TEL AVIV: In a black trouser suit and with her hair down, US pop icon Madonna hit the stage in front of an adoring Tel Aviv crowd late on Thursday to launch a hotly anticipated world tour spanning 30 countries to promote her new MDNA album.
Accompanied by bare-chested dancers dressed as monks on a cathedral-like set to the sound of church bells and Hebrew prayer, she opened the show with "Girl Gone Wild."
Excited fans were already pouring through the gates when they opened some four hours before the 9:45 pm (1845 GMT) start, with all 32,000 tickets sold out.
"I follow her worldwide," said Einat, a 41-year-old mother of three from London. "Starting the concert here is great politically, it's great for Israel. She's just amazing."
Russian fan Roma Ryabchikov said: "She's a real queen, this is going to be a very exciting concert.
"There is a very good mood here in Tel Aviv," added the 26-year-old lawyer, who flew in from Moscow and who said her favourite song was "Vogue," a gender-blurring number in which the male dancers are expected to wear high heels.
What promised to be an eye-popping extravaganza marked the start of the 53-year-old Queen of Pop's ninth world tour and her first since her "Sticky and Sweet" outing in 2008/2009.
From Israel, she is to move on to Abu Dhabi and then to Europe and the Americas before ending in early 2013 in Australia, where she has not performed in more than 20 years.
Kicking off her latest tour in Israel was a natural choice for the Catholic-born singer, who over the past decade has become deeply involved in the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah.
Since then, she has been back to the Jewish state several times, on both public and private visits, last performing here in 2009 .
There was speculation she might perform a mashup of "Express Yourself" with Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" which was released last year, sparking criticism it was uncannily similar to Madonna's 1989 hit.
Earlier this week, a video of Madonna rehearsing popped up on YouTube showing what appeared to be Madonna singing her own song, then cutting into the Lady Gaga version during the chorus.
Officials said her two older children -- 15-year-old Lourdes, and 12-year-old Rocco -- would also take part in the show.
"This show is epic and bigger than anything she's done before. There are many more costume changes. We're taking 700 shoes on the road," her costume designer and stylist Arianne Phillips told the WWD website.
"Madonna changes outfits seven or eight times and the dancers change 10 to 15 times, depending on the dancer," she said.
The first full dress rehearsal reportedly took place on Monday night, with the ever-controversial songstress pointing a gun at the crowd, as her dancers writhed around with machineguns and rifles.
Four years ago, she was criticised by anti-gun groups after sporting a pair of Chanel shoes with heels shaped like pistols.
Although Thursday evening's 35,000-capacity show was completely sold out, a day ahead of the performance, the diminutive diva briefly met with members of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum and handed them 600 tickets.
"We spoke to her for a few minutes and we asked if she would say anything about peace," Peace Now's Yariv Oppenheimer told AFP, saying it was the forum's first-ever contact with the petite singer, who has largely steered clear of getting involved with issues linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"She told us: I will say much more than a word about it."
Since she arrived in Israel late on Friday on an El Al flight from New York, Madonna has reportedly spent much of time rehearsing, praying or attending Kabbalah events.
Her partner Brahim Zaibat, a French-Algerian model in his 20s, also flew in with her, as did her four children, Lourdes, Rocco, David and Mercy, with pictures of them enjoying the beach splashed across the newspapers.
More than 4,000 fans have flown into Israel to attend the concert, with each paying from $62 (50 euros) for a ticket up to $620 for a VIP package.
Ahead of her arrival, the Material Girl asked for the stadium to include sleeping accommodation for her and her family, a games area for her kids and a lounge in which she will be interviewed by US TV host Conan O'Brian, who has flown in specially, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.
The Tel Aviv show is reported to have cost $3.9 million (3.1 million euros).
As for the outfits, Madge has reportedly signed up a list of designers including Jean Paul Gaultier, Jeremy Scott, Alexander Wang, Dolce & Gabbana, Fausto Puglisi and J Brand.
She will also be wearing Prada and Miu Miu shoes, as well as footwear and lingerie from her Truth or Dare line, with her signature conical bra also set to make an appearance.
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