Thousands of Bulgarians are eagerly awaiting Madonna concert in Sofia on Saturday night, which has been described as the largest gig ever organized here.

The concert, at Sofia's Vasil Levski Stadium, is expected to be attended by about 50,000 people. Madonna will arrive in Sofia following a concert in neighbouring Romania, on Wednesday.

Almost all tickets - costing up to BGN 150 (GBP 67) - have already been sold, organisers said.

Eight bodyguards and a team of 250 people will take care of the security and performance of the pop star Madonna while she is in Bulgaria.

Sofia will see the biggest stage that has ever come to Bulgaria (85 meters in length, 40 meters in hight). There will be more than 2 kilometers of fences in and outside of the Bulgaria's National Stadium "Vasil Levski".

The gig of pop star Madonna in the Bulgarian capital will bring traffic in downtown Sofia to a standstill with all major boulevards near the stadium to host it being closed.

Cars are already prohibited from parking in the alleys along Sector G at Vassil Levski stadium, while on Thursday the ban will be imposed near the parking lots in sectors B and V near the bridge of the sports facility.

On the day of the concert, August 29, parking will be prohibited on the Gurko street in the section between the Evlogi Georgiev and Vassil Levski boulevards.

Evlogi Georgiev boulevard and Gurko Street will be banned for cars and buses.

The route of a number of buses will be changed due to reorganization of the traffic.

Madonna's concert in Bulgaria coincides with Michael Jackson's birthday, August 29, and local media reports have said that the pop singer is going to honor him with the appearance on stage of a look-alike who would imitate closely Jacko's choreography and the world famous moon walk.

The organizers from Sofia Music Enterprises, however, were not aware of a special part of Madonna's show in Sofia that would honor Jacko, who died at the end of June, two months before he could turn 51.

Meanwhile the Orthodox Church blasted Madonna concert in Sofia, accusing the 51-year old pop singer of showing disrespect to Christianity and has urged Bulgarians to stay away from the show.

According to the church in some of her choreography and stage scenarios, this singer sends impressive messages which, however, run contrary to Christian morality.

It also deplored the fact that Aug. 29 is a day of lent for Orthodox Christians marking the beheading of John the Baptist, the biblical preacher who baptised Jesus Christ and an important figure in the Orthodox faith. 

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