9 Million Watch Madonna Webcast
An apparent record of 9 million fans tuned in over the Internet on Tuesday night to see pop diva Madonna's first concert in Britain in seven years.
The peak audience figure for the six-song, 29-minute performance at London's Brixton Academy shattered viewer numbers recorded by two previous webcast concerts that had claimed the record.
Microsoft's MSN website, producer for the Madonna webcast, said the audience was three times larger than an MSN webcast of Paul McCartney last November. NetAid had also claimed the biggest-ever Internet audience for 2.49 million simultaneous viewers registered during a trio of charity concerts in October 1999 featuring the Eurythmics, U2's Bono and Jewel.
About 2,800 select fans crammed inside the theater for Madonna's second small-venue performance featuring her latest album, Music. The 42-year-old singer told a London radio station earlier Tuesday that she was warming up for a summer world tour.
"It's really more of a thank-you show to my fans and I want it to be more intimate. So I purposefully tried to find a venue that held about 3,000 people," she said.
According to the Web site, madonnamusic.com, the concert will feature songs from her new album Music, number one in 26 countries since being released recently. She'll also sing a tune from her new single Don't Tell Me, which is due out this month.
Supporting acts included Sharleen Spiteri, from the pop group Texas, and Richard Ashcroft.
British media report that Microsoft has paid about $45 million for computer time, equipment and promotion to put together the concert Webcast.
During the show Madonna wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of her 3-month-old son, Rocco Ritchie, on the front. The back read "Lola," a nickname for her 3-year-old daughter Lourdes.
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