Prosecutors Miss A Peep At Madonna

The mock crucifixion scene that’s led to much fuss and many headlines during Madonna‘s current tour will come under the scrutiny of German law.

Newswires quoted Johannes Mocken from the Düsseldorf prosecutor’s office saying his department would take note of her August 20th sellout in the city’s LTU arena, but wouldn’t be sending anyone along to monitor the performance.

Instead, the prosecutors will be relying on such unimpeachable sources as “media reports” to determine if Madge’s antics could be considered insulting to religious beliefs.

So far, the list of religious bodies that have objected to her simulated crucifixion – wearing a crown of thorns – includes the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, the Muslim World League in Italy and the Roman Jewish community.

Catholic leaders called for a boycott of her sold-out August 6th show at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, which is a couple of miles from The Vatican, but 70,000 still turned up and gave the controversial scene a rapturous round of applause.

The other show causing consternation is the final date of the tour at Moscow State University on September 11th, which is quickly developing into the highest profile rock or pop event Russian audiences have ever been able to see.

Promoted by Tim Dowdall of Live Nation‘s Budapest office and Nadia Solovieva’s Moscow-based SAV Entertainment, and using such major production companies as the city’s JSA Staging, it has already shifted 25,000 tickets for the “Sparrow Hill” site that overlooks the university buildings and Moscow center.

Organizers are looking into the possibility of getting permission to sell more tickets, but Dowdall told Pollstar he’s already staggered by the demand.

This is far from the first time Madonna has come up with either a show or video that’s caused outcry.

Following a run of U.S. dates that grossed about US$2.5 million a night, Madonna kicked off the European leg of her world tour in the Welsh Cardiff Millennium Stadium July 30th, where she reportedly “gyrated on a saddle floating above the stage and sang from a crucifix in a performance involving provocative dance routines.”

After Düsseldorf, the super diva was slotted to take her Confessions tour to Hannover, Denmark, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague and Moscow between August 22nd and September 11th.

– John Gammon