After the recent Live Earth concerts, I was surprised by my own strong negative reaction to watching Madonna perform.

After all, I've been her fan from the beginning. "Borderline," "Burning Up For Your Love," "Holiday." I lived in Manhattan in the '80s and danced at The Tunnel and Limelight. I stuck with her through all her personae and excitedly queued up for "Evita"
and duly learned how to Vogue.

But seeing her onstage for Live Earth, as FANTASTIC as she looked, all I could think was: How does Lourdes feel watching her mother up there gyrating against the hunky, sweating backup dancers? Why was I suddenly feeling like an old prude as I watched the 49 year old Material Mom bump and grind her way through a 4 number set?

A colleague accused me of being sexist because I wouldn't react that way to similar behaviour from Mick Jagger or Steven Tyler. But I contended that I'm a feminist and expect better from women.especially savvy and experienced women like Mrs. Ciccone-Ritchie. I thought perhaps it was Ageism, rearing
its ugly Hollywood head.

Would the sight of Nelly Furtado or Gwen Stefani being overtly sexual seem as off-putting to me? I stewed over this for several days and decided my real problem with Madonna is OVER EXPOSURE. I think I just max'ed out on how much I want to read about, see or hear from her. In a business where no one seems to believe that "Less is More," could I finally have reached the Madonna saturation point? I certainly get that way with the constant onslaught of Lindsay/Britney/Paris reportage we endure in Tinseltown, but I think even the biggest, brightest stars can benefit from some time OUT of the spotlight. Think of the comebacks they could enjoy if they just left the limelight for some personal time?  

Hey,if Madonna's into Kaballah and Eco-causes and African orphans, maybe she should take a hiatus from showbiz and explore them more fully. Or is she addicted to the publicity?

I applaud the stars who don't have to hop from project to project, party to party and talk show to talk show. The ones who go to work, come home to their families and maybe go to the beach or the mall on the weekends. Of course, they're not the ones keeping the tabloid magazines in business, because there's nothing scandalous to report about Jodie Foster having ice cream with her kids, Will Ferrell playing soccer with his buddies or Julianne Moore going to the gym.

Even the paparazzi targets like Brad Pitt, Kirstie Alley, Matthew McConaughey or Courtney Cox are pretty much just going about the business of daily living and not encouraging the attention by shaving their heads, driving down Robertson Boulevard at 90 mph the wrong direction, "canoodling" at Hyde or getting into public brawls at the Polo Lounge. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Robert Downey Jr, Christina Aguilera and Angelina Jolie are good examples of positive reinvention.

Oh, who knows. Maybe Lourdes was taking notes.