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© Alex Barbulescu

26. 08. 09. - 12:00

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26. 08. 09. - 12:00

Madonna´s bullet proof tour

Romanian Times

Safety fears threatened the start of Madonna's concert in Bucharest yesterday (Weds) after health and safety officials discovered problems with the stage.

The firm commissioned to put up the stage was fined 1,600 GBP after labour inspectors found workers hadn't been instructed to take proper safety measures. Official organisers of the concert were fined as well.

Two workers died and eight were injured last month in Marseille after the roof of the stage where Madonna was about to perform collapsed.

Around 70,000 spectators were expected at Madonna's concert at Parcul Izvor in Bucharest and the 5,000 square metre stage was built in five days.

The star herself meanwhile has been keeping a low profile after reports of death threats. She hired more than 400 specially trained personal bodyguards and travelled to her hotel in a bullet-proof Mercedes Vito where she was taken straight to the largest five star hotel in Bucharest, the Radisson SAS - and entered through the back door.

At an earlier concert in Serbia she arrived in disguise just three hours before the concert after rescheduling to minimise her stay in the country because of the death threats.

Madonna's request for specially trained security guards follows earlier demands that the ceilings of the backstage rooms be covered with white silk and filled with 500 white and red roses prior to her performance in Bucharest.

The diva's 34 close staff include two personal fitness coaches, a therapist, an interior decorator and an Italian chef. The star has asked for a massage room, a hydro-massage shower stall and a gym. All fitness equipment and interior-decoration items are being sent to Bucharest.

Tickets for her first concert in Bucharest today (Weds), cost between 30 and 200 Euros.

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