Madonna Shines At Charity Party.

8 February 2008

Madonna

Madonna Shines At Charity Party....

Stars including Drew Barrymore, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore turned out for Madonna's lavish charity party in New York on Wednesday (06Feb08) night.The event at the United Nations building, which was co-hosted by fashion house Gucci, was held to raise money for Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund) and Madonna's Raising Malawi Orphan Care Initiative.Celebrities paid between $2,500 (#3,250) and $10,000 (#5,000) to attend the soiree which was presented by comedian Chris Rock and featured performances from Rihanna, Timbaland and Alicia Keys.The party included a lavish auction which saw Tom Cruise bid $100,000 (#50,000) for a sports package that included the privilege of hanging out at Yankee Stadium with Alex Rodriguez and a private hour playing soccer with David Beckham, but the actor lost out to a bidder who pledged $350,000 (£175,000).However, Cruise, who attended with his wife Katie Holmes, didn't let the disappointment ruin his evening and praised Madonna for her efforts.He says, "It was an extraordinary evening. The whole evening was quite moving," adding the event was "an absolute necessity".And the singer herself urged other stars to follow her lead and do more to help good causes.

She says, "I've earned a reputation for many things: pushing the envelope, for being a provocateur, for never taking no for an answer. For endlessly reinventing myself, for being a cult member, a kidnapper.

"For being ambitious, outrageous and irreverent. And for never settling for second best.

"But I don't just want you to write me a check. I'm more interested in your heart. I want to take you on that journey with me tonight. I want you to feel as inspired as I do right now," she said. "Yes, I want to raise Malawi. But if I can do that - if we can do that - then the sky's the limit".