Madonna stands on Istanbul stage first time in 20 years

U.S pop icon Madonna performs at the Ramat Gan stadium near Tel Aviv, Israel,Thursday, May 31, 2012. Pop music star Madonna is kicking off her new world tour in front of tens of thousands of ecstatic fans in Israel. (AP/Newsis)

Almost 20 years of anticipation for Madonna’s fans in Turkey are ending tonight when the Queen of Pop takes to the stage at the Türk Telekom Arena for a stadium gig as part of her 2012 world tour, which got under way last weekend in Tel Aviv.

Turkish media was abuzz with Madonna stories as the final countdown to the concert, her first appearance here since a 1993 stadium gig in İstanbul, continued on Wednesday.

The 53-year-old singer arrived at İstanbul Atatürk Airport on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m., the Cihan news agency reported. Madonna, accompanied by her three children and their nannies, was greeted on the red carpet by a crowd of officials at the airport, according to news reports.

The singer and her crew traveled to Turkey on three airplanes, two of which were cargo planes, which was yet another hot topic of discussion on social media in Turkey in the run-up to the concert. They traveled from Abu Dhabi, where Madonna performed for the first time as part of her 28-country “MDNA” world tour.

Madonna is taking to the stage tonight at İstanbul’s 52,000-capacity TT Arena. She is expected to mix hit songs from her 30-plus-year career with new songs from her most recent album, “MDNA,” as she did at last Thursday’s concert in Tel Aviv.

Other stops on Madonna’s “MDNA” tour include London, Edinburgh, Paris, Milan and Berlin. The European leg concludes on Aug. 21 in Nice, and the North America leg begins on Aug. 28 in Philadelphia. <Cihan>

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