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Madonna Launches 2012 World Tour

Whatever you made of Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show (some people loved it, some were mixedand some looked like they'd rather be elsewhere), it got your attention. The pop icon's next move is a new album, "MDNA," destined to be one of the year's most talked-about releases. And now she has a world tour to accompany it.

The Material Girl just posted dates for a six-month jaunt through the Middle East, Europe and North America, with a Staples Center date on Oct. 10 (and Australian and South American dates to come). Tickets for the L.A. stop are on sale Feb. 13, and the album hits stores March 26. Any errant football players that stand in her way will surely be dispatched immediately. Full schedule after the jump.

May 29 Tel Aviv, Israel Ramat Gam Stadium On sale Feb. 10

June 3 Abu Dhabi Yas Arena On sale Feb. 27

June 7 Istanbul, Turkey Turk Telecom Arena On sale soon

June 11 Zagreb, Croatia Maksimir Stadium On sale Feb. 17

June 14 Milan, Italy Stadio San Siro On sale Feb. 13

June 16 Florence, Italy Stadio Franchi On sale Feb. 13

June 20 Barcelona, Spain Palau Sant Jordi On sale Feb. 16

June 24 Coimbra, Portugal Estadio Cidade de Coimbra On sale Feb. 11

June 28 Berlin O2 Arena On sale Feb. 13

July 2 Copenhagen, Denmark Parken Stadium On sale Feb. 13

July 4 Gothenburg, Sweden Ullevi Stadium On sale Feb. 17

July 7 Amsterdam Ziggo Dome On sale Feb. 11

July 12 Brussels Stade Roi-Baudouin On sale Feb. 17

July 14 Paris Stade De France On sale Feb. 14

July 17 London Hyde Park On sale Feb. 10

July 21 Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium On sale Feb. 10

July 24 Dublin Aviva Stadium On sale Feb. 17

July 29 Vienna Ernst-Happel-Stadion On sale Feb. 24

Aug. 1 Warsaw National Stadium On sale Feb. 17

Aug. 7 Moscow Olimpiski Arena On sale soon

Aug. 8 St. Petersburg, Russia SKK Arena On sale soon

Aug. 12 Helsinki, Finland Olympic Stadium On sale Feb. 14

Aug. 15 Oslo Telenor Arena On sale Feb. 20

Aug. 18 Zurich, Switzerland Stadion Letzigrund On sale Feb. 24

Aug. 21 Nice, France Stade Charles-Erhmann On sale Feb. 14

Aug. 28 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center On Sale Feb. 13

Aug. 30 Montreal Bell Centre On sale Feb. 18

Sept. 1 Quebec City Plains of Abraham Site On sale Feb. 17

Sept. 4 Boston TD Garden On sale Feb. 13

Sept. 6 New York Yankee Stadium On sale Feb. 13

Sept. 10 Ottawa Scotiabank Place On sale Feb. 13

Sept. 12 Toronto Air Canada Centre On sale Feb. 13

Sept. 15 Atlantic City, N.J. Boardwalk Hall On sale Feb. 27

Sep. 19 Chicago United Center On sale Feb. 13

Sep. 23 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center On sale Feb. 13

Sept. 29 Vancouver, Canada Rogers Arena On sale Feb. 13

Oct. 2 Seattle Key Arena On sale Feb. 13

Oct. 6 San Jose HP Pavilion On sale Feb. 13

Oct. 10 Los Angeles Staples Center On sale Feb. 13

Oct. 13 Las Vegas MGM Grand On sale Feb. 27

Oct. 16 Phoenix US Airways Center On sale Feb. 27

Oct. 20 Dallas American Airlines Center On sale Feb. 27

Oct. 24 Houston Toyota Center On sale Feb. 27

Oct. 27 New Orleans New Orleans Arena On sale March 5

Oct. 30 Kansas City, Mo. Sprint Center On sale March 5

Nov. 1 St. Louis Scottrade Center On sale Mar. 5

Nov. 3 St. Paul Xcel Energy Center On sale Feb. 27

Nov. 10 Cleveland Quicken Loans Arena On sale March 5

Nov. 15 Charlotte, N.C. Time Warner Cable Arena On sale March 5

Nov. 17 Atlanta Philips Arena On sale March 5

TBC Miami To Be Confirmed On sale soon

Daily Good Gossip

Madonna To Build Schools In Malawi

Madonna has not forgotten her commitment to help the children of Malawi and has announced plans to build ten new schools in Malawi with buildOn, a deeply respected non-profit organization that has an unparalleled track record of school construction in Malawi.

buildOn has already built 54 primary schools in Malawi and with Madonna’s commitment will greatly expand their work.

Madonna, who is scheduled to perform at this Sunday’s Halftime show, is about to release a new film and a new album still feels passionately about her vow to help Malawi’s neediest children receive an education.

“This remains a very big priority in my life and I am excited that with the help of buildOn we can maintain our ongoing commitment to move forward efficiently. We now will be able to serve twice as many children as we would have served with our old approach,” said Madonna. Raising Malawi, Madonna’s charity, previously ran into various difficulties in their original effort to build a girls academy. “I have learned a great deal over the last few years and feel confident that we can reach our goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more practical way. Constructing smaller schools in partnership with buildOn has restored my faith that we can accomplish what we promised we would,” concluded Madonna.

Consistently ranked among the world’s 20 least developed countries on the UN’s Human Development Index, Malawi has long been challenged by economic stagnation and a lack of access to education. With support from Raising Malawi, buildOn will leverage their 19 years of experience in Malawi to construct 10 new schools with the capacity to educate at least 1,000 children per year, half of whom are girls. Malawi has over a half a million children orphaned from the Aids epidemic. Raising Malawi has helped support many of these children for the last several years through various programs.

“Because of Madonna and Raising Malawi’s support, we will be able to build schools for children that the rest of the world has left behind. Generations of children will have access to education and be empowered to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations,” said Jim Ziolkowski, Founder and CEO of buildOn.

Read more: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/7767-madonna-to-build-schools-in-malawi#ixzz1l5IpyySn

Daily Good Gossip

Meet Madonna And Help Sean Penn's Charity In Haiti

Since her rise to super celebrity status, Madonna has auctioned everything from her gold-embellished tassled bustier to autographed Chanel boots to penned love letters. Now, the pop queen and living legend is putting herself on the online auction block for the first time ever to raise funds for a cause close to her heart.

Madonna has partnered with leading charity auction website Charitybuzz.com to offer the chance for one lucky winning bidder and a friend to meet her at the January 23rd premiere and afterparty for her newest film W.E. in New York City.

The experience, valued at $25,000, will raise funds for J/P Haitian Relief Organization (J/P HRO), a nonprofit founded by Madonna’s ex-husband Sean Penn to rebuild the infrustructure destroyed by the earthquake and combat the poverty that the majority of Haitians are facing.

Bidding is open through January 19th here.

W.E. is a romantic drama directed by Madonna and stars Abbie Cornish, Oscar Isaac, Richard Coyle, James D’Arcy and Andrea Riseborough. The story focuses on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard.

Charitybuzz gives bidders exclusive opportunities to make a difference and live their dreams through online charity auctions with celebrities and luxury brands

Read more: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/7672-meet-madonna-and-help-sean-penns-charity-in-haiti#ixzz1ja6ZYNlj

Daily Good Gossip

Charity biography

“It has pretty much, taken over my life, and I’m so grateful it has…I’ve started an organization called Raising Malawi…and any of your help would be greatly appreciated by me.” – Madonna

American recording artist, Golden Globe winner, and entrepreneur, Madonna established herself as a pop icon known for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos. She is considered to be one of the most influential women in contemporary music, selling more than 200 million albums worldwide and is the most successful solo artist in the history of Billboard Hot 100 chart. She has also gained global recognition to bring an end to the extreme poverty and hardship endured by Malawi’s 2,000,000 orphans and vulnerable children once and for all.

In 2006 Madonna and Michael Berg founded Raising Malawi, a non-profit organization supporting community-based organizations that provide vulnerable children and caregivers with nutritious food, proper clothing, secure shelter, formal education, targeted medical care, emotional care and psychosocial support. In addition, Raising Malawi supports non-government organizations that offer impoverished families with innovative opportunities for sustainability such as Millennium Promise and International Medical Corps. Millennium Promise is a non-profit organization which works towards the halving extreme poverty in Africa by 2015, working with impoverished communities, national and local governments, and partner organizations to implement high-impact programs aimed at transforming lives on the continent and engaging donor nations, corporations, and the general public in the effort. International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.

On corporate, community, and academic levels, Madonna matches every dollar donated to Raising Malawi and is partnered with SocialVibe, the leading social media utility connecting people with brands, empowering them to engage with sponsors and share branded content with their social graph to benefit a cause of their choice.

She actively gives money to many causes, many relating to children, and is a Patron of Children of Peace.

Read more: http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/201-madonna#ixzz1XbHSnyUH