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Madonna Unplugged

May 22, 2008 11:26 AM

Cynthia McFadden Reports:

This story ends with me standing beside Madonna on the balcony of the famed Carlton Hotel in Cannes, well after 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, talking about how glad we were not to be part of the hordes below swirling in the pool of the film festival. The lights of the yachts twinkled as they bobbed up and down in the harbor; the limos crawled down the Croissette, the main boulevard in this Riviera hot spot.

Women in evening gowns and jewels wobbled on impossibly high heels as they leaned on the arms of men in tuxedos.

And there we stood, high above on the balcony of her suite, talking not about movie stars or gossip or fashion or music or even world events. Madonna and I were taking about kids: whether she gives her kids an allowance (she does not); whether they are allowed to watch television (they are not); and the chores they have to do to earn spending money (plenty).

In this town known for outrageous expressions of glut and glamour, a woman who has had her share of both stood there silently taking it all in. "You could have one of those yachts, if you wanted," I finally said. "And all the richy-richy stuff." "It doesn't look good on me," she said reflectively.

What’s happened to the Material Girl? She says she enjoys fine things, expensive things and quickly points out she lives very well indeed (she had arrived earlier from her home in London by private jet with various members of her staff), but she says the accumulation of things has become less interesting to her.

It was a mellow end to a wild two hours together. We talked about men, in general; her husband, in particular. Her music. How she sometimes frightens herself. What she thinks about turning 50-years-old this summer…and why she is adopting a baby. (She says she hopes the adoption will be finalized this week.)

She says, with surprise in her voice, several times as we talk, that she doesn't quite know what has gotten into her. She is saying things she has never said publicly before. Like how Pharrell Williams had hurt her feelings and made her cry while they were working on her new album. Like how her husband was slow to warm up to the idea of adopting. She tells me how she gave her gardener a chance to direct her documentary because everyone has to have a first chance. Hadn't she been the girl squeezing the filling in the Dunkin' Donuts?

Maybe it was the soft breezes in the south of France. Whatever the lucky reason, it is a rare, intimate, funny and unplugged Madonna, unlike the woman who usually approaches interviews like most of us do a root canal: necessary perhaps, but painful. But not this time. Not here in Cannes where she has come to debut that new documentary "I am Because We Are" about the small African country of Malawi.

Madonna, of course, is not the only superstar on the premises. The general vicinity is crawling with them. I had bumped into Angelina Jolie earlier in the day at breakfast (a sentence, I must say, I never thought I would write). And as proof that I could never cut it as a pappazzi, my producer, Roxanna Sherwood, and I STOP shooting and put away our cameras when we stumble on Brad Pitt and one of his children in a garden.

Even the cars have pedigrees here. We are picked up by a delightful man, Jean Luc, who tells me one hour earlier George Lucas had sat where I was now sitting.

This kind of whop-de-do has been going on for the past 68 years, ever since the film festival first came to town. The Festival attracts the talented, the famous, the rich and people who would like to be any of the above. Seven thousand journalists also crowd into town. And so this year, I was one of them.

Like so many stories, starting at the beginning is not as easy as it might sound. The beginning of our trip to Cannes to interview Madonna actually began a week ago with a "no."

Liz Rosenberg, who has been Madonna's press agent since she first exploded into the public eye in 1983, called. "Cynthia, wanna go to Cannes and talk to Madonna about her new documentary, the new album and anything else that tickles your fancy?"

A little background: I had interviewed Madonna twice before, once in 2004 in Los Angles and once in 2005 at her home in New York. Both times for ABC News Magazines, first "Primetime" and then "20/20."

"Of course, I want to talk to her," I told Liz. "But let me check." "Checking" means talking to "Nightline" executive producer, James Goldston. James, who knows a good thing when he hears it, said "absolutely" before I'd even finished my question.

Now comes the "no" part. I called Liz back. "James says yes, when does she want to do it?" "Thursday." "Next Thursday?," I winced. "Next Thursday I'm giving the commencement address at Columbia Law School in New York." "Wednesday then," says Liz.

Still no good. I couldn’t get a flight back in time. And besides Wednesday night I had to be in New York to host a benefit for a charity I really care about, Children for Children. On top of which, ABC News president David Westin and his wife Sherrie were being honored at the event. Wednesday was out too. It was starting to look as if someone else was going to get to talk to Madonna in Cannes. I called Liz back. "Can't do it."

Stunned silence.

As you might imagine, it is isn't too often people turn down a Madonna interview. Not when it is the only one she's giving to an American network. Not when her new album has just debuted at number one in 27 countries. Listen, not anytime. She's Madonna. She makes news.

Liz sighed. "Let me see what I can do."

What she did was to get Madonna to come on Tuesday, so Roxanna and I arrived on Monday morning. I am writing this as I fly back to New York City on Wednesday. I will go to the benefit; give the commencement speech and put the Madonna interview on this Thursday night on "Nightline."

As an old boss of mine used to say, "Sleep is for sissies." I hope you'll watch.

May 22, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (13)

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