Madonna had a little help from some friends at the Los Angeles stop of her Sticky and Sweet tour last night (Nov. 6) at Dodger Stadium, as both Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake turned up as surprise guest stars.
The former wowed the crowd during the third song of the night, "Human Nature," while Timberlake joined Madonna on "4 Minutes" towards the end of the show.
Spears, in her first public performance since the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, emerged from the back of the stage to the roar of the crowd, looking radiant in black heels and slacks, a white ruffled dress shirt and straight blond hair.
Singing with a mic in hand, she sauntered out for a diva matchup at the end of the catwalk. Meanwhile, every camera phone in the venue had already been whisked out to capture the moment while flashbulbs were firing at record speed.
After arriving alongside the guitar-wielding Madonna, the latter said, in mock surprise, "Oops! Hey Britney!" and then later, "she's not your bitch!" before Spears sang her own infamous lyric, "It's Britney, bitch." And then after about two minutes on stage, it was over. Spears was lowered beneath the floor and Madonna carried on to the next number.
Timberlake was another surprise, and he too received a thunderous response from the crowd on "4 Minutes," the song on which he guests from Madonna's "Hard Candy" album. Madonna and Timberlake reprised the choreography and staging they employed for the last time they sang the song live, during a promo performance at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in April. Much like Spears, once Timberlake's song was over, he vanished from the stage.
All told, Madonna performed nine of the 12 songs from "Hard Candy," along with 11 older tunes like "Ray of Light," "Music" and "Into the Groove." She played guitar on a hard-rocking version of "Borderline" and sang a moving rendition of the "Evita" song "You Must Love Me." Most surprising was the segment of the show where she solicited song requests from the crowd. She ultimately decided on the 1985 oldie "Dress You Up," and then led the stadium in a sing-a-long.
Celebrities on hand in the audience included Fergie, Drew Barrymore, Heidi Klum, Nicole Ritchie and Jennifer Lopez.
Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour next visits the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday. The North American leg of the tour wraps on Nov. 30 and then heads to South America on Dec. 3 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The tour is currently scheduled to conclude on Dec. 21 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.