9. Here is an article from The Daily Telegraph featuring Madonna’s arrival for the premiere of her new film in London. What do you learn from it about the singer?

Pregnant Madonna is premiere attraction

Madonna brought London's Leicester Square to a standstill Tuesday night when she arrived with her boyfriend Guy Ritchie for the premiere of her new film The Next Best Thing.

The American singer, who is pregnant with her second child, spoke of her cravings for eggs and olives as she proudly showed off her bump in a black outfit.

She said she did not know whether she would stay in London to bring up her child. But asked what she liked about the capital she said: "The countryside with a glass of stout and I love my boyfriend."

Madonna has the leading role in the romantic comedy starring as a yoga instructor who has a child with a homosexual friend played by the British actor Rupert Everett.

Other celebrities at the charity premiere included the television celebrity Paula Yates, the singers Natalie Imbruglia and Mick Hucknall, and Melanie Chisholm, better known as Sporty Spice.

Madonna said the film's "unconventional storyline" attracted her. "It is a real statement for where we're headed in terms of relationships. It seems fewer people are in standard conventional relationships.

"Some women are choosing to have babies with a friend, single women are raising children on their own and men are entering into relationships and becoming stepfathers.

"You always take risks with love, whether it's with a friend, or lover, or your child. You take risks and make mistakes."

If you were a reporter going to interview Madonna, which five questions would you ask her?

Do you think Madonna’s last phrase quoted in the article - “You take risks and make mistakes” – can be used to refer to her life and career?

Which factors in your opinion ensure a singer’s success? First discuss this question in pairs to make lists of such factors, then compare your lists in groups of four, and finally come to a collective opinion.

10. Remember the concert of pop music you visited last. Discuss your impressions with your group-mate in a dialogue. Speak about the program, participants, instruments and sound quality, audience, etc.

11. Listening comprehension

Listen to the recordings of the following songs by Chris de Burgh and fill in the blanks in the lyrics. Each blank corresponds to one word.

Lady in Red

by Chris de Burgh

Year Released: 1986

I've never seen you looking so _____ as you did _____

I've never seen you _____ _____ _____

I've never seen _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ if you wanted to dance

They're looking for a _____ _____

Given _____ _____ _____

And I've never seen that _____ _____ _____

Or that highlights in your hair

That _____ your eyes

I _____ _____ _____

The lady in red is _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____

There's nobody here

It's just you and me

It's where I wanna be

But I hardly know _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

I'll never forget the _____ _____ _____ _____

I've never seen you looking so _____ as you did tonight

I've never seen you _____ _____ _____ you were _____

I've never seen so _____ _____ want to be there by your side

And when you turned to me and smiled it _____ _____ _____ _____

And I have never had _____ _____ _____ such a feeling

Of _____and utter _____, as I do tonight

The lady in red is _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____

There's nobody here

It's just you and me

It's where I wanna be

But I hardly know _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

I'll never forget the _____ _____ _____ _____

Borderline

From The Getaway

by Chris de Burgh

Year Released: 1982

I'm standing in the _____,

I am waiting for a _____,

To take me to the border,

And my _____one far away,

I watched a bunch of _____ heading for the war,

I could hardly even bear to _____ _____ _____;

Rolling through the _____,

_____ are in my eyes,

We're coming to the borderline,

I'm _____ with my lies,

And in the ______ _____ _____, I see her there,

And I know I'll have to say _____again;

And it's _____ _____ _____, I know what I must do,

I hear my _____call me, but I want to _____ _____ _____,

I'm taking my side, one of us will lose,

Don't let go, I want to know,

That you will _____ _____ _____ until the day,

There's no borderline, no borderline;

Walking past the border _____,

Reaching for her hand,

Showing _____ _____,

I want to break into a run,

But these are only _____, and I will never know,

How men can see the _____ in a war...

And it's _____ _____ _____,

I know what I must do,

I hear my _____call me, but I want to _____ _____ _____,

I'm taking my side, one of us will lose,

Don't let go, I want to know,

That you will _____ _____ _____ until the day,

There's no borderline, no borderline

Shine On

by Chris de Burgh

Year Released: 1992

I was looking at a _____,

Taken in a _____ long before the war,

And out on the lawn,

There were _____ _____ and _____and little _____,

All of them _____ _____;

And there were _____by the waterside,

Standing in the same place where I am today,

Nothing _____ _____- but you know,

That time is _____ _____ _____ _____,

It can only be _____ forever;

We shine on, brighter than the _____,

Live for _____ _____, before the moment's gone,

We shine on, you and me tonight,

Way across the _____,

Burning like a _____in the night;

There are those who _____ _____ _____,

The space between a _____ and a _____,

When they are _____,

We must say all the _____that should be spoken,

Before they are _____ _____;

And I was looking at a _____,

Taken from a _____way above the world,

And we've got to _____,

We must leave here a _____ _____ _____ _____,

When we are _____ _____;

We shine on, brighter than the _____,

Live for _____ _____, before the moment's gone,

We shine on, you and me tonight,

Way across the _____,

Burning like a _____in the night

What can you say about the lyrics of Chris de Burgh’s songs?

Do you share a common opinion that lyrics do not matter much in modern songs and it is the melody and rhythm which make a song a hit?