MG Icon, the joint venture among Iconix Brand Group, Inc., Madonna and Guy Oseary announce today its spring 2012 marketing initiatives for the Material Girlä brand, which is available exclusively at Macy’s in the United States and The Bay in Canada. The brand’s advertising campaign will take on a new direction for spring by hosting nationwide casting calls for the next “Lucky Stars” to appear in the national marketing campaign. The “Lucky Stars” model search will launch on Wednesday, November 2nd at Macy’s Herald Square in New York and will culminate on November 21st online at www.materialgirlcollection.com

A celebrity-driven panel of judges, led by current Material Girl spokesperson Kelly Osbourne, will be searching the country to find the next Material Girls. “Lucky Stars” casting calls will be held at five of Macy’s flagship locations in the United States including:

Herald Square, New York – Wednesday, November 2 at 5:00 p.m.
Dadeland, Miami – Friday, November 4 at 6:00 p.m.
State Street, Chicago – Tuesday, November 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Union Square, San Francisco – Saturday, November 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Beverly Center, Los Angeles – Saturday, November 19 at 2:00 p.m.

Madonna and Lola commented, “This is not your standard model search. It’s more about attitude. We are looking for a stylish, adventurous, creative, free spirit. We’re both looking forward to meeting the ten finalists in New York in December.”

“There is a material girl inside of every girl. She is brave and confident in herself and what she aspires to be,” commented Kelly Osbourne.

“We are excited to be able to engage and interact with our Material Girl consumers on such a personal level. The Material Girl brand is symbolic of every girl, every style, encouraging girls to be true to themselves. We all can’t wait to meet the contestants,” commented Dari Marder, chief marketing officer, Iconix Brand Group. “The top contestants will have the opportunity to work with Lola at the photo shoot, be photographed by a fashion photographer, appear in a national marketing campaign and hopefully create memories for a lifetime,” Marder added.

“The Material Girl casting call is a fun way to reach the millennial customer who is eager to find new ways to express herself through fashion and technology,” said Martine Reardon, Macy’s executive vice president of marketing. “This unique opportunity allows Material Girl and Macy’s to find the next ‘Lucky Stars’ among this growing customer group who will represent the energy and individuality of this brand.”

Material Girl contestants should bring a photograph of themselves and be prepared to tell the Material Girl judging panel why they should be the next Material Girl. Contestants can also upload their photograph to www.materialgirlcollection.com and explain in 100 words or less why they should be selected as one of Material Girl’s “Lucky Stars.”

The judging panel will narrow all entries down to 36, which will be placed online at www.materialgirlcollection.com to be voted on by the public, narrowing it down to 10 finalists. The top 10 finalists with the highest votes will be flown to New York City, where Madonna and Lola will choose the winners and the new faces of Material Girl’s spring 2012 campaign.

The “Lucky Stars” winners’ ads will debut in fashion and lifestyle magazines and be part of a digital and outdoor campaign and in-store Macy’s marketing collateral and receive a $5,000 cash prize.

Material Girl is a fast-fashion junior collection inspired and designed in collaboration with Madonna and her daughter Lola, along with Iconix Brand Group’s in-house fashion department. To stay up to date with the latest news from Material Girl, follow @MaterialGirlCol on Twitter and use the hash tag #MGModelSearch. Become a fan of Material Girl on Facebook at www.facebook.com/materialgirlcollection

Go to www.facebook.com/smirnoff to find out more.

Madonna will appear to judge the finals of the competition at one of the venues involved in the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange project, which takes place on November 12, with the successful dancer joining her team for her next world tour.

The project sees 50 countries around the world – including Australia, Great Britain, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, India, Mexico and South Africa – swap their local nightlife, from local customs drinks and serving styles to decor.

Madonna said: “What attracted me to the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is the combination of participating in the celebration of nightlife around the world and the opportunity to discover the world’s best unknown dancers.

“The best dancers are always in the clubs looking for the most original experience, just like Smirnoff is doing.”
Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary recently confirmed she has started work on a new album, which will be her 12th studio record.

He tweeted in June: “Madonna goes into the recording studio next month to begin work on new album.

“She has a good idea of which producers she will be working with- lots of questions about what kind of music it will be – stay tuned.”

Madonna also put out a message out herself in December saying she was itching to start work on the follow up to 2008′s ‘Hard Candy’, and appealing for collaborators.

She wrote: “Its official! I need to move. I need to sweat. I need to make new music! Music I can dance to. I’m on the lookout for the maddest, sickest, most badass people to collaborate with. I’m just saying.”

To find out more about The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project or enter for the chance to be Madonna’s next dancer, visit www.facebook.com/SmirnoffGB

Eight workers at Madonna’s Malawi charity are suing the pop star for unfair dismissal and non-payment of their benefits, their lawyer said on Sunday.

The board of the charity, Raising Malawi, was sacked after abandoning plans to build a state of the art girls’ school just outside the capital Lilongwe due to mismanagement, the New York Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

Madonna, who has adopted two children from Malawi, lent $11 million to the organization and is now on the board.

The workers’ lawyer, Mzondi Chirambo, said Madonna had 14 days to respond to their concerns.

“Their employment was terminated by the trustees of Raising Malawi Academy for Girls ostensibly following the change of plan not to build the school as planned,” Chirambo said.

“My clients are also being forced to sign a discriminatory termination agreement before they are paid their benefits.”

Chirambo said one of the workers he represented was the chief executive of the school, some taught Jewish Kabbalah mysticism while the others were connected to the school project.

The papers were filed with the Industrial Court, which handles labor disputes.

Madonna’s U.S. representative was not immediately available for comment.

The New York Times said the plan to build the school had collapsed after $3.8 million was spent with little to show for it. Its executive director left in October amid criticism of his management style and cost overruns.

Elsie Mae Fortin, ‘The Power of Good-Bye’ singer’s maternal grandmother, passed away in Bay City, Michigan yesterday, just three months before she would have turned 100.

Elsie had helped raise Madonna in her early years after the death of her mother from breast cancer in 1963, when she was just five.

The star is said to have been very close to her grandmother, and has often stayed with her for weeks over summers.

Madonna’s father, Silvio Ciccone, paid respects to Elsie, telling the Bay City Times newspaper: “She was very friendly, loving and caring. She had a big family to take care of and she did a great job of it.”

Silvio said he had visited his mother, who lived alone, often and last spoke with her just two weeks ago.
Madonna’s publicist, Liz Rosenberg, issued a statement, reading: “I’m sorry, but Madonna will not be issuing any statements or conversing with the media regarding her grandmother. It is a totally personal matter to her.”

A funeral mass will be held this Saturday in Bay City.

Madonna and Lola are back for a second season and have chosen actress, musician and television host, Kelly Osbourne, as their new celebrity muse for their spring 2011 Material Girl collection.

The campaign brings us back to Madonna’s roots in New York City’s East Village and was shot at iconic venues Lit Lounge and Mars Bar. Photographed by fashion photographer Brooke Nipar, Osbourne is seen posing against graffiti-covered walls, standing on the bar and on the streets of the East Village. Additional images were captured at Bathhouse Studios in New York with a set inspired by the East Village of the 80s with chain link fences and historical images.

“It’s such an honor to be a part of this campaign and it was an amazing experience to work with Madonna and Lola. Material Girl is incredible because its high fashion but it is accessible to everyone at Macy’s,” stated Kelly Osbourne. Commenting on her style, Osbourne added, “I take so much of my style from Madonna in the 80s and I really admire how Lola dresses and that she stays true to herself.”

The multi-media campaign will debut in April issues of fashion and lifestyle magazines such as Seventeen, Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan, in-stores, outdoor and online at macys.com. Material Girl is available exclusively at Macy’s and macys.com in the United States and is launching this spring in Canada exclusively at the Bay and www.thebay.com.

Osbourne will make personal appearances on behalf of Material Girl this spring. The campaign follows the highly successful Material Girl launch with actress/musician Taylor Momsen. To stay up to date with the latest news from Material Girl follow @MaterialGirlCol on Twitter and become a fan of Material Girl at www.facebook.com/materialgirlcollection.

Newsman-turned-TV personality Piers Morgan has given Madonna hope after snubbing the pop superstar from his new CNN talk show – he’ll lift the ban if she publicly apologises for being an annoyance to him.

Morgan famously clashed with the Material Girl several times when he was a tabloid editor in the UK – and he’s launching his new show by insisting she isn’t welcome as a guest.

He says, “She’s kind of been an irritant in my life for 20 years, so I had to ban her from the show. It’s probably quite childish, but it made me feel better.”

But Morgan insists the door is still slightly ajar for Madonna, should she want to appear on his show, which debuts next week in America.

He adds, “A bended-knee apology on CNN might swing it. Other than that, it’s a lifetime ban.”

And the British newsman already has plans to interview a major pop superstar: “Lady Gaga is half her age, twice as good-looking, twice as talented, and twice as hot. I mean, why would I bother with Madonna, seriously.”

The pop superstar met with Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes to discuss buying a stake in his company, The Aura Group, which owns several nightspots including Aura Mayfair.

An associate of the singer told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “Madonna sees it as a natural move. She has ambitious plans.”

The ‘Material Girl’ hitmaker is a regular visitor to the exclusive club – which is owned by Fernandes, events and motorsport entrepreneur Jonny Dodge and Supper Club proprietor Alberto Barbieri – and is believed to be keen to put her own influence into the venue.

If Madonna does become a stakeholder in Aura she will be able to count her ex-husband Guy Ritchie as a business rival as he owns The Punchbowl pub in the exclusive area of the city.

It seems the 52-year star is keen to expand her business empire.

In November, she opened a gym, the Hard Candy Fitness centre, in Mexico City.

At the time she said: “It’s a sexy name that gives you the opportunity to have fun and to build strength as far as the imagination will allow.

“If any of you have seen my shows, you know that I don’t skimp on them and the same is true for the gum. We spend what it takes to make a globally first-class gym.”

She is expected to launch another 10 gyms across the globe, including in Argentina, Russia and Europe.

Madonna sent boxes of toys, clothes and other gifts to her charity in the African country.

The hitmaker brought some festive cheer to parentless children by shipping the aid packages – which also contained chocolate and sweets – to staff at the Raising Malawi foundation to hand out to local kids.

She included a handwritten note reading: “To my Malawi children on Christmas and Boxing Day. I wish I was with you. See you soon, M.”

Madonna founded the charity to bring an end to the poverty and hardship suffered by orphans in the landlocked region. She has also adopted two children from the country.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and Madonna