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Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour By The Numbers

August 21, 2008 10:50 AM ET

With Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour set to kick off this Saturday in Cardiff, Wales, a statement from the Material Girl's publicist explains just how mammoth an undertaking each Madonna concert is. For instance, the tour will travel with 250 personnel members, 3,500 individual wardrobe elements, 69 guitars (ten for Madonna), 16 caterers, five people to help Madonna do costume changes, three "Romanian gypsy musicians" and 180 Q-Tips. The whole intricate list can be viewed here. It reads like a backstage rider, but it's more of an onstage rider. Additional numbers of interest: Madonna and her band rehearsed for roughly 653 hours to get ready for the tour, and Madonna will have only a minute and a half to make her shortest costume change. Details about the concert itself have also emerged, with the show being divided into four sections. The "Pimp" portion is "a mashed up homage to 1920's deco and modern day gangsta pimp." That's followed by Old School — which pays homage to 1980s NYC — and "Gypsy," where you can probably expect to see those three Romanians. It all wraps up with the dance-heavy "Rave" section. Madonna stays in Europe through September 27, then takes some time off before kicking off the North American leg of the trek on October 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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