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CNN Sunday Morning

Madonna's 'Drowned' Tour Comes to Her Home Town, Detroit

Aired August 26, 2001 - 08:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN ANCHOR: As we mentioned, Madonna's "Drowned" world tour comes to Detroit tonight. The home town performance will be carried live on HBO.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Staff writer David Lyman of "The Detroit Free Press" was at last night's rehearsal. He joins us now with a preview of what the home town fans can expect. Hi, David.

DAVID LYMAN, "DETROIT FREE PRESS": Hey, how are you?

PHILLIPS: All right, good. All right, well, let's talk Madonna. Tell us about this show. I hear it's pretty labor intensive and an amazing crew putting this together.

LYMAN: It is an incredible show. I mean, it's got 22 numbers, top to bottom, an hour and 45 minutes, no break at all, from beginning to end. But the crew is the really interesting part because, as you know, tonight HBO is showing it live and so it's been a matter these last few days of taking a show that's already been out on the road for, what, two months I guess, now, two-and-a-half months, and all of the sudden bringing in this crew of 200 people from HBO and kind of putting these two things together. It's been a remarkable few days, actually.

FLOCK: Now, you had a preview last night. What did you see last night as they tried to meld this together? When TV gets involved, sometimes they muck it up. What do you think?

LYMAN: Well, sometimes they do muck it up. And I'm sure for a few people that had cameras zipping back and forth in front of the them, you know, it probably took a little edge off of it. But, frankly, it's, it's such a big show, it takes place all over the place in there, I think this really begins to fit together very nicely.

I mean, they got 22 cameras in there, overhead, booms all over the place, but there was a crowd, of what, 17,500, little bit more than that even, last night. I don't think anyone seemed lost from it last night.

PHILLIPS: So, David, this is a woman, definitely, who has just been surrounded by controversy. I mean, from her book on sex, I remember, that came out years ago, to statements she's made, even about religion. How does she maintain her fame and parents are bringing their kids to see her -- has she just turned the controversy into an art form that is very unique?

LYMAN: Well, you know, it's funny, one of the other writers at the paper the other day called her the mother of reinvention, and I think you mentioned it before -- yeah, absolutely, she's turned this into an art form. She is so incredibly media savvy. I mean, the director of the show Hamish Hamilton (ph) was talking about how Madonna sat down and just went over every shot in the show. I mean, she knows exactly what looks right. She knows exactly where she looks best. She knows exactly how to shoot each musical number.

I mean, she loves having that sort of edge. She loves kind of pushing that envelope, but she uses it to her advantage and has throughout her career, frankly.

FLOCK: And she hasn't lost her edge, apparently. I also want to ask you about the HBO broadcast. Now, how did -- this is not a Pay Per View deal, right? This is just on straight HBO. They've got to be spending a ton of money to put this show on. How do they recoup that? How does that work?

LYMAN: Well, I mean, again, I think this is, you know, HBO, looks at it, I don't presume to understand the business side of HBO, but I mean, they look at this as part of the offering for their general viewership. I think, I'm guessing this thing probably ran them $2 to $2.5 million. But in terms of the buzz they're getting from it, I mean, look, we're talking about it this morning, our paper is writing about it, we'll have more stories tomorrow.

In terms of the buzz that HBO gets from it, I think that that's invaluable. I think it just reinforces HBO as one of the real premiere sources for original programming, and they are, they have been. Particularly with live concerts.

PHILLIPS: David, she's been called the last of the true superstars. Do you agree with that?

LYMAN: Oh, I don't think she's the last. I think there will probably be another one come along someday, but I think she is definitely a superstar. I mean, the crowd that was there last night, which was primarily female, you know, these are people who, it's not just about the music. And I think that's one of the differences between a star and a superstar. It's not just about her music.

I mean, she's, you know, she's an icon for many women, I think. I think she represents a certain level of independence. A certain level of, you know, equality, in a world that traditionally has been a male-dominated world.

PHILLIPS: Well, and she's definitely comfortable with her sexuality.

LYMAN: There's no question about that. There's no question about that. And all of us had better be comfortable with it too, because it's right there in our faces.

PHILLIPS: Yeah, no kidding. David Lyman, thanks so much. We have to mention, too, HBO is part of Time Warner and that's the parent company of CNN, so we got to make sure we mention that.

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