Madonna fans block Kluuvikatu in hopes of a sighting of star

Admirers and the merely curious wait for their idol in vain for hours in front of Hotel Kämp

print this

“My heart is pounding like a hammer”, Aino Koskinen sighs in front of the Hotel Kämp after a white SUV has just turned a corner off Kluuvikatu.
      Koskinen is one of the many fans who rushed to the car that passed the hotel to catch at least a glimpse of pop star Madonna. The car's darkened windows, however, left the fans wondering: “Was it, or wasn’t it…?”
      Aino Koskinen’s friend Taina Renkonen believes that she saw Madonna’s children in the car. “I saw that at least Rocco, Madonna’s son, sat on the backseat in the middle.”
     
According to the late-edition tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, of Madonna’s children Rocco, David Banda, and Mercy arrived at the Hotel Kämp in Central Helsinki around midday on Tuesday.
      The star herself was decidedly absent. She had a gig in Tallinn, Estonia, yesterday.
      The staff at the Hotel Kämp refused to disclose any information regarding the singer's whereabouts.
      “People kept shouting Madonna’s name, but the hotel staff just asked them to keep the street clear. We were told that either we were there too early or too late, that right at that minute nothing was happening”, explained Sannis Kallio, who had been waiting for Madonna for more than two hours.
     
Gradually the crowd got tired of waiting and simply dispersed. Madonna remained elusive, but at least something was gained from the experience: some onlookers got excited just to see the Finnish actress Pirkko Mannola walk by.
      Aino Koskinen, who confesses to having been a Madonna fan for twenty or so years, expects Madonna’s Helsinki concert to be a superb show. Taina Renkonen, in turn, represents the more discerning portion of the fans. “I saw the same concert in Berlin. It distinctly lacked the joy of performing”, she says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Construction of Madonna concert stage in full swing in Helsinki (3.8.2009)
  Tickets for Britney and Madonna concerts sell out (again) (12.5.2009)
  Up to 5,000 extra tickets about to be added for Madonna´s Helsinki gig (20.3.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat