MADONNA has landed a host of A-listers to feature in cameos on her new music film.
Last night the Queen of Pop premiered the 13-minute Confessions II — featuring Hollywood’s Benedict Cumberbatch, supermodel Kate Moss and several other celebrities.
The film features six songs from her upcoming album.
During the one unreleased track, Danceteria, the singer slinks through a bathroom where Chelsea football aces Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro are at the urinal, while Richard E. Grant, Gwendoline Christie, Shygirl, Kate and Benedict rave in the toilet disco.
Sabrina Carpenter, who teamed up with Madge on the record’s lead single, the recently released Bring Your Love, also has a starring role.
Julia Garner, who was cast as Madonna in a yet-to-be-filmed biopic, appears in a scene where Madge flies over the crowd.
The superstar’s daughter, Lourdes Leon, is in there too.
Other new tracks in the film are I Feel So Free, Good For The Soul, One Step Away and Read My Lips.
I first told in March how the superstar had enlisted her showbiz pals to be part of a four-day shoot at a West London studio for the video — and now she has proved it was worth the wait.
Her Confessions II collection is set to be released on July 3 — 21 years after her original Confessions On A Dancefloor album came out.
I revealed at the weekend that she is now eyeing up plans for potential concerts to celebrate the record’s release — but you are unlikely to see her follow in other stars’ footsteps with a Las Vegas residency.
Name-checking a state-of-the-art 20,000-capacity arena in Paradise,
Nevada, she said, during a Q&A: “Sphere seems cool, but I don’t want to wake up and look at Vegas every day.”
And she’s ready for fans to ditch their phones at any future gigs. She added: “Put your phones down, go out, and connect with people.
ABBA have hatched a scheme to take Mamma Mia! The Party to Manchester after it proved a hit in Stockholm and London.
Plans for a new entertainment venue next to the city’s Etihad Stadium have been recommended for approval by council planners.
The three-storey venue, set to be built beside Man City’s new North Stand and close to the Co-op Live, would offer a theatrical dining experience for up to 600 guests.
City have teamed up with entertainment giant Pophouse – founded by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus – for the project, with bosses saying the city’s rich music heritage made it the perfect home for the production.
Pophouse chief executive Jessica Koravos said: “Manchester is known for its innovation in music and entertainment and we cannot think of anywhere better to bring one of the world’s most popular and ground breaking theatrical productions.”
TRAITOR STEPHEN’S MUSICAL
TRAITORS winner Stephen Libby fancies himself as the next Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I can reveal the Scottish fashionista has penned a musical that he hopes to bring to the West End in the not-too-distant future.
A source said: “Stephen has the musical all written and ready to go.
“He has always dreamed of his work making it to the West End.
“With The Traitors opening so many doors – both financially and in terms of connections – he feels like the time could be now.
“He’s been having various meetings and things are looking promising.”
Stephen and fellow Traitors winner Rachel Duffy split the hit BBC show’s £95,750 prize money earlier this year.
Since then he has been a regular on the showbiz circuit in London and even landed an ad hoc hosting job on ITV’s This Morning.
NIALL HORAN is on course to catch up with his One Direction bandmate Harry Styles this week by scoring his third No1 album.
The Irish singer released Dinner Party on Friday and it is currently in the lead to top the charts, after Sir Paul McCartney claimed pole position last week with The Boys Of Dungeon Lane.
ACE THEO TACKLES TOXICITY
FORMER England ace Theo Walcott is getting into the World Cup spirit despite hanging up his footie boots.
The Arsenal legend has teamed up with EE to front its new Yes Boys campaign.
The initiative aims to shine a light on the negative online influences shaping boys’ attitudes both on and off the pitch.
It comes as new data reveals 42 per cent of boys aged 11 to 16 encounter outdated phrases like “men shouldn’t show emotion” and “boys need to toughen up” every week.
Progress has been made over the years, but clearly there is still a long way to go.
DOLLS ASH: MY DANCE TRAUMA
PUSSYCAT DOLLS star Ashley Roberts has admitted she was so burned out when the group split in 2010 that even seeing people dance would make her cry.
The girls were known for their intense, choreographed routines but Ashley couldn’t bear to bust any moves after the break-up because of the trauma wrapped up in the group’s original run.
She said: “It was absolutely heartbreaking. I couldn’t even actually watch dancing because I would just be bursting into tears.
“When it first became my job, I was like, ‘Well, this is epic’.
“But then it got wrapped up in this bubble of a major pop group that was a global success.
“I got a bit on the other side and I was like, ‘Well, who am I actually outside of this, right?’
“I just felt very lost, very disconnected to the one thing that actually made me feel like it was like the essence of life to me.
“I just didn’t really recognise myself.
“And it was a really, really tough time.”
Thankfully Ashley has since healed herself, as well as her relationship with performing, and has reunited with Nicole Scherzinger and Kimberly Wyatt for a tour here this autumn.
On how she feels to be back, she told Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast: “Everybody’s like, ‘No, you’re in shape – you got this’.
“I’m like, ‘No, this is a whole other beast’.
“It’s like running a marathon in heels.
“We’re like, ‘Screw it’. You never know when we’re going to be able to do this again.
“We’ve got to just do it – we’ve got to say yes and just go for it.”
Swissh look, Sam
SAM SMITH mixed business with glamour by pairing a shirt and tie with an eye-catching gold corset.
The Stay With Me singer’s snap has been released for the first time as part of a book called The Elegance Of Time, celebrating the 60th edition of Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival.
Sam played at the event – held annually near Lake Geneva – in 2023, and this photo, along with 150 other intimate portraits of artists including Raye, Lionel Richie, Benson Boone and Pulp, will be included in the book, which is out tomorrow.
BBC bosses splashed out on therapy for UK Eurovision act Look Mum No Computer after he came last in the contest and was ridiculed online.
The performer, whose real name is Sam Battle, said the fallout from his quirky entry Eins, Zwei, Drei is ongoing, so he is still seeing a counsellor.
Sam told The Euro Trip podcast: “There was some sort of therapy stuff. The BBC got me a therapist, which is amazing.
“I’ve never really had one before. They were very accommodating. In fact, I’ve still got the therapist because obviously the fallout is another thing. They don’t just leave you.”
Now Sam reckons the only way forward for the UK at Eurovision is to send a hard rock band.
He said: “We went for ‘very good sensible pop songs’ and then for something ‘a little bit left field’. Still didn’t quite work.
“My tip? Metal. Do we have anything to lose?”