The 11th album from the Queen of Pop, entitled Hard Candy, is about "the juxtaposition of tough and sweetness, or as Madonna so eloquently expressed, ’I’m gonna kick your ass, but it’s going to make you feel good," her spokesperson Liz Rosenberg told Entertainment Weekly.

The hotly anticipated release will be her final album for Warner Bros, the label she has been loyal to for 26 years, and will be released in the UK on Monday April 28. The first album since 2005’s Confessions On A Dance Floor features production by Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and Nate ’Danja’ Hills.

"She wanted up-tempo, dance, club music, and for everything to have a hip-hop (beat) underlying," Danja told Rolling Stone, saying that she was influenced by Justin Timberlake’s album, FutureSex/LoveSounds.

The album will be preceded by the first single, Four Minutes To Save The World, which has been produced by Pharrell, and co-written by Justin Timberlake, who will be inducting the singer into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

Madge and Moore planning Oscar bash - Feb 24 2008
Madonna and Demi Moore are said to be planning a last minute star-studded Oscar bash

After Vanity Fair’s annual shindig was cancelled in the wake of the Hollywood writer’s strike, Variety.com reports that Madge is teaming up with pal Demi Moore to host a party for the stars on awards night.

Only a few hundred people will be on the guest list for the event, but most are reported to be big names.

"Everybody’s on it," a source told Variety of the glittering guest list. "It gives the A-list Vanity Fair crowd someplace to go to. It will probably be pared down to where it’s 85% talent, not a lot of suits."

Although the location of the bash is currently a well guarded secret, a source told People.com that it is likely to be held at the home of Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary.

For stars who haven’t got a hot ticket to Madge’s bash, there are other party options, namely the official Governor’s Ball immediately after the ceremony and Elton John’s AIDS charity party.

Madonna film opens to dire reviews - Feb 14 2008
Madonna’s first film as director has received a less than enthusiastic reception from critics.

Filth And Wisdom has opened at the Berlin Film Festival, where Madonna said her cinema influences were greats like Federico Fellini.

The romantic musical comedy-drama comes six years after Madonna’s last film outing, Swept Away, which was directed by her husband Guy Ritchie and received dire reviews.

Filth And Wisdom is an 81 minute-long story of a Ukrainian immigrant who finances his dreams of becoming a rock star by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix.

As well as directing and executive producing the film, which Madonna plans to release on the internet, the pop star co-wrote the script.

At the international film festival the Material Girl shocked critics by comparing herself to the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and Fellini, before she "hope(s) that I may one day make something close to their genius".

But the Guardian newspaper’s reviewer, Peter Bradshaw, called the film "dumb and tacky" adding "her conception of super-cool streetwise reality is so clueless it’s as if Marie Antoinette had made a film about cake-munching peasants."

He writes that the script is a "nightmare of crass and fatuous stereotypes" and "despite living in Britain for many years, she only has the sketchiest notion of what the place is like."