Molly Meldrum says he was ‘overwhelmed’ by Madonna singing for him in Melbourne
MUSIC guru Molly Meldrum says he was overwhelmed by Madonna’s onstage tribute to him in Melbourne — as he reveals what the superstar keeps in her hip flask.
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MOLLY Meldrum said he was overwhelmed by Madonna’s onstage tribute to him in Melbourne.
Madonna dedicated Take a Bow to Meldrum, calling him “the first man in Australia to fall in love with me.”
“I’m really shy, but it was lovely for her to do that,” an emotional Meldrum said. “But it was so overwhelming. I didn’t know what was going on when she was coming towards me.”
Madonna had given Meldrum front row tickets and leaned over the stage to hand him the microphone and take a swig from a hip flask.
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“Once she got closer she could see I was tearing up, and it was almost like she went for more!,” Meldrum said.
Meldrum told the singer, and all of Rod Laver Arena, “I f---ng love you!”
WARNING — offensive language used in below Tweet
Molly and @Madonna up close - a beautiful moment #RebelHeart - via @linda_freedman pic.twitter.com/Zg4vAq9glv
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) March 12, 2016
Madonna replied “I love you too. You take care of yourself, you hear me?”
Meldrum revealed a Madonna trade secret — the hip flask only contained water.
“Madonna is incredible,” Meldrum said. “The show is amazing — her, the band, the dancers, the choreography — it’s just awesome.”
Meldrum gave Madonna a copy of her autobiography The Never, Um, Ever Ending Story.
“There’s a whole chapter in there about her,” Meldrum said. “We’ve had some great times together.”
Madonna and Molly’s history stretches back to 1983, when his show Countdown championed the singer in her early days.
That meant Australia was the first place to make her single Burning Up a hit and Holiday went Top 5 in Australia first.
Australia also gave Madonna her first No. 1 anywhere in the world with Like a Virgin.
All three songs feature in the Rebel Heart tour — Madonna’s first visit down under since 1993.
Madonna has only performed Take a Bow on stage four times since it was a No. 1 hit in 1994, two of those times being in Melbourne this week.
Meldrum, recovering from a fall in Thailand, was a hero in the crowd. However one overenthusiastic audience member gave him a friendly slap on his sore arm.
“I nearly wanted to punch him, which I apologise for, but it was like shot in the arm. He didn’t mean it, but I can’t shake hands or anything at the minute, I’m still in pain.”
While the fan dream of Kylie Minogue getting on stage with Madonna in Melbourne didn’t happen, singer and drag performer Courtney Act was pulled out of the crowd by Madonna for the song Unapologetic B---h.
Madonna got very up close and personal with Act, who got into the moment by stripping off and chatting with the superstar, who seemed to have no idea she had a profile herself.
Courtney Act appeared on Australian Idol but got her international break by appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2013 and is an in-demand performer around the world.
Act tweeted today “woke up to find last night did actually happen!”
Madonna plays Rod Laver Arena again tonight (she is expected on stage around 9pm) before shows in Brisbane on Wednesday and Thursday.
The entire Rebel Heart world tour ends in Sydney next Saturday and Sunday.
Australian fans are hoping one of the shows will be filmed for a possible DVD. Madonna professionally filmed Thursday’s Tears of a Clown fan club show in Melbourne however she has yet to film any of the Rebel Heart shows worldwide.
Originally published as Molly Meldrum says he was ‘overwhelmed’ by Madonna singing for him in Melbourne
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