Her tribute last night made this spectacular performance — the launch of phase two of the 50-year-old’s European Sticky & Sweet tour — even more memorable.

Some fans who were also at Saturday’s 17,700-capacity show knew what was coming, but that didn’t reduce the impact when dancer Kento Mori, dressed like Jackson, moonwalked to Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin’ Something.

“Let’s give it up to one of the greatest artists the world has ever known — Michael Jackson,” said Madonna, while a boyish Jackson appeared on the big screen. “Long live the king!”

Madonna couldn’t claim to possess the virtuosity of Jackson at his peak. But whatever her vocal limitations, this was a triumph of eye-popping production, exhausting choreography and her indomitable personality, as well as those fantastic songs.

The appearance of Kanye West and Britney Spears on video as well as a vintage Rolls-Royce on the ego ramp initially suggested a show big on gimmickry. Yet, while it was rehearsed with military precision, Madonna gave much more than you expect from a global superstar, even when tickets cost up to £175.

Nevertheless, the pounding musical interludes during the costume changes were actually better than plenty of concerts. So when Madonna rose from below the stage in a mini-skirt, skipping and then pole-dancing on a moving DJ booth during Into the Groove, the reaction was approaching hysteria. “Who says the English are reserved?” she bawled.

Despite her own raunchy history, Madonna’s rock-hard body was not too exposed, although she did manage to snog a look-alike of her Eighties self and a dancing monk grabbed her backside for a stipulated two seconds.

It was her fearsome pop power and the fantastic dancing that kept you transfixed though, whether on joyous renditions of Like a Prayer and La Isla Bonita, or the fantastic clubby finale of Give it 2 Me, during which Madonna and her dancers each wore one white glove in honour of Jackson.

“No one’s going to stop me — ever,” Madonna pointed out after a breathless two hours. Based on this performance, who can doubt her?

Every woman wants to know what it’s like to be an exotic dancer.

At least, that’s what one Mesa business is counting on.

Former exotic dancer Jennifer Bourland and Debbie Faaaliga opened PlayfulPole, a gym at Alma School and Guadalupe roads that teaches women to pole dance in a workout that mixes fitness and exotic Pole dancing. It’s a safe place for women to express themselves, they said.
The women opened the gym last month when Bourland was ready to retire from exotic dancing.

“I wanted to give women a place they could learn without having to go to the clubs I went to,” she said.
She touts pole dancing as an excellent workout for women. In 16 years as an exotic dancer, Bourland said she never went to the gym because her job kept her in such good shape.

The workout has become popular in recent years with a series of workout videos starring Carmen Electra Pole, and it’s showed up in family gyms across the country.

Bourland, a former food merchandiser, said she felt her self-confidence grow when she became an exotic stripper pole.She got into better shape and felt more beautiful and powerful, she said.

And her job helped her get a jump on becoming an entrepreneur. One of her patrons eventually agreed to invest in her studio, so she could teach classes rather than dance for a living.

The two parted ways after a few months, but Bourland had already made up her mind about becoming a business owner.

Britney Spears cancelled a booking for a top Dublin hotel because they refused to co-operate with her demands for a stripper pole, it has emerged.

The 27-year-old Womanizer star requested that an exclusive hotel on the Dublin southside install a steel pole during her brief stay in the city for her sell-out Circus tour.

But when the venue declined, her minders promptly booked into the apparently more accommodating Four Seasons Hotel instead.

A source revealed the mum-of-two is a keen pole dancer, as it apparently helps her keep in shape.

The source said: “She adores working out on a pole as it helps her keep toned.

“She has had to work very hard to squeeze back into those tiny stage costumes and she knows she has to stay on top of her regime. Britney can’t let her weight creep back up as this is the most important tour of her career and she has to stay in peak physical condition.”

A source said: “Britney loves pole dancing, it is her new favourite work out. She gets the toning she needs without having to hit the gym and wants to do it in the privacy of her own hotel room.

“Keeping fit on tour is very important as her show involves lots of rigorous dance routines, so Britney likes to do her pole dancing workout first thing in the morning.”

The mother-of-two has also requested the hotel provide a chef from restaurant chain Nando’s to be on hand to cook her spicy chicken whenever she feels like it.

Britney’s request comes just days after Russell Brand asked for a private pole.

The British comic star – who once gave Britney sex tips – is set to stay at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino when shooting starts on movie ‘Get Him to the Greek’ in Las Vegas.

Russell has requested the famous Apex suite, known as the “ultimate bachelor pad”, and has its own stripper pole.

Buy pole dancing kit

The mower outfitted with a “stripper pole” has been converted to a mower with a non-stripper pole.

The easy chair-turned-riding mower, complete with a sign that says, “Senate Seat 4 Sale” and a 1-800 number to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, will not be making the trip.

“We want to do it respectfully because it’s a historic event, but we also have to have fun,” said Tim Monahan, one of Pat’s three brothers.

Pole professional Adam Webb – who goes by the stage name “Corey Cruise” – has been running pole dance lessons at the Penthouse Night Club in Wellington Street for four years.

I’ve been teaching dance all my professional life,” Cruise says.

“As far as I know, there’s no other pole dancing men in Australia.

“I find it to be like ballet – the girl is the star and the guy is the pole.”

Cruise regularly straddles the pole himself, but says he’s only ever taught pole dancing to women.

He says he wants to teach blokes how to participate in the exercise fad that’s been the exclusive domain of women-only gymnasiums in recent years.

It wouldn’t be such a stretch, Cruise says, because he’s been teaching both sexes how to strip for years.

“We actually had a female model who wanted to learn to strip to give her boyfriend a surprise and get him to propose to her, and he did,” Cruise says.

“I’m actually thinking about turning that concept around and starting up ‘teach your hubby how to strip’ lessons.

“It’d be a great way of giving her a Valentines Day pressie without spending any money.”

Cruise says pole dancing, both male and female, has huge potential.

“The exercise and all that side of it has definitely taken it out of the strip clubs and into the mainstream,” he says.

“It has still got that rude connotation, but it’s no longer considered crude.

“There’s companies out there now petitioning to have pole dancing included in the Olympic Games.”

Cruise maintains the pastime suits gay and straight guys alike.

“I’m straight, but everyone thinks you’re gay because of what you do,” he says.

“It’s the old Billy Elliot thing – you’re considered a ‘poofter’ if you do it.

“It’s normally a girl’s world, but for a guy to step into it shows he’s comfortable with his sexuality.”

Cruise says he has even half-written a ballet inspired by the raunchy art form.

“I want to do for pole dancing what Tap Dogs did for Tap,” he says.

Jacinta Dudley studies advertising and marketing at Edith Cowan University by day, and pole dancing with Cruise by night.

“He’s a great teacher – very strong and he can catch,” Ms Dudley replies when asked why she chose to learn pole dancing from a man.

“I am pretty strong, but sometimes you get yourself in a tricky situation.

“Some of the routines are pretty hard and it’s good if someone can spot you the first few times.”
souce

The actress/model opened the doors to her germ-free retreat, where her son is home schooled by teachers who understand his condition, to U.S. TV show Access Hollywood recently – and admitted there’s a naughty secret in his playroom.

As well as a climbing rope attached to the ceiling, there’s also a metal pole that McCarthy revealed is not exactly what it seems. She explains, “The fireman’s pole was, like, $2,000, and the strip-aerobics pole was $200.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy has bought the property next to her home and plans to turn both into a center for autistic children.

Little Evan is a recovered autistic child. source