hurt feelings over this. duh. typical of his sort...always thinking the world cares about what you say or do.

If I could, I'd commend Elton personally.

Madonna's a great artist in her own right, but it's true she's not in the same league as artists like Prince or U2 who actually put the effort into recreating their music LIVE on stage.

Word to the man

Madonna shouldn't be getting bashed...Britney should--Elton John directed his comment at the worng person-it annoys me that Britney only sings one song live...if Madonna is going to mime it's usualy just one or two songs (with the exception of Blond Ambition)...


How can one make such a big deal out of this story and NOT mention how much Britney doesn't sing live?!!!

purplegypsy said:

um...watch it girl.

let brit brit be...she's on holiday and doesn't want the life anymore. maybe her lip syncing was just a clue to how she feels about her life. she was faking the singing just as she was faking happiness. poor thing.

SassyBritches said:

Or, the much much much much more likely reason - she can't sing a note!

SassyBritches said:

and i was faking my orgasms when u went down on me. i coouldn't resist!

VoicesCarry said:

i suppose that's another theory...

well, they ARE major artists of the video age.



he's just bitter. that's okay, i still like him it's one of the things i like about him. public tantrums. because until that last album, it sure wasn't for the music for the preceding decade or so.

GrayKing said:

I agree. Bono, Elton, Sting, etc., don't dance around on stage, recreating their videos, while trying to sing. (Now Prince can do it all, so there is really no argument there.)As I have said a MILLION times before, Madonna and Elton are different types of artists and performers. I really don't understand why Sir Elton can't respect Madonna's talent, with or without the lip-synching.

HOWEVER, I do agree that Madonna's ticket prices were WAY too expensive. I couldn't have afforded to see her Re-Invention tour if I had the opportunity. So if Madonna's inflated opinion of herself as reflected in those outrageous ticket prices is ultimately the reason that Sir Elton's knickers are in a twist, then he might have a point.
[Edited 10/19/04 18:43pm]

I guess Madonna can't compete with the boys club of eighties pop stars, huh? What a joke Elton is! I guess she isn't on par with Eminem and his Werid Al parodies (no offense to Werid Al Yankovic).

"Look at me. I'm a big fat old queen that needs attention." Elton is so embarrasing in most of his recent antics that far over shadow is music, he makes Madonna look very respectable just by flarring his arms in the air and making bitchy comments while Madonna is still creating music, tours, books, videos, etc.

Isel said:

trust me, Elton would charge those prices if he could. but since he goes on tour every time he or Billy Joel go broke (at least once a year), he dilutes the market demand for his shows.

Preach On Elton!

People today are so blind and deaf to music.

Not you fine folks on the org, of course

Elton speaks the TRUTH.

JANFAN4L said:

would you say that if he had addressed it to janet? just asking.

SassyBritches said:

Yes. Because Janet is a "major artist of the video age," just like Madonna. I'm not like these Madonna fans running around calling her an grand "artiste" --trying to make her more than what she really is.

Janet and Madonna are artists of the video age. They are not in the same arena of Prince, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Aretha, Elton, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, U2, Bowie, Joan Armatrading, Bruce, etc. And I'll be the FIRST to tell you.

You have to sing live 100% of the time to even step to these folks.

I have love for my girl, but truth is TRUTH.

i would like to apoligize on behalf of our staff.

mr. elton hercules john a.k.a. reginald dwight is off his meds.

i hope this could possibly explain his behavior during the 1970's as well.

JANFAN4L said:

i think my problem with the comment is that it assumes everyone feels the same way as elton john. the fact is, madonna (and janet, brit brit, whoever) puts on a great live show. it is a different style than the artists listed above but great live performances nonetheless. just as madonna can't put on a show in the style of the artists above, most of them could not put on a show that is in madonna's style. just different strokes, ya know? i think elton was out of line and, like most bitter, aging queens he is quite bitter about the success of his peers. and yes, madonna is most certainly his peer.

SassyBritches said:

Don't get me wrong, Madonna and Janet have the same celebrity clout and iconic status as the artists aforementioned, but to assume that Madonna or Janet can truthfully put on a show without choreography, costume changes, tons of makeup, special effects and have the same effect and impact vocally and music-wise as Elton, Aretha and others is simply not right.

The entire concept of the term "live" is real and on-the-spot, not choreographed and pre-planned. Every Madonna performance on the Re-Invention tour will mimmick the one last. Every Janet performance on the All For You tour will mimmick the last she gave in multiple other cities. Every Kylie... you feel me? It's not that these women don't put on great shows (the best concert I've ever been to in my life was performed by a "video artist"), but it's an issue of spontaneity, musical and artistic authenticity and versatility, etc.

If Elton got on stage and had a sore throat, that would greatly effect the quality of his live performance. If Janet or Madonna got on stage with a sore throat, they can basically mime their way through a majority of the show and still pull it off. That's not the case with Aretha, Tina, MJ and the like. You have to GIVE it both vocally and musically. Janet and Madonna give shows, Elton, Prince and Aretha hold concerts -- and that is no way a slight.

If I took a tape recorder to a Madonna show, I'd get the same vocals and music in Tuscon as I would in Pittsburgh. It's the same identical product. Prince, Elton, Bruce and others like them, I can take a voice recorder to their shows and get extended musical flourishes, the artist intonating their verses differently, a missed word here, a changed set list there, maybe one strained vocal and it would be worth having on tape because that was a moment crystallized and sealed at the "November 22nd Prince or U2 show at ACRO Arena, Sacramento, CA," A UNIQUE MUSICAL MOMENT -- I couldn't do that with a Madonna or Janet concert.

You even said it yourself, "Madonna cannot put on a show in the same style of Elton because they are different," they aren't of the same pedigree concert-wise and Elton made light of that.

It's not a slight at Madonna or Janet, it's real life truth.

JANFAN4L said:

Now that is a honest fan!!! Madonna Brigade please take note of that....I have stated over and over that she is primarily a video artist. Elton John is probably not the only artist that feels that way. Only the Brigade vehemently defends that woman's live performance skills.

JANFAN4L said:

i know what you are saying, i just disagree with it. prince's musicology tour was very choreographed and pre-planned. i saw the show about 8 times and it was the same show each night. different energy and different seats made for a different show but i can say the same for the re-invention tour which i saw twice, once from the pit and once from the 3rd level. same show, very different reaction. we disagree with what we consider a live show to be. i think you're definition excludes a lot or performers' shows, including prince's latest embarking. i consider performing live, in front of people, to be a live performance.

i do agree that janet, madonna, brit brit...even michael could not put on the kind of show prince, bruce, u2, bowie, etc could put on. that doesn't make him less of a live performer. the man is a brilliant live performer...but all his shows are the same on any given tour.

i don't think you can take one's opinion and call it truth. you can certainly agree with it but, at the end of the day, its just an opinion. the fact is madonna did actually sing the show. i think the fact that she can sing, dance, strum a few chords on a guitar and do yoga (lol) all at the same time suggest that she is, indeed, a different pedigree from elton.

JANFAN4L said:

Those performances are so controlled and scripted. God forbid if something went terribly wrong and were there some ad-libbing are improvisation needed. There would be mass panic on that stage.