Russian Duma rejects Madonna's space Holiday

MOSCOW: Russia's parliament voted on Wednesday against a motion to send the celebrated US singer, actress and children's book author Madonna to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2008.           

Alexei Mitrofanov, a member of the Duma (the lower house of parliament) for the ultra-nationalist LDPR party, had said the trip would be "a great event to organise in the same year as elections in the United States and Russia."      

He said the star, who gave a concert in Moscow on Tuesday, had "expressed a desire to go into space and board the ISS." Mitrofanov put the idea before a plenary session of parliament, asking it to vote on whether Russia's space agency should look into the feasibility of a Madonna space flight.            

Forty two legislators backed the idea but 252 voted against, so the motion was not passed.         

Some 50,000 fans attended Madonna's first ever concert in Russia on Tuesday amid angry protests from Orthodox Christians who accuse her of being "under the influence of the devil".        

The star, whose latest tour is called "Confessions" and whose hits include "Like a Prayer" and "Like a Virgin", defied Church warnings against "exploiting Christian symbols" by singing from a cross at one point during the show, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.             

Police said 10 Orthodox demonstrators were arrested near the stadium where the sell-out concert took place.