 |
Madonna
performs at Luzhniki stadium
in Moscow September 12,
2006.[Reuters] |
MOSCOW - Madonna took to the stage of Moscow's biggest stadium Tuesday night
in spite of religious protesters' threats to disrupt the performance.
At Luzhniki Stadium, a crowd of about 35,000 watched Madonna perform a
concert that has been met with increasing opposition as the pop star's
"Confessions" tour traveled across Europe. The Russian Orthodox Church in
particular has objected to religious imagery in the performance.
On Tuesday, no disorder was reported, although 10 Orthodox activists were
detained outside the stadium for trying to conduct an unsanctioned protest ahead
of the show. Other Orthodox faithful in small groups prayed outside the stadium.
Some 7,000 police officers were to be on hand in and around the stadium, on a
bend in the Moscow River near Gorky Park.
At the heart of objections to the show is the culmination of the concert,
when Madonna sings while suspended from a cross. She drew protests at earlier
stops in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, where last week a priest was
arrested for phoning in a fake bomb threat.
"I think a deeply believing person would never go to the concert," the Rev.
Vsevolod Chaplin, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, told Associated
Press Television News. "This lady ... plays with religious symbols, and I think
it's not only a matter of financial advancement of her production but it's also
a kind of attempt to justify and sanctify her message and her sins, using
something holy."
The Russian Orthodox Church has objected to the performance, pushing hard for
the organizers to push it back from the initially planned date of Sept. 11 ¡ª
both in a sign of respect for the victims of the terror attacks in the United
States five years ago, and because that date coincided with a church holiday,
the Feast of St. John the Baptist.
The venue was also switched. The concert originally was planned for a stage
on the Vorobyovye Gory (Sparrow Hills), overlooking the Moscow River, but the
Orthodox Church said that would be inappropriate because two churches are
located there. The organizers scrambled to find another site after police said
they could not ensure security in such a sprawling area.
City authorities pushed for the concert to be held at Tushino Airfield, the
site of many outdoor rock extravaganzas. However, Tushino is on the outskirts of
the city, it is anything but scenic and its security image is shadowed by an
incident in 2003 when a double suicide bombing killed 14 spectators.
Scores of Orthodox protesters, dressed in religious costume and carrying
religious symbols, have held noisy rallies over the past few weeks to protest
the concert.
Madonna next scheduled concerts are in Osaka, Japan and Tokyo on Sept. 16 and
20 respectively.
