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EXCLUSIVE – Word is that a newcomer is in charge to direct two video-interludes. His name is Noel Clarke.

DrownedMadonna.com heard that the new “Everybody” choreography reminds of “Erotica/You Thrill Me” from the Confessions Tour.

The choreography that is being conceived for “Heartbeat” is described as a tongue in cheek shoe changing choreography.

Among the old hits that Madonna is currently rehearsing there is “Angel”. We really hope Madonna likes the live version and it will make the final setlist. Fingers crossed!!

We remind you that everything is subject to changes. So stay tunes!

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EXCLUSIVE – Madonna is not satisfied with the live version of “Spanish Lesson”, so she decided to shelve it AS OF NOW.

DrownedMadonna.com also heard that Madonna is currently testing a cover of Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell” to replace “Spanish Lesson” after “Buenos Aires”. Let’s wait and see if this cool idea will make the final setlist!

Another song has been shelved as of now. “Ray Of Light” – which was originally part of the Rock/Guitar section – is now out of the tentative setlist.

“Give It 2 Me” is being rehearsed the same way as in the Hard Candy Promo Tour, but obviously with different outfits.

Besides “Spanish Lesson”, the only other “Hard Candy” track that is not being used as of now in the tentative setlist – neither as a video interlude nor as a live performance – is “Incredible”.

Keep in mind that everything is subject to changes, so stay tuned!

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The video is for the exciting new live version of Human Nature, that as previously revealed by MadonnaTribe it’s the third song on the Sticky & Sweet tour setlist.

The video will be directed by the one and only Steven Klein, that as previously reported here, will take care of two brand videos for the show, one for an oldie (this one) and one for a new track off Hard Candy.

The original idea behind Human Nature 2008 was to give out an updated version of the song by showing the artists, mainly troubled young hollywood stars, that are being treated as “bitches” by the world press and media, in a similar way they did with Madonna back in 1992 when she the main target of such media attentions.

But Britney is now the main star of the screen video, and while musically Human Nature 2008 originally contained spoken samples of Gimme More, now the concept has been expanded even more with samples of the track, making it longer and cooler and it can easily be described as a sort Human Nature/Gimme More mash up!

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Ok here we go!! Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour opens with Candy Shop (very similar to the promo tour version) followed by a version of Beat Goes On very similar to the album version. Both Pharrell Williams and Kanye West will appear on video during the song. The third song in the setlist is the first GREAT surprise. It’s the one and only Human Nature, from Bedtime Stories (and we’ll not be sorry!!). The song will be presented in an original and UNIQUE way, but that’s a surprise we don’t want to spoil for the moment. We’re sure the inclusion of this song will make lots of people very happy.
Section two of the show includes Into The Groove, a great number where she will be jumping rope with a little sample of the song “Jump” thrown in as well, followed by Heartbeat. The Fedde Le Grande version of Music, (just like the promo tour version) and She’s Not Me follow.

The following section will opens with the song Devil Would Recognize You, Madonna will sing it live and play the piano onstage HERSELF for the very first time! After that we go into Miles Away, just like the promo tour, and a joyful version Spanish Lesson. Her great classic from True Blue arrives next: It’s La Isla Bonita that will be presented in its “Live Earth incarnation”, the Lela Pala Tute version!!! This third section is closed by one of the songs by Madonna that won an Oscar. It’s the touching “You Must Love Me”, the beautiful ballad from Evita, written by Tim Rice and Andrew Loydd Webber especially for Madonna in the film. This version is more or less very similar to its original form.

The closing section of the tour includes the promo tour version of 4 Minutes followed by one of the greatest surprises fans will adore: Impressive Instant from the “Music” album!! Ray of Light follows. It’s basically the album version with some changes in the middle. The promo tour version of Hung Up is next. The tour closes with the latest single from Hard Candy, Give It 2 Me

US newspaper columnist and Madonna champion Liz Smith attended the Sticky & Sweet Tour rehearsals and offers this report:

‘UHHH….I can’t jump rope in high heels!’
‘Really?’
‘Well, not that high a heel.’
OK folks, who do we know who would jump rope (double dutch, too) in heels? Of course! It is our old friend, the indomitable Madonna.

La Ciccone has been rehearsing her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour in a massive space in New York. Her latest troupe of beautiful dancers is present, as is every other member of a massive Madonna undertaking. When the boss works, everybody works! It is 80 degrees and humid outside. Inside, it’s a steam bath. Madonna does not enjoy air conditioning. (Audiences tend to leave her concerts having lost about 10 pounds in water weight.) Everybody looks whipped. Not Madonna.

Without makeup, her long blond hair lank, dressed in funereal black rehearsal togs, she looks fresher, younger and more vital than she does on the red carpet. (She also looks less muscular. Concert lighting and flash photography tends to over-emphasize her toned sinew.) She certainly shakes a tail feather like she is still writhing along the canals in Venice for the ‘Like a Virgin’ video, filmed before most of her dancers were born.

People close to Madonna, those who love her, are always saying, ‘Why don’t you relax more, have some fun?’ Sometimes she will agree. But most of the time she doesn’t bother to give concerned parties her life memo: hard work – pushing herself to the limit and most of all, dancing is her fun and relaxation. So many of her songs celebrate the power of dance and how it can free you – perhaps just temporarily – from immediate care.

Watching this star go through her paces, she seems not to have a care in the world, except to perfect her show. ‘That sucked!’ she declares after failing to execute her double dutch without error. ‘I have to be better.’ Madonna pauses and gives a mock scowl to her dancers, ‘And so does everybody else.’
Later, she painstakingly explains her vision on one of the numbers. The choreographer is working only from an e-mail he just received from Madonna. She has her vision, now she has to communicate it. The number will feature four girls who are dressed up in various iconic versions of Madonna images past. She’s laughing at her old ‘looks’ and discussing the particulars. ‘At first I thought mannequins, then no, real girls would be better. Truthfully, I wanted drag queens – who does me better? But I figured that might be too much drama, you know – those girls love their scenes. And I provide enough of that!’

As Madonna recruits the dancers who’ll stand and strike a pose, each holding or wearing a prop, the star will snatch away, the choreographer beams, ‘Oh, this is getting so wickedly weird. Now I’m really loving it!’

Throughout the afternoon and evening, Madonna never flags, and never loses her sense of humor or the maternal camaraderie she always shares with her dancers.

Happily lost in her greatest love – her work – it doesn’t seem the time or place to bring up her supposedly failing marriage or the betrayal of her brother, Christopher Ciccone, and his tell-all book. (Poor Christopher. He has made his bed, and already the peas in his mattress are the size of boulders. In the end, he will have helped sell a gazillion more tickets to his sister’s concerts.) Will Madonna and Guy Ritchie separate? I don’t know. I do know they have been deeply in love, very much in sync (certainly at one time), and both these strong-willed people have tried hard to accommodate the other.

The last time I saw Guy and Madonna together they couldn’t have been more convivial and affectionate. They were in public, of course, so we take the proverbial grain of salt on that one. I don’t think the towel is thrown in yet. It’s damp and well used. It’s hanging crooked on the shower stall. But it’s not quite ready for the hamper. She has three children. She is not cavalier when it comes to divorce. (Remember, this is only her second marriage.)

Certainly Madonna does not look or behave like a woman whose marriage is on the rocks. She wouldn’t show that face anyway; that’s a great part of her appeal. She doesn’t beg her audience for love or understanding. You either understand or you don’t. Seen through the oft-distorted prism of the media, her ambition and ‘manipulation’ is not always admired. Still, many do admire her, without really admitting she has talent. Millions more worship her as a figure of empowerment and forging success in a man’s world on a man’s terms.

She’s the music industry’s Hillary Clinton, jumping rope in high heels.

We sure hope this is true!

As of Saturday afternoon, a solo Madge (above) was seen leaving the Kabbalah center in NYC.

A source close to the couple tells The Sun:

“It is make or break time for Guy and Madonna. She is completely focused on rehearsals for her tour in America and can’t come back to London. They want to make the marriage work, but they are at a stalemate. At the moment they are both trying to rescue the situation. Em has shown a willingness to patch things up. But because almost all rehearsals for the tour are in New York rather than in London Guy thinks she’s not sacrificing much. He has now decided to fly out there this weekend to try to sort things out.”

If they can’t sort it out, then Madge and Guy are determined to work things out civilly.

Work it out, though.

One of the sections begins with a musical intro from the “Topkapi” movie which lands to “Buenos Aires” from the “Evita” soundtrack. A suitcase choreography ending with ensable cast is being considered. “Buenos Aires” is currently followed by “Spanish Lesson”.

Surprisingly “She Is Not Me” is being rehearsed linked with “My Name Is Not Susan”.

The 2008 version of “Everybody” features a heavy SKD sample.

A beautiful Sytar and voice version of “Secret” is being considered.

“La Isla Bonita” is closing a section which is currently dedicated to India, with Bollywood style music and choreography.

An “Holiday” intro is being considered for “4 Minutes”.

A lot of oldies are being rehearsed, many of them totally reworked.

A controversial screen video by Steven Klein ends one of the sections.